Chapter 39– Fire Over Aflety
Scene One: Return to Ashes
The sky cruiser flew fast—too fast for safety. But Evan didn't care.
Aflety Academy came into view through torn clouds.
And it was burning.
Wards flickered like dying stars. Spires cracked. Magical beasts ran wild through shattered courtyards. Students and professors fought desperately, defending what remained of the academy.
Black-cloaked figures moved among them—faces hidden, emblems glowing with a familiar symbol:
A single, twisted feather.
The Black Nest had made their move.
Nex snarled from beside Evan, wings unfurling with lethal intent.
Evan turned to his team.
"Lilith. Tessa. Kei. We split. Groups of two. Save who we can. Prioritize the Headmaster's Hall."
Lilith nodded without hesitation.
"Understood."
Scene Two: Shadows in the Library
Lilith and Tessa ran through the enchanted corridor of the East Wing—formerly a quiet sanctuary of books and ancient relics.
Now?
Smoke. Explosions. Screams.
Tessa's beast, a sapphire reef serpent, coiled through the flames and launched tidal bursts, clearing a path.
A student lay pinned beneath a collapsed bookshelf. A Black Nest operative stood over him, casting a soul drain spell.
Lilith didn't blink.
She teleported across the room and drove a dagger through the figure's shoulder.
The illusion flickered.
Not a person—but a hollow beast spirit wearing human shape.
Tessa gasped. "They're using corrupted beast souls?!"
Lilith's face was pale.
"They've weaponized what should be sacred…"
Scene Three: The Headmaster's Hall
Evan reached the center of the academy.
It was worse than he imagined.
Headmaster Valen knelt in the middle of a summoning circle—his right arm missing, eyes glowing as he forced protective wards to hold back a divine-level beast.
The creature in front of him—a wingless chimera, pulsing with void magic—was like nothing Evan had seen.
"Step away!" Valen shouted. "I'm binding it to this place—!"
But the circle cracked.
The beast broke free.
And charged.
Evan moved.
He drew Nex's full power without holding back.
Basilisk Mode: Phase II – Sovereign Scale Unleashed.
With a roar that shattered stained glass, Nex slammed into the chimera.
Power met corruption.
Divinity met void.
Evan's aura expanded—his body coated in dragonsteel armor forged from Nex's evolving scales.
The battle raged across the courtyard, but something else stirred behind the veil of smoke.
A child.
Silver-eyed.
Watching.
Smiling.
Scene Four: The Boy with the Eyes of God
He didn't attack.
Didn't run.
Just stood among the chaos, untouched, smiling with ancient calm.
Evan landed beside him.
"You're not a student."
"No," the boy said softly. "But I've been waiting for you."
Nex growled low in his throat.
Evan's instincts screamed.
"What are you?"
The boy tilted his head.
"I'm just a fragment. A dream, maybe. Or a memory. But my master—he remembers you."
The boy raised his hand—and the chimera stopped mid-roar, pulled back by invisible threads.
Then, in a blink, the boy vanished.
Evan stood frozen.
Not from fear.
But from recognition.
That boy's aura…
…was the same as his own.
Scene Five: After the Flames
Morning came.
The fires died down.
Dozens were injured. Six professors were dead. Three students were missing.
The Black Nest had vanished—leaving behind only feathers, scars, and questions.
Evan stood on the broken balcony of the Headmaster's Hall, watching the sun rise over rubble.
Lilith approached.
"They're saying you saved the academy."
Evan didn't smile.
"We didn't win. We survived."
She nodded quietly.
"They'll be back."
Evan looked to the horizon.
"No. We'll go to them first."
[End of Chapter 38]