Chapter 5: Abyssal Rift

Chapter 5

--Magic bugs are scalded awake.

Searing, rolling temperatures came from under his feet, and his armor sizzled under the heat.

It squealed in terror, its six thin legs kicking and stomping haphazardly in the air.

"...... You're loud."

The slightly impatient voice of a human teenager rang out in the very near distance.

Immediately afterward, a terrifying pressure descended, instantly strangling the Demon Worm's throat.

It froze in mid-air, staring blankly at the human in front of it.

The terrible flames were close at hand, leaping silently and radiating a terrible heat around them.

No, not burned?

Seeing that the Demon Worm had finally stopped screaming, Shi An only then extinguished the Dragon Flame at her fingertips.

His appearance had returned to normal, except for a bit of dark red light that flickered vaguely in the darkness deep within his pupils, as if they were blazing coals, revealing some inhuman qualities.

--The memories of earlier came like a tidal wave.

Eyes, scales, flames.

...... dragon.

"- But, but all the dragons are dead!" Demon Worm screamed hysterically, his voice shivering and changing pitch, "There aren't any fantasy species left on this continent!"

Shi An tilted her head in confusion, "I wouldn't be dead."

"......"

Demon Worm suddenly didn't know how to answer.

After twenty minutes, Shi An finally understood the current state of the times.

After a long silence, he spoke slowly and incredulously, "So there are no elves now?"

"No more."

"Where are the mermaids? Witch demon--"

"That's right, it's all gone."

Shi An's pupils are seismic.

He really didn't expect that after so many years had passed, only the weakest species had survived:

"How?!"

"No." Wraithworm replied carefully.

--It had begun to believe that what it had before it might actually be a dragon that had survived from ancient times:

"None of us have lived that long."

It asked with trepidation, "So ...... you, you really are a dragon?"

Shi An swept it away grumpily.

"!" The Demon Worm shuddered and hastily changed his wording, "No, no, I didn't mean to question your identity, it's just that ......"

"Why are you, why are you in the state you are in?"

Inside and out, from the blood and bones to the skin, all of it smelled like a fake human - even for a powerful fantasy species, the disguise was a little too real.

That reminded Shi An, who finally remembered the reason he'd caught the bug back.

"Earlier in the banquet hall, I smelled an ...... odor." Shi An held down the panicked Demon Worm that wanted to flee, cupped it in his hand and carefully looked it up and down, then frowned and said doubtfully, "...... But it's not there now."

Odor?

The Demon Worm froze and stopped struggling, "Is, is this it?"

The familiar scent of darkness filled the room silently.

"Yes!" Shi An's eyes lit up, "What's this?"

"...... poison, poison gas."

Magic Worm replied woodenly.

The bottom of the abyss is permeated with a highly toxic air, which can make the species that live in it more vicious and aggressive, and the

All creatures that climb out of the abyss will habitually remodel the air around them to make it suitable when they attack.

But it's deadly to the creatures on the continent.

By definition, dragons are no exception.

The Demon Worm's heart was delighted.

Maybe ...... this will be its chance to kill back!

It flapped its wings and worked harder to transform the air around it.

The teenager in front of him loosened his fingers slightly, but pinched them tight again in the next second.

Shi An's eyes brightened as she stared at the bug in front of her and shook it off without mercy:

"Go on."

Magic Worm: ????

It was shaken and dizzy, and suddenly, a sense of foreboding hit it.

"So, that ......" it spoke cautiously and carefully, "May I ask ...... what breed of dragon you are?"

A fire dragon? Agile, slender, flaming hot.

Or is it a black dragon? Majestic, massive and incredibly powerful ......

Shi An smiled through her teeth, "The Abyssal Dragon."

--Fierce, cruel, and cloudy.

Even in the ancient times it was the toughest and most fearsome breed of all dragons.

Most importantly, being born and raised in the Abyss, he was an overlord level character no matter which side of the continent he was on.

Magic Worm: "......"

Grass.

Sorry to interrupt.

*

After the desire to kill back was snuffed out in the cradle, the Demon Worm dutifully shook out everything he knew.

