Silence.
It fell over Airious without warning.
Not the peaceful kind.
Not the silence that followed victory.
This was the kind that made everyone stop breathing.
Moments ago, Airien Academy had been drowning in chaos.
Ghouls had poured through Abyssal portals in endless waves. Students had fought desperately to protect one another. Portals had been destroyed, recreated, folded through space, rewound through time, and shattered again.
The air had been filled with explosions, screams, shouted commands, and the constant distortion of corrupted Avian energy.
Now—
Nothing.
No portals.
No Ghouls.
No whispers.
No corrupted students charging through the courtyard.
Even the Avian currents seemed to hesitate.
Klexis stood in the middle of the ruined courtyard, hammer hanging loosely in his hand.
He looked around.
"...What?"
Tarren was breathing heavily beside him, his orange-and-black aura slowly fading.
"I-I don't know."
Noan raised his head.
His Self-Awareness Sigils were still glowing faintly across his hands.
He could feel the inner realms of the Airiens around him.
But something was different.
The pressure was gone.
"The portals disappeared."
Miro looked toward the sky.
"And the Ghouls."
Banjo wasn't there anymore.
He had already returned to the Traxian Auditorium.
But Klexis remembered him.
He remembered the uncertainty in Banjo's expression before he left.
He remembered the question that had been bothering all of them.
Why were the Ghouls attacking in such numbers?
Why were they taking Initiates?
Why possess people who could barely progress beyond the first tier?
And now—
Why stop?
Klexis tightened his grip around his hammer.
"They didn't just leave."
Noan looked at him.
"You think they ran?"
"No."
Klexis shook his head.
"That's what worries me."
Tarren swallowed.
"Maybe... maybe they took enough people?"
Nobody answered.
The possibility hung in the air.
Miro looked toward the shattered entrance of the academy.
"Or maybe they got what they wanted."
Tarren's aura flickered again.
"Can we not say things like that?"
Klexis sighed.
"Unfortunately, we can."
He stared at the empty sky.
"Question is..."
His eyes narrowed.
"...what did they take?"
---
Thetra City
The Champions received the report moments later.
Aminator stood before the enormous golden projection of Airious.
The holographic model had once been covered with countless points of hostile activity.
Now most of them were gone.
But another marker had appeared.
Far away.
In Nicron.
Aminator's expression hardened.
"Repeat that."
The messenger hesitated.
"Most of the Nicronian population has defected."
The room went silent.
Victoria's eyes widened.
"Most?"
"Yes."
"To where?"
The messenger swallowed.
"The Free Abyss."
A few of the Champions exchanged glances.
Jake's usual grin disappeared.
Kate's ears lowered.
Cration folded his arms.
Elitor remained motionless in the air.
Aminator studied the holographic map.
"How?"
Nobody immediately answered.
Then Aminator asked the obvious question.
"Was this another Ghoul operation?"
The messenger shook his head.
"No."
Aminator turned.
"What?"
"We investigated the reports. There was no direct Corruption Force signature."
Victoria stepped forward.
"Then what caused it?"
The messenger hesitated.
"Devia."
The word landed heavily.
Aminator's eyes narrowed.
"Traxis."
Nobody spoke.
They already understood.
This wasn't the Corruption Force.
This wasn't the Ghouls manipulating vulnerable minds from the shadows.
This was something else.
Something far more deliberate.
Traxis had created Devia as an alternative to Avia.
And now his creation was spreading.
Not through conquest.
Not through possession.
Through choice.
Aminator stared at the map.
"The Nicronians..."
He zoomed the projection toward their territory.
"They've abandoned Avia?"
"Yes."
Victoria frowned.
"But the Nicronians have served Airious for centuries."
Jake slowly twisted his spatial gun in his hand.
"Well..."
He glanced at the others.
"Looks like centuries don't mean much when somebody finally gives you a reason to leave."
Kate's expression became serious.
"Or maybe they were never as devoted as we thought."
Aminator didn't respond.
That possibility was uncomfortable.
Very uncomfortable.
