The wind was still.
It had been three days since the duel, yet the academy halls still pulsed with invisible tension. The name "Jiwoon" now echoed through every classroom—not as a curiosity, but as a warning.
"He's not one of us."
"He shattered the crystal. Did you see that black dragon?"
"Even the headmaster hasn't said a word about him…"
Jiwoon walked in silence, the edge of his uniform cloak brushing against the stone floor. Students gave him a wide berth. Whispers followed him like shadows—but none dared confront him.
None… except her.
"You left something behind," Vera's voice called out, soft but firm.
He turned.
She stood beneath the staircase where they'd last spoken. Her silver-marked eye was hidden under a black eyepatch now. But even without it, her gaze pierced through the air.
Jiwoon's expression remained unreadable. "What is it?"
Vera stepped closer. She held out a small, pitch-black scale—faintly warm to the touch.
"This fell from you… after the roar. It's not part of any Divine Beast I've studied."
He took it without answering.
The scale pulsed in his palm.
[Flashback – 3 Days Ago]
In the instant the duel was stopped, Jiwoon had clutched his chest. Not in pain—but in restraint. Something within him had responded to Vera's eye. Something ancient. Something sin-bound.
He remembered the voice.
"You who bear my armor… why do you hold back?"
"Devour, and become me."
But Jiwoon had resisted. Barely.
Back in the present, Vera's voice broke the silence again.
"You're not from here. Not really. But… I don't think you're here to hurt us either."
She took a deep breath.
"If you are… then I'll stop you. Even if it kills me."
Jiwoon stared at her, then… smiled. Just slightly.
"Good. If you didn't say that—I would've been disappointed."
Their eyes locked. Not as enemies. Not yet allies. But something in between—two souls standing on the edge of something neither could name.
Suddenly, a shadow flickered past the upper window.
A letter. Sealed in crimson. Delivered by no one.
Jiwoon caught it midair.
"A mission?" Vera asked.
Jiwoon read the seal. "No… an invitation."
The words burned in black ink across the envelope:
"To the One Who Roared: Enter the Hidden Trials. Midnight. North Tower."