After 10,000 years of slumber, Shi An senses the changes of the times.

The abyss and the ground are two sides of a continent.

In his time, it was possible to travel between the front and back at will as long as one was strong enough, and after the disappearance of the Fantasy Seed, the Abyss was firmly sealed, only occasionally able to crack a few gaps, but the poisonous gas couldn't get out, only the Abyssal Seed could.

And on the ground, after the disappearance of the fantasy species, human beings created a civilization constructed by magic and technology, and gradually became the master of the continent, and the conflict between them and the other magical creatures intensified, to the point that it is now almost irreconcilable.

But that's not something Shi An is terribly concerned about.

And those things he really cared about didn't go halfway.

The bug knew neither information about its own body nor the whereabouts of its treasure, and because it was so weak, it created even just a little bit of poisonous gas.

The concentration was simply too low to allow him to find the sensation that he had vaguely been exposed to earlier in the banquet hall, and his body remained stubbornly human, with no semblance of a tendency to recover.

"...... Okay then." Shi An sighed in disappointment, "Looks like you're not much use."

Demon Worm: "?"

Before it could react, a cluster of flames instantly rose up in front of its eyes, and the boiling heat instantly hit its face.

Magic Worm screamed, "WAIT WAIT WAIT!!!"

Shi An made a move and asked very good-naturedly, "Huh? What's wrong?"

--if one ignores the dragon flames on his fingertips.

Devil Worm: "I'm still useful! I'm still useful!"

It fluttered its six thin legs in the air and shivered, "I-I know there are stronger demons there that can create more of the poisonous mist in the abyss!"

Shi An was interested, "Where?"

The Demon Worm carefully nuzzled Shi An's fingers and said curtly:

"I, the crevice I climbed out of, I, I can take you there."

It paused and stammered, "But ...... it might be slightly more difficult."

"Difficult?" Shi An frowned.

The demonic worm said, "Its location is very secretive and strictly guarded, I barely managed to sneak out by relying on my weakest hatchling form and parasitizing three consecutive people."

"Do you know about the School of Abilities?"

Shi An nodded.

Magic Worm said in a grave and serious voice, "The rift is right on campus, so if we want to get close, we have to disguise ourselves perfectly and wait for the right moment ......"

Shi An thought for a moment and said, "Or we could just wait for school to start."

"...... Huh?" Demon Worm didn't react for a moment.

Shi An pointed to a randomly discarded envelope on his nightstand, stamped with the Ability Academy's seal and written in five large letters - Acceptance Letter, "Like a week away?"

Magic Worm: "......"

To actually admit an Abyssal Dragon into the school, it felt like humanity was more than likely doomed.

*

"You guessed right." Zhuo Fu pushed a document over, a rare stony expression on his face:

"The Abyss has been very unsettled lately."

Mu Hang flipped through two pages, his eyes sweeping over them casually.

"Over this period of time, reports of Abyssal Rifts appearing have been popping up all over the place, and although they have happened from time to time in the past, the frequency lately has been far too high." Zhuo Fu took a deep breath and said, "Especially now, an Abyssal Species has actually appeared in the uptown area ...... Then there is only one possibility-"

Mu Hang closes the file:

"A new rift is nearby."

Zhuo Fu narrowed his eyes, "You knew that already."

"Not hard to guess." Mu Hang pushed the file back, "But it's hard to find."

He raised his eyes, his silver-blue ones narrowing slightly as he said nonchalantly, "My men have already been dispatched, searching the entire city on a carpet."

Mu Hang Tap the table with your fingertips:

"Approval paperwork remember to get it done."

Zhuo Fu: "......"

-You're fucking crushing the labor force!

After sending Zhuo Fu away, Mu Hang was once again the only person left in the office.

He lowered his eyes and picked up the file he was reviewing before Zhuo Fu entered the room.

On the first page, the handsome-faced teenager pursed his lips coyly and smiled wordlessly at him.

Below that were a few short lines of small print that condensed the first half of his little-known life into a brief summary.

Except for--

Inexplicable Disappearances, and Unexpected Admissions.

