Chapter 33 – Shadows in the Heart of Aflety
Scene One: Breach
Night blanketed Aflety Academy in uneasy silence. But beneath the silence, chaos stirred.
Explosions echoed from the lower districts of the academy grounds. The once-hallowed halls, lined with glowing elemental sigils, now flickered with magical instability. Students and professors rushed to defend their dorms, unaware of how deeply the enemy had already sunk its fangs.
Evan, riding Nex at full speed, approached the gates—now shattered. Smoke and dust rose in thick plumes. Battle cries, beast roars, and the clash of steel filled the air.
From Nex's back, Evan launched himself over the crumbling wall and landed in the middle of a courtyard drenched in crimson moonlight. Corpses of guards and summoned beasts lay twisted across the stone. Several masked figures in dark cloaks turned to him.
Black Nest operatives.
"You're too late, Beast Heir," one sneered beneath his mask.
Evan didn't respond. He simply raised his hand. Nex descended from above with a furious screech, wings tearing wind asunder. A blast of basilisk magic struck, petrifying two of the attackers instantly.
"Where's the core?" Evan growled, advancing.
They didn't answer.
He didn't wait.
Scene Two: The Academy Core
Aflety's core chamber was buried beneath the central spire. A crystalized lattice of ancient beast essence lay there—older than the Academy itself. It powered the trials, the defenses, and most critically, the beast-bond contracts within these walls.
If the Black Nest corrupted or shattered it… every bond formed in Aflety would be undone.
Lilith and Tessa were already fighting near the core when Evan arrived. Tessa's blade danced with kinetic runes, while Lilith's phoenix-beast unleashed torrents of radiant flame.
"Where's the Archmage?" Evan shouted as he joined the fray.
"Gone!" Tessa replied. "We think he's been taken!"
Just then, a towering figure in violet robes stepped out of the shadows—his mask shaped like a dragon's maw.
Evan recognized the aura. Strong. Cold. Confident.
"You're not Aurelius," Evan whispered.
"No," the man said. "He is but a useful fool. I am the real spark behind the Nest."
He drew a curved staff, its tip encrusted with pulsing voidstone. With a motion, the corrupted stone hummed—and the bonds between several students and their beasts across the battlefield snapped. Howls of despair erupted.
"He's severing the contracts," Lilith said, horrified.
Evan's fury exploded.
He charged, beast-aura flaring gold and emerald. Nex roared from above, his presence amplifying Evan's magic.
But the masked leader raised a hand—and a grotesque, malformed Divine Beast of shadow slammed into Nex midair, dragging the great basilisk to the ground.
"I am Alzamar," the man said. "One of the Seven Hidden Beasts. You will not touch the core."
Scene Three: Beast vs Beast
Nex's scales shone with divine fury, but the creature Alzamar summoned was… wrong. It looked like a hydra twisted with insect parts, bleeding void energy. It struck fast, its limbs slashing reality itself.
Evan dodged, barely keeping up. Every time he struck Alzamar's beast, it regenerated—feeding off the broken bonds of nearby students' beasts.
"We have to cut its source!" Tessa cried. "He's feeding it from the shattered contracts!"
Lilith nodded. "I'll protect the core. Evan—draw him away."
Evan met Nex's eyes. The basilisk surged forward, clamping its massive jaws onto the creature's neck and dragging it skyward. Evan leapt after them, the sky alight with magic and lightning as they soared through the upper layers of the spire.
He unleashed a flurry of beast techniques—Storm Lash, Divine Pulse, Iron Fang Enchantment—each one slamming into Alzamar's beast, tearing chunks from it.
Still, it kept rising.
Until Evan changed tactics.
"Nex. Go for the core. Break its bond to the voidstone."
Nex spun in midair and dove, aiming straight for the black crystal embedded in the beast's chest. His fangs glowed—his Divine Venom channeled to a single point.
He struck.
The voidstone shattered.
Alzamar screamed, clutching his head as the connection imploded. His beast collapsed into smoke and ichor, vanishing into the storm of energy now ripping through the chamber.
Evan landed with a thud beside the broken core.
"Too late…" Alzamar gasped, retreating.
Scene Four: The Aftermath
The rest of the Black Nest operatives fled through dimensional rifts. Reinforcements from the Academy finally arrived—professors, Beastlords, and summoned beasts storming the remaining invaders.
But the damage had been done.
The Archmage was gone.
Over fifty beast contracts had been severed, leaving students devastated.
And Evan knew this was only the beginning.
A new player—Alzamar of the Seven Hidden Beasts—had revealed himself. The Black Nest had grown bolder, attacking the very heart of Aflety.
And worse…
When Evan touched the Academy's core, he felt a faint pulse of something foreign. Not beast energy. Not divine energy.
Something older.
Watching.
Waiting.
And smiling.
[End of Chapter 33]