After being brought into the netherworld Iruma buried his confusion and replaced it with knowledge. Any knowledge he could get his hands on. From symbols and phrases and random facts. Anything would help him. He spent the whole day in the study delving into old stories and worn out scrolls.
Like that a day passed in a flash and it was time for Iruma-kun's first day of school. This was the moment everyone was waiting for...
First day of school photos!
This was the most important moment everyone was waiting for...well everyone that is Sullivan. This was by far one of the single most important parts of Sullivan's duty as Iruma's grandfather.
"Is....this okay?"
Iruma was standing beside a small sign that read 'This way to Entrance Ceremony' He was smiling for the very...many pictures that were being taken of him.
"Oh yes of course Iruma-kun,your adorable smile is perfect!"
Sullivan, being the doting grandfather he is, was unaware of what Iruma was trying to say.
"I...I mean my clothes. Is this really okay?"
His outfit was similar to the suit Sullivan himself wore. A white dress shirt, mute purple waistcoat and overcoat with a fur accessory. Though his hair was less messy so his pointed ears stuck out slightly under his shoulder length blue hair.
"There's no need to worry about it, the school isn't that strict about uniforms and such. Besides having matching outfits is the cutest thing in the netherworld, It makes me so happy that my lovely little grandson and I match."
Iruma awkwardly smiled at his new grandfather's bizarre actions and decided to go along with it.
"Would...you like to take a picture with me, Oji-chan?
His egg-like grandpa got far more excited than he thought but nevertheless the two smiled a lot while Opera took the photographs.
Click Click
"Whoa....Whoa!"
As the three of them approached Iruma's new school the seemingly mountainous terrain bagan to form the school called Babylus. It was a school for young demons of course. There were many towers and other spiky-like buildings. To get there you'd walk down a crooked and narrow cliff path.
"It's such a big school!"
Flying overhead were multiple students flying towards the school with black bat-like wings.
'Wings...? Don't I-!' A slight pain formed in Iruma's head as he thought about the wings of the demon students.
"Well then I'll be going now, there's a lot of work that must be done! Ta Ta!"
"Huh wait you're just gonna leave...me"
Sullivan disappeared with a poof of smoke and Iruma and Opera were left alone together in front of the school gate.
"Ah...Opera.."
"Have a good day sir..."
They sounded exasperated and left shortly after leaving Iruma alone. Iruma walked through the gate and several eyes landed on him which began making him nervous.
'Maybe I should have worn the uniform...'
"Hey you!"
"Y-yes!"
"That way to the auditorium."
"Right,Thank you!"
****
From the outside it looks like a place things go to die but on the inside it's like a regular school.
Iruma made his way to the auditorium and ended up seated between two very large students that were almost 4 times his own size,though Iruma was very small compared to most anyway.
Sniff Sniff
"Hmm...I smell something amazing" The demon to his left suddenly said. His face was like a bulls and had a pair of ram-like horns.
"Right! It's almost enchanting, I've never smelled anything like it before."
'Huh? Smell? What smell?'
Iruma began sniffing the air as well trying to understand what he was talking about. Whatever it was, Iruma was unable to smell anything.
"Silence"The bustle and chatter stopped in an instant as a scary looking demon spoke into the mic.
"Thank you for waiting,the time is 6:06 am. The demon school Babylus' entrance ceremony shall now begin. All present, please stand it's time to sing the school song.
Humans only exist to be our food.
Suck them dry, soul, blood, flesh and all.
Tremble at the sound of our black wings as we take flight.
For we are demons.
As this song pours forth from our red lips
Scream for us, for we are demons
'I don't like this...'
Our castle is the greatest evil
Its name is Babylus, a solitary place for study.
Sacrificing our souls,blood and meat without leaving anything behind.
We shall aim for the demon's top
'I really don't like this song...'
"And now a few words from our principal."
'Ah the principal, I was wondering what they looked like.'
The students erupted into cheers. "Yes! The next Demon King."
'Demon...King? As in king of demons? So this world is run by a noble hierarchy...'
"Iruma-kuuuuuuuun!! It's me,grandpa~!!"
. . .
'HE'S THE PRINCIPAL?!'
"Iruma?"
"The principal's grandchild..?"
"That's right! Iruma actually enrolled here. He's just so cute and has the most adorable smile."
'Please stop talking...'
"And I took a picture with my grandson, Iruma-kun!! Tada!!" And without a care in the world, Sullivan pulled out a poster of him and Iruma from earlier that morning, showing it to everyone.
'Oji-chan why!!'
"Him?"
"That's Iruma?"
"They look alike."
"Eh? Really?"
"I'll send everyone a copy later!" 'I promise you nobody wants that!!' Iruma was covering his face from embarrassment, shaking his head, silently pleading for his grandfather to stop talking.
"Welp that's all I wanted to say,so....Byeee!!" And with that he exited the stage leaving everyone who witnessed it dumbfounded. 'Oji-chan...I just want to get through school without standing out...'
