"Don't hate anyone"
The words echoed in her mind as she saw the boy Kira, saving her from a deadly beam. The beam could have killed her at instant, but it was fortunate that she was saved.
But why?
The thought emerges into her mind again and again, breaking her heart, each time with a greater force.
Even though, I call you curse child...
The words haunted her like ghosts.
"Why are you saving me"
She whispers to herself looking towards the fight of Kira and Vaeliora.
Even though, I hate you... despise you. So, why?
The thoughts were overwhelming her, but she decides to stay calm as air was becoming more tense and then she saw Lisa coming to her.
She decides to hide her emotions for now and glued her mind to the fight going on between Kira and Vaeliora.
"What is happening to him…?"
"That power… Kira mana nature is lightning… so what is this?"
It was same as last time. He saved me like this even though, he knew he could die...
Her expression changes and raising her eyes, towards the battle, she spoke.
"I owe you, Curse child"
Riya stood raising her one eyebrow, she spoke, looking into the white eyes of Lisa with determination.
"Let's help him"
Hearing her sentence Lisa shifted her gaze towards her once and then tightened her grip of her sword.
"Yeah."
And then the explosion occurs, with Kira coming through it and as thousands of stings were launched towards him—
"Frost wall"
She saved Kira as he fell downwards and then as the moment passed.
Small meteors began crashing down into the university, exploding on impact, sending flames and debris in every direction. The ground trembled violently beneath each strike, panic spreading as destruction rained from above.
But it didn't stop.
A colossal meteor, far larger than the rest, engulfed entirely in raging flames. It burned like a second sun, descending slowly yet inevitably toward the university, its presence alone enough to suffocate hope.
Her gaze shifted towards it and then she rushed towards the fallen Kira.
"Kira!!"
She checked his naked upper body for once.
"Thanks goodness. You are not in worse condition."
She shifted her gaze towards the colossal meteor, which was rapidly approaching and then a thought came passed through her mind.
"I can never forgive you, Curse child... but I want to believe in you, Kira."
Riya stepped forward, her eyes locked on the colossal meteor tearing through the sky. Raising her hand, she pointed straight at it, her fingers steady despite the chaos. Then, with a sharp swing of her arm, she commanded the very ground beneath her.
The earth answered.
With a deafening rumble, a massive hand burst upward from the ground—ancient, towering, and unstoppable. It surged toward the descending meteor and caught it in an instant, halting its fall as if time itself had paused.
The moment they made contact, a wave of frost exploded outward.
Ice spread rapidly from the giant hand, creeping over the burning surface of the meteor like twisting branches. The flames hissed and died as the cold consumed them, layer by layer, until the raging inferno was silenced. Crystalline veins wrapped around the meteor, branching outward in intricate patterns, freezing it completely.
In seconds, what once threatened destruction transformed into something almost surreal—a colossal, frozen structure rising from the heart of the university, like a giant tree of ice, its branches gripping the sky, shimmering with an eerie, silent power.
Riya exhaled heavily as she falls to her knees, coughing.
The air becomes colds and the people around there were become confused, but they soon understand what happened.
"We are saved."
Vaeliora reaction was same was crowd but instead of getting pleased, she crashes out.
"What just..."
And she directed her hands towards Riya. Lisa saw it and as she moved, she got stunned as Vaeliora fell down to her knees vomiting blood before getting unconscious due to usage of high mana output than her limit.
"What the heck..."
The voices came through her mouth for once but as she hovered her eyes and then she realised that the threat was still not erased.
The giant meteors were stopped but the small meteors were still falling on the university and spreading flames.
And then she saw heard, a sharp whistle cut through the air as a smaller meteor broke away from the sky, blazing as it hurtled downward. It slammed into the ground with a violent crash, sending shards of stone and dust exploding outward.
Kira lay motionless at the impact site, his body barely a few steps away from where the meteor struck. Beside him, Riya struggled on her knees, coughing as the smoke and heat choked the air around her. Her vision blurred, her strength fading, yet she tried to reach toward Kira.
"Riya!" Lisa's voice rang out.
Without hesitation, Lisa dashed through the debris, shielding her face from the scorching wind. She reached Riya just in time, grabbing her arm and pulling her away from the crumbling ground. Riya resisted weakly, her hand still stretched toward Kira, but Lisa forced her back to safety.
"I can't—Kira—!" Riya gasped.
Before Lisa could react further, the ground beneath Kira gave a deep, cracking groan. A massive hole tore open where he lay, the earth collapsing inward in an instant. Dust and darkness swallowed him as his body slipped into the void.
Riya's scream echoed across the ruins as the hole sealed in fragments of falling debris—leaving nothing behind but silence where Kira had been.
✧✧✧
Draves burst out of the hallway at a full sprint, his footsteps echoing sharply against the stone walls. His coat trailed behind him as urgency pushed him forward, his eyes scanning everything ahead. As he turned into the dorm hallway, his pace slowed slightly—but the tension in the air was suffocating. Students stood frozen, whispering, fear written across their faces as distant rumbles shook the building.
He grabbed the arm of a nearby girl, his voice firm but edged with concern."Where is the Vice President?"
The girl flinched before answering quickly, "S-she's at the gate."
Draves' expression hardened. "The gate? What is she doing there…?"
Without waiting another second, he released her and dashed off again, his speed increasing as unease turned into dread.
When he finally reached the gate, the scene before him made him stop.
The President lay on the ground, unconscious, his body still and battered. Beside him, the Vice President knelt, her hands glowing faintly as she focused on healing him, her face tense but determined.
Draves stepped closer, his voice lowering."Are you alright?"
She gave a small nod, not breaking her concentration.
Then, more urgently, he asked, "Where is Eren?"
For a brief moment, her hands faltered. She lifted her gaze and silently pointed toward the distance beyond the gate—toward the chaos unfolding outside.
Draves followed her gesture, his eyes narrowing as the weight of the situation settled in.
Eren stood motionless, as if frozen between life and collapse, his bare upper body rising and falling faintly with each strained breath. He was upright only because of what lay beneath him.
The beast—a monstrous creature with a lion's body and torn, ruined wings—was sprawled across the shattered ground. One of its wings was gone, the other twisted and broken. Its legs lay at unnatural angles, no longer able to support its massive frame. Eren's sword was driven deep into its eye, the blade buried to the hilt, pinning the creature in a final, silent defeat.
The ground around them was stained dark, the aftermath of a brutal clash. Crimson spread in wide, uneven patterns across the broken stone, mixing with dust and debris. The air itself felt heavy, thick with the intensity of what had just occurred.
Eren's body told the story of the battle. His skin was marked with cuts and bruises, his muscles tense even in unconsciousness. Blood—most of it not his—coated his arms and hands, dripping slowly from his fingertips. His grip on the sword had long loosened, yet it remained lodged in place, as if his will still hold it there.
A faint wind passed through the scene, brushing against his still figure and the fallen beast beneath him. Everything else was silent.
It was the kind of silence that follows something overwhelming—the kind that makes it clear a fierce battle had ended, but at a cost not yet understood.
Draves looked towards the Eren and then whisper to himself in a low voice.
"He truly gone all-out."
And then as he shifted his gaze, the flames started to spread around them, with a massive explosion around somewhere.
"What is happening?"