At Training ground.
The training ground had already turned into a battlefield.
Stone tiles were shattered, pillars cracked, and the air trembled with raw mana. At the center stood Vaeliora—no longer fully human. Dragon-like wings stretched wide from her back, dark and vast, casting a shadow over everyone. A scaled tail lashed behind her, smashing anything in reach. Her eyes burned with a cold, merciless glow.
Kira stood facing her, sword in hand, breathing heavy.
At the distance. — —
Riya steadied herself at a distance, hands glowing with frost.
Lisa moved like a shadow at his side; her body wrapped in shifting mana.
"Don't hold back," Kira muttered.
The fight began.
✧✧✧
Vaeliora moved first.
A single flap of her wings sent a shockwave tearing across the ground. Guards and students were thrown aside like leaves. Before anyone could recover, she dashed forward—faster than sight.
A guard tried to block her.
He didn't last a second.
She struck through him and continued forward, her tail whipping sideways, knocking down three more. Panic spread among the students.
"Let's end this."
Kira shouted, charging in.
Lisa followed instantly, her body coated in mana as she clashed head-on with Vaeliora. Sparks burst as claw met reinforced limbs. The force pushed Lisa back, but she held her ground.
"Now!" she yelled.
From afar, Riya raised both hands.
"Ice Formation—Piercing Rain!"
Dozens of sharp ice spikes formed in the air and shot toward Vaeliora.
Vaeliora twisted mid-air. Some spikes shattered against her scales. Others pierced lightly—but she barely reacted. Instead, she lunged straight through the attack.
Kira intercepted her.
Steel clashed with claw.
The impact cracked the ground beneath them.
The three worked together.
Lisa engaged up close, striking rapidly with mana-enhanced blows. Kira followed with precise sword strikes, targeting openings. Riya supported from a distance, launching wave after wave of ice attacks to restrict Vaeliora's movement.
For a moment—
They held her.
But only for a moment.
Vaeliora smiled.
A terrifying smile.
"You think numbers matter?"
Her wings expanded suddenly—
A violent burst of power exploded outward.
Lisa was thrown back.
Kira slid across the ground, barely maintaining balance.
Riya's next attack shattered before reaching her.
Vaeliora went on a rampage.
She moved through the guards and students like a storm. Every strike was lethal. No wasted motion. No hesitation.
Kira rushed back in, fury in his eyes.
"Stay with me!" he shouted to the others.
Lisa rejoined him, bruised but determined.
They attacked together again—
But Vaeliora had adapted.
She caught Kira's blade mid-swing.
Crack.
The pressure alone fractured the weapon slightly.
He tried to lift his broken sword—
Too late.
Vaeliora's hand shot forward.
Her clawed fingers drove straight into his chest with brutal force. The impact didn't just hit—it pierced through his defense, sending a shockwave through his entire body.
A dull, crushing sound echoed.
Kira's eyes widened.
For a moment, everything stopped.
Then—
His body jerked violently as the force rippled inside him. It felt like his heart shattered under the pressure. Blood burst from his mouth as his grip loosened completely.
The broken sword slipped from his hand.
He staggered backward—
Then collapsed to his knees.
Breathing became impossible.
Every heartbeat was pain.
Vaeliora didn't even look at him again.
To her—
He was already finished.
Lisa rushed in.
"Don't touch him!"
Her body surged with mana, reinforcing her arms as she launched herself at Vaeliora with everything she had left. Her strike was fast—desperate—powerful.
Vaeliora caught it effortlessly.
One hand.
No strain.
Lisa froze.
Vaeliora's grip shifted—
From her attack—
To her throat.
In a single motion, Vaeliora lifted her off the ground.
Lisa clawed at her wrist, her mana flickering wildly as she tried to break free. Her legs kicked in the air, searching for ground that wasn't there.
"Still trying?" Vaeliora said coldly.
Her grip tightened.
Lisa's eyes widened.
