"Now then… do I have your attention?" he asked, his voice soft—almost a whisper.
And before Jake could react, the figure vanished.
No trace. No sound. No displaced air. Not even a footprint.As if he had never existed.
The Coliseum fell into utter silence.
The crowd—frozen.The commentators—sobbing, inconsolable.The sheer brutality of what had just happened left them speechless.
Jake, standing amidst the lifeless bodies of his comrades, felt something beyond fear.He felt like he was no longer the protagonist of this story.
He was the catalyst for something far greater.
[ALTAMIRA ACADEMY – LAB SECTOR – INTERIOR]
The laboratory door swung open—not with an explosion, not with a creak.
It simply surrendered to the weight of an irreversible decision.
Sophia stepped out as if awakening from a coma of pain.The blue glow of her stellar core pulsed beneath her skin,and her eyes no longer belonged to a student...
They belonged to a comet searching for something to annihilate.
Silence.Not a soul in the corridors.No instructors. No students. No echoes.
Only her—and the sound of her footsteps, ticking like a metronome of the end.
"Zephyr…" she murmured, clenching her hand as a faint cosmic hum answered."I don't know what the hell you're doing… but I'll break everything if I have to, just to find you."
A sharp whine pierced her ear.A distortion in the stellar field—North Wing.He was close.
And she felt it.
Without hesitation, she pivoted sharply, gliding as if floating inches above the floor.Her stellar energy surged instantly—blue and white trails wrapped around her like a living aura.In seconds, she disappeared into the shadows of the hallway, locked onto her target.
[EXTERIOR – INTERMEDIATE COURTYARD – BORDER BETWEEN SCIENCES AND THE GREENHOUSES]
He was there.
Standing in the void.Zephyr.
Or something that looked like him.
Black suit streaked with purple lines.A sharp mask of dark crystal veined with filaments that pulsed like blood circuits.Unmoving.Unshaken.
As if he'd been waiting.
Sophia landed in front of him like lightning crashing to earth.The ground cracked beneath her, and a halo of sky-blue energy erupted from her core.
"ZEPHYR!" she roared, her voice ablaze."YOU'RE PART OF THIS NIGHTMARE TOO, AREN'T YOU?!"
He said nothing.Just tilted his head slightly.
That was enough.
Sophia charged instantly, cloaking herself in shards of stellar crystal.Her fists—meteors.Her eyes—blades.
Zephyr barely blocked the first strike.
But the second tore through his shoulder.
The fight detonated.
She dismantled him with surgical ferocity:—Spinning stellar elbow to the jaw.—Inverted heel kick with a core detonation.—Triple hook powered by gravitational lines.
Each blow left a streak of light and a crack in the imposter's frame.His mask trembled with every hit, warping slightly.
"YOU THINK IT'S FUNNY TO WATCH OTHERS GET DESTROYED FROM THE SHADOWS?!" she bellowed, spinning and slamming a rising knee into his ribs, launching him into a wall."CAN'T EVEN LOOK ME IN THE EYE WHILE YOU DO IT?!"
Zephyr rose.His left shoulder hung limp.His breath—a whisper.
Then he moved his fingers.
A seal.
Swift. Precise.Like a flower folding shut.
"It's too late for your friends in the arena," he said—his voice hollow, like a corrupted copy."And you know it. We won't meet again."
"WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN?!" Sophia screamed, charging forward.
But it was too late.
A curtain of dark mist rose from the ground and swallowed him whole.Zephyr… vanished.
As if he'd never been.
Sophia stood alone.
Breathing raggedly.Her knuckles bloodied.Her face, twisted in fury.And something far worse:
A certainty that split her soul in two.
"Jake…"
Her eyes snapped wide.
Something trembled in the air.A whisper from the planet's very core.
An explosion.A vibration.A distant roar.
And then… a collective scream.
From the far side of the academy, a red glow rose like a deranged sun.
Sophia didn't think.
She ran.
[ALTAMIRA COLISEUM – MOMENTS AFTER THE INCIDENT]
By the time Sophia arrived, the chaos was already underway.
One of the spectator roofs had shattered into a thousand fragments, crushing dozens of bodies mid-scream. Blood. Smoke. Sparks.
And he was there.
The masked one.Not Zephyr. Someone else.
