Godslayer's Legend

Chapter 36: The Crystals and the Academy Exams (NEW)

Three days later, Arthur found himself back in that same grassland where he fought the eagle, lizard man, and the feathered serpent.

In his hands was the bag that Alexia gave him. He dropped the bag to the ground and sat in front of it before spreading out his wings.

Ignoring his slowly resuming energy flow, he brought out the dark red memory crystal and poured magic power into it.

The crystal flashed a red light as Arthur felt something pass through him, before he could even question it, the information stored in the crystal started pouring into his head.

"Argh!!!"

Memories of some other person began flashing through his mind. He realized the requirement that needed to be met to use the crystal and view the memories within.

One needed to be a member of the Devilian royal family and possess an 'Annihilation', either dormant or active before they could use it.

Arthur couldn't dwell on that as the main information in the crystal entered his head.

It was the knowledge of some sort of spell called the 'Third Magic' and the requirements to cast the spell. It was a spell that the creator considered a forbidden spell but the effects were exactly what Arthur needed right now.

'She did say she wanted to help me so I'd help her in the future, I guess giving me information on such a spell would be considered help.

This would increase the speed of my realm of existence advancement by leaps and bounds. However, the criteria are weird.

'The Crystal realm's 'rain of crystals' will help find the first key.

The second key is to not be a deity.

The last key is to be a sub-cosmic.'

Arthur guessed the second one meant he should not be in the deity realm but the first and third left him confused.

He decided to investigate this 'Crystal Realm' and its 'Rain of crystals' at a later time before pulling out the time law crystal.

Guessing the activation method was the same as the memory crystal, Arthur poured his magic power into the crystal, however, the crystal sucked half his magic power in an instant before glowing a bright blue light.

[Time]

Arthur had that word flash through his mind before loads of incomprehensible knowledge poured into his head.

"Guh!!"

He dropped the crystal and grabbed his head in pain but the transfer of knowledge was already completed. His magic power roused itself as if in response to the sudden influx of knowledge.

Gold and silver aura flared wildly around him as his divinity which he didn't even know he had, poured out of his body.

In response to his divinity, his fourth unknown energy flared up in an attempt to suppress his divinity. Spider web-like cracks spread from his arm but Arthur did not notice it, neither did he have the peace of mind to.

Pain shot through his head as he felt like he had slammed it onto the ground multiple times for no reason.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

Arthur screamed out in pain as he fell to the ground and curled up in a fetal position. Since Lonope was a planet belonging to the royal family, no intruders could get in, as such, Arthur felt he didn't need guards when coming here and dismissed them.

Due to this, there was no one to help him as he screamed in pain for almost five minutes with tears leaking from his eyes.

Even after the pain finally subsided, Arthur still remained curled up in a fetal position on the ground. His brain was trying to process the information that it just received.

Unbeknownst to Arthur, ambient blue-coloured energy began swirling around him in large amounts. By the time he was able to notice it, he was surrounded by blue energy.

"Huh?"

The swirling energy calmed down alongside the other ambient energies that acted in response. The boy then staggered to his feet and let out a curse.

"Fuck! That Hurts you damned old hag!!"

After the incomprehensible knowledge poured into his mind, he heard a recorded message in Alexia's voice.

[I'm sure you used this before using the third crystal. It hurt right? Next time, you'd use the instruction crystal first.]

"You didn't tell me that was the instruction crystal!!!"

Arthur shouted as he pulled out the third black crystal and poured his little remaining magic power into it. It was then he noticed the spiderweb-like cracks over his arm but he paid it no mind as more information regarding universal laws, and how to comprehend and manipulate them poured into his mind.

He dropped the crystal and sorted through the information in his mind, including how to use the time law crystal properly and how to comprehend the law held within.

Sighing in exasperation, he placed a monster-repellant barrier generator beside him before falling to the ground and taking a nap.

◇ ◇ ◇

About 6 hours later, Arthur woke up feeling refreshed as he stood up and stretched out his body.

"I was far too exhausted, I really needed that sleep."

After Arthur understood how to comprehend the incomprehensible knowledge that was the basic law of time, he judged that his exhausted state was not optimal for such an activity and decided to nap to rest both his body and mind.

