The Academy's Strongest Undercover Professor

"Beg?" I didn't manage to hold back my laugh this time around. "Do you honestly think that you can beat the two of us at the same time? Are you that delusional?"

Zero just smirked behind his mask.

However, I knew that he wasn't as confident as before. Handling both Hank and myself was something that was not even possible in the war. Maybe the demons we faced weren't as strong as Zero. But even then, we should be able to handle someone like him pretty well overall. After all, Zale had been confident in sending me alone to face Zero. Or that's what he told me.

'Did Zale anticipate that Hank would find me? Is that why he delayed me leaving the tribe's village?' I suddenly thought with a slight frown.

I quickly discarded such thoughts since they were useless to even think about at the moment. Maybe Zale had made the decision to not to tell me, and there must have been a reason behind. Anyway, thinking about it, right now, wouldn't change anything to the current situation.

"You two aren't enough to face me. You can't even manipulate aether!" He said as he continued to play with the purple flame slowly moving across his fingers, little by little.

However, seeing the expression on my face not changing. Zero seemed to realize that something was wrong.

"Aether, you mean the energy gods can manipulate?" I asked with a knowing smirk.

Zero who heard those words coming out of my mouth, didn't know how to react. He was completely at a loss for words since such information shouldn't be available to him. It was something only a very selected few knew of.

"How do you know about that?"

Zero got even more serious as I could hear it in the tone of his voice. He was shocked that I knew of such things when it was supposed to be a secret that was hidden for mortals. They should have never even heard the word "Aether" in their life.

"How?" I shrugged. "Maybe because I can use it as I wish, just like you are doing right now."

"Bullshit. Only special individuals like me can use it…" However, Zero's eyes suddenly widened as he looked at me. "Don't tell me that you are a demi-god?"

That made me laugh even more. "Do I look like a demi-god to you?"

To that, Zero simply shrugged. After all, I looked quite good and I had a pretty good physique. Though, I had never seen a demi-god in my life, so I couldn't tell if I looked like one or not.

"Ugh…kind of?"

"Well, I'm not one to answer your question."

That made Zero even more confused. After all, the Gods and his father, the Demon King, were the only ones who could use that energy. The rest could not do so apart from their sons and daughters. That was the extent of people who could use the aether as they wished. There was no other method that Zero knew of.

"Then, this is clearly bullshit. There is no way that you can use aether."

"Is that really what you think?"

"Yes. If you aren't a demi-god, then there is no way for you to use this. The only way would be if you were a God. But you clearly aren't."

Hank was listening to our conversation with quite the frown as he was part of the people who had never heard of aether in his life. It wasn't an energy that he had heard of in his entire life even when he had reached such level of strength.

Personally, I wanted to mock Zero as much as I could at the moment. However, I managed to resist to such thoughts since aether could be considered my hidden power. Something that I would only use if absolutely necessary. That is, normally. Since Zero had just learned that I could potentially use aether, he would be a lot more wary of me, and I wouldn't hide from the fact that I could use it in the battle against him.

"I won't show it to you right now. There's no point." I sighed, as if bored out of my mind. "Can we stop talking and start fighting? Or are you just dragging this on and on because you think that it is impossible to defeat us?"

"Stop wasting time, either give up and beg for us not to kill you right now. Or try to flee and die. You cannot beat us and you know it extremely well."

I was tired of entertaining him just like he wanted when I wasn't gaining anything from doing so. This discussion clearly wasn't heading anywhere that was useful since at the end of the day, this situation would have no choice but to concluded in two clear ways.

Either me and Hank lost, or he would.

There were no other options, and there would never be. Not when I am involved in such things.

With those words, I shut my mouth and actually got serious. It was time for the battle to start.

"Are you going all out?" Hank suddenly asked me.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Yes."

Hank knew very well what me going all out meant as I suddenly activated most of the powers available to me. I summoned Mother Nature, I used the power from the vampires, and the power from the giants. I kept some of powers deactivated since it truly took a toll on my body. It would also make it possible for me.

I became suddenly bigger, stronger, and I asked for help from Mother Nature. I only activated those three powers since I had Hank with me and I could sustain those three powers quite well without much backlash.

"Oh, is that the powers of the famous Caedrel Stuart?" Zero said in a mocking tone as he saw my transformation right before his eyes.

He seemed to still be calm and in control of the situation for some reason. Maybe he still didn't believe what I said about the aether.