DING-DONG!
The break bell rang loudly, echoing throughout the school hallways like an alarm signaling mass liberation.
The classroom atmosphere, which had previously been filled with numbers, formulas, and psychological pressure, suddenly descended into chaos within seconds.
The students collectively let out long sighs.
Some even dropped their heads onto their desks with expressions that looked half-dead from surviving.
Mr. Heru’s Mathematics class truly felt like a battlefield.
Barely five seconds after the bell rang, the entire class moved at once. Chairs scraped harshly across the floor, bags were thrown open, and the classroom door practically looked ready to break off its hinges from the sheer number of students rushing out at the same time.
As if the bell had not signaled break time, but a fire alarm.
“I’M ALIVE!”
“Dude, I almost forgot how to breathe!”
“Did anyone even understand that last question?!”
“Does anyone remember who I am? I think I forgot my own name!”
Noise filled the room.
Some students rushed toward the cafeteria to save themselves with food, while others relaxed on the classroom terrace as they opened their lunch boxes.
Meanwhile, the rest chose to hang around the hallways chatting, playing games, or simply enjoying the breeze.
But unlike everyone else, one boy remained seated alone at his desk, Rafka.
Rafka let out a long sigh as he leaned back in his chair. “I’m safe ...! I finally survived that math hell! I deserve a reward for myself.” He immediately pulled his phone out of his pocket, and his eyes lit up the moment the screen turned on.
The very first thing he searched for was obviously not school-related, but ARMOR Grand Battle.
“Ah, so Erika’s Kangaroo model really won last night’s finals ...,” he murmured while reading a news article. “I thought Arfan’s Wolf model was gonna win.”
A few classmates had actually invited him to the cafeteria earlier, but as usual, he turned them down. The reason was simple: Rafka simply wasn’t very good at socializing.
Rather than chatting in a crowd, he felt far more comfortable sitting alone while reading anything related to ARMOR.
And honestly ... he got way more excited reading Knight battle statistics than listening to school gossip.
The ARMOR Grand Battle itself was the biggest annual event in the country, a tournament held to determine the strongest Knight.
The winner earned not only fame, but also an absurd amount of prize money, major sponsorships, and countless other tempting opportunities. That was why the number of participants exploded every single year.
To the public, ARMOR was more than just a military organization. They were symbols of hope, protectors of humanity.
The Anti-Lamia Armed Forces, better known by the abbreviation ARMOR, was an order of Knights tasked with protecting humanity from the terrifying creatures known as the Lamia.
“What? You guys still don’t know what Lamia are?” Rafka muttered quietly as he continued reading the article on his screen. “Well ... long story short, they’re monsters.”
According to legend, hundreds of years ago, the world began to be attacked by strange creatures. Some people called them demons, spirits, evil entities, or monsters, there were countless names for them.
But eventually, all of those creatures became known by a single official name is Lamia.
They attacked humans for no clear reason, destroying cities and slaughtering civilians alike.
For hundreds of years, humanity continued to live under their constant threat. That was, until the ARMOR Knights finally appeared.
They wielded special armor known as Anima Drive, advanced combat suits capable of awakening extraordinary powers based on specific animal models.
There were Wolf models, Tiger models, Eagle models, Kangaroo models, and countless others.
With that power, the Knights fought against the Lamia to protect the world.
How cool is that? Rafka thought to himself.
And ever since he was little, Rafka had always dreamed of becoming one of them. He wanted to become a Knight not just for the popularity—though, realistically speaking, the money did sound nice—but also to protect others.
However, he still clearly remembered how his mother used to nag him whenever she caught him paying more attention to ARMOR articles than his actual schoolwork.
Two weeks passed.
And during those two weeks, Rafka’s life felt like academic hell.
He crammed formulas, theories, and lessons into his brain with all his might in preparation for the final exams.
Less sleep, less time watching ARMOR, and even less time searching for his favorite articles.
A massive sacrifice, but in the end, all the exams were finally over.
The final day of exams felt like a national liberation day for every student.
The moment he stepped out of the school gates, Rafka lifted his face toward the sky and let out a relieved sigh. “Going home after exams seriously feels very amazing!”
The weight in his head instantly felt gone. And now there was only one thing left to do.
Please, let my answers accidentally be Einstein-level genius! Rafka prayed inwardly, clasping both hands together.
During the past two weeks, he had fallen seriously behind on all the latest ARMOR news. But in his opinion, it had been worth it. At the very least, he had tried.
And just like his mother always said, “Effort never betrays results.”
Rafka casually walked along the city streets, but several minutes later, his steps slowed.
Up ahead, a large crowd of civilians had gathered, completely filling the street, and loud commotion could already be heard from a distance.
Rafka frowned. “What’s going on?” He reflexively stood on his tiptoes to see better. “Did some celebrity show up? Who? Faris Alfarisy?” Then he paused for a moment, crossing his arms before chuckling to himself. “What kind of celebrity likes writing dark and depressing stories just because they think it’s interesting?”
Or maybe there’s some kind of new technology demonstration going on? he wondered, tilting his head with his arms still crossed.
But the atmosphere felt far too chaotic for any of his guesses.
Curious, Rafka immediately quickened his pace before slipping through the crowd.
And the moment he finally saw what was ahead, his entire body froze.
A Lamia.
A massive, horrifying creature stood in the middle of the road, with a pitch-black body and the appearance of a horned monster.
A terrifying aura surrounded it, the asphalt was cracked, several damaged vehicles were scattered around, and people were backing away in panic while recording the incident with their phones.
Rafka swallowed hard, his heart immediately pounding.
This was the first time he had ever seen an ARMOR battle against a Lamia from this close.
Was he scared? Of course.
