**Vitas Academy**—the highest training institution on the continent of Arcanos—was preparing for what was known as the **Final Proficiency Trial**. A test from which only those whose names were etched into the fate of battle would survive.
Inside the **Great Circular Arena**, a massive enclosed coliseum of three tiers, thousands had gathered in eerie silence. The arena, built of luminous steel and living stone, appeared grim today—unlike its usual brilliance. **Gray clouds blanketed the sky**, as if refusing to let the sunlight pierce through… or perhaps, as if the academy itself did not wish the world to witness what was about to unfold.
Down in the center stage stood the student teams participating in the **Graduation Trial – Wave Two Proficiency Test**. This was no mere academic assessment… but a **decisive trial** that determined each student's fate: to rise as an official warrior within the academy—or to be cast out forever.
The trial challenged students and their teams to face the **Nizark creatures**—beasts hunted down and sealed within closed dimensions, then unleashed in deadly combat simulations. The objective: survive… and prevail.
But before the gates could open, there was one among them who seemed entirely unfazed.
A teenage boy, strikingly indifferent, sat perched on the edge of a high platform, munching on a sandwich with an oddly calm demeanor amidst the tense atmosphere. He wore a long coat over his academy uniform, and his eyes gleamed with something close to mockery.
**His name: Rigurōt Okabi.**
He glanced briefly at the grim faces surrounding him, then smirked faintly and spoke in a near-whisper, as if reciting a tale stolen from a dream:
> "Before all of this… there was a story. The story of a doctor who loved his blind daughter more than the world itself."
He paused, leaning forward slightly, drawing those nearby into a tunnel of words.
> "He wanted to restore her sight, so he created a pair of glasses that could see the unseen. But what the girl saw… was not light. It was a darkness older than anything. She saw *it*."
His voice grew quieter, deeper.
> "She saw the earth from within… inside a cosmic being, as if suspended in its stomach. And that being… was the Nizark. A creature that doesn't merely kill—but consumes all human energy: intellectual, emotional, and even dreams."
He fell silent. Around him, a few students had begun to stare, entranced by the tale.
> "The girl tore out her own eyes… and her father buried the truth. No one knew that in that moment, a seal was shattered—"
> "—and the first gate was opened."
**"The Gate of the Nizark."**
Behind him stood another young man—tall, still, his presence like a knife suspended before its fall. His face bore no expression, but his eyes held something deeper.
**His name: Rendai Yagamiri.**
He spoke without turning:
> "Enough. Focus, Rigurōt. This isn't the time for stories."
Rigurōt smiled, finished his sandwich, wiped his hands with a paper napkin, and muttered to himself:
> "But stories… set the stage."
At that exact moment, one of the instructors stepped to the center of the arena. He wore the official academy robes, with a badge draped from his shoulder bearing the symbol of "Wave Two."
Raising his hand high, he gestured toward three massive, sealed metal gates.
In a commanding voice, he declared:
> "We now begin the Final Proficiency Trial – Wave Two Cohort."
He pointed toward the first gate, from which a **dim, dark light** began to seep through its cracks, followed by a **heavy purple mist**.
He continued:
> "Gate One: Nizark – Level One. A swarm unit, led by their minor commander."
> "Gate Two: Nizark – Intermediate Level. More cunning… and far more deceitful."
Then he paused. His gaze shifted to the third gate. He took a slow breath.
> "As for Gate Three… it remains sealed. What lies behind it has no name, no form. It is said… he is the one who commands them all."
A suffocating silence fell. Even the sound of breathing faded.
In that moment, **Rendai's left eye** glowed faintly with a line of Vitas energy—**a flickering thread**, like a distant omen.
And then, all light vanished.
**Complete darkness.*---
### **The Grand Arena of Vitas Academy Had Yet to Find Its Stillness Again**
The **purple mist** still slithered like the smoke of a prophecy left unfinished, and the audience gathered on the third tier of the coliseum exchanged confused glances, as worried parents clung to a heavy, wordless hope.
Above them, the sky had turned darker—deeper, almost cosmic—as if warning of something yet to be born… but drawing ever closer.
---
### **In Front of Gate Two – The Instructor Hesitates**
Instructor *Soran Edo* stood before Gate Two, his palm resting against a Vitasian energy seal designed to initiate a "mid-level confrontation."
But something wasn't right.
The camera zoomed in on his tense face.