"Good, now before I start comprehending the law, let me test out the new magic I learned."

After seeing his energy flow temporarily resume, Arthur went to the royal family's library and took out a magic grimoire he saw a while ago.

The spell in it was a tier two large-scale destruction spell but Arthur felt he should have enough magic power to cast the spell.

Indeed he did, more than enough in fact. However, in attempting to cast the spell, Arthur discovered something he didn't have.

And that was a body strong enough to withstand his enormous amount of energy.

"Argh!!!"

Arthur screamed in pain for the nth time today as tears threatened to spill out from his eyes. He finally discovered the reason for the spiderweb-like cracks that were appearing on his body.

It was simply because his body was breaking down due to the pressure of his enormous amount of energy.

He hurriedly cancelled the spell, grateful that he hadn't gone too far with his casting as he dropped the grimoire.

The eleven-year-old deliberated on the matter for about half an hour before coming to the decision to stop using his wings.

If he didn't use his wings, then the energy wouldn't flow, and he would not feel pain.

However, after seeing the law crystal on the ground, he decided to amend that rule he made for himself and only use his energy when he was attempting to comprehend the law or training on how to use the law's power.

He decided to do so only when he was on Lonope and not tell his parents about it. He didn't want them to know about him being able to use a law's power, at least until he understood more about himself.

Creusery came over to pick him up and he asked the older devil about the Crystal realm and the rain of crystals. Ever willing to answer his young nephew's questions, Creusery told Arthur almost all the information he knew about it.

He kept the most important part of it secret, but little did Creusery know that Arthur discovered that same information he tried to keep secret when he went through the dark red memory crystal's information, examining every little detail.

He then contacted Lewis and ordered him to set forth to the crystal realm and search for a planet that experienced the 'crystal rain' phenomenon.

Along with the force, consisting of hundreds of mercenaries that the giant's descendant had recruited over the years, Lewis set out for the crystal realm to fulfil the orders he was given.

Of course, Arthur also did not tell anyone about this, thinking he had kept it secret.

The young boy was unaware of the silver-haired devil king who was watching him through a screen while seated atop his throne in the 'Nine Thousand Circles.'

◇ ◇ ◇

Planet Kreiz

Dorcaster Star System

Year 713 of the 50th General Calendar

The seasons rolled around again and Arthur turned twelve. He and Layla rejected all plans for separate birthday celebrations and decided to have a joint party, simply because it was more convenient.

After this, the duo then began preparing for the royal Academy exams that were taking place soon. Attending the Royal Academy was compulsory for all children aged twelve and above.

This did not mean that entering was free, one had to prove their qualifications to attend by getting a score of at least 50% in the entrance exams.

Upon failing, they were to try again the next year until they passed. This was the same with the other Academies in various parts of the Devildom.

This rule was implemented so that the children of the devils and other races who lived in the Devildom do not grow up to be uneducated. Unfortunately, it was not possible for it to be implemented everywhere in the Devildom, after all, it was an entire universe.

The exam consisted of two parts, a written section and a practical one. The practical section was further subdivided into two sections, a magic ability test, and a combat test.

The combat test was simply just the examinees facing off against the combat instructors prepared for them.

In the magic ability test, the examinees were given a dummy made of magic-resistant material and asked to cast an attack spell on it. These were for those who wished to be in the combat departments.

For those who wished to enter the non-combatant departments, they were given practical tests depending on their department of choice. For example, those who wished to become alchemists were given ingredients and asked to concoct a particular potion.

The total score on the exams was over 200, 100 for the written test and 100 for the practical test. The scores of the top 1000 students were publicly published for all to see.

The academy was to be attended for six years, after which, the students were free to either end their education there or go to any higher education institution of their choice.

This was the educational system of the Devildom. Primary education was taken at home until age twelve when they were sent to an academy for secondary education. Then tertiary education was completely up to their choice.

◇ ◇ ◇

The days went by quickly and the time for the exams came around. They were to be conducted over the course of two weeks, from the first day of February to the 14th day of February, Year 713 of the 50th General Calendar.

The results would be released a week later and the students were required to report to school on the First day of March.

Since the school had an entire planet to itself, there was more than enough space to conduct the exams for the tens of thousands of aspiring students.

