The Academy enforced a lockdown by nightfall.
Students were ordered to remain inside their dorms. Barricades were reinforced. Patrol squads doubled. Mana lights glowed along every hallway like a net of dim stars.
The city wasn't just tense.
It was bracing.
Aren sat on his bed, bow beside him, staring at the faint glow of the mana lamps.
He couldn't sleep.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the Herald's face—
twisted in terror—
screaming for him to run.
And beneath it all…
The dragon's whisper curled like smoke:
"Soon."
Aren shook his head, trying to focus on the present.
But he felt it.
Something was wrong tonight.
Very wrong.
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Tap. Tap. Tap.
A faint sound echoed outside his door.
Not footsteps.
Not a soldier's patrol.
A slow, dragging rhythm.
Aren stood immediately.
He cracked the door open.
The hallway was empty.
Silent.
Too silent.
A cold breath of mana swept across the corridor like a passing breeze.
Aren's skin prickled.
Spatial Awareness (E+) — Activated.
The hallway distorted—
revealing a figure leaning in the far corner.
A Nightwatch mask.
Black uniform.
Dual daggers strapped to the thigh.
But something was off.
Aren stepped forward slowly.
"…Nightwatch?"
The figure didn't answer.
It tilted its head.
Then its mask cracked down the middle—
not from impact—
but from within.
Aren drew his bow instantly.
The figure stepped into the light.
It wasn't a Nightwatch soldier anymore.
Its skin was pale, stretched thin across its bones.
Its veins glowed faint violet.
Eyes pitch-black with rings of purple.
A mutated infiltrator.
Inside the Academy.
Aren whispered:
"…How did you get in?"
The thing smiled.
Not a human expression.
A tearing one.
"Void-bearer…"
Aren's heartbeat slammed.
Not again.
"Found…"
It sprinted.
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Aren fired.
FWIPP—CRACK!
The arrow teleported once, striking the creature's chest.
It staggered but didn't fall.
Aren stepped back—
the creature lunged, claws slicing the air—
He ducked.
Rolled.
Fired again.
BOOM—
The thing slammed into a wall, limbs twitching.
Aren sprinted down the hallway.
"Get Kane—get anyone—!"
He turned a corner—
A second creature blocked the path.
Another Nightwatch uniform.
Another cracked mask.
Another mangled face.
"Void… bearer…"
Aren's eyes widened.
Two…
No—
A third one dropped from the ceiling behind him.
Aren's breath caught.
They hadn't infiltrated the Academy for students.
They had come for him.
The closest one rushed.
Aren snapped his bow up—
Void surged.
Too strong.
Too fast.
Void Flicker Arrow (D–) → (D)
Evolution Triggered.
He fired.
The arrow split mid-flight—two flickers—then a third—
BOOOOOM!!
The hallway erupted.
The first creature disintegrated.
The second was hurled into a wall.
The third lunged through the smoke, claws raised—
Aren pivoted—
Only to feel his bowstring snap with a sharp CRACK.
His bow—
The void energy had overcharged it.
He staggered.
The creature's claw slashed toward his throat—
A flash of steel intercepted it.
CLANG—!!
Kane appeared, sword humming with mana.
"Aren! Move!"
The creature hissed and leapt backward.
Kane stepped in front of Aren, stance low, eyes burning.
"What happened?! How did they get inside?!"
Aren caught his breath.
"They're mutated Nightwatch. Something corrupted them. And they're looking for me."
The creature's head twitched at the word mutated.
Then its voice hissed:
"Heir… must… be… taken…"
Kane's eyes widened.
"Heir?! Of what?!"
Aren's stomach twisted.
Before he could answer, the creature lunged at both of them—
Kane struck first.
"Titan Cut!"
His blade split the creature in half—
but instead of dying, it exploded into a spray of violet energy.
Kane shielded Aren with his body.
When the smoke cleared, he cursed.
"Damn it… more are coming."
Aren felt it, too.
Footsteps.
Dozens.
Crawling through the ventilation.
Climbing the walls.
Pouring through the outer hallways.
The Academy was infested.
And all of them whispered the same word:
"Heir…"
Aren clenched his fist.
Enough running.
If they wanted him—
Fine.
He stepped forward.
"Kane. Let me fight."
Kane grabbed his arm.
"No. You're unstable. Your void is reacting to them. If you lose control—"
"I'll control it."
"You said that last time—"
Aren looked Kane in the eye.
"I'm not afraid of the void."
Kane's jaw tightened.
"…I am."
Aren didn't blink.
"I'll still control it."
Kane exhaled sharply—
Then nodded once.
"Then we stand together."
Aren lifted his broken bow—
Void energy flowed instinctively, repairing the string with a thin violet glow.
An evolved weapon.
A stronger pulse.
Aren aimed at the darkness ahead.
The mutated Nightwatch swarmed.
Aren whispered:
"Come then."
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Deep beneath the city, the chained dragon stirred.
It felt Aren's defiance.
It felt his awakening control.
And it laughed.
"Fight… struggle…
evolve."
The chains cracked another inch.