A bulkier figure, cloaked in black smoke that twisted like enraged serpents. His mask was a deformed shell, lined with orange veins pulsing like exposed nerves.
In his hand... a dense energy. Like that of a dead star.
Sophia didn't hesitate. She took to the air.
—I'M COMING FOR YOU, BASTARD! —she screamed, fueled by stellar fury.
She dove.
Her body erupted into a dance of blue particles, her core glowing as if about to burn from the inside out.
She struck the being with tectonic force—right in the face.
The explosion was absolute.
The masked one was hurled toward the center of the Coliseum, his mask shattering into a thousand pieces… revealing a face that didn't look human.Grayish skin.Pupilless eyes.A broken smile.
Sophia landed in front of him, panting, still smoldering.
—Who the hell... are you?
The being looked at her. Coughed something thick. Then smiled.
—Does it matter? —he said—. You were already too late.
[ALTAMIRA COLISEUM – CENTER OF THE ARENA – MINUTES LATER]
The dust hadn't settled.
The masked man—now unmasked, his face half-exposed from Sophia's blow—rose from the rubble, drenched in shadows… and with a thin line of purple blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.
The crowd didn't know whether to scream or stay frozen.The officials in the VIP box began stepping back, whispering, gasping, barking orders through broken communicators.
The man looked at them.
No emotion.No hurry.No guilt.
Then he raised his hand.
—...Tch.
Threads surged from his palm like ethereal fibers, almost invisible.Dozens of them.They snapped outward like furious webs, wrapping around the necks of every judge, house leader, coordinator, and high-ranking official.
Before anyone could scream, he twisted his fingers—
—Crack.—Crack.—Crack.—CRACK.—CRAAACK…
Necks snapped like wet towels being wrung out.One by one.Vertebrae popped.Eyes bulged.Bodies collapsed, twitching.
Dead. All of them.
The killer stared at the growing pool of blood without blinking. Then sighed softly… and said in a casually annoyed tone:
—...I thought Professor Aldrich would be here.
As if disappointed his favorite dish wasn't served.
Only then did his eyes meet Jake's.
And Jake… Jake felt himself freeze from the soul outward.
That face.Those eyes.That dark aura tainted with corrupted star energy.
He knew him.
—...Raven…
The killer smiled. Lips stained purple. Calm, like someone who always knew this moment would come.
—I'm sorry it had to be this way, Jake.—There was no escape.—But I'll end this... as quickly as I can.
[ALTAMIRA ACADEMY MAIN ENTRANCE – THAT VERY MOMENT]
Aria Stephen stepped onto the cobblestone path, right where the academy's ornate iron gate began. Her boots echoed on the ground, dry and sharp, as her eyes swept across the scene before her.
Everything… was perfect.
Too perfect.
No smoke. No noise. Not a single soul beyond the gate.
The sky was serene, like time itself had paused to pose for a painting.
But her stomach twisted—something inside her was screaming.
—No... —she whispered, clenching her fists—. This isn't right.
She took another step. Reached out her hand. And without warning—THUMP!
Her palm slammed into an invisible barrier.
—What the hell?! —she stepped back, staring at her hand, then the space before her. Nothing there. But she could feel it… a density in the air, something pressing outward like a heartbeat.
She touched it again. Still nothing visible. But solid. As if the air was made of steel.
—This isn't an illusion... not a standard energy field... —she muttered, voice trembling more than she liked—. What kind of... cheap trick...?
She hit it. Both hands. But the impact sank like it was being absorbed by something alive.
Suddenly, others arrived. Then more. Students, instructors, civilians.
A boy threw a rock: clack!It bounced off the air, floated a second, and fell to the ground.
—What is this?! —someone yelled.
—Why can't we get in?! —another voice cried, desperate.
—What about the ones inside?!
—Hey! Is anyone in there?!
The murmurs rose like a wave, brimming with anxiety.
Aria didn't respond. She just stared, frozen.
And then she felt it.
A presence.
Inside.
Something indescribable. Something… ancient, like a force had awakened and refused to be seen by the world.
Her throat tightened.
Not from lack of air.But from fear.
—Jake… —she whispered. She didn't scream. Didn't cry. She simply let her soul crack a little, as her mind refused to accept the obvious.
Something terrible was happening.
And no one could get in.