Night drifted over Nexara as Raze and Lily finally rolled into the Arcwell estate.The engine purred to a stop, and Lily—still clinging to Raze's waist—burst into another fit of giggles.
"Heehee… Big bro, that was soooo fast!"
Raze removed his helmet and ruffled her hair.
"Alright, Lily. Quiet now. If we're careful, we can sneak inside before—"
SLAM!
The front door whipped open.
Luna Arcwell stood framed in golden light, arms crossed, expression glowing with righteous fury. Her foot tapped against the marble like a ticking time bomb.
"Oh look," she said softly—dangerously softly."My dear siblings finally decided to return home."
Raze went pale.
"S–Sis, we can explain—"
Luna raised a hand and pressed a finger to his lips.
"No. Not you. Her."She turned, eyes blazing."Lily… sweetheart. Tell me. Where exactly did the BOTH of you go today?"
Raze froze.Lily's eyes sparkled with traitorous innocence.
"Well! Big brother took me on the FASTEST bike ride! And then—"
Raze reached out.
"Lily, wait—NO—"
"—and then we played with Big Sister Astra!"
Silence.
An ominous wind rattled the windows.
Luna stared at them the way ancient gods stared at mortals who touched forbidden artifacts.
"So let me get this straight…"Her tone dripped with betrayal."You two left me alone at home… while you rode around the city… AND hung out with another girl?"
Raze raised both hands. "Okay listen—"
"No. YOU LISTEN." Luna jabbed a finger at him."You REPLACED me. With ASTRA."
"She's not replacing—"
"And YOU." Luna whirled toward Lily."You betrayed me."
Lily gasped dramatically."No! Luna-sis, I love you most! But the bike was super fast and Big Sis Astra is super cool!"
"Oh. So she's 'super cool.' Good to know."Luna turned away, arms crossed like a dethroned empress."Enjoy your new big sister then."
Raze sighed. "You're being dramatic."
"I LEARNED IT FROM YOU!"
The banter escalated—accusations, exaggerated heartbreak, sibling betrayal theatrics—until a calm voice cut through like a divine decree.
"Alright, that's enough."
Rose Arcwell stepped forward with her gentle smile.
"Luna, stop sulking. Lily, stop teasing. Raze… stop encouraging chaos."
"I didn't—"
Rose raised a single eyebrow.Raze shut up instantly.
In minutes, the Arcwell household returned to peace.
Lily hugged Luna.Luna hugged her back (after pretending she wouldn't).Raze pretended he wasn't relieved.
The Starbreaker Is Born
Morning light spilled over the Arcwell Technologies laboratory.
Holograms.Machinery.Engineers sprinting like caffeinated ants.
Because today—they were analyzing his data.
Dr. Kelvar nearly tripped running toward him.
"Raze Arcwell! Perfect timing! We've analyzed your entire fight with Voxen Hale!"
He held up a glowing tablet.
"We've upgraded your combat suit. Version 7.2."
Raze blinked. "Already?"
"You gave us data better than ten normal tests combined!"
Another engineer chimed in, eyes sparkling.
"The Abyss Alloy layers adapted more efficiently than predicted. The nanotech responded with 99.7% accuracy. So we decided to give your suit a proper name."
Kelvar tapped the hologram.
The blueprint rotated.
ARCWELL PROTOTYPE — ASTRAEOS MK-I'THE STARBREAKER SUIT'
Raze raised an eyebrow. "Starbreaker?"
"Well," Kelvar grinned, "you caught a tungsten punch with your bare hand."
"Fair enough."
When Raze wore the new suit, it fused to him—lighter, stronger, smarter.A heartbeat of silver-blue energy pulsed through it.
For a moment, he stared at his reflection.
Not powerless.Not a burden.Not the outlier of his family.
But someone who was becoming… something else.
Something new.
Training with Luna
Later that afternoon, Raze met Luna in the Arcwell training yard.
She cracked her knuckles.
"Okay, traitor. Show me how much stronger you got."
Raze twirled his batons."You sure? Yesterday someone was pretty jealous."
"Hit me and I'll forgive you."
"Oh, so that's the forgiveness price now?"
They clashed—light against steel.
Luna blurred with radiance.Raze's upgraded suit amplified his speed, his reactions, his precision.
Every strike lit the air.Every dodge was a tight dance of two prodigies.
Luna smirked between blows.
"You're getting faster."
"You're still annoying."
"No—you're finally catching up."
They fought until the sky turned sunset gold.
