The courtyard was silent.
Not peaceful.
Not calm.
Just… empty.
Where battle once raged, shattered stone and fractured earth remained. Faint traces of fading Aetherion energy lingered in the air like the ghost of a storm.
Students stood scattered across the academy grounds, whispering, shaken, unable to fully process what they had witnessed.
The Riftborn were gone.
But something felt… unfinished.
Ryo exhaled sharply and rolled his shoulder, wincing slightly.
"Yeah… I'm definitely feeling that tomorrow."
He glanced toward Kai.
"…You okay?"
Kai stood still, staring at the place where the Riftborn had disappeared. His breathing was steady again. Calm. Controlled. As if the battle had never happened.
But his eyes were distant.
Thinking.
Searching.
"…I'm fine," he replied quietly.
Ryo frowned.
"That thing said something to you."
Kai didn't respond immediately.
Elias stepped closer, voice calm but focused.
"The God Killer."
Silence lingered between them.
Ryo crossed his arms.
"You seriously never heard that name before?"
Kai shook his head slowly.
"No."
But something inside him felt uneasy.
Not fear.
Recognition.
As if the name belonged to a memory buried deeper than he could reach.
Elias looked toward the sky where the rift had sealed itself shut.
"That Riftborn wasn't random," he said. "It adapted. It reacted to you specifically. And it recognized something."
Ryo scoffed lightly.
"Yeah, recognized that Kai hits harder than everyone else."
Elias didn't smile.
"No. Something else."
Kai finally turned toward them.
"…It felt different."
Ryo blinked.
"What did?"
"The Riftborn."
Kai's voice remained calm, but quieter than usual.
"It wasn't just attacking… it was searching."
Elias' eyes sharpened.
"…For you."
Kai said nothing.
Because he knew Elias was right.
The sound of footsteps approached.
Instructors.
Academy officials.
Medical teams.
The academy courtyard quickly filled with controlled urgency.
One of the senior instructors stepped forward, gaze fixed on Kai.
"You three — report."
Ryo muttered under his breath, "Here we go."
Minutes later, the trio sat inside a quiet briefing room.
The atmosphere was heavier than the battlefield.
Not from danger.
From questions.
An instructor stood across from them, reviewing energy readings displayed across a holographic panel.
"These creatures are now classified as Riftborn Entities," he said. "They appeared through a dimensional fracture and demonstrated adaptive combat evolution."
His gaze lifted.
"And one of them spoke."
Ryo leaned back slightly.
"Barely."
Elias remained composed.
"It referenced something called the 'God Killer.'"
The room fell silent.
The instructors exchanged looks.
Concerned.
Uncertain.
Uncomfortable.
Kai noticed.
"…You've heard it before," he said quietly.
The instructor hesitated.
"…Only in fragmented research records. Ancient. Unverified. Mostly considered myth."
Ryo snorted.
"Well that myth just tried to kill us."
Kai leaned forward slightly.
"What kind of myth?"
The instructor studied him carefully before answering.
"…A being associated with the destruction of divine civilizations."
Ryo's joking expression disappeared.
"…What?"
"Records describe it as an entity that hunts powerful energy sources across dimensions. It is referred to as—"
He paused.
"…The God Killer."
Silence returned.
Heavy.
Unsettling.
Kai's chest felt tight.
A faint echo stirred in his mind.
Fire.
A collapsing sky.
A voice he couldn't reach.
Elias broke the silence.
"If this is real… then today wasn't random."
The instructor nodded slowly.
"We are beginning Rift Analysis immediately. Until further notice, the academy is on elevated alert."
His gaze returned to Kai.
"…And you."
Kai met his eyes calmly.
"Yes?"
The instructor hesitated — choosing his words carefully.
"…Your energy reading during the battle was abnormal."
Ryo smirked.
"Told you he's built different."
But the instructor wasn't joking.
"It didn't spike."
"It stabilized."
Elias' eyes widened slightly.
He had noticed the same thing.
The instructor continued:
"That level of control under unknown pressure… is not typical for a student."
Kai remained silent.
Because he didn't know how to explain something he didn't understand himself.
Later.
The trio walked outside beneath the fading evening sky.
The academy felt quieter now.
Watchful.
Waiting.
Ryo stretched his arms.
"Well… that was fun."
Elias sighed lightly.
"You nearly died."
"Yeah, but I didn't."
Ryo glanced at Kai.
"…You didn't either."
Kai looked upward.
The sky was clear now.
But he couldn't shake the feeling…
That something beyond it was watching.
Waiting.
And slowly…
Getting closer.