"So choose wisely, Rio," I murmured. "Your pain or your family's destruction."

Of course, it was mostly a bluff.

I couldn't reach anyone from the human empire at least not from this fucking academy, where every line to the outside world was sealed shut.

Rio knew that as well as I did.

But right now, knowing didn't matter.

His thoughts were scattered anyway.

After taking that blast head-on, he could barely even stay conscious. I was sure his ears were likely ringing and his whole body in pain.

I had held back just enough with the explosion to keep him functional because breaking him too quickly would have ruined the entire point.

Humans are fragile like that. With enough confidence and just a little bit of proper violence, you can guide their minds wherever you want and at the moment, Rio wasn't in any state to resist.

And really, being the successor of the Demon King didn't help him think straight either. In that stupid little brain of his, he would assume I had some way to actually act on my threat.

Still, I couldn't waste time.

If I was right, academy staff would be heading this way soon to check the blast.

Normally, the stronger ones would have noticed it instantly and shown up within seconds but… they never cared enough to bother.

Not about students or anything else.

And believe it or not, explosions like this weren't even unusual here. In this academy, chaos was practically part of the curriculum.

"Choose quickly, Rio." I pressed. "I don't have all day."

From my cloak, I pulled out a gem, something that looked ancient and important, its glow was soft and convincing.

In reality, it was nothing more than a portable light artifact from that stash I found in the Forest of Unmasked.

It was useful, yes… but nowhere near as grand as I was pretending.

"This is the communication artifact my father had given to me before I came here."

I said calmly.

"With it, I can reach anyone in the world, as long as they hold its pair."

I paused, giving him just enough time for the information to settle before continuing.

"And naturally," I added, "my father has the other one."

This was absolute nonsense.

Artifacts that connected to the outside were strictly forbidden here. And even if they weren't, the layers of suppression arrays around the academy would block the signal before it even formed.

But Rio didn't need to know that.

He just needed to believe.

"So, if you don't answer me within the next five seconds… I'll have no choice but to contact my father."

I didn't give him any time to think.

The easiest way to corner someone was to leave them no room to breathe and no space to think.

And truthfully, I wasn't planning to hurt Rio any further.

He had already paid what he owed me.

What I wanted now was something different and all of this was just clearing the path toward it.

I needed him to fear me more than he feared that Varek bastard. Without that, nothing I planned to make that bastard Varek suffer would work and this… this was the simplest way to tip the balance.

"J-Just… kill me, please."

Rio finally forced the words out.

His face had nothing but exhaustion but even then, he still wasn't where I needed him to be.

If he hadn't tried to blow me up a few minutes ago, I might have felt a bit of sympathy for him… maybe.

But that bridge went up in flames the moment he threw those explosives.

He really was both pitiful and pathetic.

Once, he had been a top dog back in high school, basking in whatever little power he had there.

But awakening… and arriving at this academy showed him how small he truly was and how vast the world was.

Still, I didn't feel any sympathy.

"Why would I kill you, senior?" I said softly, making a wounded expression on my face. "You haven't done anything wrong."

I stepped closer, lowering my voice as if sharing something tragic.

"It was your father who was wrong… for raising such a pathetic excuse of a son and your mother for smiling at you like you were worth something

"And your little sister, Alice, for admiring her big brother. So naturally, if anyone should pay… it should be them."

Rio's expression twisted but he stayed silent for a moment.

"Why are you doing this, Rael?" He asked like I was a damn villain.

Fucker, you were the one who attacked me in the first place and now you are acting like a victim.

"That's not a question you should be asking, senior." I met his eyes without blinking. "I'm the one who deserves an answer here."

"So tell me… why did you do it?"

I already knew why, of course. But hearing it from his own mouth again mattered.

"I told you already… I didn't have a choice. It was all Varek." His voice cracked, desperate in that pathetic way he had.

This was exactly what I couldn't stand about spineless bastards like him.

Always ready to point at someone else.

Always pretending they were cornered, helpless and forced.

He could have taken the beating.

He could have stood there, swallowed the pain, maybe even died if that's where it went.

But no…

He chose to try and kill me.

He made that decision with his own hands and even after that, he still dared to whine about having "no choice."

Honestly, if I were in a situation where killing someone was the only way to survive, I would have done the same.

"So… Varek is the one at fault here?" I tilted my head slightly. "Meaning, to save yourself from a mere bully, you decided to put your entire family on the line."

I let that realization sink in for a moment.

"Think about it, Rio. Do you really think my father would have sent me here without any preparation?"

My voice stayed low and almost too calm.

"If I died, he would know exactly who did it instantly. And tell me…" I leaned in just a little, "what do you think would have happened to the person responsible?"

Rio's eyes widened, the realization finally starting to hit him.

"He couldn't touch you because you were in the academy." I said gently. "But he would have slaughtered every last person who shares your bloodline."

I willed as my eyes glowed. It was a simple trick using the Arcane Disguise effect of my cloak.

"Did your tiny brain really not grasp that?"

"I… I… but Varek…"

Rio couldn't even form a string of a full sentence together anymore. His voice kept breaking like his mind was finally catching up to what he had done.

He understood it now, the weight of his stupidity.

And just like that, the blame he had thrown at me shifted neatly onto himself… right where I wanted it.

Now, I just had to shift that to Varek.

"Well, it wasn't totally your fault either." I put my hands on his shoulder. "It was probably Varek."

Rio's eyes trembled.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, do you really think Varek wouldn't have known what would happen?" I sighed. "He probably wanted to get rid of both you and me in one clean motion."

"But why me?" Rio asked.

"Come on, Rio… his entire bloodline is -extremist trash. You really thought he kept a human like you around out of kindness?" I raised my voice a bit. "These demon scums always treat us as disposable pawns… and you are no different."

I leaned back slightly, watching his expression crumble.

"He probably just got bored of you," I said, almost casually, "and decided the most entertaining way to get rid of you was to make you die in agony after seeing your whole family get slaughtered."

"No… that can't be." Rio touched his own head.

"It is how it is, Rio. That alliance should have never existed in the first place… demons don't deserve our kindness."

Yeah, I knew it wasn't the most logical argument but it didn't need to be.

Rio was already cracked open, barely holding himself together. With people like him, you don't bother with careful reasoning or detailed explanations.

You just shove the right emotions into the fractures… and they break exactly the way you want.

"Think about your own class, Rio. How many humans were there at the start… and how many are left now? And compare that to the demons."

"Tell me, who do you think has been dying more?"

The answer was obvious.

But the truth behind it wasn't some grand demon conspiracy, it was simple.

Demons were raised to survive from the moment they could walk, while humans… were soft and fragile.

Of course, Rio didn't need to hear any of that.

I needed him to hate the demons without understanding them.

Because that was the only way he would be any use to me.

And as for what I wanted…

Well, it wasn't complicated at all.

I was going to create a cult.

And this pathetic excuse of a man was going to be the cult leader.

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