The camp was still bathed in the trembling light of torches when I felt the change. At first, it was a distant rumble — like a heartbeat buried deep beneath the earth. Then, without warning, the air tore apart.
A portal had just opened on the horizon. Not a simple mana rift — a wound in reality itself. A tear of blue far too pure to belong to this world. The sky began to tremble. The clouds folded upon themselves like flesh under a god's blade.
I froze. My heart stopped cold. That sensation — I had felt it once before. Not here, but in Duskfall. A presence. An ancient voice. A vibration that devoured everything it touched.
— "No…" I whispered. "Impossible…"
The aura swept through us in a single breath. The tents quivered. The ground cracked. Students fell to their knees, some screaming, others completely drained of mana under the shock. Even Reina, standing beside me, pressed a hand to her temple. Her gaze hardened — almost feral.
