Hunter Academy: Revenge of the Weakest

Irina was in a good mood. The cool night air brushed against her skin as she stood on the balcony, the soft glow of the moon casting a serene light over everything. Her thoughts drifted back to her conversation with Astron, and a small smile played on her lips. The tension of the evening seemed to melt away, leaving her with a sense of peace.

But that peace was short-lived.

She heard the sound of footsteps behind her, and her serene expression hardened. 'What now?' she thought, already dreading the interruption. She didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

"Jeremy," she greeted coolly, not bothering to hide her disdain.

"Irina," he replied smoothly as if they were the best of friends. "Enjoying the view?"

Irina didn't bother to respond, her gaze still fixed on the moon. She could feel the nausea building in her stomach, knowing full well what was coming. Jeremy wasn't one to waste time with pleasantries unless he had an agenda.

He took a step closer, his presence almost suffocating. "I couldn't help but notice you've been... occupied lately," he began, his tone dripping with false concern. "With a certain someone."

Irina's grip on the balcony tightened, her knuckles turning white. 'He knows,' she realized, her heart sinking.

She didn't trust Jeremy, not for a second. The man was a snake, and his words were as venomous as his intentions.

Jeremy's smile widened, but it was cold, devoid of any real warmth. "It's just that you're associating with someone... beneath you, Irina. An orphan with no connections and no power. Someone who could easily... disappear."

The nausea in her stomach turned to a sickening churn, the bile rising in her throat. 'This bastard,' she thought, her anger boiling just beneath the surface. She could already see the scenario he was painting, the disgusting threat he was weaving into his words. Jeremy was a predator, and she was well aware of his true nature from the visions she had seen.

"Jeremy," she began, her voice laced with venom, "are you threatening me?"

He leaned in closer, his eyes gleaming with malice. "I'm just looking out for you, Irina. You never know when something might happen to someone like him."

'You bastard,' Irina thought, her disgust nearly overwhelming her. The idea of Astron being targeted by this snake, of him being harmed because of her, made her blood boil. 'I'll kill you before I let that happen.'

She could feel her mana pulsing beneath her skin, the fiery energy that she had inherited from her family surging through her veins. It was a familiar warmth, one that had always been in her, sometimes unforgiving, sometimes burdensome, but now it burned with righteous anger.

Jeremy was still speaking, his voice a nauseating drone in her ears. "He could suddenly dis–"

But before he could finish, Irina's mana flared up. A searing heat flared up between them, cutting off Jeremy's words with a gasp of pain.

"AAAAAAAAAH!" he screamed, stumbling back as a blistering heat singed his skin. His eyes widened in horror, the threat he had been building up in his mind turning to ash in the face of Irina's wrath.

Irina turned to face him fully, her eyes blazing with anger. 'You dare threaten him in front of me?' she thought, her fury barely contained.

'You dare to scheme about him.' Even at this point, she was not able to understand. How come he became a demonic human at that time? With how things have been going?

Was the brainwashed? Was he under some sort of manipulation, or was there something else?

She could not understand or make any sense of it. But there was one thing that was clear.

'Demon Contractors…..They are all dangerous existences to him…' For whatever had triggered him to do something like this, she could not take a risk.

Especially after seeing what happened to him when he took down that route.

'And your disgusting gaze…..The fact that you think you are above everyone else just because you made a contract with a mere demon…..The fact that you think I would fall for your petty tricks….It is all nauseating….'

The same thing happened in the timeline that she had seen. Jeremy targeted her in the life she had seen in vision as well.

Irina's mind raced as she stared down Jeremy, her anger barely contained. The memories of the visions she had seen flooded back, reminding her of how things had escalated in that other life—how Jeremy had schemed against her, weaving his web of deceit and manipulation. But in that timeline, she had been different—more naive, more arrogant, and far less perceptive than she was now.

'Back then, I was hiding behind a facade,' she thought, her grip on the balcony tightening. 'I was weak, pretending to be strong by projecting arrogance. But I didn't see the dangers lurking around me.'

She remembered how Jeremy had exploited her weaknesses, using her pride and insecurity against her. At that time, she hadn't been able to see through his lies, and her lack of awareness had allowed him to pull the strings, leading to a series of events that spiraled out of control.

