Summoner Sovereign

Teresa Taylor lowered her blazing sword, tempering her raging mana with superhuman control.

For a moment, she glanced around the school courtyard and surveyed the death and destruction that had taken place there. She watched the students who had died, their corpses strewn about and drained dry of their blood by merciless vampires. Her eyes lingred on Miura La Noir, probably because the headmistress had remembered her as one of the representatives of Saint Teresa Academy who had partic.i.p.ated in the tournament just a few months ago.

Teresa Taylor then closed her eyes briefly, not just mourning the deaths of so many students. She was also recalling the deaths of her staff, including the three teachers who had once stood guard outside her office. Grief combined with fury led her to a ripple in her otherwise composed aura, but she managed to clamp it down.

"I"ll avenge you all," she vowed. Then she turned to me, and I flinched.

"Headmistess…?"

"You were right," she told me, her head bowed. "I should have listened to you. I had dismissed your accusations out of petty jealousy and didn"t take your claims of vampires seriously. And now…so many of my staff and students are dead, slaughtered by the very vampires you warned us about. We were blind. We trusted Nan Gong Ji Yan and Xu Wu Cheng…and they betrayed us."

Teresa Taylor then activated a hologram and projected a picture of Xu Wu Cheng attacking Kai Lin and the others. Xu Wu Cheng leading his elite vampires along with the commoner ones to slaughter the students.

"This was…captured on the security cameras. He didn"t even bother to hide his ident.i.ty." Teresa Taylor"s voice dripped in disgust. "I couldn"t believe it until I saw the recordings myself. I have yet to see Nan Gong Ji Yan anywhere, but…given how you were correct about Xu Wu Cheng, you are most probably right about her. She has most likely betrayed us and is hiding somewhere. If only we had listened to you…if only we had taken your reports more seriously…"

She lowered her head in apology.

"I am sorry."

"It…it couldn"t be helped." I swallowed. There was no sense in trying to seek blame now. What would be the point? Right now, the priority should be to drive these vampires out of Saint Teresa Academy and save as many lives as possible. "It"s only natural that you would trust your own students over an outsider. You have known Nan Gong Ji Yan for longer than me."

"I have learned my lesson. Sometimes, the person who is trustworthy isn"t necessarily the one you"ve known for longer. And you underestimate yourself once again." Teresa Taylor smiled. "You are one of us now."

"That"s right!" Rossetti coughed, staggering to her feet. "I won"t let anyone call you an outsider!"

"Not after you"ve shed so much blood and risked so much to protect the other students of Saint Teresa Academy," Teresa Taylor agreed. "Not after you"ve fought alongside us as comrades. From now on, you are more of a Saint Teresa Academy student than the likes of Nan Gong Ji Yan or Xu Wu Cheng will ever be."

Teresa Taylor turned her back on the inferno that had engulfed the ashes of her opponent and strolled toward me. Her figure was illuminated by the white, holy flames, which served as a beacon in the darkness. She looked so imposing that I instinctively broke out into a cold sweat, particularly because I could taste the rage emanating from her. Swallowing, I raised my hand haplessly to salute her.

"H…Headmistress…"

"Do not worry."

Teresa Taylor wasted no time talking to me, having already stepped past my trembling form. I couldn"t even turn back to watch her go, so frozen was I by her heated fury.

"With my own hands…"

Teresa Taylor continued speaking in that cool but deadly tone of hers, the apology and guilt she expressed earlier appearing to be an illusion. She no longer looked as if she was in consternation, but was instead swallowed by divine wrath, her s.h.i.+mmering figure literally screaming from vengeance. Even Rossetti and Kufa froze, unable to look at her directly. I went still, hearing her feet grinding into the earth as she stopped.

"…I will kill everyone in the Crimson Blood Demonic Night Clan."

And just like that, she took off, jumping so high in the air that she resembled a rocket. I found myself pushed back by the sonic boom and smoke, and while fighting to balance myself, I watched the contrails of holy fire that the headmistress had left behind in her wake.

Everyone still alive in Saint Teresa Academy looked up at that very moment, sensing her overpowering presence. Both friend and foe stared up in the skies and caught sight of a vengeful angel of holy fire descend upon them, delivering judgement to the enemies. So great were the flames illuminating her figure that the night had temporarily turned into day.

"Richard, are you all right?"

Rossetti managed to rush toward me. Kufa also hobbled over, concerned. I nodded, and then glanced at Miura.

"We failed to save her."

"…Headmistress was right." Rossetti sighed, wiping at her eyes. She was holding back a sob, despair and grief filling her pretty face. "We should have listened to you. We should have taken you more seriously. We wouldn"t have lost so much if we listened…"

"Hey, come on. You did listen to me, didn"t you? That"s why you are here with me right now. You guys trusted me."

"I"ll be honest. I didn"t believe you completely. There was still a part of me that thought you were mistaken, that this whole thing with Nan Gong Ji Yan and Xu Wu Cheng was just a misunderstanding. I didn"t really think that these vampires would really attack…"

"It"s okay. I understand. I was asking a lot out of you."

