The once-pristine grounds of Apex Academy had become a scarred battlefield, a place where dreams and nightmares collided beneath a blood-red sky. The ground was charred and split from the sheer force of unleashed power, the air heavy with smoke, blood, and magic. Cries of pain and defiance echoed through the ruin — a grim testament to the war that raged on.
Above the chaos, two figures clashed like gods.
Bolt, the Elemental Warborn, wielded the fury of the storm with every breath. Lightning roared at his fingertips, fire and ice intertwined around his blade Raiketsu, and winds howled with each step he took. Opposite him, Kairos, the Abyssal Warborn, was a storm of void and ruin. His abyssal blade devoured light itself, and every strike threatened to tear reality apart.
The two collided again, the impact sending shockwaves that toppled walls and sent nearby beasts tumbling like ragdolls.
"Your rage makes you sloppy," Kairos sneered as their blades locked. "Are you still grieving the weakling who threw himself in front of my lightning?"
Bolt's eyes burned with fury. "His name… was Ren," he growled, breaking the deadlock with a surge of thunder that shattered the ground beneath them. "And he was stronger than you'll ever be."
Kairos laughed, stepping through the storm like it was nothing. "Strength? He's gone. Forgotten. Just like the rest of them will be."
Bolt roared and lunged again, the heavens answering his wrath. But even as their battle raged, the world below them was drowning in chaos.
---
The courtyard was a sea of monsters.
Wave after wave of A-rank abyssal beasts poured from the shattered dimensional rift, their roars shaking the academy's walls. Claws slashed through stone, tails shattered towers, and the ground itself quivered beneath their numbers.
At the frontlines, Celestial Tempest fought like warriors from legend.
Akane's flames carved burning paths through the hordes, turning beast after beast to ash. Aether guided razor-sharp winds that sliced through enemy ranks. Sylva called on nature's wrath, vines and stone rising from the earth to crush their foes. Valea's light flared against the encroaching darkness, while Kaori's spirit energy pulsed like a heartbeat of defiance.
And among them — calm, focused, unyielding — fought Darian.
Water danced to his will, becoming blades, shields, and torrents that swallowed beasts whole. Where the battle raged hottest, Darian was there, flowing like a river through the chaos.
"Fall back and regroup!" he shouted, his voice cutting through the chaos. "We can't let them overrun the courtyard!"
"Darian, to your left!" Aether yelled.
He spun, forming a spear of water and hurling it straight through the skull of a lunging beast. It crashed to the ground, dissolving into smoke — but there was no time to breathe. More were coming. Dozens more.
And among them… something far worse.
The ground trembled. Then cracked.
Through the smoke lumbered a colossal A★-rank abyssal beast, towering above the others like a walking nightmare. Its hide was obsidian-black, etched with crimson veins of abyssal energy. Its maw dripped with acid, and its eyes burned with hatred older than humanity itself.
"Fall back!" Sylva screamed. "Everyone fall—"
The beast roared, and the sound alone shattered the air like glass.
Then it moved.
One swing of its massive arm obliterated an entire section of the wall. Dozens of students were thrown like rag dolls. And in its path… a young freshman froze, too terrified to move.
Time slowed.
"Move!" Darian shouted, sprinting toward the boy with everything he had.
The beast's second swing came faster than the first — a blur of abyssal muscle and death. Darian dove, pushing the freshman out of the way — just as the beast's claws scythed through the air.
The world flashed white.
And then — silence.
Students screamed. Akane froze mid-attack. Aether's winds faltered.
Darian stood for a heartbeat… then collapsed.
The beast's claws had cleaved him cleanly in half. Blood sprayed across the broken courtyard as his body fell, lifeless, to the ground.
"No…" Sylva whispered, her knees buckling. "No, no, no…"
The freshman he had saved crawled toward his body, trembling. "S-Senpai… please… wake up…"
But Darian — loyal, steadfast Darian — was gone.
---
Bolt felt it.
The storm around him faltered. His heart stopped.
"...Darian?" he whispered, lowering his blade.
Kairos seized the opening, slamming a wave of abyssal energy into Bolt's chest. The force sent him crashing through a stone pillar, blood spraying from his lips.
Kairos landed lightly, smirking. "Another one falls. How many will die before you understand, Bolt? How many friends will you bury before you accept the truth?"
Bolt pushed himself up, shaking. His breaths were ragged. His hands trembled.
"Ren…" he whispered. "Now Darian…"
The storm responded to his grief. Lightning twisted around him like serpents. Flames and wind danced in violent harmony. Water surged beneath his feet, freezing and boiling at once.
Kairos took a step forward, his abyssal aura darkening. "They died because of you. Your resistance killed them."
Bolt's head snapped up — and the look in his eyes made even Kairos hesitate.
"They died because you exist," Bolt hissed. His voice was low, trembling — not with fear, but with something far deeper. "Every soul you rip away, every innocent you destroy… adds fuel to the fire that will consume you."
The sky roared as if in answer.
"Do you hear me, Kairos?" Bolt shouted, rising as elemental power surged from every pore of his body. "This is no longer about balance. No longer about destiny."
The winds screamed. The earth trembled.
"This is vengeance. This is justice. This is war."
Kairos grinned, dark aura expanding in response. "Then let the war begin."
They clashed once more, their blades meeting in an explosion that split the sky. Lightning and abyss consumed the battlefield as the war between gods raged above — and below, Celestial Tempest fought through tears and rage, fueled now by more than duty.
They fought for Ren.
They fought for Darian.
They fought for the fallen — and for the storm yet to come.