N-A-A 021 S-Class Demon King
021 S-Class Demon King
Kassel College, Room 303, Zone 1.
The dormitory room was a stark contrast in its furnishings: one half had standard European and American university freshman beds, while the other half was piled with leftover pizza boxes and empty beer bottles.
"Brother, you have no idea what an earth-shattering thing you did today!"
Fingel, clutching half a stolen cold pizza, chewed while spitting as he spoke: "You single-handedly humiliated the Lionheart Society and the Student Council!"
Lu Mingfei pulled out a chair and sat down, too lazy to pay attention to this noisy German loser.
"The most important thing is the spoils!" Fingel jumped out of bed excitedly. "The winner of the Freedom Day will get a year's free use of Norton Mansion! That's a detached mansion with a private swimming pool and wine cellar! Not only that, the girls who participated in Freedom Day can't refuse your advances and have to maintain a relationship with you for at least three months!"
Fingel clicked on the lit computer screen next to him and pointed to a post that was pinned high on the Night Watchers forum.
The title is eye-watering: "Ragnarok! The S-Class Demon King Descends! The One-Day Freedom Game Declares Bankruptcy!"
The poster was none other than Fingel, who loved to stir up trouble. He vividly portrayed Lu Mingfei's "ruthless" disregard for the Black King's portrait at the train station and even exaggerated the clearing of the square into a crushing defeat of a lower species by a higher-dimensional being.
At the end of the article was a blurry snapshot of Lu Mingfei in the square, hands in his pockets, with the two guild leaders lying on the ground in front of him. Below it was a bolded, bombshell report: "According to reliable sources, an S-rank official personally described the epic duel between the two guild leaders as—'children's play.' Brothers, the adults are here to cause trouble!"
"They're just being nosy." Lu Mingfei shook his head as he looked at the screen full of red replies.
In that world where air raid sirens could sound at any moment, a single tactical missile cost three million US dollars. To save money for repairing Unit-01's armor plating, the logistics department even rationed the air conditioning in the pilots' sick wards. Every shot fired there was a testament to humanity's ability to survive the next day.
This group of people are wasting expensive resources for a dormitory, a little pocket money, and the primitive right to mate with animals.
Peace is so precious; even going crazy feels like a luxury.
"However, they are indeed quite wealthy. The threshold for playing house with the nouveau riche is indeed high." Lu Mingfei concluded calmly.
He didn't care about the Norton Mansion or the girls. He only felt that this world was rich, so rich that it made him feel at ease. This sense of security even made him think that even if there really were dragons here, they would probably be pelted to death with money by these rich young masters.
"Bang!"
The dormitory door was suddenly pushed open with great force, and Professor Guderian walked in with a beaming smile.
"Mingfei! My good student!" Guderian grabbed Lu Mingfei's shoulder, spitting excitedly, "Your performance in the square just now was simply miraculous! Even the principal was amazed! But—"
"You must pass tomorrow's hurdle! Only by passing tomorrow's '3E Exam' can your S-rank bloodline be fully confirmed. This is related to your privileges in the academy, and also to my tenure evaluation!"
"The 3E exam?" Lu Mingfei frowned.
"Extraction Evaluation Exam, the bloodline assessment exam," Fingel kindly translated from the side. "It mainly tests the freshmen's level of resonance with dragon runes. If you can't understand dragon runes, or haven't developed spiritual vision, even if you defeat the King of Heaven today, the board of directors will still demote you or even dissect you for research."
"I can beat the King of Heaven to a pulp, and I'm still being investigated by the board of directors?" Lu Mingfei didn't understand the logic behind this.
"No, brother..." Fingel was about to reply.
"Shut up, Fingel." Professor Guderian placed his hands on Lu Mingfei's shoulders, looking directly into his eyes. "Mingfei, concentrate, listen to every sound I make!"
A series of strange sounds were forced out of the professor's throat, like the quacking of a drake or the straining of a leaky bellows. The old man was covered in sweat, his limbs contorted, desperately trying to imitate the awe-inspiring majesty of a dragon.
It almost made Lu Mingfei laugh.
Professor Guderian finished reciting the last set of syllables, let out a long breath, and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He looked at Lu Mingfei expectantly, waiting to see whether this S-class freshman would burst into tears or witness a terrifying psychic vision of the apocalypse.
"Mingfei...you..." Guderian's voice trembled, "Don't you feel anything? Don't you feel the urge to cry? Don't you feel the desire to kneel down?"
"Why are you crying? Why are you kneeling?" Lu Mingfei asked, puzzled.
He knew this was the Word of Power: Emperor. When he was about to be defeated in the battle against the mass-produced EVA units, Lu Mingze controlled Unit-03 and roared out this Word of Power. Unfortunately, that world didn't have this power; Lu Mingze could only rage helplessly within his mental link.
With this severely distorted incantation, it really sounds like a junkyard recording loudspeaker.
"But...this is the Word of Power: Emperor!" Guderian was so anxious he was tearing his hair out, caught in a huge academic crisis. "This is impossible! Even an S-rank couldn't be completely unmoved by the Emperor's summons! Unless...unless you can't understand it! You can't hear the majesty within it!"
"I understand," Lu Mingfei replied naturally.
"What?!" Guderian and Fingel's eyes widened simultaneously.
"Praise be to my king's awakening! Destruction is rebirth. The gist is: absolute obedience, or die. Right?"
Guderian stood frozen in place, while Fingel's pizza silently slid down to his crotch.
A freshman who had never even taken a dragon language class actually treated the most ancient incantation as a foreign language golden phrase, translating it casually like translating "How are you," and even adding his own summary.
"How...how do you understand its meaning? Who taught you?" Professor Guderian's voice had turned into a sharp duck quack.
"Professor, that's just empty talk," Lu Mingfei said.
Guderian staggered back two steps to the door, feeling as if his academic career, which he had spent most of his life on, had been thrown into the trash can on the spot.
-----------------
Night had completely swallowed the mountains, and there was no champagne party on the lawn in front of the Norton House as in previous years.
Student council members lined up like an assembly line, neatly stacking expensive oil paintings, boxes of Cuban cigars, and heavy Persian carpets onto handcarts and carrying them away.
If you lose a battle, you should concede the field; this is the dignity of a defeated army.
Caesar Gattuso stood in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window on the second floor, looking down at his evacuating subordinates.
Today he suffered a humiliating defeat. His opponent didn't even draw his sword; a ghostly, invisible repulsive force pulverized his prized swordsmanship. Since he had lost, according to the rules, this palace would belong to Caesar. Even if his opponent was completely unaware of this, Caesar would absolutely not stay in this magnificent palace for a single second longer.
"All personal belongings have been inventoried. All student council members will evacuate Norton Building by 10 p.m. tonight."
Nono walked behind Caesar and placed a list on the mahogany table next to him.
"You were there at the time; you were also there to pick up his counselor."
Caesar took a sip of whiskey and looked up at Nono, who was sitting on the windowsill playing with a bullet casing.
"Nono, what's your opinion of Lu Mingfei?"
Nono twirled the bullet casing between her fair fingertips, then snapped it into her palm.
"I can't judge him, because he and you are from completely different worlds."
Caesar's brow furrowed slightly: "What do you mean?"
Nono said, "He wasn't mocking your strength when he saw you all slashing at each other with knives."
The night breeze ruffled Nuonuo's dark red hair. She gazed at the peaceful campus outside the window, but what she saw in her eyes was the image of a collapsing figure walking on the water of Lake Ashi.
"He just felt sad."