A New Path for Voxen
After training, Lily ran over with a tablet.
"Big brother! Look! Look!"
A headline flashed:
Voxen Hale Accepted into Argent Sentinel (AS) Hero Academy.
Raze blinked."Already…?"
Luna nodded.
"Well, he awakened mid-battle. And our hero class is full. He deserves it."
Raze exhaled softly.
"I'm glad… he earned it."
Their fight had been brutal, honest, powerful.
Raze respected him deeply.
Round Two Approaches
The next morning, Lionel Academy buzzed like a hornet's nest.
Students crowded the digital boards.
Round Two brackets lit up the screens.
Raze stepped forward…
Found his name…
And smiled.
The preliminaries were over.
Now—
the real tournament was about to begin.
**************************
The atmosphere inside Lionel Academy was electric.
The kind of tension that made the air feel heavier.The kind that made every heartbeat louder.
Today was the day.
The reveal of the Second-Round matchups.
Students from all departments—Hero Class, Auxiliary Cadets, even the special observers—crowded around the massive display board mounted across the main hall. Teachers stood at the edges, arms folded, watching with quiet anticipation.
The preliminaries had ended.
And the students who remained were not beginners anymore.
They were the top guns. The heavyweights. The names the nation was already buzzing about.
Ten winners. Five match slots.
And the entire school waited to see who they would be facing.
The screen flickered.
A soft hum filled the hall.
Every student leaned forward at once.
Then the names began appearing—one pair at a time.
Match 1 — Rain Lancelot vs Alren Frost
Match 2 — Gray Howitzer vs Felix Cinder
Match 3 — Selene Ward vs Roger Castellan
Match 4 — Kane Kaiser vs Mira Goldhart
Students leaned forward.
Some celebrated.
Some groaned.
Some went pale instantly.
And then—
The last match slot flickered.
Everyone stared as the two names solidified on the screen.
ASTRA NOIRE vs RAZE ARCWELL
A gasp tore through the hall.
"NO WAY—""That's impossible!"
"How is Raze supposed to fight Astra!?"
"He had a chance against others… but Astra!?"
"Isn't this just cruel!?"
Those who supported Raze felt their hearts sink instantly.
He had fought so hard. Overcome every disadvantage.
Proved himself against overwhelming odds.
But Astra?
Astra Noire wasn't just a student.
She was a phenomenon.
Even Raze's classmates fell silent.
Roger ran a hand down his face."…Bro's dead. Absolutely dead."
Rain looked heartbroken. "He tried so hard… but Astra…"
Even stoic Gray muttered under his breath,"…Bad luck."
Raze stared at the board calmly, but his eyes were unreadable.
Astra's reaction was the opposite—her expression faltered, clearly shocked.
"I… didn't expect this," she whispered.
The matches were set. The next rounds would begin next week.
Students began gathering their things, still murmuring among themselves.
But just as Astra, Raze and the others turned to leave—
BEEP.
BEEP.
BEEP—BEEP—BEEP.
Every single screen in Nexara lit up simultaneously.
Classroom monitors. Hallway displays.
Billboards outside the academy.
Holo-pads, Phones, Home screens.
All at once.
A chilling silence fell.
And then—
A single symbol appeared across every device.
A blindfolded man's silhouette.
No name.
No message.
Just the icon.
Every person in the building froze.
Because they all knew what that symbol meant. because there is only one guy with blindfold, famous nowadays.
Someone whispered in terror:
"…It's him."
Another voice followed shakily:
"…The Blind Seer." (that's the name media gave him, but nobody knows anything about him)
And the screen started to glitch.
Astra's eyes narrowed.
Raze's fists tightened.
Everybody in Nexara were watching the screen before them, wondering what was going on.
***************************
Silence.
A heavy, suffocating silence swallowed the entire academy the moment the screens flickered to black.
Students froze mid-step.Teachers stiffened.The air itself felt like it was holding its breath.
Then—
BZZT—
Every screen in Nexara lit up at once.
Classroom monitors.Hallway displays.Phones. Tablets. Home holograms.Even the massive city billboards.
All synced to the same broadcast.
A pixelated silhouette appeared at first, distorted like a ghost in static.
Then the picture sharpened.
A man appeared on the screen, sitting lazily in a dimly lit room, one leg crossed over the other, scratching the back of his head.
Messy purple hair.A casual slouch.A blindfold wrapped neatly around his eyes.
He didn't look like a supervillain.
He didn't look like anything special.
But every person in Nexara felt the same icy shiver—
This man was dangerous.