"N-Next a speech from the freshman representative."
"Representative means top on the entrance exam, right?
"Seriously. A genius!!"
"The freshman representative,Asmodeus!" A young demon with a tall build walked towards the stage through the center. He had fair skin and medium length light pink hair, with pointy ears,thick eyelashes and magenta eyes. Instead of wearing the Babylus school uniform he had a formal suit of his own. A black dress shirt under a white waistcoat and an elegant white overcoat with gold trim,which complimented the gold trimmed boots and white trousers. :)
Both him and Iruma were similarly dressed. While Asmodeus wore a bright white ,Iruma wore much darker colors.
"Aah! He's so handsome." Many female students began gawking at the sight of him and they had every right he was very pleasing to look at.
'Thank you for being so amazing Asmodeus-Kun!'
"Eh?"
'Now I should be able to make it through the day'
" Ahem, In place of him the speech will be made by the honor student Iruma."
'WHY!'
"Huh? Replacement?"
"By Iruma?The principal's grandson?" 'Aaahh! Why? Why? WHY? I want to bury myself in a really deep hole'
Iruma began panicking on the inside, that is until he saw it. Sullivan was peeking from behind a thick red curtain with a camera in hand giggling excitedly. Of course this was his doing.
'I KNEW IT,OJI-CHAN WHY'
"Iruma-kun, to the stage" Having no other choice Iruma got up from his seat and headed to the stage through the middle. He stood straight and had a stiff expression. This was solely because he was so nervous he could hardly move. Being in crowded areas was already nerve wracking and standing in front of others to speak is even worse.
"Oh look at him, he's just a baby."
"He's super cute though"
"Yeah, he has pretty eyes."
Iruma made his way to the stage unsure of what to do. He didn't know what to say. More like he had nothing to say.
He took a deep breath and a paper appeared before his eyes. Slight confusion could be heard from those around by Iruma and read the paper to himself.
[ I do apologize for placing you on the spot, so to ensure your succession in your school life I ask you recite a phrase from a book you read yesterday.- Your loving grandpa]
"Oji-chan..."
'That explains why he asked me to memorize at least one of them...I guess I didn't need to read the whole book then.'
Introducing Iruma's second ability. Due to the misfortunes he's faced in his life one of them was working at a very young age. From this he gained the ability to remember whatever he sees, hears and reads. This is a skill that was primarily used to remember orders given to him by his higher ups,how much money he had on him and directions to get to his next job. We call this Absolute Memory.
"Um..Iruma,your speech please."
"Right..."
Iruma then took another deep breath and closed his clasping his hands tightly together and bringing them to his chest.
'I must do this for a peaceful school life!'
"Alberuhauke" Audible gasps could be heard from the audience. Terrified and worried expressions fell onto the faces of those who were in the room, some even closed their eyes and looked away.
"Tarutudari,Iusabebe" 'The atmosphere is kind of cooler now'
"Risuturu, Alburuze,Sutumanu" 'It's even cooler than before...'
"Alberuge,uru,manhoraba,tsurezaza" 'And done.'
After Iruma finished reciting the phrase the auditorium was so silent you could hear a pin drop from the hallway.
Iruma looked over at the demons who were on the stage with him and bowed slightly,mentally asking if he could leave now.
Then in a matter of seconds everyone erupted into cheers and praises. Iruma was beyond confused at their action but assumed this was normal in the netherworld.
"He did it!"
"And By memory too!"
"Amazing!!"
"You!! You can't go around chanting forbidden spells as you like!"
"Hm?"
"It's taboo! If you were to stutter or pronounce a single word wrong your body would have exploded! It's just common sense."
'I- WHAT?!' He didn't show much reaction because he was still practically paralyzed from fear but Iruma was ready to find a hole to bury himself in.
"I really shouldn't have memorized the entire book...."
"That stunt was foolish,reckless and crazy and unbelievably awesome! Only a total idiot would use that spell or an oblivious demon that doesn't fear death."
"...What does that spell do exactly?" Iruma then asks. He was surrounded by teachers, some were even checking his body looking for abnormalities.
"If it works it'll prevent you from tripping and falling for 24 hours!"
'Seriously,that's it? No wonder it was the easiest to recite, it's totally useless.'
Iruma sighed and walked off the stage. He had done his part and Sullivan got a ton of pictures.
'Now that that's over I can enjoy my peaceful school life.'
"Hm?"
Now before him was the young demon Asmodeus. He was very tall compared to Iruma towering over him. This made Iruma feel even smaller than before,he was glaring daggers to the point Iruma figured he was actually being stabbed.
"You may call me Asmodeus Alice." His tone was cold and obviously angry. He had no intention of hiding it.
"...H-Hi there..."
'Why am I here?'
The sound of footsteps and shouting could be heard on the school's decks. Iruma and Asmodeus were standing in the center of a grassy area like a scene in a movie. Those usually end up in a bloody battle.
