Now, time flowed. Flowed backwards. Back to a moment before everything that transpired with Xavier and his fight against a mysterious man named Haruki.
The scene opened within the Lantern Society at midnight. Jasmine, Misaki, Jason, and the rest of Xavier's friends stood gathered, all visibly distressed and deeply worried.
Adam sat calmly at the center, listening with sharp, calculating eyes as their concerns filled the room.
"Xavier and Miss Anastasia have gone missing all of a sudden!" Jason said, his voice uneasy. "And we don't know where they went!"
Adam frowned, startled by the news. "What do you mean they just suddenly went missing? They could've gone out for a walk."
But Jasmine cut in firmly. "That's possible—but take into account, Sir Adam, that it's midnight. Who goes for a walk at such a time? Without leaving any sort of note to inform someone?"
Jupiter nodded. "We came all the way to London just to find Xavier. As he and Miss Anastasia disappeared late at night, without telling a single family member. It's normal to worry when something similar is happening again with us right now."
Adam remained silent for a moment. He turned his gaze to Victoria, who stood beside him. His expression was calm, but concern flickered beneath the surface—as if asking her, silently, for her thoughts.
Victoria looked back, her eyes shadowed with fatigue. Black rings clung beneath them from sleepless nights—nights haunted by guilt. She hadn't slept since the moment Xavier discovered the truth: Teslaine was the daughter of Percival, his father's murderer—his uncle.
Teslaine's words echoed in her mind like a curse. "You're just as cruel as him… you're just as cruel."
The guilt gnawed at her. She regretted hiding the truth from Teslaine—letting the girl admire a devil in disguise. And worse, she regretted how it shattered Xavier and Teslaine's bond.
Her voice came out soft, almost weary. "I understand your concern. But we shouldn't jump to conclusions because of a sudden disappearance."
"They could just be out... trying to clear their minds. A walk. Together. They seemed close."
A brief silence followed until Emily spoke up. "You could be right. Maybe we're just overthinking things. They might've gone to cool off... after what happened in your apartment, Miss Victoria."
"Yeah... I guess you're right," Jack replied, nodding, though his eyes still betrayed his worry.
"Me too," Sophie and Aria added quietly.
Misaki then cut in with a firmer tone. "We could all be right. But you can't ignore what we saw. The rage, the pain in Xavier's eyes. That wasn't something you can just brush off."
Elowen nodded. Her voice trembled. "I'm with Misaki. I've never seen Xavier like that. He looked... broken. His eyes were full of so much pain. It was unbearable."
"We all saw it," Jupiter added, his voice low. "His presence... it was terrifying."
Again, silence returned. But their thoughts, without needing to be said aloud, circled the same name: Xavier. Every one of them was genuinely, deeply worried.
Jasmine sat near a small table, her fingers resting lightly against the wood. Her thoughts refused to settle.
Ever since news broke that the third grandchild of the Ivanovich family had gone missing—vanishing from the estate—her heart hadn't stopped racing. Not like before. This time it felt different. Deeper.
It wasn't the same concern she had felt in the past. It was strange. A sensation that burned inside her chest, sharp and restless.
She didn't understand what it meant yet. But one thing was certain:
Her concern for Xavier ran deeper than anyone else's in that room.
Could it have been her growing fondness for Xavier?
Or perhaps the fact that he was the younger brother of her best friend and classmate, Violet?
Or maybe... maybe it was because she admired him. Admired how brave, sincere, kind, and righteous he was—especially for someone his age. So unlike the older nobles she had known her whole life, always hiding behind false smiles and empty flattery just to win her favor as the princess of a powerful nation.
We may never fully understand the storm of emotions brewing within Jasmine—for the boy who was younger than her, yet somehow, had carved a place deep within her heart.
Time passed, and the group decided to stay in the Lantern Society overnight. If Xavier and Miss Anastasia hadn't returned by dawn, they'd begin searching at first light.
It was already very late at night. Most had begun to drift off—except Adam and Victoria, who were still deep in conversation. Meanwhile, Jupiter, walking over to grab a cold glass of water with Jason, paused. His hand trembled slightly as he lifted the cup. The water... it shook.
Not violently, not enough to draw attention—but just enough for him to feel it.
"Hey, bro," Jason asked, eyeing him curiously. "You alright? You're acting kinda weird."
Jupiter didn't respond immediately. He watched as the liquid in the cup started to float—tiny droplets rising like bubbles in reverse. His brows furrowed.
Then, Adam stopped mid-sentence. Victoria blinked, confused by his sudden silence. Adam's gaze shifted, distant, tense.
He sensed it.
A faint presence—no, more than that. An intense pulse of ethereal energy, like a crack in the world itself, growing stronger every second. That... was not normal.
Something was wrong. Deeply, horribly wrong.
Then it happened.
The ground roared beneath them.
A violent quake shook the entire secret base, hurling objects to the floor. Jupiter's glass shattered. Everyone sleeping in the lounge—Misaki, Jasmine, the others—jolted awake in panic. The air around them was crushing, dense with power.
