The Novel's Professor

In a cold and dark room, a charming man with mature features kneeled before a statue. In that moment, his eyes opened wide, sensing something within the formation. The corners of his lips curled into a smirk.

"…The battle in which destiny ordained is finally starting," Aza said, his eyes staring at the statue in front of him. "You are my last obstacle, Rio Salem."

Behind him, dozens or so of cloaked figures stood beside the room quietly. Their eyes, wide open, stared at him, filled with admiration and respect.

"Followers of Qrqvitiq," Aza asked softly, "Are you all ready to be sacrificed for the dawn of mankind's salvation?"

"Yes, Lord Aza!" All the followers shouted in fervor, their eyes filled with maddened and frenzied devotion.

"Then is it so, no more words need to be spoken," Aza instructed gently, an angelic calm smile blossoming on his face, "All of you. Go and hunt the new blasphemous invaders within the forest."

In that instant, all the followers' eyes glowed, their bodies abruptly vanishing as they ran throughout the forest.

Beside the room, Arcuied and Eugene were struggling to maintain their consciousness as both of their magical energy are continually siphoned. It wouldn't take long before they would die.

"I would like to kill you myself, but..." Aza spoke, his head shaking, "I still have to prepare the ritual for 'His' descent."

—

In the middle of nowhere, somewhere within the forest, a white vortex abruptly appeared in the air.

At that moment, two figures erupted from the vortex, their eyes filled with confusion and panic. Their body fell from the air as a loud thud resounded from the forest.

While both of them were aching from pain, three luminescence bright stones fell to the ground. The three stones had beautiful lines and edges, it's material molded from crystal diamond as it shone brightly admist the dark, eerie forest.

"Damn.." Ciel cursed, his head dizzy from the sudden teleportation. "Where the hell are we..?"

"...Ugh, my body hurts." Rio muttered. Ah, damn it. His body was still sore from the fighting earlier. His back lay on the ground, aching from the sudden fall. "...What happened this time?"

"Hell if I know, I'm just as clueless as you are..." Ciel sighed, his body slowly standing up from the ground. His eyes darted around the forest. Just what in the hell happened?

A second ago, they were inside the demon dimension, talking about their plans with the Stone Dimension Catalyst's. But, immediately, before they could even react, the stone shone brightly as a vortex suddenly formed, transporting them to god knows where.

"Tsk." Rio clicked his tongue in annoyance. His gaze shifting at beside his body, staring at the remnant spirit that was nonchalantly hovering around him. "Do you know what happened?"

'Wait—you didn't know?' Faust asked, his brows raising in surprise. 'I thought it's pretty obvious, just from the stones.'

"..What do you mean?" Rio muttered, his brows furrowing in confusion.

'The stones activated instantly. You probably didn't notice, from your reaction, but there were glyphs and symbols written all over the stone,' Faust explained. 'It activated the moment you touched it.'

"Why me, specifically? Didn't Ciel touch it first?" Rio asked, his face morphing into a frown.

'Idiot. It's because the prerequisite for the stone to activate is magical energy,' Faust berated, his head shaking.

"Then..why did it activa—" Rio spoke, pausing as a stroke of realization dawned on him. He raised his hand, putting it over his face, caressing his skin. "I still have my disguise turned on, so magical energy is automatically transferred to anything I touch..."

"But," Rio spoke, "The magical energy that I accidentally transferred should be miniscule at best, not enough to activate a stone…unless, prior to this, the stone was already filled with magical energy."

'Bingo!' Faust praised, 'It's like a fuse lighted by a match. The stone was already full of magical energy, thus even a slight touch of magic is enough to activate it.'

"..Why didn't you tell me?" Rio asked, his brows knitting together.

'Hey, you didn't ask. It's not my fault.' Faust nonchalantly replied, his head shaking.

Rio sighed, his head shaking in dissapointment.

"...Then, everything was my fault?" Rio mumbled, his eyes closing. In his defense, he didn't know that the stone was automatic—or, the type to be instantaneously activated. If he knew, then he wouldn't have touched it at all.

Then again, he should have expected that. How else did those people from the Underground use the stone with just third rate Miracle Invokers and normal resources?

This was a bright example of why he should be extremely wary. A simple careless mistake transferred him to some place he didn't even know of.

"Did you say something?" Ciel asked, his hand gripping the stones tightly.

"No, not at all.." Rio sighed, shaking his head depressingly. "In any case, do you know where we are?"

"Let me check my smartwatch. If there's any signal, then most likely we're back at our world," Ciel spoke, his hand touching the screen of the smartwatch. The smartwatch turned on, glowing brightly as a hologram formed mid air, "Yep, we're back at our world. Now, let's see our GPS..."

