CHAPTER 42: HERO’S PARTY FORMED

After arriving at the classroom and stepping inside, Ard saw all his friends gathered there. He closed and locked the door. Then he approached his friends.

"Guys, there’s something I need to tell all of you," Ard said suddenly.

Eva, Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, Rosalind, Patricia, Geoffrey, Ainsley, and Irwin immediately turned to look at Ard, who seemed serious among them. Not a single person spoke, waiting for what Ard had to share. After taking a deep breath and letting it out, Ard began telling his friends, including Eva, everything he had heard from Abel about the dark cult at the academy.

Naturally, all their faces instantly changed, shocked and disbelieving what Ard was saying. Ard also told them who the real mastermind was behind the attack on the camp where Geoffrey, Ainsley, Irwin, Patricia, and Rosalind had been. After hearing it, the faces of the five flushed red with anger.

"Bang," Geoffrey immediately hit the table with his fist, his face turning bright red with pure emotion.

"That damn, stupid pig prince was behind the trouble yesterday. That’s completely unforgivable," Geoffrey muttered, his voice heavy and deep.

"His reason was just because he wanted to talk to Milia? That’s completely insane. What does he think human lives are worth?" Ainsley added, gripping the frame of his glasses with hands trembling from fury.

"That’s absolutely outrageous. I can’t forgive that prince at all," Rosalind added.

Irwin and Patricia remained silent, but it was clear from their expressions that they, too, were furious at Julius, the mastermind behind everything.

"Is it true that cult exists, Ard? Oh... I mean, Prince Ard," Milia said, turning to look at Ard with a flushed face.

"Don’t call me ’Prince,’ just call me by my name, like usual. And yes, the incident last night, and the academy attack that happened before, was the work of that cult," Ard replied.

"Huh... Prince?" Geoffrey, Ainsley, and Rosalind asked in unison, as they hadn’t known yet.

"He’s a prince, you know," Beatrice said, sitting next to Ard and leaning against him.

"That’s right, and he’s my fiancé," Alicia added, immediately clasping Ard’s arm.

"Ah... hahaha... something like that," Ard replied with a forced laugh.

Geoffrey, Ainsley, and Rosalind immediately looked at Ard with faces full of questions, still slightly disbelieving, but suddenly, "Bang," Eva slammed her hand down on the table.

"Hey! Get to the point! Stop messing around," Eva said sternly.

"Oh, yeah... right," Ard replied. He immediately pulled his arm free from Alicia’s grasp and nudged Beatrice away from him. Ard looked at his friends with a serious expression. "Right now, I’m asking all of you for help. We have to unite and we have to trust only each other. We cannot trust anyone else—including the Academy Head, the instructors, the upperclassmen, or the Student Council," Ard said in a calm, weighty voice.

Everyone immediately fell silent and looked at each other, then they just remained quiet without a single person speaking. Ard turned to look at Patricia.

"Patricia, please show the others your true self. We can all be trusted here," Ard said, smiling.

Naturally, everyone immediately turned to look at Patricia, except for Eva, who already knew that Patricia was Pyria. Hearing Ard’s words, Patricia smiled and nodded. She immediately stood up, and her body emitted a bright light, making everyone close their eyes except Ard and Eva.

After the light disappeared, the faces of Geoffrey, Ainsley, Irwin, Rosalind, Beatrice, Milia, and Alicia were instantly shocked to see a very beautiful Pyria, with golden blonde hair and long, pointed ears, standing among them with her arm still bandaged.

"Hi, my name is Pyria. I’m from the Elf tribe," Pyria said, introducing herself.

"You... you’re the one from last night, aren’t you?" Alicia asked, who had seen Pyria but didn’t know she was actually Patricia.

"Yep, that’s right. We met last night," Pyria replied cheerfully.

"That’s incredible, this is my first time seeing an elf," Ainsley said, examining Pyria with his glasses.

"Same... this is my first time seeing an elf, too," Geoffrey added, speechless.

"I’ve seen elves in my kingdom, Rellios, but I never expected Patricia to be the elf who came to the camp last night," Beatrice added.

