As the Academy drowned in blood—of students, teachers, and vile beasts alike—the Oaken household prepared for an unwelcome guest.
"Garthem! I trust you're doing well," boomed a powerful voice.
The speaker stepped into view: a striking man with short auburn hair and a neatly trimmed beard. His golden eyes gleamed with avarice. He wore lavish clothes, unburdened by armor, his very presence suffocating, like the weight of an ocean pressing down on anyone nearby.
Inside the house, Garthem froze, his body tensing at the familiar presence.
His wife Selia and daughter Tanya trembled, their fear visceral and unrelenting. Selia's lips quivered, and Tanya, though young during the last encounter, instinctively recoiled at the sound of that voice.
'At least Felix and Leon are away,' Garthem thought grimly.
He didn't know Felix was on his way back, drained from battling the vile beast.
"Shall I let myself in, or will you?" The man raised his hand toward the door.
Creak.
The door opened, revealing Garthem, standing firm despite the storm brewing within him. His brow furrowed, his jaw set.
The man entered without hesitation, as if he owned the place. Behind him followed two figures: one clad in gleaming silver armor, and a child—a pale girl with skin like moonlight and hollow black eyes.
The man seated himself in Garthem's usual chair, lounging as though he were a guest of honor. "How has your family been?" he asked, his golden gaze glinting with mockery.
Garthem's fists twitched at his sides. His grimace tainted his handsome features.
"Well." he replied tersely, his voice weighed with barely restrained fury.
"It appears that I'll keep this short," the man said, his smile sharp as a blade. "You've been through enough already, haven't you?"
Garthem's stomach churned. There was an expectation in the man's words, a threat buried beneath the polite facade. He did not find what he was expecting.
"What do you want, Salim?"
The man before him was none other than King Salim, ruler of Hathur. His royal dignity was nowhere to be found in this house.
Salim's smile faded. He crossed one leg over the other and leaned back. "Leave the orphan boy. I will kill him-"
Clang!
The clash of metal shattered the air. Garthem's bloodied hands trembled as his sword clattered to the floor. He dropped to one knee, panting.
"You dare interrupt his majesty?" barked the silver-armored guard, resuming his post.
"That is all," Salim said, his voice calm and absolute. "The boy will die." His chin was raised for his posture relaxed on the chair as he said this. And then he rose.
He made his way toward the door but stopped when he saw Selia blocking his path. Her brown hair flowed down her shoulders, and though her face was pale with fear, her scowl burned with defiance.
"You will not harm him," she declared.
Salim turned to Garthem, amusement flickering in his golden eyes. "Do you want me to handle this?"
Garthem staggered to his feet, head hung low, with rage simmering beneath the surface. He walked to Selia, his expression unreadable.
"Garthem, don't–" Selia began, but her words faltered as Garthem's ruined hand struck her nape, knocking her unconscious.
Salim and his companions walked past the couple on the floor. As they walked on the path, Garthem proclaimed to Salim, his voice steady despite the storm raging in his heart. "You cannot kill that boy."
Salim paused, intrigued but not enough to turn around. "And why is that?"
"Because you can't," Garthem repeated simply, his defiance like a shield.
Salim's disappointment was palpable. He expected a surprise.
'The fool thinks the orphan can escape,' he thought, shaking his head.
As he turned to leave, a figure approached.
Felix.
"Ah, how fortunate," Salim mused. "I didn't even need to look for you."
Panic surged through Garthem. He lunged forward, his voice a desperate roar. "FELIX! RUN!"
But it was too late.
Salim and Felix vanished in an instant, leaving Garthem to crumple against the silver-clad guard.
"Be grateful for his majesty's mercy," the guard sneered before knocking him down.
* * *
Screams echoed through the Institute as students, instructors, and vile beasts clashed.
The valley was a colorful mess, dominated by red and black—the blood of the living and the bodies of the vile. The once pristine grounds were now drenched in blood. It became a grotesque blend of human and monstrous life. A macabre symphony of metal clashing, flesh tearing, and cries of despair reverberated through the air, blending with the unpleasant melody of Laws gone awry.
The atmosphere itself felt corrupted. The chaotic use of Laws fractured the very fabric of reality, bending the air into shimmering mirage. At times it felt solid, at others it felt intangible, as if existence itself was breaking apart.
Amid the pandemonium, one question burned in the minds of the survivors: 'Where is Headmaster Bless?!'
A man at the Enlightened Rank, he should have been able to sustain the vile beasts that were highly resistant to the Laws of reality. For those that were at this level primarily made use of their powerful Wills.
But the question would not be answered on this day.
*
On one of the Sentinel peaks, a boy was showered in the orange glow of the evening sun. His hair reflected this light, and took on its colors. It seemed aflame.
'Humanity only knows of destruction. Life is meant to be sustained.' His resolve was proven correct by the scene below him. The valley was a vision of ruin, a stark contrast to the tranquil horizon.
'Forever.'
* * *
Amidst the darkness, a group of five prowled to find a path of escape. Now in the outskirts of the Academy, moving further north.
They were led by Orick, "There was a way out that dad told me about. In case the Institute's evacuation center was breached."
Leon followed at the rear, his presence steady despite the chaos. Leon could have escaped on his own, but to leave his friends behind was unthinkable.
'We're heading deeper into the valley.' Despite his doubts, he decided to trust in Orick's information.
They were nearing the end of the valley, by the cliffs. Where Orick stopped near a cave, pointing toward the yawning blackness ahead.
"It's inside, there is an underground river that runs down south." He looked at Leon. His voice lowered as he asked:
"By the way. Is it true that you're an orphan?" He asked, no trace of his usual sarcasm, but as thoughtless as ever.
Leon hesitated to answer, wondering how he found out. Only the instructors and some others were meant to be aware of this. "Sure. Why do you ask?"
