Drogo Payne lay on the edge of the giant hole he had made. He was a boy again. His skin was pale and soft. His hands were small. He could feel the cold wind on his face, and it actually hurt. He could feel the grass scratching his arms. He could feel his heart beating, a fast, scared thump-thump-thump.Tiana was sitting next to him. She was holding his hand. Her hand was so warm. It was the warmest thing he had felt in a long time."Drogo," she whispered. "You're back. You're really back."Drogo looked at her. He saw her brown eyes. He saw the dirt on her nose. He wanted to stay like this. He wanted to close his eyes and sleep for a hundred years. He wanted to forget about the Chasm, the fire, and the hunger.[HUMANITY: 5.0%.][STATUS: FRAGILE.]But the world would not let him be a boy.From the direction of the Black Spires, a new sound began to rise. It was not the sound of screaming or the sound of cannons. It was the sound of bells.Ding. Dong. Ding. Dong.The sound was beautiful

The courtyard of the Black Spires was a place of ruins. The Abyssal Tsunami had done its work. The beautiful marble statues were gone. The golden fountains were dry and cracked. The thousands of younger students, the ones who only knew how to light a candle or move a pebble—were lying on the ground, their magic stolen by the dark wave.But the Academy was not defeated yet.From the shadows of the four remaining Spires, a new group of people stepped out. They did not run. They did not scream. They walked with the slow, steady pace of hunters.These were the Vanguard. They were the Senior Class of the Academy. There were only fifty of them, but each one was a master. They did not wear the simple blue robes of the students. They wore heavy, enchanted leather and silver plates. Their staves were not made of wood; they were made of "Mana-Glass" that glowed with five different colors at once.The leader of the Vanguard was a girl named Lyra. She had short, silver hair and eyes that flic

The Black Spires were no longer black. They were gray, covered in the thick dust of shattered stone and burnt magic. The Academy, the greatest school of power in the history of the world, was a graveyard. The unbreakable walls were peeled open like the skin of a fruit. The silver floors were melted. The thousands of students who had been so proud in their blue robes were now just children sitting in the dirt, their magic stolen, their spirits broken.Drogo Payne stood in the center of the ruined courtyard. He was back to his human size, but he did not look like a human. His skin was a polished obsidian that seemed to drink the moonlight. His eyes were two deep, violet pools with a tiny white spark in the center, the Abyssal Light. He was breathing slowly. Every breath he took released a small puff of black smoke that smelled like the end of a fire.In his right hand, he held the Second Legacy Piece. It was a jagged shard of purple metal that vibrated against his palm. It felt warm

The heat from the impact didn't blow away. It didn't dissipate into the air. It curdled. The air around Drogo’s hand turned into a thick, glowing soup of unstable energy. It was a mix of his own entropy and the Creator’s radiance.[CRITICAL ERROR!][THE AEGIS IS A REFLECTION-TYPE BARRIER.][LAW DETECTED: EQUAL AND OPPOSITE.][THE SHIELD IS FEEDING YOUR OWN ENTROPY BACK INTO YOUR CORE.]Drogo’s eyes went wide.He felt a jolt of energy hit his hand. It was his own [Entropy Flame], but it had been "Purified." It was no longer a hole; it was a solid spike of light.The energy traveled up the sword, into Drogo’s hand, and through his arm."ARGH!" Drogo let out a roar of pure agony. His obsidian armor, the skin that had survived the Solar Flare, began to melt. It didn't turn to ash. It turned to liquid. The black stone of his arm began to drip onto the golden floor like hot wax.The prismatic light of the Aegis exploded outward. It was a Reflection-Blast.Drogo was hit by the full force of

Drogo looked at the thousands of praying people. "But they are an ocean. A hammer cannot break the sea. It just sinks until it is forgotten."The core struggle in his heart was no longer about being a monster or a boy. It was about being enough. He had evolved four times. He had eaten gods. And yet, he was still just one hole in a world of light.Suddenly, a new sound broke the hum of the prayers.Whirrrr. Click. Whirrrr.Drogo’s [Sense Vitality] flared, but it felt different. The signatures were not warm like humans. They were cold and sharp.He looked down the street.A group of Imperial Sentinels was approaching. These were not the Solaris Guards. They were the "Cleaners" of the Mid-Tier. They were eight feet tall, made of polished silver and white glass. They didn't have faces, only a single glowing blue lens in the center of their heads. They moved on six mechanical legs, looking like giant silver spiders."Scanning for Abyssal Contamination," a mechanical voice said. It sounded