POV: Rj & Sway
[SWAY – Glyph Rank: Unclassified | Resonance Tier: ???]
Time had broken again.
He blinked — the world caught up.
Around him, fragments of a battle played in reverse, paused, sped up, then froze mid-air. A beast mid-roar. A girl mid-scream. Blood suspended like art.
[GLYPH: Rewind – 6 seconds]
He stepped over a corpse.
No… a delayed corpse. The student hadn't died yet — but they would. He'd seen it happen three times.
This time… maybe he could stop it.
He knelt beside them — a young boy named Kymel. First-year. Fast, nervous, talented with wind glyphs.
"Hey, hey, hey—eyes up," Sway said, forcing a smile.
"Y-You froze everything," Kymel gasped. "How are you—?"
Sway winked. "OP cheat code. Long story."
But his glyph pulsed wrong.
The triangle on his wrist had changed shape. Now it twitched, stuttering with pixel static.
And behind him — that same corrupted black-glyph beast emerged from a void ripple.
No warning.
No sound.
Just presence.
[RJ – Glyph Rank: C | Resonance Tier: 2 – Pulse]
He heard Sway's voice echo up the ridge.
And the scream.
Then silence.
He ran.
Boots tearing through the terrain. Rage building with every step.
[PASSIVE TRAIT: Burning Core – Active]
His glyph flared violently — jackal-headed, outlined in red flame.
He leapt into the clearing just in time to see the beast impale Kymel through the chest with a jagged tendril.
"NO—!"
Too late.
Rj smashed into the beast with a shoulder full of fire and fury, glyphs searing with divine energy.
[GLYPH: Abyssal Fist – Critical Strike]
The beast cracked.
Not killed.
But wounded.
Then it phased away — slipping into the space between.
Sway stood frozen, glitch trails rippling around him.
"I had time," he whispered. "I rewound it. I saw it. Why didn't it change?"
Rj dropped to one knee beside Kymel's body.
Still.
Eyes open. Empty.
"Because some things," Rj growled, "aren't supposed to be saved."
A pulse hit the air.
Not just nearby—everywhere.
Like a divine heart skipping a beat.
Glyphs across the planet flickered.
Students felt it.
Amani.
Eshe.
Tuma.
Every one of them turned, sensing the same message:
"Death registered."
"Student Kymel – Terminated."
"Remaining: 283."
[Sway]
He stared at his glyph.
The corners… had changed color.
Once neon blue.
Now flickering red and black.
"System instability detected. Signature breach possible."
Sway didn't speak.
Didn't joke.
Just stood… quietly… and said:
"We're not students."
Rj looked up.
Sway's voice was dead serious.
"We're lab rats."
[Back with Amani & Eshe – Later That Night]
They saw the pulse too.
Eshe held her arms, staring into the dark jungle. "That was a death glyph… right?"
Amani nodded.
"…You think it was one of the quiet ones?"
A pause.
Then: "No. I think it was one of the good ones."
Far above, in the Celestial Tribunal…
Ra clenched his fists behind his back.
Ma'at lowered her head.
And Anubis? Anubis just whispered…
"The culling has begun."