On the way to the examination centre with Layla, Arthur expressed his desire to have her be the freshman representative and begged her to take that position away.

He also repeatedly thanked his inability to use his energies properly for making him unable to receive a perfect score, making Layla heave a sigh of exasperation.

Over the years, the young Layla had grown up a bit, looking more beautiful than most noble ladies in her generation. She had also grown in other aspects too, like her strength, as she had become a superior stage master realm.

Alongside these, her popularity among the nobles also grew as the moment Arthur was one with the examination, he walked out of the hall only to find her being surrounded by a few dozen noble ladies.

As the daughter of a grand duke, her being popular was a given. However, Layla was also what one would call the perfect noble lady, ignoring the way she acted when with Arthur.

She was looked up to as a role model by a lot of young nobles. However, not all of the Devildom's nobles resided in Aeturn, as such, most of these ladies had only heard of her by word of mouth or seen photos and videos of her online through their phones.

A chance to meet her in person was rare. Although there would be many more chances to come across her, given they were to be attending the same school, these ladies still rushed to her as fans would to an Idol.

Arthur decided to let her be and stayed by himself, only for some lesser royals to come and find trouble with him.

Although the Devildom encompassed the entire Universe, each planet still had its respective countries, kingdoms, and empires. These were mostly taken as vassals to the Devildom and were considered lesser kingdoms or empires by the Devildom's nobles.

Both officially and unofficially, the nobles of the Devildom ranked higher than these lesser kings and emperors.

Most of the Devildom's nobles were Arch devils and even the weakest of them could decimate most of these kings and emperors alongside their countries. However, the royals and nobles from these countries sometimes grew arrogant enough to challenge the nobles of the Devildom.

Arthur had come across a scene where one of these demanded Layla be respectful to him, simply because he was a prince in his intergalactic empire and Layla was the daughter of the Devildom's grand duke.

The rank of prince was higher than that of a grand duke so he kept on trying to assert some sort of dominance over her.

Layla simply beat him up and paid his father a visit, threatening to end his empire with the power of the Eryrth Grand Dukedom. His parents, who were obviously wiser than he was, understood their son had offended someone he should have never dared to and apologized before disowning him.

Arthur who followed Layla on this trip, laughed every time he remembered the scene of the intergalactic emperor grovelling before the ten-year-old Layla.

As for the few lesser princes that came over to make trouble with Arthur, he simply beat them up publicly without caring for the gazes of the on-looking nobles and lesser royals.

Magic was also neutralized in the centre and so the group only had their physical strengths to fall back on for defence. Unfortunately, Arthur possessed physical strength comparable to a grandmaster's.

"That's enough Arthur, they've lost consciousness already. You should have simply ignored them, you know?"

Layla's voice rang out in the quiet area that was filled with the sound of punches and kicks. She stared at the beaten boys on the floor before looking at the culprit who was cleaning his hands with a pocket tissue.

"They reminded me of that idiot from the intergalactic empire two years ago, and I was in a bad mood so I decided to beat them up to make myself feel better."

"Don't use random people as punching bags, a prince of the Devildom should not reduce himself to such a level."

"So I shouldn't beat them up because I'm a prince? Sometimes being the prince of the Devildom can be quite annoying."

Arthur's words shocked most of the onlookers who did not know who he was. Upon this realization, some looked at him with fervent gazes that made him feel a chill down his spine.

The Arch devils of Hell were worshipped in the way the gods of other universes were worshipped and the fact that one of the most powerful of these Arch Devils had a son was known far and wide.

Upon seeing the child of the being they worshipped in the flesh, some of them naturally had quite...extreme reactions.

Some of those who crowded Layla earlier were part of this group too. Seeing the gazes some of them were giving Arthur, she sighed in exasperation for the nth time today.

Arthur figured out the reason for Layla's sigh and clicked his tongue. He had encountered some of these ardent worshippers before and he did not have any good memories of them.

Luckily, an announcement that the practical exams were about to begin caused the crowd to disperse, taking those who looked like they wanted to pounce on Arthur and Layla away with it. The both of them heaved sighs of relief at this.

"Somehow, I feel like school isn't gonna be as fun as I thought."

"I feel you, Arthur, I totally do."