Arcadia

Awaken, Rod of Exorcism!

"Yukiko...."

As if frozen in place, Yura can only look as her precedent Guardian approached her. The cold streams of wind emmanating from her sent some chills down Yura's spine. It only grew stronger and stronger, until it started blowing some of the stalls away. It also damaged some of the posts, throwing debris all over the place. The debris flew all over the place, destroying several stalls and hitting some students. 

Yukiko continued her incantation chant as the red pulse on her hand glowed more intensely. She was interrupted by a coarse yell coming from above.

"Take this!"

Jet appeared out of nowhere and delivered a strong punch across Yukiko's face. The blow sent her flying right through one of the stalls to the sound of breaking glass. Thankfully, the stall has been abandoned.

Snapping back to reality, Yura shouted at her Aegis partner in surprise. "Jet!" She turned back and realized that Jet had leapt from an elevated platform.

"Emi told me the damn thing would show up by late night. Guess someone decided to show up early."

Jet did his usual gesture of massaging and twirling his wrists as he prepared for more. 

"Yura, you go escort the students to the school now. You're defenseless now. Hurry!"

Giving a nod, Yura ran towards one of the stalls and attended to a student there who had been hurt by some debris from Yukiko's wind. She tried to pacify the chaos that was going on at the ground floor of the school due to the appearance of the Pale Phantom. 

"Everyone, stay calm!" she shouted. Despite that, she got pushed aside. As all hell started breaking loose, a loud voice silenced the group of people. 

At the top of the stairs, Professor Mikhail stood, with a colored orb on each of his hands. One glowed a vibrant red, while another glowed with a luminescent blue color. 

~~~~~

Meanwhile, the atmosphere remained upbeat and energetic inside the school auditorium, thanks to the music club's performance. 

"We're just getting the party started! We'll go at this all night long!" yelled the male vocalist to the cheers of the students. He grabbed the microphone away from the stand and posed, emphasizing his lean frame. He took the rose on top of his hat and gave it to one of the girls in the front row, much to her delight.

"Where's Yura?" asked Leanne, glancing at the empty seat she reserved.

Amaya shrugged but walked away, leaving Lyra hovering around her seat. Leanne followed soon. Somehow, she could sense that the petite girl knew something. 

The two of them thought of looking for Yura, unaware of what was going on outside. Leanne held the doorknob, but felt a strong force that seemed to prevent it from opening. 

"Something's wrong. Mind taking a look at this?"

Amaya held her hand over the knob and felt a flowing magical energy. "Something's keeping us locked in here from outside. With my ability now, I can't do anything about this."

Amaya's words caused Leanne to worry, unsurprisingly. "That's horrible! What's happening?" 

"This spell though..."

~~~~~

Inside the school, Yura facilitated the temporary evacuation of people with more success due to Professor Aldra's help.

Most of the students were instructed to go to the gymnasium, storage room, and auditorium. Those areas have been protected and sealed off with Mikhail's magic. Other professors pitched in on their own ways, such as Professor Beckett, who helped identify the "Pale Phantom" as a kind of demon, allowing the former to use the appropriate spell for protection..