He sighed loudly before speaking.
"First of all… have you all lost your minds?"
The room erupted into confused murmurs.
Was this a joke? A hack? A threat?
He didn't wait.
"I mean seriously," he continued, irritated, "a few weeks ago I killed and delivered five heroes to your International Headquarters."
Gasps tore through the academy.
Rain covered her mouth.Roger nearly fell backward.Even Astra's eyes widened.
Raze's fists tightened.
"And after all that," the man said, pointing at the camera, "you people are busy cheering on children beating each other up in a school tournament."
His tone was flat—borderline disappointed.
"Really? Is this entertainment for you? Watching teenagers fight until they break something?"
He leaned closer.
"You're all insane."
The students had no idea what to say.What to think.Whether to scream or stay still.
His voice dropped, almost bored.
"And another thing… what's with this name you've all given me?"
He tapped the blindfold.
"'Blind Seer'? Really? Who came up with that? Do I look blind to you?"
Silence rippled across the hall.
"…Well, I suppose there's only one way to clear this up."
He lifted a hand.
Slowly… deliberately… he untied the blindfold.
A hush fell like a crashing wave.
The cloth slid away.
And beneath it—
One eye glowed deep, murderous red.The other radiant, shimmering violet, pulsing with unstable light.
Astra sucked in a sharp breath.
Gray's jaw locked.
Luna Arcwell, watching from home in their television, whispered:
"It's definitely him."
Raze felt something cold twist in his chest.
The man smiled thinly.
"As you can see—I'm not blind."
He let the blindfold drop onto his lap.
"Now. My real name."
He lifted two fingers.
"I am Vesper Fray. The last surviving Fray."
The name hit the crowd like a thunderbolt.
Teachers exchanged horrified looks.Students gasped.Whispers flooded the hall.
"Some know about the name Fray and some didn't"
Fray chuckled under his breath.
"But the name the world should remember—"
His red and violet eyes lit up like twin storms.
"—is Nightveil."
The temperature in the hall seemed to drop several degrees.
Even the lights flickered.
Nightveil leaned back casually in his chair.
"Now, let's talk about the reason for this broadcast."
He stretched his arms lazily, like this was all a minor inconvenience.
"Hacking every screen in the country by myself? Impossible."
He tilted his head thoughtfully.
"But with a little teamwork? Quite easy."
Sweat formed on the brows of the academy staff.
Government engineers across the nation were no doubt panicking, frantically trying to trace the signal.
Nightveil smirked knowingly.
"Oh, and to the dear hackers in the government watching this right now—please relax. You can't find me."
He waved dismissively.
"Don't embarrass yourselves."
Then his smile faded, replaced by cold seriousness.
"I'm not appearing today to threaten anyone."
He leaned toward the camera, expression chillingly calm.
"I'm appearing so you all remember something."
The hall went still.Dead still.
"You seem to forget," he whispered."That I'm still here." "And I'm watching."
The room felt like ice.
Students' hearts raced.Teachers clenched their fists.Even Astra felt a bead of sweat roll down her back.
Nightveil tapped the table lightly.
"I don't kill without purpose. Every person who died by my hand deserved it. Don't twist the narrative."
Then he stood up.
"Speaking of which… allow me to show you something."
He grabbed the camera.The angle shifted.The screen blurred.
When it refocused—
Gasps echoed everywhere.
A man lay unconscious on the floor behind him.
Navy-blue uniform.Golden insignia.
The President of the Nation's Hero Association.
Bound.Helpless.Alive, but clearly defeated.
Mira collapsed into her chair.Selene choked on her breath.Dozens of students backed away as if Nightveil were about to crawl out of the screen.
Nightveil walked slowly across the room.
Then he turned the camera—showing the walls, the decor, the emblem behind the desk.
Every viewer recognized it instantly.
He was inside the Hero Association Headquarters.
Inside the President's private office.
Casually. Comfortably.As though he lived there.
He placed a paper on the desk.
Neat handwriting.
"Yours truly — Nightveil."
He tapped the page once.
"This is your reminder," he said softly."In case you thought I disappeared."
The screen distorted.
Static roared.
His final words echoed through every speaker in the nation:
"Don't forget me."
BZZT—
Every device went pitch black.
The whole nation plunged into stunned silence.
In the academy hall, no one spoke.
No one moved.
Every heart pounded with the same realization—
Nightveil wasn't a rumor. He wasn't a ghost. He wasn't a myth.
He was real.
He was watching.
And he had just declared the beginning of something far more terrifying.