Here is Chapter 4, continuing directly from Chapter 3, escalating stakes, revealing Anubis Shade in a controlled way, and pushing the story firmly toward official Academy interest—while keeping Aarav'
The wall didn't explode.
It collapsed.
Concrete folded inward as if crushed by an invisible hand, metal supports screeching before snapping like brittle bones. Dust flooded the holding zone, choking the air and swallowing screams whole.
Aarav didn't cough.
He didn't blink.
Darkness slid over his senses like a second skin.
Not the absence of light—but the presence of something older.
Colder.
The Anubis Shade did not roar. It did not rage.
It observed.
The world sharpened.
Aarav's vision shifted, colors draining into muted grays as glowing outlines flared into existence. Every living thing burned faintly with warmth. Every dying thing pulsed with unstable light.
And then—there it was.
The monster forced its way through the broken wall, dragging itself forward on too many limbs. Its body was a grotesque fusion of chitin and muscle, a long serrated maw dripping black ichor onto the floor.
But that wasn't what caught Aarav's attention.
It was the soul.
Warped. Heavy. Stained.
[Target identified.]
[Karmic burden: extreme.]
[Judgment applicable.]
Aarav felt no fear.
Only clarity.
He stepped forward.
The monster screeched as it sensed him, claws digging into the ground as it lunged. A dozen terrified refugees screamed behind him.
Aarav raised one hand.
Dark symbols spiraled into existence around his fingers, forming a faint scale-like sigil that hovered in the air.
The Anubis Shade's influence pressed down on his thoughts—not commanding, not guiding, simply showing.
Weigh the heart.
The symbol slammed into the monster's chest.
There was no explosion. No flash.
The creature froze mid-leap.
Its glowing eyes flickered wildly as its body convulsed, limbs spasming as if strings had been cut. A sound escaped its throat—something between a whine and a gurgle.
Then its soul tore.
Not violently.
Precisely.
The monster collapsed in on itself, body shriveling as if drained of something essential. In seconds, it was nothing more than a twitching husk.
Silence crashed down over the holding zone.
Aarav staggered.
Pain slammed into him all at once—white-hot and nauseating. He dropped to one knee, gasping as blood trickled from his nose.
[Soul stability: 58%.]
[Warning: partial manifestation unsafe.]
"Worth it," he rasped.
Boots thundered from multiple directions.
Armed UHA soldiers poured into the holding zone, weapons raised, targeting systems locking onto every heat signature.
"Clear!"
"Monster neutralized!"
"Secure the civilians!"
Captain Lyra Voss entered last.
She stopped the moment she saw Aarav.
Not the monster's corpse.
Him.
Aarav felt her gaze like a blade against his back as he struggled to his feet, darkness receding from his arm. The Anubis Shade withdrew reluctantly, leaving behind an echo of cold judgment that lingered in his bones.
Lyra approached slowly, hand resting on her sidearm.
"You," she said. "Don't move."
He obeyed.
Soldiers scanned the area, murmuring among themselves.
"No awakened signatures detected," one reported, confused.
"Monster died without trauma damage,"
another said. "Like it just… shut down."
Lyra crouched in front of Aarav, eyes level with his.
"You're bleeding," she observed.
He wiped his nose with the back of his hand. "Happens sometimes."
Her expression didn't change.
"What did you do?"
Aarav hesitated—just long enough to be honest.
"I stopped it."
That earned him a sharp look.
Lyra stood and turned to her squad. "Clear the area. Medical for the refugees. I'll handle this one."
"This one," Aarav noted inwardly.
The soldiers hesitated, then obeyed.
When they were alone—mostly—Lyra activated a small device on her wrist. A translucent barrier shimmered into place around them, dampening sound.
"You triggered a scanner malfunction earlier," she said calmly. "Now a Class-E Abyssal Beast drops dead in front of you with no visible cause."
Her eyes hardened.
"You want to explain how a talentless lower-sector orphan does that?"
Aarav met her gaze.
"No."
Silence stretched between them.
Then—unexpectedly—Lyra laughed softly.
Not amused.
Tired.
"Good," she said. "Because if you could explain it, you'd already be in chains."
She straightened. "Here's what's going to happen. Officially, you're still unawakened. Unregistered. Invisible."
Aarav's chest tightened.
"Unofficially," she continued, "you're coming with me."
"Where?"
Lyra deactivated the barrier.
"To people who decide whether anomalies become assets… or threats."
Her eyes lingered on his arm.
"Congratulations, Aarav Kael," she said quietly. "You just failed at staying hidden."
He was escorted through corridors he had never seen before—cleaner, brighter, guarded by soldiers with insignia that made even regular UHA officers step aside.
They stopped in front of a sealed door marked with a symbol Aarav didn't recognize.
Lyra paused.
"One last thing," she said without turning.
"Whatever power you have—it isn't normal."
"I know," Aarav replied.
She glanced back at him, something unreadable in her eyes.
"The Awakening Academy begins intake in three days," she said. "If you survive until then, you'll be tested."
The door slid open.
"And if you don't?" Aarav asked.
Lyra stepped inside.
"Then you were never meant to awaken."
The door closed behind them with a heavy
thud.
Aarav leaned back against the cold metal wall, heart pounding.
The Sigil pulsed faintly, as if amused.
[Exposure risk increased.]
[Growth opportunity detected.]
Aarav closed his eyes.
"Yeah," he muttered. "I figured."
Outside the city walls, something vast shifted.
And somewhere deep within the Mythbound Sigil—
Another seal cracked.