2026-09-19 00:31:21
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Darius’s Secret
The library was quiet at this hour. Most students had retreated to their dormitories, and the patrols had thinned. The lockdown continued, but the Academy was learning to live with it. Classes had resumed. Meals were served on schedule. The fear remained, but it had settled into something manageable. Aren sat alone at a corner table, a book open before him. He wasn’t reading—not really. His mind was elsewhere. Veyra’s report. The Organization. The demon underground. The seven noble houses. And the students who hid in plain sight. He’d noticed Darius watching him. Not with hostility. Not with suspicion. With something else—curiosity, maybe. Recognition. The S-rank student had been more withdrawn since the festival attack. Skipping meals. Avoiding crowds. Sitting alone in the back of lecture halls. The obsidian star on his collar marked him as exceptional—but he carried it like a burden. Aren understood. Darius approached the table without asking permission. He sat
The City
Three days had passed since Millbrook. Aren had waited—making sure Cael was settled, making sure no one was watching, making sure the time was right. The second shadow message had arrived the night of their return, waiting in his dormitory like a patient ghost. The city beyond the eastern gate. The old quarter. The door with my sigil. Come when you can. —V He’d memorized the directions. Burned the message. Waited. Now, it was time. Aren didn’t sneak through gates or avoid guards. He simply teleported. The transition was instant—one moment he was standing in his dormitory, the next he was in a narrow alley in the city’s old quarter. The air smelled of old stone and forgotten things. Shadows pooled deep around him. He stepped out of the alley and into the city. The city sprawled beyond the Academy walls—a settlement that had grown organically over centuries, wrapping around the school like a living thing. Taverns still glowed with light. Merchants had closed their st
Millbrook
The village of Millbrook was dying. Aren saw it the moment they arrived—the burned buildings, the makeshift repairs, the palisade walls that had been breached and hastily rebuilt. The stench of smoke and fear clung to everything. Children huddled near their mothers. Men with axes stood at the perimeter, their eyes hollow with exhaustion. Cael’s face was pale as he led Aren through the gates. Villagers stopped what they were doing and stared. Some recognized Cael—their faces lit with recognition, then confusion, then fear. A stranger had entered their village. A noble, by the look of him. And nobles rarely brought good news. “Cael? Is that you?” A woman rushed forward—Cael’s mother, by the resemblance. Her hair was graying, her face lined with worry. She threw her arms around him, tears streaming down her face. “What are you doing here? How did you—we thought you were at the Academy—” “I came to help,” Cael said. His voice was steady, but his hands were shaking. His m
The Aftermath (3)
The lockdown continued into its second week. The Academy was a different place now. The festival banners had been taken down. The food stalls were gone. The stages where students had performed stood empty, their silence a reminder of what had happened. Patrols moved through the corridors at all hours—guards, faculty, even some upperclassmen conscripted to help. Students walked in groups, their eyes wary, their voices low. Fear had settled over the campus like a shroud. Aren observed it all. The anti-demon sentiment had gotten worse. It started with whispers—students muttering in corners, their eyes following demon-blooded classmates through the halls. Then it became open hostility. Books knocked from hands. Insults muttered just loud enough to be heard. Shoulders shoved in crowded corridors. The Academy condemned the harassment. Headmaster Vex made a statement about unity and tolerance. But nothing changed. The harassment continued. Sera Lucifuge was among those target
The Aftermath(2)
The Academy was silent. Not the peaceful silence of early morning or the quiet of a library. This was the silence of a held breath—of students confined to their dormitories, of patrols moving through empty corridors, of fear that had settled over the campus like a shroud. Aren stood at his window, watching the patrols pass below. Torches flickered in the darkness. Guards moved in pairs, their eyes scanning every shadow. The festival had been three days ago. The lockdown was still in effect. The team met in the library—the same corner they’d used before. The same table. The same chairs. But the atmosphere was different now. Tenser. Seraphina sat with her arms crossed, her expression hard. Kairos leaned back in his chair, trying to look relaxed but failing. Lyssa had a book open in front of her, but she hadn’t turned a page in ten minutes. Aren stood near the window, watching the grounds below. “We need to talk about what happened,” Seraphina said. “I agree,” Lyssa s
The Aftermath
The festival grounds were chaos. Students fled in every direction, their screams echoing through the night. Faculty members shouted orders, trying to restore order. The attackers moved through the crowd with purpose—masked figures wielding blades and magic, hunting demon-blooded students. Aren moved through the darkness. He’d left Sera behind the barrier, safe. He’d told Seraphina to get the students to safety. Now he was hunting. The attackers were organized. Coordinated. They moved in groups, covering each other, retreating when pressed. Professionals. But they weren’t prepared for him. He intercepted a group near the eastern edge of the grounds—three attackers cornering a demon-blooded student against a wall. Aren didn’t slow down. He simply moved through them, his hands striking pressure points with surgical precision. They collapsed before they knew what hit them. He kept moving. Across the grounds, others were fighting too. Professor Thorne led a contingent of combat i
You may also like
Rise of Ryan Conner
Alvin Sam18.2K viewsI AM DESTINY'S MISTAKE
Dere_Isaac18.6K viewsThe Awakened Arcane Legacy
Paul_okito24.7K viewsReturn of the S-class Young Master
IceFontana1820.5K viewsUnHonor
Erfan_Sh21 viewsMy Five Beast Wives Want Me Dead in the Apocalypse
Kashish69 viewsThe Accidental Saint of the Kingdom
SEVEN148 viewsThe Archmage's Second Act
Yoko Kim302 views