The night after the ambush bled silence into the sky. The stars above pulsed dimly, as if holding their breath. Kai sat alone on the rooftop of the academy's dorms, the wind brushing his hair as if trying to offer comfort. He hadn't told Aria. Not about the ambush. Not about the girl with silver eyes who appeared out of nowhere—and vanished just as quickly.
But he hadn't forgotten her voice.
> "You shouldn't exist… and yet you do."
The words echoed in his mind like a prophecy written in blood.
"Who are you?" he whispered into the wind.
A shimmer stirred beside him—silent as shadow.
"You're asking the wrong question," the girl's voice came again. "You should be asking what I am."
Kai spun around. She was there again.
Same silver eyes. Same otherworldly grace. Her cloak fluttered in a wind that wasn't blowing. She didn't walk. She glided—like she was part of the night itself.
"I'm not here to hurt you," she said softly, though the air around her vibrated with something unnatural. "Not unless I have to."
"…That supposed to comfort me?"
A small smile tugged at her lips. "You're getting bolder. Good."
---
He studied her carefully. Her features were ethereal, too perfect for someone human. Long pale hair that rippled like stardust. A mark—a faint glowing sigil—hid beneath her left eye, flickering between gold and violet. Even her presence bent the space around her.
Kai's heartbeat slowed. Not from calm—but from instinct. Like his body knew it was in the presence of something that didn't belong in this world.
"Why are you following me?" he asked.
She looked up at the stars, then down at him. "Because you're a mistake the universe didn't predict. A seed of chaos in a timeline that should have never birthed you."
"Thanks. Real confidence boost."
"I don't mean that as an insult. I mean it as… warning. There are things older than gods watching this world. I was sent to confirm your existence."
"Sent… by who?"
The girl tilted her head, considering. "They don't have a name you could pronounce. But they see all threads of fate. All timelines. All futures."
Kai narrowed his eyes. "And what did they want with me?"
"They wanted you erased. Or... corrected."
She stepped closer.
"But when I touched your thread, it fought back."
> [System Notice – Passive Activated]
[Temporal Anchor – Unchangeable Thread]
Status: Timeline secured. Interference rejected.
She nodded, almost impressed. "Your second class—the one that hasn't awakened yet—it defended you. Ejected me from your timeline before I could even read your full potential."
"Then how are you here now?"
Her smile faded. "Because I'm not here as me. I'm here as a Watcher... unanchored. The system can't stop what was never supposed to be part of the world in the first place."
---
For a moment, the rooftop fell silent.
"What's your name?" Kai asked, quieter now.
She blinked. "You… want to know?"
"You almost killed me. I think I deserve at least that much."
"…Eira."
The name felt cold and ancient, like a shard of forgotten ice.
---
She turned to leave—but hesitated.
"They'll send others," Eira whispered. "Ones not like me. Ones that won't hesitate to burn this world to fix what they think is broken."
She looked back.
"You'll need more than a second class soon. You'll need to choose what side of fate you want to stand on."
Then, like moonlight slipping through cracks, she vanished.
---
Kai sat back down, heart pounding.
Not from fear… but from something else.
> [Class Evolution Path Unlocked]
Condition met: Interdimensional Contact
Progress: 1%
Title Strengthening: "Heaven's Chosen – Immutable"
Passive Enhanced: Reality Anchor (Now protects against Divine Alteration and Timeline Collapse)
Something had begun. And it wasn't going to stop.
---
Next: Chapter 9: The Voidbound Tyrant - The Heavens Chosen of the Lost Time?