Chapter 652: Chapter 653: Who Wrote This Damon found himself standing in front of two familiar faces. The first was a green-haired woman, the second was none other than Kael. Of course, the woman was Professor Emeralda. He narrowed his eyes, his expression clearly unimpressed. "Ermh... hello professors... what’s this about..." Emeralda smiled gently, her face beaming with warmth. "Ahhh, Damon, how have you been... it’s been too long..." Damon rolled his eyes, his tone flat. "I saw you in the academy just the other day. What’s this about? You guys are acting weird." Emeralda nudged Kael sharply. He sighed, clearly dragged here against his will. "We prepared the speech you’re going to give. Please, and please, do not speak your mind. Just read off what we give you." Damon raised an eyebrow, staring at them with suspicion, while Emeralda quickly pulled Kael to the side. "You’re supposed to say something nice first, ease him into it..." she whispered harshly. Kael closed his eyes and exhaled, his voice resigned. "That would not make a difference... let’s just hope for the best..." Emeralda turned back to Damon with a small, polite smile. "Evangeline, I’m sure you explained everything to him, right?" Evangeline, who was also present, sighed deeply, looking tired. "I tried..." Kael glanced at Damon, who was staring at them with a deadpan expression. "Hmmm, seriously... am I really that type of person..." The two professors narrowed their eyes, their expressions dead serious. "No, you’re far worse. Let’s see... you burned down the Evil Forest... you killed a professor... and now you’ve somehow convinced Renata and Matia to coerce the other students into starting some strange cult in support of you." Damon bit his lips, his jaw tightening. "Okay... I’ll read the speech... my goodness, false accusations against me are spreading all over the place." They didn’t even bother to grace his words with a response. Damon walked out, leaving them behind. Emeralda sighed, rubbing her temple. "Why won’t he take this more seriously..." Evangeline narrowed her eyes, her voice carrying quiet weight. "He can’t. He won’t take it seriously enough because there really isn’t a threat for him." She clenched her teeth as her voice lowered. "I think it’s because he’s normalized being in pain and constant dread. Now that there’s none, he doesn’t quite know how to live without it..." The two professors glanced at her with raised eyebrows. Evangeline felt her cheeks flush. "I... I... that’s just a guess of course, don’t mind me." However, she didn’t think she was wrong. Damon was used to being alone. He was used to being in pain, and constant dread was his companion. He was used to always struggling through pain and growing from it. Maybe he didn’t know how to live because he was too close to death. She shook her head. ’No, I’m overthinking this. He’s just being a loose cannon as always.’ Naturally Damon didn’t really think so. However, if he heard Evangeline’s words, he would tell her she was overthinking. Damon was about to make his entrance, but before he did, he picked up his pager. "Renata... is it ready..." Her calm voice came through, filled with the same fanatical fervor of one who worshiped the Dominator. "Yes, my lord, it’s ready." "Good, good." At the center of the grand pavilion, where representatives were supposed to give their speeches and address the hundreds of journalists, a figure emerged. This figure was, of course, not Damon. She descended from the sky. As soon as she appeared, she drew her sword and stabbed it into the edge of the floating pavilion. Raising her hand, stairs of ice began to form, leading all the way down from the heavens. The audience fell silent at this display. After everything that had happened, they were eager to see what the festivities held next. However, the organizers of the event were well aware this was not part of their arrangements, but they couldn’t stop it. When the ice stairs were done, the ice fairy clad in armor flew away. "What... just happened..." one of the masters of ceremony asked, his face pale and confused. His supervisor rolled his finger at him, a gesture that meant just go along with it. He nodded stiffly. Yet nothing more happened. No one came out. Until half a minute later, Damon’s figure appeared at the bottom of the stairs. He began to walk up the flight of ice steps, his cloak of shadows flowing behind him. Renata, who was the planner of this event, picked up her pager while glancing up at an airship hovering in the skies above. "Now." The sounds of fireworks exploding echoed through the skies, flower petals falling in a dazzling cascade as Damon solemnly walked up the stairs of ice. She glanced at the seating area for the students of Aether Academy. As soon as she looked at them, a young man with a black eye and a bruised face screamed out rigidly. "WOW, WHO IS THAT HANDSOME AND AMAZING PERSON." Another student with a bruised face stood up rigidly, glancing fearfully at Renata. "WHY, IT’S OUR LORD AND SAVIOR DAMON GREY." This time it was a girl with a swollen cheek who stood up, her eyes puffy from crying. "He’s... he’s... he’s so handsome... I... I want to marry him... but I’m so ugly so I can’t " Some students looked confused. "Huh, what’s gotten into you guys? It’s that bastr—" Before he finished his words, he was cut off by a random slap across the face. Renata raised her hand ever so slightly. The other students of the academy stood up, clapping furiously with forced smiles on their faces. "He’s amazing..." "We love him..." "Damon Grey, marry me..." Damon was so moved as he solemnly reached the top of the pavilion and stood before the podium, his face projected across the large seating area, hidden by his hood. ’They love me... they love me so much... I knew it, Renata... I knew keeping you around was a good thing.’ From where she stood, Renata had a beaming smile that practically said, leave it to me, my lord. Damon glanced across the massive area. He cleared his throat and raised his hand. Everywhere went silent. He reached into his shadow storage to bring out the speech that had been meticulously written for him by his professors and Evangeline. "I am Damon Grey, the vanguard of this great empire’s youths... and today I will be giving a small opening speech to encourage my peers." Damon glanced at the first page of the speech. "Huh... what is this... I’d never be caught dead saying any of this... respect my peers... we should do our best.....fight fair.... who... who wrote this..." Damon flung the papers away with a scoff. Clearing his throat, he raised his chin proudly. "Ahem, ahem, ahem. Citizens of Valerion... nobles, commoners, champions, and idiots who signed up thinking this would be fun..." "I have bad news... it won’t. This isn’t a festival. This is war. And only those willing to bleed will walk out of here." Professor Emeralda coughed up blood and passed out. Kael caught her with a sigh, shaking his head. "I knew it. This will haunt me in the faculty meetings..." The crowd erupted into murmurs. Journalists began scribbling and capturing images. Seras’s blade chuckled in her pavilion.