Iruma opened the envelope Sullivan had handed him with a sigh, half-expecting the worst.
And he wasn't disappointed.
The contents were a chaotic jumble of words, arranged in a way that barely qualified as a speech. He frowned, lips twitching with suppressed frustration.
"Tch. That old man's really trying to embarrass me in public…"
He scanned the lines, trying to make sense of the bizarre and awkward phrases Sullivan had scribbled. From the crowd below, the other demons couldn't tell what was on the paper—but they could feel something. A strange pressure. A restrained flame of fury burning behind the calm expression of the Chairman's grandson.
And then Iruma spoke.
"Abel-Hak."
The entire assembly fell into stunned silence. Every demon's eyes went wide with terror. Some looked like they were about to swallow their tongues.
It was as if they were watching someone perform a ritual to summon destruction itself.
But Iruma didn't care about their reactions—he just wanted to get it over with.
"Tal'do Dali… Iwu'sa Bebe…"
Each bizarre incantation echoed like a curse through the auditorium.
The temperature seemed to drop.
Even Amelie, watching from behind the stage, stared in disbelief. The aura radiating from Iruma was unlike anything she'd felt before—ancient, twisted, and... wrong in the way only power could be.
With every word he spoke, demons flinched as if struck. The atmosphere grew heavier. It felt as if the air itself was trying to collapse inward.
At last, he finished the final phrase. A faint green glow shimmered across Iruma's body for a brief second—then vanished.
"That's it? Seriously… making me say something that stupid…"
With a roll of his eyes, he crumpled the paper and tossed it aside. Before it even hit the ground, it burst into flame and turned to ash.
The crowd exploded.
"He actually read the whole thing!"
"Insane!"
"That's the Chairman's grandson for you!"
"He's so COOL!!!"
Just as Iruma turned to leave, he was stopped by two teachers—Dali and Furcas—both wearing stern, anxious expressions.
"You brat! How dare you recite a forbidden incantation like that?! If you had mispronounced a single syllable, your veins would've exploded and you'd be dead on the spot!"
Dali scolded him with the urgency of someone who had just seen a kid run into traffic—then, bizarrely, gave him a thumbs up.
"That was insane! Dangerous to the extreme! Absolutely brilliant!"
Furcas added with a smirk, "Anyone who dares to recite that kind of spell is either a complete idiot, clueless about the world… or a total lunatic."
Iruma smiled smugly. "Well, I guess I'm the craziest one here."
He hopped down from the stage.
But someone blocked his path.
Iruma looked down—and locked eyes with Asmodeus Alice.
Expressionless, he waited for the pink-haired first-rank student to speak.
The moment Asmodeus stepped into his path, he felt it: that same suffocating pressure. It wasn't status. It wasn't magical power. It was something deeper. Primal. Instinctive.
Still, he had already stepped forward—there was no turning back now.
Around them, whispers erupted. Shock. Confusion. Madness.
"Is he crazy? That's the Chairman's grandson!"
"And the one who recited a forbidden spell without breaking a sweat!"
Asmodeus stared at Iruma coldly.
"I am Asmodeus Alice."
Iruma smirked, tilting his head. "Then allow me to introduce myself as well. Suzuki Iruma. A pleasure."
"No need for pleasantries. Duel me."
"Oh? Sure thing~."
In the Central Courtyard…
The two students faced off, tension crackling between them like a storm.
Demons gathered fast—flocking to the courtyard like moths to flame. Some leaned over the rails, eager for a closer view.
"You heard? The top-ranked student's challenging the special student!"
"This is insane—we have to watch!"
"A duel between two insanely hot guys?! This is a dream come true!"
Iruma stood calm, confident, soaking in the attention like it was sunlight. Cheers rang out all around him. For a moment, he closed his eyes and breathed it in.
Yes… this is what I came here for. The thrill of standing above all others.
Across from him, Asmodeus took it another way—reading Iruma's composure as arrogance.
"The position of Student Representative was meant for me," Asmodeus hissed. "You desecrated that honor. I won't let it go unchallenged."
"I have every right," he continued, "to confirm whether or not you're truly worthy."
Iruma, hands on hips and grinning like a star who knew the camera loved him, replied, "Go right ahead."
Asmodeus didn't hesitate. With a swift motion, he summoned a torrent of flames to his hands. The temperature spiked, heat washing over the courtyard like a furnace.
This wasn't ordinary fire—it was a high-grade infernal flame. The kind that could scorch steel.
"Prove you're stronger than me!"
With a wild cry, Asmodeus hurled a barrage of fireballs at Iruma. Boom after boom echoed through the courtyard as the blasts tore through the air, each strike shaking the ground.
Iruma's tall frame made him an easy target—or so it seemed.
From the courtyard, smoke and ash billowed where the fireballs landed. The air thickened, visibility reduced to near-zero.
"Whoa! Did you see that?!"
"Asmodeus is insane! Who else can use fireballs that fast at this level?!"
"But… is it working?"
While some debated Asmodeus' chances, two students in the crowd—Minotaurs who had earlier been manhandled by Iruma—knew better.
That guy's a monster… no, a demon among demons.
You could throw the entire student body at him and it still wouldn't be enough.
The smoke finally began to clear…
And there stood Iruma.
Not a scratch on him.
Not a speck of ash.
Even his uniform looked freshly pressed.
Asmodeus's jaw dropped. "W-What?! How… how are you unscathed?!"
Panic crept into his voice.
Had he used the wrong spell? Had he missed?
No. That wasn't it.
Before entering school, demons had no rank. Their abilities relied solely on bloodlines or talent. There was no safety net, no buff.
Which meant...
"He really is the Chairman's grandson... This is unreal."
"They're not even in the same league…"
"He didn't even bother to fight back!"
As those voices echoed, Asmodeus clenched his jaw so tightly it looked like it might shatter.
"Tell me! How did you do that?!"
Only the demons standing closest could see it: none of Asmodeus' attacks had ever touched Iruma.
Every fireball had stopped inches away, blocked by something invisible and unbreakable.
A wall of pure force.
That… was true power.