Nightveil stood calmly at the center of the ruined arena.
Alarms blared.
Heroes stood frozen.
Thousands of lives waited on a single decision.
He looked around, almost bored.
"Relax," Nightveil said casually, hands in his pockets. "I didn't come here to kill anyone."
No one believed him.
He chuckled softly.
"I came here to prove a point," he continued. "That no matter how strong your heroes are… no matter how high your walls stand…"
His head tilted slightly.
"…I can do whatever I want."
The words settled like poison.
"I prepared a very long speech," he added with mock disappointment. "But honestly? There are far too many hot-blooded people here. It's exhausting."
A few heroes twitched, barely restraining themselves.
Nightveil sighed.
"So I'll take my leave."
He turned his head downward.
"To be precise—"
His boot nudged the cracked stone beside Raze's unconscious body.
"—I'll be taking this boy as a souvenir."
The stadium exploded.
"NO—!!"
Astra and Luna shouted at the same time.
Before anyone could react, Nightveil bent down and lifted Raze effortlessly with one arm, as if he weighed nothing at all.
The Starbreaker suit hung lifeless, cracked and dark, Raze's head lolling against Nightveil's shoulder.
Panic surged through the crowd.
"DROP HIM!"
"LET HIM GO!"
"DON'T YOU DARE!"
Astra moved instantly.
Her body launched forward at full speed, pain forgotten, fear overriding everything.
"YOU'RE NOT TAKING HIM!"
Luna followed without hesitation, golden light flaring violently around her.
Even heroes broke formation, instincts screaming louder than orders.
Nightveil sighed.
"So predictable."
He raised his free hand.
"Bye-bye."
The world warped.
Space twisted like glass bending under pressure.
Astra's hand passed through empty air.
Luna's strike hit nothing.
And Nightveil—
vanished.
Gone.
No explosion.
No flash.
No warning.
Just empty space where he had been standing.
Raze was gone with him.
Silence fell.
For a heartbeat—
the stadium couldn't comprehend what had just happened.
Then chaos erupted.
"He's gone!"
"RAZE WAS TAKEN!"
"WHERE DID HE GO!?"
Heroes surged forward too late.
Teleportation signatures flared and vanished before sensors could lock on.
Titanheart slammed his fist into the ground.
"Damn it!"
Emergency sirens blared again—this time real panic.
"EVACUATE THE STANDS!"
"MOVE THE CIVILIANS!"
"CHECK FOR EXPLOSIVES—NOW!"
Security units swarmed the stadium.
Students were rushed out.
Parents screamed.
Medical teams moved automatically.
Astra stood frozen at the center of the arena.
Her hands trembled.
"…I was too slow…"
Luna dropped to her knees beside the shattered ground.
Her breath came in broken gasps.
"I should've caught him," she whispered. "I should've—"
Astra turned sharply.
"No. If you had… people would've died."
Luna shook her head violently.
"He was bluffing! There were no bombs!"
As if summoned by her words—
Reports came in over comms.
"All sections clear."
"No explosives found."
"No abnormal devices detected."
The truth hit them all at once.
Nightveil had lied.
And they had believed him.
The realization crushed the heroes harder than any explosion could have.
"…We were played," one officer muttered.
Astra clenched her fists until her nails drew blood.
"If I hadn't hesitated—"
Luna slammed her fist into the broken floor.
"This is my fault. I stopped. I listened. And now he's gone."
Rose arrived, kneeling beside Luna, holding her tightly as her composure finally broke.
The stadium emptied.
News drones filled the sky.
Across the nation, every channel lit up with the same headline:
*"NIGHTVEIL ABDUCTS HERO ACADEMY STUDENT — RAZE ARCWELL."*
Analysts argued.
Citizens panicked.
Governments scrambled.
The world shook.
◆ ◆ ◆
Three hours later—
Darkness.
Raze floated in it.
No pain.
No sound.
No sense of direction.
Then—
A dull ache bloomed in his chest.
His fingers twitched.
"…Where…"
His eyes opened slowly.
Dim light greeted him.
A cold ceiling.
Unfamiliar metal walls.
The faint hum of distant machinery.
He tried to move.
Pain flared instantly.
"Ah," a voice said nearby.
Calm.
Amused.
"You're awake sooner than I expected."
Raze's vision sharpened.
And standing a few meters away—
hands in pockets,
blindfold in place—
was Nightveil.
"Welcome," he said lightly.
"To my world."
Raze's breath hitched.