Rio waited patiently, his feet tapping over the ground. His eyes darted around the forest, noticing the dark and eerie old ancient trees surrounding them. The cold wind blew, fluttering the bushes and leaves.

At that moment, his body involuntarily trembled from the frigid air. There was...something off about the place. He raised his head, catching a smell of something unusual.

What was that smell?

Was that...the smell of blood?

The faint smell of blood enraptured his senses — it felt rusty and new. It was like a slaughter went down in the place. A full blown massacre.

'Don't tell me...this place is one of the forbidden domains mentioned in the novel?'

Rio frowned, his brows knitting together. The Forbidden Domains were places heavily restricted from entry due to the danger they possessed.

"Alright, I got the location we're in," Ciel spoke, his eyes turning to Rio. "We're at the boundary between the Arthurian Empire and Harrowing Lands. Quite close, actually. The name of the forest we're in right now is...SilentDemon Forest."

"..SilentDemon Forest.." Rio muttered, his eyes narrowing with familiarity. The name of the place was familiar, however, reassuringly it wasn't part of the Forbidden Domains. So he was safe for the time being.

But something about the name was stuck in his mind. SilentDemon Forest...Silent...!

Then something within his mind clicked.

Rio involuntarily took a step back, his eyes opening wide, while his breath hitched. His gaze hurriedly shifted to Ciel, filled with shock. "...Repeat what you just said right now!"

"Huh?" Ciel answered, "We were transported at SilentDe—."

"...Shit." Rio cursed loudly, his head shaking in distress. "We're going to escape from here right now. If you can, try to call for some back up."

"But why?" Ciel asked, confused.

Rio raised his head, staring at the man silently. He was contemplating on whether to tell the agent or not. First and foremost, he had no proof. Secondly, it was possible that afterwards, the TAOJ would hunt him down, in suspicion of having information about cultists and devils. Lastly...it was just his personal discomfort at sharing the contents of the novel.

"So? I'm sure you know I can't just call for reinforcements for no reason." Ciel said, his head tilting in confusion.

Rio sighed, his head shaking. For now, his safety should be his foremost priority. Besides, he had a disguise anyway. He answered quietly, "...Territorial Intrusion; Descent of Archdevils."

As soon as the words dropped, Ciel took a step back, his body shaking from shock. His hand stretched over to Rio's shoulder, while his eyes, wide open, stared at the blonde-haired man, "...Y-you're not joking, are you?"

"..I wish I was," Rio answered, his gaze meeting with the agent's eyes. He truly wished he himself was just joking. Alas, that was not the case.

"I swear to God, but shit!" Ciel cursed as he bit his lip. He asked, "You do know I can't just tell them that, right?!"

"..I know, but you have to trust me on this one, or else...this could potentially just harm thousands, if not millions, of people." Rio sighed.

"..This better not be a joke or else I'l die, you know?" Ciel spat out, his hand dropping. He shifted his eyes to his wrist, looking straight at the smartwatch. "The higher ups hate false alerts the most. Especially when they're on an emergency."

Rio didn't reply, his eyes vacant as he tried to fervently remember the contents of the first arc of the novel, The Last Stand. He didn't expect...it was this early—No, he wasn't even sure if it had started.

But the faint smell of blood and scattered red clouds above the sky proved that it may have already started. Still, the only inclusive fact to know if the plot already started is if Arcuied and Eugene were both in the forest right now.

Unfortunately, he didn't put a tracking device over their movements, nor does he have anyway to know of their current location. Regardless, even if it had started or not, his goal was still the same, to escape and return to the academy to prepare himself from the aftermath of the first arc.

Why was his mind so fixed at the decision to escape the forest?

To him, it was simple. His inclusion would be irrelevant. If the novel was atleast, accurate, then by the plot, the main character would surely still be prevalent in their victory.

He had no interest in pointlessly risking his life. In the off-chance the novel plot arc had not started yet, then the cult faction, and their leader, the Rank C Occultist, Aza Ledger, would have dozens of followers that could easily outnumber and decapitate him in the forest.

In the chances the novel plot arc had started, then this forest would surely be filled with greedy Miracle Invokers vying for the "nascent—bead".

Either way, both of the situations were dangerous and risky. And he had no interest and fetish for masochism to participate in a pointless battle royale.

'This...magical energy and resonance..' Faust muttered beside him, his eyes unusually tense and serious, 'This is...the aura of a Rank B! Realm of True Miracles!'