Orick asked again. "Your age. Is it true that you're... four years old?" His expression turned to one of resolve.
"Yeah. Again, why are you asking?" Leon asked, but did not care for an answer at the moment, just deciding that lying would only waste time. So he admitted it in front of everyone.
Calla and Joan stared at Leon in disbelief. But the scene of students and instructors alike dying were the only things going through their heads, there was a pungent odor around them. The memory will forever be seared into their minds.
The horrors they had witnessed had drained them of the energy to question further.
Orick closed his eyes for a moment, and then continued leading them. The sounds of water flowing drowned the ringing in each of their minds.
Leia began creating a source of light despite her trembling hands. The girls were thinking of many things, but simultaneously, so few.
'Will I be next?'
'I want to live.'
'Karl, Sienna, Arw...'
The three girls had one single desire. 'I don't want to die.'
Leon and Orick were the only ones with something else on their minds.
'Why am I so calm?' Leon had always been adaptable. Before Veyon taught him to be such. 'How could I accept that such violent deaths were natural?'
Orick meanwhile, was trying to convince himself. 'It's for my family.' He asked the earlier questions to rile himself up. To hate Leon for his brilliance.
'It's for my...' Orick smiled.
The tunnel's stillness and steady murmurs were shattered by a loud—Bang!
The path behind them collapsed, and the darkness ahead surged.
Amongst the darkness, there was something that was especially lightless. As if the very concept of light was meaningless to it.
In the darkness were the sounds of footsteps.
Leia's light disappeared leaving them blind. Even Leon felt vulnerable. The group froze, their breaths hollow.
The sounds of footsteps doubled. Leon felt that something was suspicious.
Orick walked ahead with a calm gait.
"Good. His warrant for thou shall be fulfilled." It was the tribesmen that went to the Academy. His voice alarmed the group. This was the man that held control over the vile beasts.
His words illicited hope that he held some humanity.
"Ah.. a–ah! Please..." Joan's words were fragmented and incomplete. Her panic was evident on every part of her body.
Calla slumped to the ground. "He's killed so many. What's the difference between us and them?" She spoke with a rasp, holding back tears.
Leia was shaking, in this darkness, she felt weak. In this darkness, she felt cold.
Leon gathered the three with trembling hands, "Orick…"
The tribesman whispered to Orick: 'You may not look at it.' Only Leon heard this, but it didn't matter to him at the moment.
In an instant, the darkness vanished.
Around Leon, light bloomed in every color, ethereal and divine.
His anger was manifested in swirling lights. The three girls, finally having something to look at, only thought of the beauty being displayed in the darkness.
In this light of numerous colors, there where pure, bright eyes that were looking at the three, calming them down.
The lights warmed them, and kept the darkness at bay.
"What are you, creature?" Asked the tribesman, convinced that Leon was no human.
"Your killer." He said without turning around. The lights spread out, drowning the artificial darkness the vile beasts were emanating. But the man from Tipun was calm.
"He-he-he. Mine imitations still fall short." And then, the perpetual blackness that did not falter before the lights stirred.
"May fortune smile upon thou creature." The man smiled his unnatural smile. And then, along with Orick, disappeared.
But this unknowable fog was left behind. The vile creatures that came with the tribesmen went away as well. Except for this one.
Leon's eyes were shining—the ethereal blackness seemed... familiar to him.
It was far different from the vile beasts the tribesman controlled.
Leon was tempted to attempt communication with this entity. But understood it was no time for such a thing.
He stepped in front the group, releasing more of his brightness. The lights condensed around the thing, and intensified.
The girls were calm, feeling that they were safe. They were still shaking, but Leon's figure alleviated their fears.
Leia even walked closer to Leon—who looked at her with his calm white eyes.
'I have.. seen this.' She thought as she slowly got closer.
She held both of her arms up, reaching for Leon.
But before her hands were able to hold his face, the lights shattered with the piercing shriek of the nothingness becoming real.
When Leon attacked it, he acknowledged its presence.
And therefore it was.
As the lights shattered due to the creature manifesting, he saw them. Thin lines of black, streaking through every direction. Each line moved erratically—the wave hit everything.
It did not cause any destruction. It made everything it touched disappear.
The strings cut his back. Panicking, he turned around to face the foul thing. He knew the the girls couldn't defend themselves against something that can pierce his skin.
Enforcing stability in front of him, he prevented further strings of nothingness from reaching them.
He turned around to see if they were fine.
But it was too late.
Calla, Joan, and Leia did not have anything close to his physique. The earlier wave was not defended against.
As darkness flooded his vision again for a brief moment, he saw that the lines of black carried trails of red.
"No…"
Leon felt something he never thought he would experience. Many of them, all at once. Fear, pain, numbness, but most of all—was a feeling of loss.
Only Leia, who was behind him was left alive. Calla's and Joan's bodies crumpled to the ground in unrecognizable form.
Leia lost her right hand and right leg. Causing her to fall to the ground and weep in pain. But her eyes never left Leon's glowing form, still clinging to hope.
But before Leon could feel relief, the cave ceiling collapsed on all of them.
* * *
It was now silent.
Buried in the rubble, Leon feared what he would see once he banished the darkness.
He lingered for a few seconds, reasoning that the silence is due to Leia having similar concerns.
He thought to ask the darkness first, but decided not to.
Finally, he willed his eyes to see—and then he saw.
Leia's lightless and hopeful eyes, red with tears. Her neck twisted in an unfamiliar manner, and the rest of her nowhere to be found.
He froze. His own eyes dulled and closed, returning to the darkness.
And then he heard something that he expected to only hear after another decade.
[Integration C..]
True Name: [§...
Rank: ...
S...
Leon disappeared the next moment.