The moon vanished. The sky above Vaelith Academy split like torn silk, swallowing the fractured stars in utter black. The only light that remained came from the faint crimson pulse of the System warnings hovering across the broken towers.
[Siege Phase Active.]
[Unknown anomaly energy detected.]
[All remaining factions: survival probability below threshold.]
[External intervention prohibited.]
The cursed fog thickened into choking tendrils that clawed at stone and bone alike. Distant screams echoed across the corrupted courtyards, followed by wet, tearing sounds that silenced them.
Eryndor stood motionless atop the shattered battlements of The Lost Ones' ruin. His crimson eyes cut through the dark. No House banners remained visible. No safe ground existed. The Academy had become the hunting ground of the System's forgotten nightmares.
Behind him, The Lost Ones readied for what they could not see. The Unborn stood like a sentinel at the breach, thick chains wrapped tight around scarred arms. The Mana-Cursed Girl leaned against a cracked wall, breath shallow, aura flickering in uncontrolled surges. The Flickering Aura Boy gripped his battered blade so tightly his knuckles had gone white.
They were exhausted. Broken. Outnumbered.
Eryndor's voice cut sharp through the oppressive silence. "Positions. No sound. No panic." They obeyed without question.
The first growl came from the fog. Low. Wet. Wrong. The shape emerged in flickers—a shifting monstrosity of stitched flesh, jagged bone plates, and glowing corrupted runes. Its hollow sockets burned blue as it dragged itself forward on twisted claws. A second joined it. Then a third.
System-spawned Nightmare Beasts. Created for one purpose: annihilate survivors.
Eryndor stepped back into the shadows, calculating calmly even as the abominations stalked closer. So it begins.
The first Nightmare Beast lunged. The Unborn met it with a roar, chains whipping outward in a brutal arc that crushed the abomination's head into splintered bone and ruptured sinew. The corpse dissolved instantly into corrupted ash.
But more crawled from the fog. Six. Ten. Fourteen. The Academy had unleashed its true horrors.
Eryndor stood atop the ruin, eyes cold and calculating even as his faction fought for their lives. The System was sending waves to test their limits.
Below, the Flickering Aura Boy cried out as a beast raked a serrated claw across his shoulder. Blood sprayed. He staggered, barely raising his blade in time to block a second strike.
The Mana-Cursed Girl staggered to her feet. Blue arcs crackled wildly from her shaking hands. Her face twisted in horror. "No… not again…" The unstable energy flared out of control, threatening to consume her. Eryndor moved instantly.
"Control it." His voice cut through the madness. "Breathe."
The girl gasped raggedly, clutching her head. The mana storm slowed just enough for her to direct it forward. With a strangled scream, she unleashed a wild burst of energy that vaporized two beasts mid-charge. The backlash knocked her unconscious.
Eryndor caught her limp form before she hit the ground and passed her into the waiting arms of The Unborn. "Keep her behind the line."
The beasts came again, faster, more organized. The System was learning.
Eryndor moved like a wraith through the chaos, striking surgically at exposed joints, slashing runes, twisting into shadows before counterstrikes landed.
The bodies of the fallen Lost Ones from earlier still littered the ruins. Eryndor's inner voice remained cold. "This is the price. Always the price."
From the far side of the broken courtyard, a second wave of shrieks erupted. The faint shimmer of armor. Students. A desperate lesser faction—House Teryss. They had hoped to ambush The Lost Ones during the beast assault. They charged into the fog. They never reached the wall. The beasts tore through them mercilessly, scattering limbs and dying screams into the mist. Their captain locked terrified eyes with Eryndor just before claws ripped through his chest. No help came.
Eryndor gave no order to intervene. The silence afterward was worse than the screams.
From behind, a soft ripple of unnatural energy crawled up Eryndor's spine. The Oracle of Shattered Threads materialized like a phantom near the outer breach. Her silhouette flickered between human and formless shadow.
"The System falters," she whispered. "But worse things move beneath the Academy."
Eryndor did not turn. "The Sleeper Below."
The Oracle tilted her head, glass fragments shifting in her veil. "The Sleeper stirs."
The ground trembled faintly. High above, the fractured sky split once more. The System text spasmed, flickering erratically.
[Unknown anomaly detected.]
[System override… failing.]
[Emergency Protocol breach imminent.]
[Warning: The Sleeper Below has begun to awaken.]
The black mist thickened into an unnatural whirlpool at the heart of the Academy. The Oracle vanished without sound.
The Lost Ones stood battered, bloodied, barely breathing as the bells of Vaelith Academy tolled again, colder than ever. Eryndor raised his blade calmly toward the storm.
"Then let it wake."