The air was thick so thick it felt like breathing through molten iron.The once eerie silence of the rift was gone, replaced by the sound of grinding stone and distant screams.
Outside, chaos reigned. Inside, only Sam remained bleeding, panting, and searching.
"Alana!" he called out, his voice echoing endlessly through the ruined corridors.
No answer only the low growl of unseen monsters stalking in the dark.
Sam's light magic flickered at his fingertips, forming a sphere of golden glow that pushed back the shadows. The light trembled against the oppressive fog, like a candle fighting against the night.
From every corner, black hands burst out again, clawing toward him. Sam swung his arm, and spears of light shot forth, slicing through them.
"Get lost!"
But they kept coming twisting, writhing, screeching soundlessly. Each time he destroyed one, three more took its place.
He gritted his teeth, blood running down his cheek.
"If I don't find her soon…"
Then he felt it a pulse.A faint, rhythmic thrum, like a heartbeat but twisted, wrong, and alive.
It came from the far end of the fortress a sealed door half-hidden behind fallen debris. The stone was covered in black roots that pulsed with faint red light.
Sam pressed his hand against it. Instantly, his skin burned.
"This energy…" he murmured, eyes narrowing. "It's… demonic."
Despite the warning in every instinct, he forced it open.
As the door crumbled, a blinding red light poured out.The room beyond was vast, circular, lined with shattered statues of angels and demons alike.
At the center floated a massive crystal sphere, glowing with sinister energy.Inside it, suspended in midair, was Alana her body limp, her silver hair floating like strands of moonlight.
"Alana!" Sam's voice broke as he sprinted forward.
Her life force visible as golden streams of light was being drawn from her chest into the glowing orb above.
"Stop this!"
He gathered his magic. Lumen Break! A beam of concentrated light shot forward, shattering the demonic crystal. The shockwave ripped through the air, scattering fragments like molten glass.
The moment the crystal broke, Alana fell. Sam caught her mid-air, kneeling as she coughed weakly.
"S-Sam…""It's okay, I've got you. You're safe now."
But before he could say another word, the ground trembled.
A low rumble echoed through the fortress like the growl of something awakening after centuries of slumber.
Then came the fog.
Thick, black, and suffocating, it poured from the shattered remains of the crystal, swirling into the shape of a colossal figure.
The air warped. Magic itself twisted in agony.
When the mist finally cleared, it revealed a demon towering, muscular, with jagged horns curving like scythes.Its skin was obsidian, veined with red light, and from its chest protruded a massive black blade, pulsing faintly with heartbeats.
Its eyes two suns of burning crimson fixed upon them.
"You… woke me…"
The voice was deep, ancient, and filled with malice.
The very sound made the air tremble.
Sam's body froze. Alana staggered back, clutching her chest as the aura pressed down on them like a mountain.
"W–what… is this thing…?" she gasped.
"A demon," Sam said softly, his face pale. "But not an ordinary one."
Without warning, the demon swung its claw.The air itself split apart, sending Sam flying across the chamber. He slammed into a pillar, coughing blood.
"Sam!"
"Stay back!" he shouted, pushing himself up.
The demon's roar shook the ground. The fortress walls cracked and dust rained down.
Alana gathered her energy, blue flames igniting around her hands.
"We can't just stand here!"
"Together then," Sam replied, raising his hand.
Both unleashed their attacks Sam's golden light and Alana's sapphire flame collided against the demon's chest. The explosion tore through the hall, but as the dust cleared—the demon still stood, unscathed.
"That didn't even scratch him…" Alana whispered.
The demon laughed a guttural, echoing sound that sent chills through their bones.
"Your light and flame… taste like insects before the abyss."
Its next strike sent shockwaves across the floor. Sam barely managed to block with his shield.The impact shattered it instantly, sending him sprawling beside Alana.
"We can't win like this!" she shouted. "Run, Sam! Find an exit I'll hold it off!"
"No."
His voice was quiet but sharp, filled with determination.
"I'm not leaving you."
"You'll die if you stay!"
"Then we die together."
She froze. His words firm, absolute carried a weight she hadn't expected from him.
Then Sam looked at her, his eyes calm despite the chaos.
"Promise me something, Alana."
"What?"
"Whatever happens next… don't tell anyone what you're about to see."
She blinked, confused. But something in his tone told her he was deadly serious.
"I… I promise."