His hand froze in the air… the seal began to tremble.
> "What is this?... This isn't part of the original programming."
Before he could pull back, a black energy spark—more like an angry nerve than electricity—shot from the seal and surged toward **Gate Three**, the one that was never meant to open.
The tremor turned into a roar. The arena felt as though it had begun to **breathe in fear**.
---
### 💥 **The Shift – Gate Fusion**
In a flash, the ground between the two gates **cracked**, then **merged**, as if two powers had exploded and collided into one.
A **massive pillar of energy** rose from the center of the arena—its hue shifting between black and violet—twisting, as though it were alive.
Everyone stared toward the center...
Then something emerged—**something that defied all recognition**.
---
### **The Creature Appears**
A towering monstrosity, standing over **twelve meters high**, made of a molten bone-like substance, moving as though its body obeyed no physical law.
**Six red eyes**, arranged unevenly.
A split jaw, from which **frozen human limbs** hung, suspended mid-motion, wrapped in pulsating muscular strands.
There was no blood…
But there was **terror**.
---
### **The Killing Gaze – Aimed Upward**
The creature **raised its head**, and its glowing eyes turned into a straight beam of light aimed **at the audience**.
It did not even glance at the team standing below.
Its gaze **passed right over them**—locked onto the **third tier**, where the parents were seated.
---
### **The First Strike – The Black Light**
All sound faded.
The creature began to **charge its energy from the chest**, like a heart expanding outward.
Then—
It opened its mouth and unleashed a **beam of black Vitasian energy**—a straight, focused blast that **pierced through the upper glass barrier** and struck the stands.
The sound was soft at first… then came the **explosion**.
---
### **The Audience Reacts – Fear Takes Hold**
At the top of the coliseum:
* A woman stood up, her face pale: "**Rendaaaaai!**"
It was **Caroline**, *Rendai Yagamiri's* mother.
* Beside her, *Linari's* father stretched out his hand, as if trying to block some invisible force, attempting to protect her.
But the blast hurled them both into a **storm of thick smoke**.
No one could be clearly seen afterward.
---
### **Silence After the Storm – A Single Voice**
From within the dense fog, a voice emerged:
> "Step back."
A human hand pierced through the black energy and **brushed it away as if it were mere dust**.
It was **Kazikawa Valemont** – the **High Harmonizer**, one of the academy's elite.
His face was calm, his smile lazily confident.
His eyes were half-closed, like someone who already knew how this story would end.
> "Another reckless creature… seeking attention."
> *(pulls a golden energy spear from the air)*
> "This one's mine."
---
### ⚔️ **The One-on-One Duel – Kazikawa vs. the Beast**
The creature's arms lashed out like massive spikes—each one twisting unnaturally, as if filled with **manifested human emotions**: rage, guilt, sorrow, weakness…
Kazikawa chuckled lightly:
> "How charming… An unstable mix. Just like you."
With a single step, he vanished, reappearing above the creature and, with a surgeon's precision, drove his spear into the **creature's energy core**.
A deafening shriek erupted from the beast, followed by a faint **earthquake**.
But…
**It wasn't enough.**
---
### **The Creature Returns… Faster Than Light**
In the blink of an eye, the monster vanished—only to **reappear near the upper stands** again, attempting another assault on the audience.
Kazikawa wasted no time.
He reappeared behind it, **struck its weak point** once more—and a **golden wave of energy** exploded.
But suddenly…
**The light vanished.**
---
### **The Shocking Moment – The Harmonizer is Consumed**
Before he could retreat, the creature **coiled around him** with **invisible speed**—and **pulled his entire body inside itself**.
A moment of silence.
The golden spear fell to the ground.
---
### **The Team Reacts – In Shock**
Watching from below:
* **Rigurōt** gasped:
> "He… he got eaten?!"
* **Syrin**, with an icy, level voice:
> "That… wasn't in the calculations."
---
### **Scene Ends**
The creature roared again, now pulsing with greater strength.
Its body became **more cohesive**, more **stable**.
The **sky above Vitas Academy** had never looked darker.
Kazikawa was **gone**.
The instructors were **frozen in place**.
The parents were **scattered and panicked**.
And the team… was now alone.
But this was only the beginning.
---
---
---
### **The Grand Arena of Vitas Academy Was About to Collapse—Not in Stone, but in Spirit**
The **fog refused to fade**, and the darkness cloaking the sky began to expand like a black wing engulfing the city.