"What's going on?!" a worker from the Lantern Society cried out in panic.
The quake intensified. One by one, people collapsed to their knees, unable to stand. All except Adam and Jasmine. And then the impossible happened:
Everything began to rise. Tables. Chairs. Loose papers. Their bodies. Gravity itself seemed to... stop.
Adam's instincts screamed. Something massive—devastating—was about to hit. No time to think.
In a blink, he acted.
Tendrils of shadow burst from his feet, reaching like serpents toward everyone he could reach.
Then—
A flash. Blinding. White.
Followed by a sound like the sky itself tearing in half.
A beam of ethereal light, impossibly bright and searing, slammed into the earth with pinpoint precision. It tore through the hideout. Through the buildings above. Through London itself.
Silence.
Then came the fire.
Adam emerged from a collapsed section of rubble, coughing. Dust and ash clung to his skin, and his eyes widened as he looked around.
The city... was burning.
His voice cracked. "What the hell is going on...?"
Everything he saw—was gone. The hideout. The surrounding streets. Fire tore through what was once the city's heart. Steam pipes hissed through wreckage. Ash fell like snow.
He had acted fast—thank the gods. In those precious seconds before the beam hit, he'd pulled as many as he could into their own shadows, warping them far away. Some—Victoria, Aria, Jack, Emily, Sophia—had made it, shielded in his shadows just in time.
But not all had been so lucky.
Many... hadn't made it. Their bodies, burned beyond recognition, lay scattered across the ruin.
Victoria coughed as she regained her footing, blood on her lip, her dress torn. She looked up—and froze.
The city they had loved—its steam towers, its blend of modern marvels and old-world culture—was in ruins. All of it. Gone.
Screams echoed from somewhere distant, weaving through the flames.
"What just happened...?" she whispered, trembling. "How... how could this happen...?"
Jack, Emily, the others—stunned, speechless. All stared in silence at what was once the Lantern Society and its surrounding district—now only smoke and scorched stone.
Sophia's voice cracked. "Where's Jasmine? Misaki?"
Adam answered quietly, his tone low and smoldering. "I sent them away. Along with Elowen, Jupiter, and Jason. I don't know exactly where. I had to scatter them... anywhere safe. Far from this ambush. Maybe somewhere deeper in the city."
He clenched his fists.
This wasn't random. It was a message.
Something—or someone—wanted to wipe them out. And they had just made their opening move.
Before Adam could collect his thoughts, the skies above cracked open like a thunderclap from the heavens.
The air split. Space itself tore like paper. A gaping rift spiraled open in the night sky—a wound in reality, pulsing with otherworldly energy. And from that rupture, something colossal emerged.
A massive, levitating black-and-gold vessel descended slowly, casting a vast shadow over the burning remains of the city below. Its surface shimmered like starlight, its design far beyond the realm of gears and steam—the Starlight Voyager.
To those who watched, stunned and silent, it was a nightmare made real.
The ship floated like a phantom, gliding through the rift with effortless grace, too advanced for the steam-powered world below. An omen wrapped in metal. A sign that something worse was coming.
Adam's blood ran cold.
He knew that ship.
He'd seen it once—long ago—when the world as he knew it had first begun to fall apart. The same ship that had stolen his son. That had carried away the monster who left him bleeding out, who shattered his wife beyond repair. The same ship tied to the one man he could never forgive:
Percival Ashford.
"Tch... so it really is you," Adam muttered under his breath, his fists tightening.
Then, a voice—clear, arrogant, divine—echoed from above.
"Well, well... survived the plasma cannon, did you? Way to ruin someone's evening."
A figure emerged from the rift, descending with slow, terrifying grace. He didn't fall—he walked. On the air itself. As if the laws of physics bowed before him.
He was tall, lean but muscular, with light blond hair falling elegantly around his sharp face. His coat—black and white, regal in its design—trailed behind him like a cape. Gold chains adorned his chest, and on his collar and coat, shimmered the omega crest.
With every step, reality trembled. Some below collapsed in fear. Others simply fainted from the pressure.
Adam stood his ground, teeth clenched. "And who the hell are you?"
The man chuckled.
"Who do you think? I wear the crest of a general of His Majesty."
Adam's voice rose. "So you're behind this? The attack on my people?"
The man laughed—a cruel, mocking sound. "Forgive me," he said, wiping a tear from his eye. "I couldn't help it. The look on your faces... simply priceless."
He straightened, face hardening, voice deepening.
"I am Heinrich Albrecht. Grand General of the Great One—Lord Percival. Headmaster of the House of Valebrand, one of the Four Great Houses of the Grand Percivalian Empire."
He paused, letting the weight of his words fall.
"And as leader of Valebrand, it is my sacred duty to purge this land of heresy. To erase the Lantern Society, who dares hold secrets that threaten His Majesty's divine plans."
His eyes glowed—a brilliant, searing gold.
"Thus, Order: Extermination has been placed in my hands. And you, Adam Durandal... will not leave this city alive."
The air around him twisted and cracked. A storm was coming—and Heinrich was its harbinger.