The second gate exploded open inside the academy courtyard.
Students were still screaming from the first monster's death when the sky split again — this time directly above the training grounds.
Black mist poured down like liquid shadow.
Arav didn't hesitate.
"Everyone inside the main hall! Move!" he shouted.
No one listened.
They were first-year awakeners.
Half of them hadn't even triggered their abilities yet.
The ground cracked.
Three creatures dropped from the new gate — thinner than the first one, but faster. Their limbs bent at unnatural angles, claws scraping sparks against stone as they landed.
Mira staggered beside him, breathing heavily.
"I can't hold another gravity crush," she muttered. "Not yet."
"I know."
Arav's eyes flicked upward.
The Tower in the distance shimmered.
It wasn't stable.
It was pulsing.
That wasn't normal.
In the original timeline, the Tower descended gradually. Controlled. Measured.
This—
This was forced manifestation.
System windows flickered in front of him.
[Wave 1 Cleared.]
[Wave 2 Initiated.]
[Survival Rate Projection: 32%]
Too low.
Way too low.
One of the clawed creatures lunged toward a group of frozen students.
Arav ran.
Not away.
Forward.
His legs felt lighter than before. Regression had restored his younger body, but his instincts were from a veteran fighter.
He grabbed a fallen metal pole from the collapsed banner stand and pivoted into the creature's path.
It slashed.
He ducked.
The claws shaved through his sleeve instead of his throat.
He drove the pole upward into its jaw joint.
The creature shrieked.
It didn't die.
But it stumbled.
"Awaken! Focus!" Arav yelled at the students behind him. "Stop panicking!"
One boy's eyes flashed blue.
Water surged around his arms instinctively.
He blasted it forward.
The creature was thrown back into a pillar.
Good.
Chain reactions.
That's how you survive early waves.
Another monster leaped over Arav entirely.
Its target—
Mira.
She turned too late.
Arav triggered his system again.
[Chrono Mark — Cooldown Remaining: 3 minutes]
Damn.
Not ready.
He sprinted.
No time dilation.
No safety net.
The monster's claw swung toward Mira's neck—
And suddenly its body twisted mid-air.
Gravity shifted sideways.
It smashed into the courtyard wall.
Mira's eyes glowed faint violet.
She was overexerting.
"Stop pushing it!" Arav snapped.
She glared at him. "You don't give orders."
Fair.
Not yet.
Another tremor shook the academy.
The main building collapsed inward on the west side.
Dust swallowed the sky.
Screams echoed.
Arav's mind raced.
In the original timeline, this academy survived the first descent.
It became a key training base.
If it fell now, humanity's awakening curve would slow drastically.
Which meant—
The extinction event would accelerate.
He scanned the courtyard.
Thirty students.
Five instructors left alive.
Three monsters active.
And more gates forming.
This wasn't random.
This was targeted.
[Warning: Higher Authority Influence Rising.]
The system message glitched with static.
Arav's stomach tightened.
So it knew too.
Something was accelerating events because he reset.
The Tower wasn't reacting to humanity.
It was reacting to him.
A roar tore through the courtyard.
The largest creature yet crawled out of the second gate.
Twice the size of the first monster.
Bone plates layered like armor.
Multiple mouths opening across its torso.
That wasn't a Floor 10 beast.
That was Floor 20.
Impossible.
Students broke formation.
Someone ran toward the outer gates.
The creature extended a limb—
And impaled him through the back.
Arav's jaw clenched.
No hesitation.
He needed coordination.
"Form around me!" he shouted. "Water and fire users to the left. Defensive abilities center. Gravity on my signal."
Why were they listening?
He didn't know.
Maybe confidence spreads faster than fear.
Dante burst into the courtyard from the east wing, Solar Core igniting around him in a blaze of gold.
Even untrained, his raw talent was absurd.
He launched a wave of fire at the massive creature.
It burned—
But didn't fall.
The monster roared and charged directly at Dante.
Of course it did.
Dante was the highest energy signature here.
Arav's heart skipped.
In the first timeline, Dante's early injury delayed his growth by months.
If that happened again—
The future hero would weaken.
Arav couldn't allow it.
He activated Chrono Mark.
[Time Dilation — 3 Seconds]
The world slowed.