"Well, now isn"t the time to start blaming ourselves and feel guilt." Kufa wiped his mouth after coughing some blood. "We are still under attack. We need to counter the vampires" invasion and kick them out of our school. Or…if necessary, escape. As much as I have faith in Headmistress Taylor"s abilities, I"m afraid that the worst-case scenario might happen."

"I know." I nodded and sighed. Swaying to my feet, I stared out into the distance, where screams of students mingled with the triumphant cackling of vampires. There was still a lot for us to do, despite the insurmountable odds that we faced. And I wanted payback against the red-haired b.a.s.t.a.r.d who had made my life so miserable. "Let"s go."

While my friends and I moved, I couldn"t help but glance up at the heavens, where Teresa Taylor"s angelic form soared. An avenging angel, she was about to condemn all of our foes to a fiery death.

I almost felt sorry for the vampires. Almost.

All around the academy, both students and teachers reacted to her appearance, awe and dread flooding their expressions.

One of the teachers, Lao s.h.i.+, stopped in her tracks, and her colleague skidded to prevent himself from barreling into her.

"What happened, Teacher Lao?"

"Idiot! Don"t you understand?" she snapped at him. "The Headmistress…the Headmistress is seriously p.i.s.sed off!"

Further away, Teacher Einsberg paused in his spell. All around him, vampires were entombed in giant, glacial tombs, the ice having immobilized their writhing forms and frozen them solid. Despite his unintimidating features, Teacher Einsberg had literally just defeated a group of veteran vampires by himself, leaving only the leader.

"I"ve never seen the headmistress so furious before." He sighed as he turned to stare at his opponent, a tall, thin man with a scar on his face and wielding metallic claws. "I guess it"s only natural. After the stunt you all pulled here, he"s not going to let any one of you leave alive."

"UWOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

A burly teacher, Bernard Brentwood, reared to his full height as he bellowed stubbornly. Gritting his teeth, he began yelling at the students behind him.

"Get up! All of you! To fall at such a critical juncture…you dare call yourselves students of Saint Teresa Academy?! The headmistress herself is fighting! Are you all not ashamed to be lying around, doing nothing, while she destroys the enemies? To your feet! All of you!"

"Yes, Teacher Brentwood!"

"Uwooo!"

Inspired by their teacher, the students behind him also forced themselves back to their feet, blood dripping from the numerous wounds that had been carved into their battered bodies.

"Do not sully the pride of the Dragoon Corps!" Teacher Brentwood roared determinedly. "Show these filthy vampires how we Dragoons fight!"

His opponent, a female vampire with a stupid cap, flinched and stepped back.

"What?! What"s happening?!" she demanded, staring at her opponent in disbelief. "You were all on the verge of death earlier! What"s going on!?"

"We"ll crush you, that"s what!" Teacher Brentwood snarled and completed his spell. A gigantic hound materialized behind him, howling in fury. "You and you cronies will be defeated by my Dragoon Corps! Go!"

His students and soul beast charged forward to clash with the female veteran vampire and her Valkyrie vampires.

Vice-princ.i.p.al Fu smashed his opponent away with his broadsword and pointed it at the stumbling vampire, shaking his head.

"Oh boy…I"m in trouble."

"What are you talking about?" his foe snapped, bristling from the sudden surge in Fu"s mana. The aged mage sighed.

"Old Lady Teresa is going to yell at me for having this much trouble with enemies of your level."

Infusing his broadsword with mana, Fu cast a spell and blasted the group of vampires before him, reducing the wall behind them to rubble and burying them under concrete.

All across Saint Teresa Academy, the surviving teachers and students rallied, motivated by Teresa Taylor"s sudden resurgence.

All…except one.

Fan Fu Qing held a bloodied Zui Qiang by the throat, lifthing him bodily off the ground.

"The strongest teacher in Saint Teresa Academy, Zui Qiang," Fan Fu Qing murmured, studying his battered and tattered opponent curiously. "Look at him now."

You Shou complied quietly, taking in the sight of the defeated mage. Blood streamed down his unconscious face and mouth, dripping silently onto the floor.

"How weak."

With an air of disappointment, the vampire king of the Crimson Blood Demonic Night Clan shook his head.

"It seems that I"ve really overestimated you. Now sleep. The Global Federation is about to be overturned by the vampire clans."

Behind Fan Fu Qing, Teresa Taylor descended in an explosion of fury, immolating the ground in holy flames and burning a molten crater into the concrete. White flames billowed about around her, incinerating everything in her vicinity. With sword in hand, the White Witch stepped toward the vampire king.

"It"s been over 25 years, Fan Fu Qing."

Still holding Zui Qiang in the air, Fan Fu Qing merely turned his eyes to cast a bitter look at his old enemy. Teresa Taylor glared at the villain who had masterminded the a.s.sault on her academy and then issued a single chilling declaration.

"I came here to utterly destroy you."

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