Cursed energy erupted from Lucas Vale's body.
Not flowed.Not released.
Erupted.
The air around him warped as if reality itself recoiled, a pressure snapping outward in uneven pulses. Dust lifted from the ground, stones rattled, and the metallic scent of blood mixed with something colder—sharper.
A forced awakening.
The Whispering Vines reacted instantly.
Their tendrils recoiled, roots tearing free from the stone as they withdrew in jagged, panicked motions. The curses did not scream. They did not attack.
They backed away.
Lucas staggered as the sensation hit him all at once.
His heart slammed against his ribs, each beat echoing too loudly, too fast. Heat and cold surged through his veins simultaneously, his limbs shaking as if his body no longer understood itself.
W-what… is this?Stop— I can't—
"I can't stop it," Lucas rasped, fingers clawing at his own chest as if he could tear the feeling out. His vision blurred, the world stretching and folding in on itself.
Something inside him answered.
Not a voice.Not a command.
A certainty.
Adrenaline flooded his system in a violent rush, drowning fear, pain, and reason all at once. His thoughts fractured, laughter bubbling up from somewhere deep and unfamiliar.
This is wrong—No… this is—
The anomaly known as Lucas Vale never finished the thought.
The surge peaked.
Cursed energy slammed through his body in uncontrolled waves, overwhelming muscle, mind, and sense alike. His legs gave out, and he collapsed backward onto the shattered stone.
The world went black.
Darkness didn't come quietly.
It tore him apart.
Cold.
No—burning.
Lucas felt like he was sinking and rising at the same time, his body gone, his thoughts stretched thin like wire pulled too far. There was no ground beneath him. No sky above. Just pressure. Endless, crushing pressure.
I'm dying.No— I already did.Is this what happens when you're useless?
Images flickered behind his closed eyes.
Blood on stone.Belle screaming.The gate closing.
Then—eyes.
Not human. Not curse.
Watching.
They're looking at me.Why are they looking at me?Stop— don't—
Laughter bubbled up in his chest, broken and breathless.
HAHA— this is insane— Is this the feeling of power —So this is it?This power— this thing— it's too much—
Something brushed against his consciousness.
Not gently.
Curiously.
Like a predator testing a wound.
Oh.Oh no.
The darkness noticed him, the anomaly that is Lucas Vale.
And it didn't like what it saw.
Reality snapped back in with a thunderous crack.
Wind screamed across the shattered street, violent and sharp, forcing debris into the air as if the world itself had taken a breath and decided to exhale all at once.
The Whispering Vines froze.
The distant, earth-shaking presence of the Primal Roar faltered — not retreating, not advancing.
Listening.
A figure stepped forward through the storm.
Tall.Composed.Untouched by the chaos.
His cloak snapped violently in the wind, embroidered with the crest of House Zephyrus — twin wings carved through a spiral of frost. His hair was a pale silver-blue, tied back neatly, his expression calm in a way that felt offensive amid the carnage.
Rio Zephyrus.
Eldest son of the Duke.A-rank sorcerer.
His eyes swept across the battlefield in a single glance.
"Casualties already," he said coolly. "Late."
Behind him, the air distorted as more figures emerged — B-rank operatives, disciplined and alert, followed by several high C-rank affiliates bearing the same crest in lesser form. None were pure blood relatives like Rio, but they all carried the authority of Zephyrus.
"Contain the perimeter," Rio ordered calmly. "Suppress the lesser curses. Do not engage the Primal Roar unless instructed."
"Yes, Lord Rio!"
They moved instantly.
Wind affinity users formed rotating barriers, slicing tendrils apart mid-lunge. Ice-laced gusts pinned Whispering Vines to the ground, freezing them in place before shattering them cleanly.
Efficient.Clean.Controlled.
Rio's gaze shifted — and stopped.
On Lucas.
The boy lay unmoving amidst the rubble, cursed energy still leaking from his body in erratic pulses. Not flaring anymore.
Bleeding.
Rio's eyes narrowed.
"…That child, ... he just forced an awakening" he muttered.
Rio's eyes flicked once more toward Lucas, an almost imperceptible tightening at the corners. Something about the boy was… unusual. Unstable.
The ground trembled violently as the Primal Roar advanced, its massive frame blotting out portions of the street. Dust and rubble were kicked into the air as it charged.
Rio muttered under his breath, voice low and controlled, "Domain Expansion… Gale Sanctum."
The world seemed to twist. Wind howled violently, carving a perfect domain of air around Rio and the Primal Roar. The domain was opaque, shimmering with currents of frost-tipped wind, the streets beyond disappearing from sight. Only the two combatants remained within.
Outside, the B-rank and high C-rank affiliates maintained their positions, suppressing the lesser curses, creating a buffer zone to ensure no one else entered the domain. Lucas's parents—stood frozen about 20 metres back, trembling and shielding their younger daughters from stray debris. James muttered prayers under his breath, while Mya's hands shook violently. Both glanced repeatedly at Lucas, still collapsed, still unconscious.
Inside the domain, the Primal Roar roared—a deafening, earth-shaking sound that seemed to warp the very air. Its massive claws swung with destructive force, aimed to obliterate everything within reach.
But Rio moved with unnerving precision. Gusts of wind sliced through the space, diverting attacks with near-prescient timing. Ice-tipped blades spun around his body, intercepting blows and embedding in the Primal Roar's limbs, freezing tendons and muscles to slow its movements.
The Primal Roar lunged again, but Rio was already in motion. He spun, a cyclone of wind and frost wrapping around him like armor, then struck back with sharp arcs of compressed air that cut deep into the beast's side. It staggered, but its sheer size allowed it to remain upright, bellowing in pain and fury.
Time felt warped. Each movement, each strike, each swing of the massive claws seemed magnified, slowed, yet terrifyingly fast. Within the domain, every breath, every heartbeat, every flicker of cursed energy was amplified. Rio's control was absolute. The Primal Roar's brute force mattered little against the refined chaos of Gale Sanctum.
Outside, the Vales watched helplessly. They could hear nothing from inside the domain—no roars, no gusts of wind, only the faint shimmer in the air and the oppressive sense of power contained within. Mya covered her mouth, terror written across her face. James held his daughters tighter, feeling utterly powerless.
Minutes—or maybe hours—passed. Then, silence. The dome's winds stilled. The shimmering currents collapsed, folding in on themselves.
And Rio emerged.
Standing tall atop the lifeless body of the Primal Roar. Its massive frame torn, frozen in a grotesque final snarl. Dust swirled around him, catching in his hair and cloak, but he remained immaculate, untouched.
His eyes flicked briefly to Lucas, lying unconscious among the rubble, cursed energy still pulsing faintly. He didn't approach, didn't speak, but the slight narrowing of his gaze lingered. That boy… something about him was off.
Rio's attention returned to the battlefield but before that he issued a command to his affiliates "could someone treat that family and bring them in for questioning, that boy forced an awakening and they're the only survivors from this incident." The few remaining Whispering Vines, having witnessed the Primal Roar's fate, had recoiled further and now began retreating outside the outer walls, unnerved by the display of domain-level power.
Lucas's parents finally allowed themselves to exhale, though terror still gripped their hearts. They had survived, yes, but their son… their son remained a sleeping storm amidst the chaos. They knelt beside him, gently checking for signs of life, fear and love intertwining in silent prayers that he would awaken—safely, or at least… alive.