The Calm Before the Final Storm
"I… lost."
Below the arena, Blaise struggled to stand up from the ground with a dejected expression.
Dust clung to his robes. His grip on the sword had loosened at some point, fingers trembling faintly as if they still remembered the cold that had pierced through him.
His eyes were unfocused.
Not from injury—
From disbelief.
He could not figure out why he would lose to a new student who had just entered the Celestis Academy a few months ago. Was the Amethyst Summit Division really that terrifying?
The question circled in his mind, over and over, with no answer.
And he wasn't the only one.
All around the south Arena, voices dropped into hushed murmurs. Even those who had mocked or doubted earlier now wore expressions of quiet shock.
"That girl…"
"She's only been here a few months…"
"How is that even possible?"
No one could quite make sense of it.
Above them—
Selena descended slowly from the sky.
Like a falling snowflake.
