The shadow demon attacks!!
These were the concerns of the 4 alumni guards who protected the prize of the competition.
One would argue that for such an important event, surely just four guards wouldn't suffice.
However,
The ease with which they engaged with the shadow Naki's was a testament to their abilities and coordination.
Naki was among the shadows, and he could witness the battle unfolding up close.
"(What the hell, who are these guys!)"
2 shadows were approaching one of the guards, skipping from side to side to confuse and pounce, but he stood firm.
"The headmaster must've gone senile over the years if he'd allow such a weak demon to roam his grounds unsupervised."
This was a Aquila discipline mage guard, as he raised his hand and concentrated on a white spherical ball of light
The shadow Nakis jumped to attack, but the white ball of light expanded in a wide radius and brushed them off, washing them away in the process.
Meanwhile, one of the other guards was physically engaging the Shadows, facing off 3 at once with brute strength and ruffian brawl combat.
"MWA HAHAAA!!!"
His fists hit like giant boulders, and each stomp on the ground with his feet caused light tremors on the earth around him as he smashed and grabbed shadows to shadows.
"(At this rate I can't sneak in on time!)"
A frustrated Naki looked ahead as a female guard was manifesting a barrier, barring the entrance; she was almost done with the seal.
"(I have to act fast. This is gonna hurt!)"
Naki placed the short blade on his already wounded hand once more
"Grh," he groaned and slashed. The blood spread out and was absorbed by his sigil as he called shadows around him.
"Shadow trick - enshroud!"
The guards stood cautiously as the remaining shadows pulled back and surrounded Naki in disguise.
"Hm...what are they planning?"
The shadows form a black cloud around him then.
"(An imagination was it, sure what I'm about to do is within the realms of what the devil's powers can attain)"
Naki stretched his hand forward and concentrated, expanding the radius of the black clouds. it consumed all the guards and the warehouse into total darkness.
The four guards were slightly unsettled but remained prudent, anticipating sneak attacks from Naki.
"Remain steadfast, everyone, he could attack at any point."
The fourth guard stepped forward. It was a silver-haired maiden with a tall staff.
This was their support.
"Buy me time, I'm going to cast Dynelight to wash away this darkness."
"Understand. I'll remain near. You 2 see if you can identify where our perp is hiding. For all we know, he could be using this as a means of escape," the Aquila mage guard instructed, as the others obliged.
The guards stood coordinated as Naki executed his plans.
Back at the Gathering ceremony
Each party of the participating mages was putting on a show for the audience, manipulating various multi-colored magical spheres.
They put on a dance that was both a mix of ballerina and skating, with each participating party exchanging spheres with each other as they came across, to signify respect and sportsmanship for the upcoming games.
Thus, 4 spheres were on display, and each dance was led by the various prodigies of the schools.
Hana and Sorusha's prodigy, Vincent, exchanged spheres as they danced, while Hana and East Allura's prodigy, Ishan, did the same.
Though they exchanged spheres with different prodigies, Hana and Habiki's eyes met, as they were already gauging each other's morale for the upcoming games.
Hana struck Habiki a confident grin and murmured what Habiki could interpret as a taunt.
"This shall be the only moment our eyes cross on equal footing, Habiki of Illusions," she whispered.
Habiki chose not to respond; her expression would suffice at this time.
It was a message of its own, offering a fair warning to Hana - 'things shall end differently this time'
Back at the storehouse skirmish
Naki was spawning shadows of himself within the dark clouds to ambush the guards, but they had already grown accustomed to his schemes and were rebuffing his attacks with ease.
The silver-haired guard had fireflies surrounding her, a glyph lightning up beneath her feet.
She was about done with her cast.
"It's ready, everyone!"
The guards all got close to her and closed their eyes as she raised her staff and struck it on the ground.
"Lumia's Dynelight!"
The glyph beneath her feet expanded widely, and a large pillar of light shot out from it, with several fireflies circulating around and within it, followed by a whispering, piercing sound.
This washed away all the darkness and terminated all the hostilities it came across, unless they were close to her, which her fellow guards were.
As the light died down, none of Naki or his shadows could be seen, and everything seemed to be in order.
"Did we get them?" the guard in charge of barring the entrance asked.
"One would think so. Lumia's Dynelight is a major Pshi gate 7 skill; it'll take someone special to survive," the silver-haired guard said, returning her staff to her back.
"What about the entrance, you barred it in time?" she asked.
"Yup. I guess Headmaster Frowart was right. Leaving the storehouse entrance open was the perfect bait for the one who calls himself the shadow demon of black flames," the guard replied.
Then the brute force guard folded his hands in thought, "That may be so, but I was expecting more of a threat from this demon. He was said to have infiltrated and escaped from the headmaster's room in the midst of all Listeria's instructors."
The Aquila mage guard then chipped in, "Yeah. Also, we didn't witness any black flames...do you think this was just a diversion and he had an ulterior motive?" he asked.
The silver-haired guard nodded and turned her attention to the storehouse entrance. it was well guarded, and everything seemed in order.
"Might be. But remember, our priority is the security of the storehouse." She said.
"We don't know his motives, but if his shadows and darkness were a diversion to get into the warehouse before the seal was completed, then we have nothing to worry about."
"Yup. We did leave an additional eye in there to alert us should someone make it in there without our knowledge," the Aquila mage guard commented.
However,
Within the storehouse, Naki did make it in, but something had happened, an incident he never intended but it happened anyway.
Naki was shivering, blood dripping down his fingers and the blade he held.
"(N-no...I...I never wanted to...)"
He's shaking his head in disbelief and stuttering backward.
He was scared, terrified, of something he had done.
"(If I didn't act he-he...the others he would've alerted the others I had to-I had to act!)"
The guard the others mentioned, the 'additional eye', lay flat on the ground in front of him, lifeless.
He was surrounded by blood and despite all the shelves of trinkets, crates of spirit juice in the storehouse that, Naki's attention was not planted on the subject of his infiltration into this storehouse.
It was planted on the life he had just claimed, as the devil sigil was rapidly beeping on his sigil hand, as if it was jubilating in a festival without end.
The plan didn't arrive at its expected conclusion.
This 5th guard, Naki, did not foresee, had become the first life he had taken since being reincarnated by the devil, and the result of his mission will undoubtedly unlock a path he had tried to avoid for so long, Grimm's path.