Ascension of the Nephilim

The chaos on Continents Above the Sky created waves of talks, discussions, and even fights.

The Crow family was denounced by many of the families and nations above and demanded the Crows for an answer.

The Crow family was in turmoil as even the kingdom they served under and their allies denounced them. Those in league with them in secret were also outwardly severing ties from them.

Trade deals and secret operations between the Crow and many of its allies were all put to a halt.

Down on the Floating Continents, the chaos was less.

The horrifying and unbelievable plan regarding sacrificing the Floating Continents to open the Star Unsealing Path had spread out and was met with much laughter. Many across the Floating Continents saw this as Alistair's desperate attempt to power grab and shake the race of the Princes and Princesses. 

The only significant difference was that the reports that Alistair had support from a secret family were the highlight of the events. Having a Pedagog as a supporter was vastly incomparable to having the help of an entire family who constantly raised up Pedagogs in the Continents Above the Sky.

And it was proven that Crown Prince Rupert and Prince Alistair had this support.

But the fear around Rupert was still great. In Alistair's case, the family supporting him was unwilling to openly admit it. In contrast, the Crow family and their Pedagog could no longer deny these challenges.

Emeros was not allowed to leave as these events passed, and Alistair kept him for three more days. The coming exams had to be delayed as the school was investigated. And there, Prince Rupert's ties to any of the Crow family were slowly uncovered.

With Alistair, Emeros took advantage of the sudden support, alliances, and trade deals offered to the Prince.

Alistair jumped from the last place of this entire race into the top four potential candidates who could be king.

With the deals made, Emeros could complete his creations of numerous Pseudo Elemental Cores and was ready to give them all to his class.

Valler's team of assassins was found as Alistair gave his suspicions on who surrounded Valler. In truth, Valler had hidden his evidence so well that finding the rest of the assassins would have been difficult, even for those from the Continents above the Sky.

But all that Alistair did was plant false witnesses who would allege that they had vaguely recalled Valler's interactions with several people.

Alistair ordered his men to bring out certain names. Some would give a name, while others would go over and give several. A total of twenty-eight characters were submitted. This was more than the total amount of operatives Valler had. Only sixteen were true. But with those names, the investigation soon led to its fruits as marks and proofs of these men were found.

The ties between the Crow family and Prince Rupert had stacks of evidence that even enforced a trial that would be held in the Floating Continent. At the same time, another would be made in the Continents Above the Sky.

This event also secretly brought great relief to Emeros and Alistair. They knew that the grand plan to open the seal would be delayed.

While all this was happening, Serena was now instilling all she had learned from Valler's memories to the class.

The fields in alchemy, energy conversion circle, medicine, and magic that Valler had were superior to what most teachers taught. It would have taken a Pedagog to outsmart the knowledge that Serena now had.

Soon, Emeros gave secret orders to Serena to weaken the formation that prevented others from spying on them.

The Star of Combat eventually had to investigate Emeros's class.

Together with Emeros, the Stars went to investigate.

And while the group of Stars drew curious stares at Serena, eventually they left and carried on their investigation, finding no links to the class of Emeros to the mysterious family that saved Emeros.

The class watched as the Stars left, and they were all shocked as the mere presence of these men suffocated them.

They were, indeed, worlds apart!

Finally, Emeros was with his class once more.

"Good job, Serena. I'm sure you have worked hard. And you guys have properly merged with the Elemental Cores and Pseudo-Cores I gave. But now, I have something for the rest of you." Emeros smiled. 

He dropped down the bag he carried and revealed the many objects of magic he would give out to the rest of his class.

"I thought it would be impossible to offer you all this, but now our advantage is set. You will now have your own Pseudo Cores and Elemental Cores."

The rest of the class all trembled as they saw it.

"Those who have successfully merged with the Cores and Pseudo Cores guide your classmates as they start the process. We have to finish this within today. Now... The exams have been delayed due to the investigation. We should have, at minimum, four additional days. Serena has laid the foundation of learning, and I can see that all of you have been keen on understanding everything she has learned."

Everyone nodded. As of now, all saw Serena not as a mere maid by Emeros's side. She had shown them greater heights in the Paths of Creation, Cultivation, and Combat! And what surprised them the most was Serena's incredible gift of assassination. She could now knock out all of them, and the entire class no longer stood a chance against her!

"Originally, I planned to teach most of you and have them pass while the rest will perform a Student Challenge."

Everyone was surprised as they heard this.

"A Student Challenge?" Quinn asked.

"Yes. All of you couldn't learn things fast enough to pass the exams. So, I opted to teach who is smart enough and have the rest of you challenge a student in a fight. According to the rules of the Academy, students may choose to challenge any other to switch rankings. Originally, it does not apply to you. But now they have made you an official class through me, which opens this opportunity to you. Even if you were to fail the exams, challenging a student will push you up the ranks, and you will acquire enough points to rank you up the list. With this, the plan was for you to challenge students at the five-thousand ranking, and this should put you from the bottom twenty-thousand and amass points enough to put you in ten-thousand. That would have secured your studies here." Emeros smiled.

"Of course! That works!" Chevik exclaimed. He was once a student of high ranks when a series of traitorous and unfair events dragged him down to the Vashura class. His current status had stopped him from this. When Emeros was assigned as a teacher, Chevik would challenge weaker students, but the teachers all prohibited him.

But now, the status of Emeros was great! He could now fight for this!

"So... Master, you plan for us to aim higher?"

"Yes. How about... let's take over the top one thousand?" Emeros smiled.

Everyone was startled.

"Top one thousand?!" Mackerel exclaimed.

"Yes. You won't be challenging individual members. We will challenge... a classroom!" Emeros laughed.