But at the same time, another feeling surfaced within him, one he could hardly explain.
This was real, an actual battle.
Rafka’s eyes immediately searched for the Knight fighting it. And the moment he saw her, his eyes widened in shock as he shouted, “AYU?!”
The brown-haired girl floated in the air wearing shining white armor. Large white wings stretched across her back.
She moved skillfully through the sky, dodging the Lamia’s attacks while occasionally slashing at it with her sword.
Rafka could hardly believe his eyes. The cold girl who had once saved him from punishment for being late was actually an ARMOR Knight.
“You! Your timing’s perfect!” Ayu suddenly turned toward him. Before Rafka could even react, she threw something in his direction. “Catch!”
Rafka reflexively jumped. His hand successfully caught the small object. “What is she throwing at a time like this? A snack wrapper?” But the moment he looked at it, his eyes widened even further. “This is... a Knight’s ring?!”
The object was definitely not ordinary. Not some random snack wrapper like he had assumed Ayu wanted him to throw away for her.
“Hurry and put it on!” Ayu ordered from the air. “I’m struggling here! Get over here and help me!”
Graarr!!! In the distance, the Lamia roared again.
Rafka immediately realized something: this creature was strong. Judging from its size and aura alone, he could already tell its danger level was Walpurgis-class.
The boy fell completely silent. This is insane! Completely insane! he screamed inwardly.
But when he saw Ayu beginning to get overwhelmed, he clenched his teeth. “Fine... I’ll do it.”
His hand quickly moved to place the ring, whose gem was shaped like the head of a red eagle, onto the middle finger of his left hand.
And the instant the ring slipped into place, a sharp pain pricked his finger like an ant bite.
“Ow!” he hissed. “What was that? Some kind of activation?” A split second later, his gaze sharpened. “Ah, whatever!”
Rafka took a short breath. “Suit up!” he shouted while raising his hand.
A brilliant red light exploded from the ring.
The surrounding civilians immediately stumbled backward in panic.
Several hurriedly raised their phones to record.
The wind blew violently.
Lines of red light appeared behind his body, forming patterns resembling gigantic wings before covering his entire body for several seconds.
The first armor piece covered his chest. Glossy red plates formed from light before hardening like living metal. At the center of his chest was an engraving of a red Garuda head accented with gold, its sharp beak pointing downward while its eyes glowed faintly like burning embers.
Its form looked both majestic and imposing, as though it symbolized a blazing king of the skies.
From the chest piece, lines of armor spread across his body like elongated feathers. The shoulder guards formed sharp points, and every edge of the armor was layered and razor-sharp, resembling overlapping steel feathers.
Around his neck appeared a pale red armored collar resembling the mane of a mythical bird.
The arm armor locked tightly into place. His gauntlets were sleek yet dense, lined with glowing golden patterns resembling surging streams of energy.
In the blink of an eye, his hands were fully covered in metallic red plating, looking ready to shatter enemies apart in a storm of flames.
Then the leg armor formed. The thigh guards stretched into an aerodynamic shape, while the knee armor had sharp points resembling predator claws.
The moment the final armor piece covered his body—whoosh!—a burst of golden-red energy erupted from his back.
They were not real wings, yet the light formed the silhouette of two gigantic wings spreading wide for several seconds before slowly fading into red particles.
Rafka froze. “Huh?!” He looked at both of his hands, staring at the shining red armor now covering his body.
WHAT?! This is real? I’m actually wearing an Anima Drive? You’ve gotta be kidding me?! he screamed inwardly.
But before his brain could fully process the situation, BAM! Ayu’s body was violently slammed into the ground by the Lamia’s attack.
“Ayu!” Rafka moved reflexively.
Without realizing it, massive red wings appeared on his back. His body instantly shot into the air. “I’m flying?!” Despite panicking, his eyes still sparkled with amazement. “This is insane!”
But now was not the time to be awestruck.
Rafka immediately flew in front of Ayu and blocked the Lamia. “Getbaway from her!”
Flames suddenly erupted from his left hand. A blazing red fire formed a long sword within his grasp.
Even Rafka himself stared at it in shock, yet somehow his body instinctively knew exactly what to do.
His left hand tightened around the sword. “I said ... get away from her!” he shouted.
WHOOSH! He swung the sword. A wave of crimson flames shot forward instantly.
And a split second later—whoooosh!—the Lamia’s body burst into violent flames. The monster roared in agony before finally turning into ashes in the middle of the street.
Silence.
Everyone stood frozen.
Rafka himself could only stand there in shock.
He had just defeated a Walpurgis-class Lamia by himself, and he was nothing more than an ordinary high school student.
If someone said this sounded like the fantasy of a little kid, Rafka himself would probably agree.
But all of this was real.
“Ayu!” A second later, he hurried over to the girl. “Hey! You okay?”
Ayu’s white armor began dissolving into soft light.
Rafka’s red armor slowly vanished as well.
Ayu slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, her face exhausted, though a faint smile rested on her lips. “Hey,” she said softly. Her eyes drifted toward the red ring on Rafka’s finger. “So we finally meet face-to-face, Agni.”
“Yeah, I’m okay,” she added, turning toward Rafka before tilting her head slightly. “What’s your name?”
Rafka reflexively flinched as realization struck him.
Ever since their first meeting, he had never actually introduced himself. Though to be fair, Ayu had been the one who left in such a hurry.
“Sorry, I guess we never properly introduced ourselves.” That boy extended his hand. “My name’s Rafka,” he said with a small smile. “Nice to meet you, Ayu.”
Ayu fell silent for a moment before taking Rafka’s hand. She only nodded. “Mm.” Then, with the faintest smile, she whispered softly, “Even though this isn’t really an introduction.”