"I’ve seen them before, too, but just like everyone else, I’m shocked that the elf from last night is actually Patricia... why were you in disguise?" Milia asked.

"Well... I just wanted to live quietly and not stand out," Pyria replied casually.

"Hmm... interesting," Irwin muttered.

"You’re half-demon too, aren’t you?" Pyria asked Irwin.

"Oh... you know?" Irwin asked, shocked.

"You told Ard outside the auditorium that time. These ears of mine aren’t just for show, you know," Pyria said, touching her ear.

"Ah... that’s right," Irwin replied.

Rosalind didn’t say anything, because she was too shocked that Patricia, who was always quiet in class, was actually an elf, even though in the kingdom where she grew up, she often saw elves coming to the city to trade or buy things.

"Now that there are no more secrets between us, we have to stick together. The bottom line is, the ten of us must not fall into the hands of that cult, and we need to put up a fierce fight against them," Ard said.

"That’s right, I agree with Ard. We are all classmates, and of course, we all have to trust each other," Eva added.

"Alright, I understand," Alicia replied.

"Same here. You can count on me, bro," Geoffrey said, thumping his own chest.

"Okay, I’ll continue now," Ard said.

Ard began to explain the weirdness of the incident last night and the role his brother Abel played. He also mentioned his suspicion of the Student Council, Eva’s brother Edmund who is the Crown Prince of the Orthus Empire, and all the kingdoms in the world.

He also revealed that the Demon God’s Seal was actually broken 1,000 years ago, and that the worshipers of the Goddess Ophelia had rewritten history to twist facts and public belief, making absolutely no one in this world trustworthy except for one another.

This was further confirmed by Pyria, who shared what was known by the Elf tribe, who had been tasked with observing the world for the last 1,000 years, without mentioning anything about Azroth having lived there or who Ard and Eva actually were.

"Wow... this is... hard to believe, and if it’s true... this problem is clearly bigger than all of us," Ainsley muttered.

"Exactly. That’s why Eva and I can’t face this problem alone, because we can’t pretend to be blind to what’s been happening lately. We need all of your help, because we can only trust all of you," Ard said.

"For that, Ard and I need your help. I know all of this is very dangerous for all of us... I can’t force you to fight alongside me and Ard... so..."

"How about it? Are you in? What Eva means is that she and I won’t force you to fight with us later when we have to face the Demon God," Ard asked, cutting off Eva’s stiff words, and turned to see Eva nodding at him.

Hearing Ard’s words, everyone immediately became silent and lowered their heads, their brows furrowed as if thinking hard, except for Pyria and Irwin. Finally, Alicia stood up.

"Alright, I’ll always be with you... and Princess Eva, my Prince," Alicia said loudly.

"Me too. There’s no way I can just sit by after hearing this," Rosalind added, standing up.

"I’m in," Milia added simply, without needing to explain anything, just by standing up.

"Yep, I’m in. I hope I can help," Ainsley added, standing up.

"There’s no way I’m leaving my friends behind. Of course, I’m in," Geoffrey added, standing up and putting his arm around Ainsley.

"Even though I’m weak, I want to help, so I’m in," Irwin said, standing up and changing his face to reveal his single demon eye.

Ard, Eva, and Pyria also stood up to join their friends. Then they all turned to look at Beatrice, who still seemed to be thinking hard.

"What about you, Princess?" Rosalind asked Beatrice.

"But we won’t be going into the forest and traveling far, will we?" Beatrice asked.

"Hopefully not," Ard replied.

"Haaah... alright, I guess there’s no need to ask, is there? Of course, I’m in," Beatrice replied, standing up.

Everyone immediately smiled when they saw Beatrice stand up. Then Ard held out his hand in front of him. Then, Eva placed her hand on top of Ard’s hand. Right after that, Alicia, Milia, Geoffrey, Irwin, Ainsley, Rosalind, and Beatrice placed their hands on top of Eva’s hand, and finally, Pyria put her hand on top, closing the stack.

They all turned to look at each other and smiled. Starting today, a party of heroes was formed, a party that would one day in the future come face-to-face with the Demon God emerging from the gates of hell.