The pressure crushed her airway. A sharp, choking gasp escaped her as blood rose to her lips. Her strength began to fade, her mana losing form around her body.
She tried to strike again—
Her arm barely moved.
Vaeliora raised her higher.
Completely helpless.
A faint crackling sound filled the air as her grip dug deeper. Blood trickled from Lisa's mouth, her vision blurring as her body trembled uncontrollably.
Below them—
Kira saw it.
Through blurred vision.
Through pain that felt like death.
Lisa… being crushed.
His fingers twitched against the ground.
But his body wouldn't respond.
Vaeliora tilted her head slightly, observing Lisa like she was nothing more than a broken tool.
Then—
Without warning—
She tightened her grip once more.
Lisa gasped—
A weak, broken sound—
As more blood spilled from her lips.
And still—
Vaeliora showed no mercy.
Vaeliora rose higher into the air, her wings spreading wide as if she owned the sky itself.
She hovered her surroundings and then she saw—
Riya sat frozen on the shattered ground, her hands trembling, her breath uneven.
Above—
Vaeliora lifted one hand.
And in another Lisa, still struggling as she grabbed her throat.
Then—
Dark lightning began to gather.
Not ordinary lightning—this was something heavier, darker. It coiled around her arm like a living storm, crackling with violent energy. The air around her distorted as pressure built, pushing everything downward.
The ground beneath Riya started to crack.
Dust lifted… then got forced back down.
The sky dimmed.
Wind spiraled inward toward Vaeliora's hand, feeding the growing mass of energy. Within the lightning, flames began to form—twisting, roaring, blending into the current like a storm wrapped in fire.
It wasn't just lightning anymore.
It was destruction given shape.
Vaeliora pointed.
Directly at Riya.
"Disappear."
The beam unleashed.
A massive torrent of black lightning erupted from her hand, tearing through the air with a deafening roar. The force behind it crushed everything in its path—the sheer pressure alone split the ground before the beam even touched it.
Flames spiraled within the lightning, expanding outward, turning the attack into a blazing storm.
The air screamed.
The earth shattered.
Riya couldn't move.
Her body refused.
All she could see—
Was the beam.
Coming straight at her.
Too fast.
Too overwhelming.
The wind slammed into her first, knocking her backward, her body hitting the ground hard. The heat followed instantly, burning the air around her as the flames closed in.
Her vision blurred.
Her mind raced—
And then…
Memories.
A voice.
"Never hate anyone."
Her fingers tightened against the ground.
But her body still wouldn't listen.
The beam was already there.
A roaring torrent of black lightning and fire, tearing through the battlefield, swallowing everything in its path. The air itself bent under its pressure, screaming as the ground split apart beneath it.
Riya couldn't move.
She could only watch it come.
And then—
Kira moved.
No one saw how.
One moment he was on the ground—
Broken. Bleeding. Unable to stand.
The next—
He was in front of her.
He stepped into the beam.
The instant the lightning touched him, his body shook violently. The force alone should have erased him—but he raised his sword.
That broken sword.
Cracked. Incomplete.
Still—
He swung.
A single strike.
CLANG.
The sound rang out unnaturally loud—cutting through thunder, through wind, through everything.
The beam split.
Right down the center.
Like the storm itself had been cut in half.
Lightning veered off to both sides, crashing into the ground, erupting in explosions of flame and force—but none of it touched Riya.
Because Kira stood there.
Holding it back.
His body trembled under the strain.
His feet dug into the ground as it cracked beneath him.
Blood streamed down his arms, his chest, his face—
But he didn't move.
He didn't fall.
For a moment—
He stood against something impossible.
Then the beam faded.
The storm dispersed.
Silence followed.
Kira remained standing.
For just one second longer.
Then—
His sword slipped from his hand.
It hit the ground with a dull, final sound.
His knees gave out.
He dropped forward—
Catching himself barely—
Then sinking fully onto both knees.
Behind him—
Something began to form.
Faint at first.
Like light breaking through water.
Wings.
Not like Vaeliora's.
