The hallway shook with the sound of claws scraping against stone.
Dozens of mutated Nightwatch—once elite assassins, now twisted void puppets—poured toward Aren and Kane, moving like broken shadows, limbs bending at impossible angles.
Kane tightened his grip on his sword.
"Aren—focus on range. I'll take the frontline."
Aren nodded.
Void pulsed under his skin, hot and restless, begging to break free.
He lifted his bow.
The repaired string hummed with violet light.
Kane braced.
"Here they come!"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The first wave lunged.
Aren released.
FWIP—BOOM!
FWIP—CRACK!
FWIP—BOOOOOM!
Each arrow flickered through space, splitting or curving unpredictably before detonating.
Three creatures fell instantly.
Five more rushed in from the side.
Kane met them with fluid precision.
"Titan Step!"
He zipped forward, blade slashing in a golden arc—
cutting down two—
parrying a third—
kicking a fourth into the ceiling.
But the creatures didn't slow.
More crawled in from the vents.
From the ceiling.
From the stairway behind them.
Aren fired rapidly, void arrows searing the air.
But with each shot—
The void inside him surged harder.
Hungrier.
As if feeding on the chaos.
Aren gritted his teeth.
Control. CONTROL.
Kane blocked another clawed strike.
"Aren, how many do you sense?!"
Aren scanned the distortions—
the entire academy wing trembled with shifting spatial lines.
"Too many. They're converging from every floor."
Kane wiped blood from his cheek.
"Of course they are. Why make this easy?"
Aren stepped forward.
The creatures shrieked in unison—
"HEIR—HEIR—HEIR—"
Aren fired—
A massive wave of void arrows burst outward, shredding the front line.
But his hands trembled.
Kane noticed.
"Aren! You're losing control!"
"No… I'm not."
But he was.
The void wasn't resisting this time.
It was thriving.
The mutated creatures lunged, driven by the same presence feeding Aren.
Aren drew again—
And the arrow formed instantly, stronger than he intended.
Too strong.
The air warped violently.
"Aren, stop—!"
Aren released.
CRACK—BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The hallway exploded in a storm of violet destruction.
The walls cracked.
Floor tiles shattered.
Creatures evaporated.
The blast wave almost threw Kane to the ground.
Smoke filled the corridor.
When it cleared—
Aren stood alone in the center of a crater, breath sharp, eyes glowing faintly violet.
His hands shook uncontrollably.
Kane's voice was tight.
"Aren… look at yourself."
Aren did.
Void markings glowed faintly along his arms, threading up from his fingertips to his elbows like creeping veins of starlight.
Aren froze.
"What… is this…?"
Kane stepped closer.
"Your void is synchronizing with your body. You're evolving too fast."
Aren clenched his fists.
"I didn't ask for this—"
"I know. But right now?" Kane said. "Right now, we survive."
Footsteps echoed behind them.
More creatures.
Hundreds?
Kane's expression hardened.
"We can't fight the whole building. We need to get to open ground. Regroup with the instructors."
Aren nodded.
But when they turned the corner…
He froze.
The main courtyard was swarming with mutated Nightwatch.
Dozens of them.
Maybe more.
Students were trapped behind barriers.
Instructors struggled to hold the line.
Demons roared from the rooftops.
Chaos everywhere.
Kane drew in a sharp breath.
"This is… an organized assault…"
Aren felt it.
The tug again.
A pull under the earth.
The dragon's whisper.
"Your void… calls them."
Aren staggered.
"No… I'm not doing this."
But the creatures all turned toward Aren at the same moment.
All of them.
And spoke as one:
"Heir… come…"
Kane stepped in front of Aren.
"No. You want him? You go through me."
The creatures hissed.
Aren lifted his bow slowly.
"I'm done running."
Kane glanced at him.
"Aren—whatever you're about to do—control it."
Aren nodded.
"I will."
Void swirled around him, forming jagged violet trails that crackled like lightning.
The creatures shrieked and charged.
Aren's eyes sharpened.
"Then come."
He pulled the string.
Void roared.
Void Arrow Art — NEW SKILL ACQUIRED
Void Fracture Volley (C–)
Aren released.
THOOM—THOOM—THOOM—THOOM!!
Dozens of void arrows erupted outward in a spinning vortex—
cutting through the entire front wave—
shattering the courtyard floor—
collapsing two pillars—
and vaporizing anything within twenty meters.
Students stared in shock.
Instructors froze mid-casting.
Kane shielded himself from the shockwave, eyes wide.
Aren lowered his bow, breathing heavily.
The markings on his arms glowed brighter.
Too bright.
Kane grabbed him.
"Aren—stop using void. If you keep going, you'll lose control."
Aren's vision blurred around the edges.
"I'm… fine…"
But something deep inside him cracked open further.
And far below the Academy—
The dragon sensed it.
"Yes…
Break your limits."
A faint BOOM echoed underground.
Another chain snapped.