Sam nodded slowly.Then he stood, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
The air around him began to twist. The faint golden glow of his light magic flickered and then turned black.
The ground shattered beneath his feet.A dark aura erupted, swallowing the light in the room.
The fortress trembled as an overwhelming pressure flooded the chamber. The once comforting light magic now twisted into something wild and endless.
"W–what is this…" Alana whispered, covering her mouth.
Even the demon stepped back.
"That power… impossible. It shouldn't exist anymore!"
Sam's eyes opened glowing red, framed by streaks of black mist swirling from his body.
"I didn't want to use this," he said quietly. "But you left me no choice."
The demon roared, pulling the massive blade from its chest with a wet, tearing sound. As the sword left its body, blood-like shadows spilled across the floor, and a roar of pure hatred filled the air.
The fortress trembled violently.
Sam's aura flared darker, the pressure splitting the floor into fissures. The two forces collided the darkness of the abyss and the corruption of the demon.
When they met, the entire world seemed to break.
"Come then!" Sam shouted, summoning a blade forged entirely of shadow and lightning. "Let's end this!"
The demon lunged, its blade crashing against Sam's in a shower of sparks and raw power.
The impact sent a shockwave so powerful it shattered the surrounding walls and tore through the fortress like a storm.
Alana screamed as she was thrown back, clutching her head. The sound of metal clashing, light and shadow colliding, filled the air with chaos.
Each strike carried the weight of nations the sheer energy distorting space around them.
"You are not human!" the demon bellowed."Neither are you," Sam snarled back.
The two clashed again each collision sending waves of destruction. The fortress towers collapsed, the ground crumbled into glowing magma, and the air screamed with pressure.
The Outside World
In the Grand Arena, the viewing crystal flickered violently.The image that had once shown Sam and Alana clearly now dissolved into chaos nothing but blinding flashes of black and white light intertwining.
Students screamed and covered their ears as the magic resonance grew unstable.A wave of unseen pressure swept through the hall, strong enough to shatter every minor barrier around the spectators.
Professor Irus staggered backward, clutching her chest.
"W–what is this power?!"
Professor May's voice trembled.
"It's… colliding energies… light and darkness… but at this scale— it's impossible!"
Headmaster Grey stood motionless, his eyes locked on the trembling crystal.The very ground beneath his feet was humming, reacting to the clash taking place deep within the Rift.He could feel it two forces trying to erase one another, yet bound by a single pulse of life.
"That resonance…" he muttered. "It's like the Rift itself is screaming."
All around them, students whispered in confusion and fear.
"Is it part of the trial?""No one's saying anything!""Why did the screen go white?"
Outside the fortress, the sky above the academy darkened, thunder rumbling though there were no clouds.The very mana flow across the campus twisted unnaturally animals fled, and the barrier sigils glowed red from overload.
Headmaster Grey turned to the two professors beside him, his tone sharp.
"Reinforce the barrier around the gate! Now!"
"Sir, what's happening inside?" Irus asked, panic creeping into her voice.
"I don't know…" the Headmaster admitted quietly. "But whatever it is… it's beyond any mortal magic I've ever felt."
He clenched his fists. That pressure… it feels familiar. Like something that should have remained buried forever.
Among the chaos stood Lucy, her eyes wide but not from confusion from realization.
Her body trembled as she stared at the blinding flashes on the crystal, her hands gripping the railing so tightly her knuckles turned white.
"No…" she whispered. "He… he's really doing it."
Her heart pounded. The moment that oppressive aura flooded the air, she recognized it.That dark, heavy pulse it wasn't something anyone could mistake.She had felt it once before, long ago, when she had accidentally glimpsed Sam's sealed magic during his first day at the academy.
And now it was unbound.
She closed her eyes, biting her lip to keep herself from screaming.
"Sam… why now? Why would you use that?"
Inside the rift, Sam and the demon collided one final time.
Their blades met at the center of the ruined fortress light and shadow intertwining into a swirling storm.
The pressure crushed everything around them. Stones rose into the air, melted, and turned into ash.
The demon howled, wings of flame bursting from its back.Sam's aura surged in response, creating a dark halo around him each breath sending shockwaves through the world.
"You cannot win!" the demon roared. "Your power will consume you!"
"Then I'll take you with me!"
Their blades crossed. The sound that followed was neither thunder nor explosion it was obliteration.
A blinding flash of black and white consumed everything. The fortress, the sky, the world within the rift all vanished into nothingness.