The storm of falling worlds lasted only one night. By dawn, the sky stitched itself together, though the cracks still lingered like scars of glass. Entire cities had been swallowed, mountains overturned, oceans torn apart. Yet somehow, in the middle of it all, Eclipse Academy still stood.
It was a ruin now, but a proud one.
Massive obsidian towers leaned like bent spears, halls carved with runes pulsed faintly as though keeping the last threads of order alive. Around its shattered courtyards, students gathered—those who had survived the collapse, trembling with fear, clutching their broken weapons and fractured dreams.
Kael walked among them, his prince's crest hidden under his cloak. He was not ready for anyone to know what he was. Not yet.
He scanned the crowd. Survivors came from dozens of broken worlds. A boy with mechanical arms. A girl with glowing horns. A man whose shadow moved independently from his body. Every one of them carried a story that didn't belong here.
> It's just like the Tower trials, Kael thought grimly. Only this time, the script isn't testing heroes. It's swallowing them whole.
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At the center of the courtyard, Ryo stood tall, his expression unreadable. He had no crown, no crest, no glowing aura like the others—but the silence he commanded was absolute. Even the students who whispered and fidgeted moments earlier now straightened under his gaze.
> "Listen carefully," Ryo said, his voice low but cutting through the air like steel. "The Tower has fallen. The gods are watching. And you—" he pointed to them with a scarred hand—"are all their pawns."
Murmurs broke out. Some laughed nervously, others clenched their fists in denial.
Ryo continued.
"Whether you came here as princes, hunters, idols, assassins, or trash pickers—it doesn't matter. From this day forward, you are students of Eclipse Academy. And our one mission is simple: survive."
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Sanae hugged the glowing blade she had reforged from scraps. Her hands trembled, but she raised them anyway.
"W-what do you mean survive?" she asked.
Ryo's eyes flicked to her, and for a moment Kael thought the teacher might ignore her. Instead, he gave the faintest nod.
"Every week," Ryo said, "the cracks in the sky will open again. Monsters will spill through. Gods will test us. Some of you will be chosen to fight. The rest will be left behind." His tone hardened. "Eclipse Academy is no longer a school. It's the last fortress standing between us and annihilation."
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A hush fell. Then, softly, music began to rise.
Liora stepped onto the broken stage of the courtyard. Her star-shaped mark glowed faintly, her lips trembling as she sang a single note.
It wasn't powerful this time—not like the night before, when her voice bent reality itself. Instead, it was fragile. Human.
The fear in the crowd eased. Shoulders dropped. Students who had been shaking found themselves breathing steadily again.
Kael watched her with sharp eyes. She wasn't just calming them. She was binding them together. One song at a time.
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Later that night, Kael sat in the Academy's ruined library, the diary open on the table before him. Its pages still shifted and bled with new words every hour, recording the script of their lives.
> Tomorrow, the Academy will face its first trial.
Two will fall. One will awaken.
Kael's grip tightened around the paper. He hated it. Hated how the book always knew more than he did.
But he also knew it was the only reason they had a chance.
Behind him, footsteps echoed. Sanae appeared, hugging her glowing sword-hilt like a lifeline.
"Y-you… you knew this would happen, didn't you?" she asked, her voice small.
Kael closed the diary. Slowly, he looked up at her. His smile was sharp, tired, almost cruel.
"I've read the ending of this story a hundred times," he said softly. "And every version ends with us dying."
Sanae froze.
"But," Kael continued, eyes glinting like shattered glass, "I'm not interested in reading anymore. I'm going to write a new one."
And in that moment, even the cursed diary seemed to flicker—its words blurring, as though uncertain for the first time.
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✨ End of Chapter 2 ✨
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