Not heavy.
Not monstrous.
These were different.
Blue.
Ethereal.
Spreading slowly from his back like they were being born from his very soul. They flickered, unstable, yet radiant—casting a soft glow against the ruined battlefield.
Riya stared.
Breathless.
Kira's head lowered.
His body still shaking.
Then—
He looked up.
His eyes—
Were no longer the same.
The color had vanished.
Replaced by pure white.
Glowing faintly.
Empty—
Yet filled with something vast.
Not rage.
Not fear.
Something deeper.
Something awakening.
The wind slowed.
Even the air seemed to hesitate.
And in the sky—
Vaeliora watched.
For the first time—
Without a smile.
And then something struck.
The wind shifted.
Not from Vaeliora.
From somewhere else.
Riya was the first to notice.
Her eyes lifted past Vaeliora—past the smoke and broken sky—
And froze.
"…What is that…?"
Kira followed her gaze.
Even through the blur of pain, his white eyes focused upward.
Lisa turned as well, still clutching her throat—
And all three of them saw it.
A massive portal.
Suspended in the sky.
Dark. Circular. Endless.
Around it—
A tornado.
Violent. Colossal.
Spinning with terrifying force—
But not freely.
It was being pulled in.
The storm bent unnaturally, its entire form twisting toward the portal like it had no will of its own. Winds that should have spread outward were collapsing inward, dragged into the void.
Chunks of earth, fragments of buildings, even lingering flames—
All of it spiralled upward and vanished into the darkness.
And then Vaeliora threw Lisa towards the shattered wall.
As she crashed, she coughs.
Lisa's voice came out strained.
"That's not… her doing…"
Riya took a step back, her voice shaking.
"It's… swallowing the storm…"
Above them—
Vaeliora watched it too.
For the first time since the battle began—
She didn't attack.
Her eyes narrowed slightly as the tornado compressed further, its massive body shrinking as it was devoured piece by piece.
The winds screamed—
Then vanished.
Silence.
The sky cleared.
Instantly.
Unnaturally.
Kira exhaled slowly, blood still trailing from his lips.
"…So there's something else now…"
Lisa steadied herself beside him.
"Yeah… and I don't think it's on our side."
Riya looked between the portal… and Vaeliora.
Caught between two threats.
And Vaeliora—
Still hovering above, them—
Let out a faint, almost curious breath.
"…Interesting."
✧✧✧
The hallway stretched in silence, cold and dim.
Footsteps echoed—
But they didn't belong to Vaeliora.
The one walking here…
Was the Lady in Red.
Her crimson attire flowed softly with each step, elegant yet unsettling. Unlike Vaeliora's overwhelming brutality, her presence was controlled—quiet, but far more suffocating. It wasn't power that screamed.
It was power that watched.
Waited.
As she walked past the tall windows—
The outside world twisted.
A massive tornado roared across the University grounds, tearing through everything in its path. Debris spiraled violently, the sky darkened, and the winds howled like something alive.
But then—
Something unnatural appeared.
A portal.
Dark and circular, suspended in the sky like an open void.
The tornado didn't spread outward.
It bent.
Pulled.
Dragged toward the portal as if the sky itself was consuming it.
Students in the distance screamed.
Guards tried to stabilize themselves—
But it didn't matter.
The storm was no longer theirs to fear.
It was being erased.
Inside the hallway—
The Lady in Red slowed slightly as she passed the window.
Her eyes shifted.
She saw the tornado being devoured.
And she smiled.
Not surprised.
Not impressed.
Amused.
"Hey, who are you?", A guard spoke.
But she ignored him.
And then she shifted her gaze towards him for once and then smiles, widening her eyes.
"Isn't it interesting?", She spoke liking her dragger.
✧✧✧
She walked ahead.
The massive door awaited.
And beyond it—
The six elders.
Meanwhile—
Somewhere else entirely—
Vaeliora still existed.
A different force.
A different chaos.
Two powers.
Two presences.
Moving at the same time.