He saw it clearly.
The creature's second mouth opening beneath its chest.
Hidden attack vector.
In the first timeline, Dante didn't see that.
This time—
Arav tackled him sideways in slowed time.
The hidden jaw snapped where Dante had been standing.
Time snapped back.
Both of them rolled across broken stone.
Dante shoved him away. "What are you doing?"
"Saving your life," Arav replied flatly.
The massive creature turned again.
Its body began to glow faintly black.
Mana compression.
It was about to release a burst.
"Everyone down!" Arav roared.
Too slow.
The explosion detonated.
Black energy blasted outward in a circular shockwave.
Walls shattered.
Students flew.
Arav hit the ground hard, ears ringing.
[HP: 74% → 39%]
Pain shot through his ribs.
He forced himself up.
Mira was kneeling, blood running from her nose.
Dante stood, flames flickering weakly.
The monster was still alive.
And the second gate was widening.
More silhouettes inside.
Arav's breathing slowed.
This wasn't just wave defense.
This was elimination.
The Tower was trying to kill him early.
The system window pulsed violently.
[Emergency Sub-Quest Unlocked]
[Kill Wave Leader]
[Reward: Skill Evolution]
[Failure: Authority Lock Engaged]
Authority lock?
That sounded bad.
He didn't have time to analyze.
The massive creature roared again and charged straight for him.
Not Dante.
Not Mira.
Him.
Confirmed.
Targeted.
Fine.
Arav stepped forward instead of back.
"Three seconds," he whispered.
Chrono Mark activated again.
Time crawled.
He sprinted toward the monster head-on.
Instead of dodging, he slid beneath its torso.
There.
The weakest joint between the bone plates.
He drove the broken spear fragment upward with everything he had.
Time resumed.
The creature shrieked.
Black blood exploded outward.
But it still moved.
Still alive.
Not enough.
It slammed a limb into him.
He felt ribs crack.
[HP: 21%]
He rolled, coughing blood.
Vision blurred.
Dante fired another blast of flame.
Mira forced gravity down again.
The monster staggered.
Arav pushed himself up one more time.
No fear.
No hesitation.
He ran straight at it.
As the creature opened all its mouths at once—
Arav jumped.
And shoved his entire arm deep into the wound he created.
Pain burned through his nerves.
But he grabbed something inside.
A core.
He ripped it out.
The monster froze mid-motion.
Then collapsed like a puppet with cut strings.
Silence spread across the courtyard.
Only heavy breathing remained.
System notifications flooded his vision.
[Wave Leader Eliminated.]
[Skill Evolution Available.]
[Timeline Deviation Increased: 4.2%]
Increased?
That wasn't good.
The second gate flickered violently.
Then—
It closed.
The courtyard fell silent.
No more monsters emerged.
Students stared at Arav.
At the boy who wasn't supposed to be strong yet.
Dante stepped forward slowly.
"You've fought before," he said quietly.
Arav met his eyes.
"Yes."
"Where?"
Arav didn't answer.
Because he couldn't.
Because even he didn't know the full truth.
Above them—
The Tower pulsed once more.
Then stabilized.
For now.
But the system didn't look calm.
It looked… concerned.
[Higher Authority Attention: Confirmed]
[Observer Mark Applied]
Arav froze.
Observer mark?
He checked his arm.
Beneath the Chrono Mark symbol—
A faint black line appeared.
Like an eye.
Watching.
Mira noticed it too.
Her voice dropped. "What did you do?"
Arav looked toward the Tower again.
High above the clouds—
For a split second—
He saw the silhouette again.
Clearer this time.
Not a monster.
Not human either.
Standing calmly.
As if evaluating.
Then—
A voice echoed directly into his mind.
Not from the system.
From somewhere else.
"You were not chosen to save them."
The black mark on his arm burned.
Students around him collapsed one by one from exhaustion.
Dante staggered.
Mira swayed.
Arav alone remained standing.
The system window shattered into fragments.
And a new message appeared.
Not mechanical.
Not structured.
Just raw words.
"Reset denied."
The ground beneath the academy began to crack again.
But this time—
The fracture didn't come from the sky.
It came from below.
Something inside the Tower had moved.
And it was descending.