Above, the parents still watched—
But this time, their gazes held **no pride**, only a growing anxiety that teetered on the edge of terror.
---
### **The Creature Begins to Change…**
At the center of the arena—where a power foreign to the human world had gathered—the creature began to **mutate**.
With every pulse, its **bony body solidified**, and its red eyes gleamed with an eerie awareness—
As if it could sense **every weakness in the human heart**.
Then—without warning—
It **moved at the speed of light**.
**Black tendrils, like living shadows, surged upward toward the upper tiers of the coliseum.**
Dozens of energy arms wrapped around the audience… around the parents.
---
### **Hearts Taken Before Bodies**
Screams echoed from above—not just cries of fear, but **calls to children below**, now frozen in helplessness.
* **Syrin's father**, a stern-featured, slender man, held his wife close and whispered with a trembling voice:
> "Our daughter is too strong to watch us fall…"
* **Linari's mother** placed her hand over her heart and softly whispered:
> "Don't be afraid. I'm here… I see you."
* **Rigurōt's father**, a retired military commander, barked as if giving a final order:
> "Rigu! Hold your ground! Don't rush in!"
* **Rendai's mother** said nothing…
She simply looked at him—and smiled gently, as if she already knew what was to come.
---
### 🎯 **The Team Responds – A Battle Beyond Control**
From the arena floor, **Linari** shouted with a voice that shook the air:
> "Decisive Formation Team—move out!"
In a flash, the team became one living organism.
Every member moved with unspoken understanding.
* **Syrin** froze one tendril with crystallized ice, then shattered it with a burst of fire.
* **Jenrai** leapt through the shadows, slicing an energy arm like smoke with a blade of silence.
* **Rigurōt** roared as he launched himself:
> "You won't touch them!"
> And **detonated** the third tendril's core with a massive spiral blast.
* **Rendai** raised his hand, **altering gravity itself**, pulling the tendrils away from the crowd.
For a few seconds…
It looked like the team was winning.
But the creature…
**Hadn't even started.**
---
### 💔 **When the Creature Struck with Its Heart**
Suddenly, the creature **clenched its fist**.
Its tendrils tightened, glowing a deep crimson—
Then **retracted all at once**.
Screams echoed from above.
People fell from their seats—some struck the ground, some vanished into the smoke.
Fragmented images:
* A man screaming his daughter's name—
Then falling, motionless.
* A woman holding her husband's hand—
Until part of her body vanished beneath the debris.
* A small child next to his grandmother…
Crying, as the shadows swallowed them whole.
---
### 😱 **Rendai – The Break That Doesn't Heal**
Below, **Rendai** stared upward.
His voice had vanished.
He could no longer hear the screams.
All he saw was **one image**…
**His mother—her hand reaching toward him—disappearing slowly within the tendril's grasp.**
Then his father, just a step away—suddenly collapsing, his energy **evaporating like black smoke.**
> "Enough!"
> Rendai screamed it—**for the first time in his life.**
> He surged forward—unleashing **everything he had trained for**, every category he mastered… and attacked.
---
### 💣 **The Infection Bomb – The Nizark's Retaliation**
But the creature didn't wait.
Above its face, a **dim black sphere** formed—
Then burst—releasing a **"contamination bomb"**—a blast of corrupted energy that tore through the air…
And **exploded right near Rendai and his father.**
Rendai was thrown to the ground.
His father's scream faded into silence.
His body trembled—his eyes flashing **gray**—
An **impure Vitasian energy** began devouring him from the inside.
---
### 🩸 **The Image That Cannot Be Forgotten**
**Rendai**, on his knees—his head bowed—his hands trembling.
**Two tears** fell.
Not from weakness…
But from a regret not born of guilt—
But from an **unfair powerlessness**.
> *(Internal voice)*
> *"I wasn't fast enough… I wasn't strong enough."*
His father before him—shaking—breathing shallow—
The **infection spreading**.
---
### **And Above… The Creature Roars**
The **Nizark** stood tall—like a king among human ruin.
Its tendrils still slashed through the air—
Some parents unconscious… some wounded…
Some may never rise again.
**Kazikawa's body** remained trapped inside the creature…
The team was **shattered**.
And **Rendai**, standing in the center of the arena,
**Was no longer just a student—**
But someone whose **life had cracked entirely… while the surface remained whole.**
---
**End of Chapter.**