He finally turned toward the Champions.
"We're going there."
Victoria raised an eyebrow.
"To Nicron?"
"Yes."
"And Airien Academy?"
"The Knights can handle the immediate aftermath."
Aminator looked at the golden projection.
"But this..."
He pointed toward Nicron.
"...needs to be understood."
Elitor descended slightly.
"If Traxis is moving this openly..."
Cration finished the thought.
"Then this isn't recruitment anymore."
Aminator nodded.
"It's expansion."
---
Airien Academy
Klexis still hadn't moved.
Around him, students were beginning to emerge from hiding.
Some were injured.
Some were crying.
Some were staring at their hands as if checking whether they were still themselves.
Noan walked among them, activating his sigils one by one.
The hesitant ones were returning.
Those who had chosen to resist were finally breathing freely again.
But there were others.
Empty spaces.
Students who were simply...
gone.
Klexis noticed.
His expression darkened.
"How many?"
Noan stopped.
He looked around.
"Too many."
Tarren's eyes widened.
"Taken?"
Noan nodded slowly.
"Some of them."
Klexis looked toward the sky.
The portals had vanished completely.
No traces.
Nothing.
It was as though the invasion had never happened.
Except for the ruined academy.
The injured students.
The missing Airiens.
And the memories.
Miro clenched his fists.
"They could have kept fighting."
Klexis nodded.
"Exactly."
Noan looked toward him.
"So why didn't they?"
Klexis didn't answer.
Because there was another possibility.
One none of them wanted to say aloud.
Maybe the Ghouls had never intended to defeat them.
Maybe they had only wanted to prove that they could walk into Airious, take what they wanted, and leave.
And if that was true...
Then this battle had been a message.
---
Night Flair City
The rivers of Night Flair City shimmered beneath the flickering lanterns.
Kainen stood in the middle of a devastated street.
His breathing was heavy.
Aprexion's bow remained raised.
Across from them, Malgroth and Orazhul stood completely still.
Then Malgroth smiled.
"That's enough."
Aprexion's eyes narrowed.
"What?"
"We've had our fun."
Orazhul stretched his arms.
"The war hasn't even begun."
Kainen stepped forward.
"You don't get to walk away."
Malgroth laughed.
"You think we came here to die?"
Kainen's fists tightened.
"Where are the Earthbound students?"
Silence.
"Where are Jack and his friends?"
Malgroth's grin widened.
"Find them."
Kainen's eyes widened.
"What?"
"You heard me."
Aprexion's brow twitched.
"You expect us to believe you don't know?"
"Oh, we know."
Malgroth stepped backward.
"But that's not the same as telling you."
Kainen's aura erupted.
"YOU BASTARDS!"
He lunged.
But Orazhul raised one hand.
The air distorted.
Kainen's punch stopped inches from his face.
Orazhul smiled.
"You've spent so much time protecting everyone else."
His voice lowered.
"Perhaps now you should learn what it feels like to lose someone."
The distortion vanished.
Both Ghouls began dissolving into the darkness.
Aprexion fired.
His arrows passed through empty air.
Gone.
Kainen stood frozen.
His fists trembled.
"They knew."
Aprexion slowly lowered his bow.
"They wanted us to know that they knew."
Kainen stared toward the horizon.
Jack.
Henry.
Charles.
Kennedy.
Sonia.
Osei.
Yyvone.
Ian.
All gone.
And the Ghouls had just refused to tell them where they were.
---
Far above Airious, the night sky remained beautiful.
Almost offensively beautiful.
The war had stopped.
But nobody believed it was over.
At the academy, the students searched through the ruins.
At Thetra City, the Champions prepared to investigate Nicron.
At Night Flair City, Kainen and Aprexion were left with more questions than answers.
And somewhere beyond their reach—
the Free Abyss continued to breathe.
The Ghouls had disappeared.
The portals had closed.
The battlefield had gone quiet.
But the silence wasn't peace.
It was anticipation.
Because somewhere in the shadows, something had already moved.
And Airious hadn't even realized what had been taken from it yet.