Rise of the Crusader

The words just kept coming out of Elisa's mouth, and the more she thought about it, she couldn't help but feel as though she were being played.

"Raphael, don't tell me there isn't something between the both of you because the way you stared at her was very different," Elisa said.

"I might not know you completely, but there were emotions in your gaze earlier."

"Tell me Raphael, who is she to you, are you in love with her, and should I also be worried about this." Elisa inquired.

Raphael listened attentively to Elisa, and when she asked him those questions, he was about to respond to her when his wristwatch vibrated.

"Sigh… You might as well as check it, I'm certain it would be from one of the women who want you." Elisa blurted.

"But, why does it have to be this way, why!" Elisa yelled.

The truth was Hilario was merely one of the problems that were bothering Elisa, they were many more.

Especially the number of women who were willing to do anything just to get Raphael.

Raphael gently tapped his wristwatch, and after reading the content that was there, he moved his gaze to Elisa.

"We have a class mission."

The Arytom Empire.

....

The Artyom Empire.

An empire with a monarchical history extending back to centuries.

The power and most especially wealth in possession of the Artyom was impossible to calculate because the family contains as many as 50,000 extended families.

Many of them have founded societies, organizations, and businesses and even worked for hand in hand with the movement.

And the member of the family that the first-year elite division was going after was Sonia Artyom.

"The tournament has ended, so let's get down to business. And focus on what truly matters." Said Levi as he stared at the people in the classroom.

None of the students were actually surprised by the words said by Levi, he was always regarded as a scumbag by the majority in the first place.

"I agree with Levi, the tournament made no sense." Jackson blurted soon after.

He wasn't concerned by the looks he was receiving from the people around him in the slightest, and not long after he spoke, his voice rang out.

"We all know it was rigged in Raphael's favor, so let's stop acting like he did an impressive job in the tournament."

"Fool!"

Bane exclaimed.

He stared at Jackson and Levi with an expression full of disgust.

Even though he didn't say any other word apart from his previous insult, the look on his face displayed that he considered Jackson and Levi to be idiots.

"W-What… Do you really believe that Raphael would have won the tournament if he was given better people to fight with?"

Jackson inquired and before any one of the people in the surrounding would respond to him, he spoke.

"For your information, he won't have won the tournament, if he was given a stronger opponent and not the weaklings among them." Jackson blurted.

"Yes, that's the fact… The students who were grouped with Raphael were shitty, and that's the only reason why he won the tournament."

"Pteuh!" Jackson spat on the ground.

The truth was it wasn't just Jackson who believed that Raphael had only won the tournament because of luck, but among the many, he was the only one who spoke up.

Everyone soon had eyes on Raphael wondering if he was going to Jackson's claim, and as he took a step forward, their face lit up.

A nod came from Aiden, Devon, and Bane right after Raphael moved toward Jackson.

"Raphael, while, others might be afraid of you, I'm not frightened about you in the slightest," Jackson exclaimed.

"Good."

It wasn't even up to a second after Jackson spoke, and Raphael responded.

"Since you think it was luck, why don't we have a quick fight here," Raphael said. "You also don't have to worry, it would take much of your or my time."

"A quick and easy one."

Fear swept through Jackson's body immediately. He wanted to refute to Raphael's words, but he just wasn't able to get any words out of his mouth.

Jackson turned towards his left, and as he moved, his eyes twitched immediately.

Because Levi, who was once standing beside him had moved several meters away. Jackson glared at Levi for a few seconds before then moving his gaze to Raphael.

And as he turned towards Raphael, his heart skipped a beat instantly.

"This is the reality of it, you're able to scorn and ridicule others when you don't even have the strength to back yourself up." Raphael paused, "I loathe people like you the most."

"I…" Jackson stuttered.

There was no lie to what was been said by Raphael, Jackson knew that. The only reason why he decided to speak against Raphael was that he thought Levi would back him up.

If he had known that Levi was going to switch up on him, there was no way he would have actually spoken the words he said.

"Dude, what the hell is wrong with you!!!!!"

Bane yelled as he saw Jackson's pant, which was now soaked in what was definitely his urine.

And as Bane pointed at Jackson's lower pants, the people in the classroom also moved their gaze to that area one after the other.

A disturbing look soon emerged on their faces, most especially the women, as they found Jackson's action of peeing on himself completely ridiculous.

"You're sick!" Becky blurted.

"Scumbag!"

On a regular day, Jackson would have been furious about the women insulting them, but at the moment that was the least of his worries.

He didn't care nor was he bothered about the disdainful looks that was he received from them, the only focus at hand was the person in front of him.

"Y-You…" Jackson stammered.

And as Raphael took another step closer to him, he staggered several steps backward.

"What do you want to do?!"

"You can't kill me, I know people in the cabal, they won't spare you if you hurt me."

As Jackson kept spurring out words due to fear, the most ridiculous was when he threatened Raphael using the cabal.

Not only was Raphael left flabbergasted, but the nine students in the classroom were also astounded.

Everyone, including the directors, was aware of how high the cabal regarded Raphael, and yet there was still someone who was threatening him using the cabal.

"I can kill you, and I will kill you, but not because you spoke against me, but to illuminate what would happen to other senseless individuals like you, when they come at me," Raphael said.

Jackson was already in a stupefied state when he heard Raphael say he was going to kill, and as he was touched on the shoulder, he felt death right in the corner.

The usual move was to duplicate himself and break free from Raphael's strong grip, but only those who had experienced death would know that it was no easy feat.

In front of Raphael, Jackson completely forgot that he had superpowers. The thought of it didn't cross his mind, and the only thought that ran through him was to plead for forgiveness.

"Raphael… Please, spare me."

However, in response to his pleas, Raphael shook his head.

"I think we both know that's not going to move, and let's be honest, that's a foolish move to make," Raphael said.

Tears dropped out of Jackson's eyes a second after Raphael spoke. He was then about to speak when Raphael poked him in the throat.

It was just a casual move from Raphael, but the words that were to be said by Jackson were pushed back, as his vocal cord no longer existed.

Jackson hadn't even recovered from the damage that was caused by Raphael when his head was smashed heavily on the table.

Bang!

And as the first hit didn't satisfy Raphael, he continued to slam Jackson's head on each table until he had Jackson's gasping heavily for breath.

Raphael then held Jackson by the collar, "Who else thinks I won by luck?"

"Kindly, step out now, or forever hold your words."

A few minutes passed after Raphael spoke and as there was no response from any of the students in the classroom, Raphael nodded his head.

"I thought as much." Said Raphael.

Raphael threw Jackson over to the left corner of the room afterward.

Thud!

As the throw was very fast and also unclear in most of their eyes, they all moved towards the corner that Jackson was thrown to, and as they saw what was left of Jackson, each of them gulped.

A full human being was thrown, but what was left of him when his body hit the ground was his clothes.

"Absolute decay," Savannah mumbled.

And indeed, apart from those two mighty words, no other terms could explain what had just transpired.

The expression on everyone's face changed soon after and whether it was friends or even foes, they all moved a few steps away from Raphael.

Even though they did speak, the expression on their faces as they stared at Raphael conveyed fear.

Raphael wasn't shocked that they all considered him to be a monster, after all, this wasn't the first time, he was leaving people with this impression of him.

"Hmmm hmmm," Bane was the first to regain composure among the students.

He went with... it is what it is.

Meanwhile, before someone else would recover from the shock, Raphael took the paper from the desk and walked out of the room.

"Well, I guess the meeting is over, we will meet tomorrow."