Mu Hang narrowed his eyes painlessly, all his emotions hidden beneath the azure-colored ice floes.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door.

"Enter."

Wen Yao cautiously pushed open the door, "Sir, another invitation letter has been sent from the Ability Academy side, is the rejection letter sent out as usual?"

"No need." Mu Hang said.

Wen Yao obviously did not expect this unexpected answer and could not help but be slightly stunned.

I only saw Mu Hang put down his materials, absently cross his long, pale fingers, and say, "I'll be there for this commencement ceremony."

*

With school just a few days away, Butler has already started helping Shi An get ready for school.

He put every item on his list into his suitcase with regularity, then casually picked up Shi An's own overstuffed backpack - and then nearly stumbled under the weight of the heavy weight.

Butler : "...... What have you packed?"

Shi An clutched her backpack firmly into her arms and said in a serious voice, "--Personal items."

Butler looked at Shi An suspiciously for a couple moments, but finally didn't press the issue any further, instead turning away to make other preparations.

The folds at Shi An's cuffs moved, and the demonic worm quietly poked its head out.

It looked at the suitcase in front of it that was already almost organized, and for a moment it felt a little ridiculous, "You ...... you really are ready to enter the academy directly like this."

Shi An nodded rightfully, "Of course."

"I got my notice oh." He emphasized.

Magic Worm: "That's not what I meant ......"

"It is said that the security measures of this Ableist Academy are very strict, so you are not worried ......"

It realized that it had said the wrong thing, so it hastily patted the rainbow's ass and said, "Of course! With your ability you surely don't need to be afraid of those weak gryphons, but they are after all a hindrance to our plans, and most importantly, although your current body shouldn't matter, but I am after all a demonic creature eh, I'm afraid I can't fool that security-"

Devil Worm peeked up.

The teenager was seen squinting lazily, his chin resting on his bag, looking extremely comfortable.

The Devil Worm snapped to attention, "You already have a solution right?"

Shi An pondered for a long time.

Then an honest shake of the head, "No."

Magic Worm: "......"

I fucking--

While this was going on, the sound of the doorbell being rung came from downstairs.

--No one had rung the doorbell since the first day he'd been here.

Shi An got up and headed downstairs.

Only Butler stood in the doorway with a cold face, and in front of him stood a teenager with a three-quarter resemblance to Shi Zechun's facial contours, his tone polite and stiff: "--Please, what is the purpose of your visit?"

Shi Rui stood in the doorway with an impeccable smile on her face, "I heard that my brother and I are enrolled in the same batch this time? So I wanted to come and say hello in advance."

Shi An winked.

Hmm? Who's this guy.

Shi Rui smiled and said, "I don't think you're aware of the opening ceremony of the Ableist Academy, are you?"

"It says it's a commencement ceremony, but it's actually a big practical test."

"The examination is several days long, and at that time it will be divided into classes based on the results of the examination, so ...... some of the means of fooling the machine may not be too useful yet." Shi Rui said with a hidden smile on his lips, meaning to say.

Butler's expression grew more somber.

Shi Rui : "So in order to cope with the test, my father set up places for us to conduct simulation drills, and I'm here this time to call my brother to go with me."

He smiled perfectly, without a hint of braggadocio.

All the malice was hidden without a trace, appearing extraordinarily close and friendly: "Brothers should take care of each other."

Butler's frown tightened.

He was very clear about his young master's talent, although he was able to barely pass the academy's magic test, he had never experienced any magic training, let alone drills ...... Although he very much hoped that his young master would be able to rise to prominence and regain his master's attention and position in the family, he was still more worried about Shi An getting hurt than that .

Just as he was about to politely decline, he only heard the young man's clear voice from behind him:

"Eh? Analog?"

Butler, startled, whipped his head around.

Only the teenager came forward with a sincere expression, "Then can it simulate the security measures inside that what entrance test ......?"

--preferably the kind that would allow him to test whether he could blend in with a human-faced bug.

Shi Rui froze, and for a moment was a bit confused as to why the other party said that, and subconsciously replied:

"...... probably?"

Shi An's eyes light up, "Uh oh, let's go then."