131 CYARA ATHERIS
A ripple of recognition ran through the crowd.
"The Atheris family—weren't they the main branch that the Zetheris came from?" someone murmured.
"One of the big families from Silver City."
"She's Shawn's cousin."
Damen's mouth curled. "What do you want?"
"You're rude for a cheat," she said coolly. "I don't believe you got full marks."
"That's your problem, not mine," Damen shrugged.
"If your score is real, fight me. I'll prove to everyone you cheated," she challenged.
Zairgid sauntered forward, grinning. "This pretty thing wants to fight you. Teach her a lesson — drag her into your harem," he joked, loud enough for half the crowd to hear.
Damen slapped him a casual high five.
Zairgid's laugh died when Cyara's face went white with fury. "You….how dare you insult me!" she screamed.
Then the air changed.
Shadows lengthened as if a hand had drawn the light inward. For a few stunned seconds the schoolyard dimmed; even the hard reflections on the testing machine seemed to drain away.
With everyone watching, light bent and pooled into the girl's silhouette, swallowed clean by the motionless figure of Cyara Atheris.
Gasps rose and fell like waves.
This was no ordinary meta skill. It was an advanced and dangerous skill, the kind that the major families secretly train their heirs.
"Die, you Damen Dark! See how my cousin squashes you!" Shawn howled, his voice raw with hatred.
The crowd held its breath as the darkness around Cyara thickened, waiting to see whether her power and Damen's response would light the sky again.
Damen watched as the sky dimmed, light bleeding toward the girl until she glowed like the heart of a dying star.
"This is interesting," he murmured, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
He activated his Vision Connect, the internal glyph began scanning her:
Name: Cyara Atheris
Strength Rank: C Meta Rank: D
Strength: 263 | Charm: 28 | Meta: 180 | Command: 182
This was impressive stats for her age but still it was not enough. Damen's scans told him everything: she wasn't his equal in either Strength or Meta. Still, her ability to manipulate light itself was far beyond standard academy training.
There was a blur of motion.
Then Cyara was right in front of him, her body cloaked in swirling fogs of shadow. Her hands reached for his throat, her eyes burning with fury.
"Die…", she screamed.
Damen didn't even move. He didn't have to. His body armor was now ranked BB-class. It could stop even Autocannon fire …. a student's strike was nothing.
"Stop them! They'll hurt themselves!" Principal Misk shouted, waving for security and the teachers to intervene.
"Die, you cheat! I hate you!" Cyara screamed again, believing she had Damen trapped in her dark cocoon.
A soft laugh came from within the shroud low and mocking.
Then, Damen's voice was heard, "So, my little princess …you hate me because you think I'm a cheat? if I'm not a cheat, does that mean you love me? Love… Hate, its either one or the other."
Her face twisted. "No! That's not what I said!"
From the sidelines, Zairgid called out, laughing. "Hey buddy, take it easy! Don't break her — she's no good to you in the hospital bed!"
"How dare you?!" Cyara shouted again, her power flaring ready to break Damen.
Then there was only silence.
The darkness around them collapsed like glass, light rushing back into the world. Cyara's body was hurled across the field, striking the barrier wall with a heavy thud.
She coughed blood, her eyes wide in disbelief. "What…happened?"
Principal Misk and the teachers stopped before they reached them.
The fight was already over.
Damen stood unscathed, lowering his hand. The air rippled faintly with the aftermath of his Fusion Meta: Momentum Collapse.
But this time, there was no echo from his attack. His kinetic crunch did not replicate itself over the distance repeatedly.
Damen learned to suppress the Core of Echo function recently.
It was a new function after the latest upgrade to his DemCoin System. The new interface listed all the artifacts he'd assimilated … each one could now be toggled on or off at will.
He disabled Core of Echo for a reason.
That feature gave his fusion meta its distinctive signature advantage— the repeated resonance. The same resonance would be used by Black Halo but not by himself-Damen Dark.
If anyone saw both of them use the same echo pattern, the connection would be obvious.
His alter ego would be revealed if he did that. By turning Echo off, Damen ensured no one would suspect his secret identity.
Now, his fusion techniques looked ordinary — just another skill set taught to advanced trainees at Fortress Myrone. Even Zairgid had learned a basic version.
"Impossible… how can I lose to him?" Cyara gasped, clutching her side.
It was the first time she had ever been defeated in a duel. Not even her older brothers could best her—yet this so-called cheater from a public academy had thrown her aside like a rag doll.
"It's possible…. because Damen isn't a cheat," Zairgid said, grinning from ear to ear. Then he added, "And now that you've admitted defeat….does that mean you love him?"
He burst out laughing.
Cyara's eyes widened in outrage, but Damen just turned away.
Without another word, he and Zairgid left the field. They had no interest in sticking around for the crowd's noise or the inevitable school celebrations.
Outside the gates, Zairgid caught up to him. "Aren't you staying for the college recruiters and academy scouts? They're all gonna fight over you again."
Damen shook his head. "No. They'll just waste my entire afternoon."
He remembered the last time this happened—when he'd scored perfect marks in middle school. The recruiters had cornered him for hours, their endless offers and scholarships dragging late into the night.
He wasn't going through that circus again.
Zairgid stretched, grinning. "You're right. Better to celebrate instead. How about Black Owl? Haven't been there in ages."
"Fine by me," Damen said. "Call Kail and Dorin. Even Lander, if he's around."
"Of course! Leave it to me, I never disappoint in throwing a party," Zairgid replied, pounding his chest proudly. "And nobody throws a party better than me."
As Damen's convoy rumbled through the outskirts of the city, the sun dipped below the horizon, and the night settled fast. The engines of the armored trucks growled softly as they cut through the road toward Black Owl.
But behind them—something moved.
A darkness trailed their path, silently and patient. It wasn't the soft, natural night that wrapped the cities' sky. This one was alive. A slow, seething black that bled across the road like spilled ink, swallowing the stars above it.
Zairgid leaned out from the back seat, laughing as the city lights drew nearer. "I can already taste the drink! Hope the girls at Black Owl remember me…"
Damen's gaze, however, flicked toward the rear mirror. The convoy's last vehicle—a patrol jeep—blinked its lights once, then went dark. There was no explosion or sound. It was simply… gone.
He frowned. "Slow down."
The driver obeyed. The convoy reduced speed, their engines growling softer now.
Zairgid glanced back, his grin fading. "Uh… what's that behind us?"
Damen didn't answer. The darkness was spreading faster now, slithering across the ground toward them like a tide.
Whatever it was, Damen knew one thing: tonight's celebration would not be uneventful.
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