'Jeremy... he allied himself with one of the other Six Families of the Magic Council,' she recalled, her disgust growing. 'They pressured my family politically, using every dirty trick in the book. I didn't realize until it was too late how deep their schemes ran.'

In that other life, she had underestimated him, and that had been her downfall. Jeremy had wormed his way into her life, manipulating her and those around her, turning allies into enemies.

And all the while, he had hidden behind a veneer of charm and false concern, much like he was doing now.

In the end, things turned into a bloody all-out war. And because of how the Hawkins family grew their influence under the Federation, the Emberheart Family suffered a lot of losses as well, making them weaken.

But this time, things were different. She wasn't the same naive girl she had been. She was stronger and more aware, and she wouldn't let Jeremy or anyone else control her life. Not again.

'You should have not provoked me, you worm….I was planning to deal with you a little bit later…But you brought him out of all people….'

Irina felt the familiar surge of power welling up within her, the fire of the Emberheart Family coursing through her veins. Her eyes turned cold, a steely resolve replacing any remnants of doubt.

The warmth she had felt earlier, reminiscing about Astron, was replaced by a chilling determination. Jeremy had crossed a line, and he would pay the price for his arrogance.

As the fire began to flicker at her fingertips, she advanced toward him, her movements deliberate and unyielding. The coldness in her heart was mirrored in the intensity of the heat emanating from her hand, a heat that seemed to warp the very air around it.

Jeremy's smug expression faltered as he realized what was happening. His eyes widened in fear, the confident facade slipping away as panic set in. "What are you doing?" he demanded, his voice cracking with terror. "Do you have any idea what the repercussions of this will be?"

Irina's lips curled into a smile, one that didn't reach her eyes. The fear in his voice, the way he was backing away, it all fed into a deep, twisted satisfaction within her. "That fear in your eyes," she said, her voice cold and detached, "I like it."

Jeremy's back hit the railing of the balcony, and he flinched as the heat from Irina's hand grew unbearable. The flames were no longer just flickering; they were swirling, gathering intensity, forming a concentrated blaze that radiated an almost tangible force. His panic turned to outright terror as he realized the situation he was in.

"Ir-Irina, stop! You can't—" Jeremy tried to summon some of his own power, but the wisps of fire that danced around Irina were faster. They lashed out, pinning him down, wrapping around his limbs, and holding him in place. His struggles were futile; he was completely at her mercy.

Irina looked down at him, her expression one of cold indifference. There was no hesitation in her eyes, no doubt about what she was going to do. "You should have known better than to provoke me, Jeremy. But you've made your choice, and now you'll live with the consequences."

The fire in her hand condensed, the heat intensifying as it formed into a tightly focused point. Jeremy's eyes widened in horror as he realized what she was about to do. "No! Please, Irina! You don't have to do this!"

But Irina was beyond reason.

"Someone! GUARD JORDAN! WHERE ARE YOU, YOU BASTARD!"

He shouted, trying to call his guard. But, not to avail, as his guard was still far away. Even if he had sensed something was amiss, he would not be able to interfere.

Her mind was set, her purpose clear. "I'm going to leave a mark on you that you will never be able to forget," she said, her voice eerily calm as she raised her hand.

With a swift, decisive movement, she pressed the searing, compressed heat directly against his face.

The fire seared through skin and flesh, branding him with an agonizing mark that would never fade.

"AAAAAAAH! NOOOOOO! NOOOOOO!"

Jeremy's screams filled the night air, his voice raw and desperate as the pain overwhelmed him. He thrashed and struggled, but the fiery wisps held him firm, ensuring that he couldn't escape his fate.

Irina's expression didn't waver as she watched him writhe in agony. There was a cold satisfaction in her heart, a sense of justice being served. This was the price Jeremy would pay for his arrogance, for thinking he could manipulate and threaten her.

'Everything about your family. It will be erased….Nothing will remain…..' "Heh…."

She pressed her hand down further as the smell of skin burning entered her nose. That smell was not unfamiliar.

When she was training against fire, when she was learning fire resistance, she had already smelled it…It was her own skin, but now it was different.

"So….This is why he is doing this…..It is indeed understandable…It feels refreshing…."

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