"The Class Rep and Honor student are about to duke it out!!"
Excited cheers came from the students. It was crammed full of young demon students each with broad grins and wide eyes as they looked at the two. Hoots and hollers left their lips while Iruma's trembled, slowly understanding his situation. Surely he was going to die.
"I was supposed to deliver the school greeting, the punishment for thieving that spotlight from me is most assuredly death!"
[Asmodeus Alice, a demon well known for his mastery of fire spells]
"And since you so rudely stole my thunder, I have reserved the right to test your mettle,agreed?"
"Ah...n-no..." Iruma's words came out as nothing more than a whisper. Though if you saw the scene you'd think this was a stand off between two lifelong enemies.
'Wow...they're really into this. I wanna go home now..'
A bright flame appeared in the palm of Asmodeus' hand. He glared at the timid Iruma and the flame only shone brighter.
"Prove to me you're worthy, with your body!!"
He threw the ball of fire at Iruma catching speeds faster than the eyes could follow. The move caused an explosion as it came into contact with an object.
Boom
Bang
The sounds repeated as Asmodeus summoned more and more fireballs to attack. Explosions after explosion the cheers only got louder.
"Asmodeus is so badass!"
"No other newbie could handle fireballs like that!"
"Uh yeah but....He hasn't hit him at all."
That's correct. Not a single fireball grazed Iruma. In fact Iruma made sure not to get his clothes dirty in any way. He didn't want to make Opera's job any harder especially since they didn't like him all that much in the first place
Thanks to Iruma's special ability to avoid danger.
Due to his misfortunate life, avoiding danger became a daily routine for Iruma. Even so he detests fighting and of course has avoided it. However because he's misfortunate he'd be brought into such situations whether he liked it or not which in turn allowed him to gain an unstoppable ability. His offense may be zero but his defense is infinite, that's why we call it Ultra insti- I mean Ultra Crisis Evasion.
And so the battle between Iruma and Asmodeus went on for a solid 20 minutes.
Each and every attack was 'skillfully' avoided by Iruma as he desperately tried to apologize for doing a speech he never wanted to do in the first place.
"Why can't I hit you!?"
The two were worn out. Panting and wiping sweat from their foreheads.
"I'm really sorry..."
'I should take this chance to properly apologize.'
"Hey look, I really didn't want to do that speech,honestly I wasn't even sure what to say. So let's not fight. It'll do no good and will end badly."
'For me.'
"For me?"
"Wow, Iruma is a beast,"
"I know right, he knows he's stronger so rather than defeating Asmodeus he's avoiding the fight all together so he won't humiliate him."
Hearing this Asmodeus looked as if he was on fire. He was fuming.
"Is that true? I'm not even worth your time so you won't even bother?"
"Huh? What? NO NO NO NO. That's not true at all! I just really don't think we should fight!"
Iruma was practically pleading with Asmodeus to calm down . He didn't want to fight. A fight would lead to serious injury and it's only the first day of school.
"If I can't beat you like this, then the only way is with Martial arts!"
"I really don't think you're understanding! I don't want to FIIGHT-" He screamed as he dodged the flaming sword Asmodeus swung at him.
Ducking and dodging that's all Iruma could do as Asmodeus continued swinging his sword even going for the neck.
'He's really trying to kill me!"
This time Asmodeus ran full speed at Iruma. He managed to deflect the attack and redirect him towards the school wall. Sadly there was a slight miscalculation. Aha! What I mean to say is a few demon students wanted a closer look at the action and in turn stood near the outer wall to watch the fight.
'Oh no! He'll hurt them!'
'Dammit I'll hit them!'
The students let out terrified cries and tried to move out the way.
Unable to do much Iruma wrapped his arms around and pulled Asmodeus' waist in a desperate attempt to halt the blow to the other students.
You do remember the spell from earlier correct?
This spell may seem useless at first but it's perfect when dealing in close combat. Simply because, it'll prevent you from tripping and falling.
Iruma pulled Asomdeus back. As the two began to fall backwards Iruma's feet stayed planted on the ground and in turn Asmodeus; body was lifted up over him and he hit the ground head first.
It was a perfectly executed German Suplex!
________________________________________________________________________________
[A random convo that happened in the process of making this chapter]
Spice: Did- Did he just pray in front of a bunch of demons?? He didn't...Right? (Referring to the spell)
Sugar:...I think he did?
Spice: Oh my Luci-
Sugar: Man is speaking in tongues.
Spice: What is he saying?? That's the legend of Zelda language!
Spice: I didn't get my masters in Hilichurl-
Spice: I'm confused what did he do-? (Now referring to the cheering)
Sugar: He said a forbidden spell. If he were to stutter or pronounce a word wrong his body would explode.
Spice: I- I'd be dead on the first word if I tried that-
Sugar: FR MAN! " Albe-" Dead
________________________________________________________________________________
Have a good day/night! Make sure to stay hydrated! Much love to you all!!!