The world fell into a hush.
Students, teachers, and staff stood frozen as the shimmering distortion above the rooftop solidified, coalescing into a humanoid outline. The air crackled around it like static before a storm.
Kurogami stepped forward, every sense sharpened to a blade.
Kiromi grabbed his sleeve.
"Kurogami—please—don't go near that—"
FWSSH—
The distortion collapsed inward, and the figure appeared fully.
Tall. Cloaked. Featureless except for two faint, glowing lines where eyes should be.
It floated an inch above the rooftop, motionless.
Kurogami's stomach tightened.
This thing… isn't a Devourer.
No malice.
No hunger.
No chaotic resonance.
Instead…
A watchfulness.
A deliberate, intelligent presence.
It was assessing him.
Kiromi whispered, voice trembling, "What… what is that?"
Before he could answer—
VWOOM—
A shockwave pulsed outward from the entity, rippling across the courtyard like invisible fire. Students screamed as hair and clothes fluttered wildly, but none were pushed back.
The wave passed through them.
Testing. Measuring.
VWOOM—
Another pulse.
Kurogami gritted his teeth, muscles tensing.
"Stop," he murmured.
The entity obeyed.
Instantly.
Silently.
Kiromi's grip on his sleeve tightened in fear. "It listened to you."
"It's not listening," he said quietly. "It's… observing."
And then the thing moved.
Not with speed — with inevitability.
FWIP.
It blinked from the rooftop to ten meters in front of him, hovering directly above the stone path.
Students shrieked. Kiromi stumbled back. Teachers froze mid-command.
Kurogami stood perfectly still.
He couldn't show fear.
Not in front of this thing.
Slowly, the cloaked figure lifted an arm.
Or what resembled an arm — a shimmering extension of its form, fluid and precise.
It pointed at him.
A soundless message filled the air, not heard but felt:
FOUND YOU.
Kurogami's heartbeat went still, like the world had pressed pause.
Kiromi gasped. "Kuro—"
Before she could finish—
BOOOOOOM—!!
A force slammed down between Kurogami and the figure, cracking the ground like glass. Dust exploded upward in a whirlwind.
Everyone shielded their eyes.
Kiromi stumbled. Kurogami caught her automatically, never taking his gaze off the forming crater.
The dust began to settle.
A voice — rough, annoyed, and very human — echoed across the courtyard:
"Well, kid. You've certainly made a mess."
Kurogami's eyes widened. "...No."
Because standing in the fresh crater, one knee bent from impact, was a man with a long coat, a silver-banded gauntlet, and a weapon humming with gravitational force.
The last person he wanted to see here.
Yuuji Kiroyu.
Director-General of the UNDF.
Kiromi's father.
Students gasped.
Kiromi's mouth fell open. "D… Dad?!"
Yuuji rose slowly, brushing dust from his sleeve, not even looking at the terrified crowd. His focus was locked on the cloaked entity.
His voice was cold. Deadly.
"You shouldn't be here," he said to the floating figure. "Not in my territory."
The entity tilted its head, those glowing lines narrowing.
Kurogami stepped forward slightly. "Yuuji—"
Yuuji didn't look at him.
"Stay back."
There was no warmth in his tone. No acknowledgment of their past tension, their unspoken rivalry.
Only calculation.
Kiromi looked between the two of them, confused, frightened. "Dad—Kurogami—what is going on?!"
Neither answered.
Because in that moment—
SKRRAAASH—!!
The entity flashed forward, its body distorting like a smear of shadow, and the ground ruptured beneath Yuuji as he intercepted the attack with a gravitational barrier.
The impact split the courtyard tiles like an earthquake.
Students screamed.
Kiromi was thrown backward—
KRRSHH—
—and Kurogami caught her mid-fall, steadying her gently before setting her behind him.
"Stay down," he said softly.
She stared at him, breathless. "You're going to fight, aren't you?"
He didn't answer.
He stepped forward.
Yuuji's barrier flickered from the impact, but he held firm, eyes sharp, teeth clenched.
"Kurogami Ryumen," Yuuji growled without turning, "I didn't come here to babysit your mess."
The cloaked figure floated back, as if re-evaluating its targets.
Kurogami's hands curled into fists.
"This isn't my mess," he said quietly.
The entity's head rotated toward him again.
FOUND YOU.
VERIFYING.
Kiromi watched, her heart pounding against her ribs.
Yuuji raised the Graviton Lance.
Kurogami stepped into the distortion field.
The entity lifted its arm again.
The courtyard held its breath.
Because for the first time since the Fall, three forces — Kurogami, Yuuji, and something entirely unknown — stood in the same place.
And the world was about to change.