Snow was still falling.
Soft. Quiet. Almost peaceful.
That peace shattered in an instant.
A horn blared across the academy.
Not a bell. Not a warning chime.
A horn.
Deep. Ancient. Violent.
It tore through the air like a blade, vibrating through stone, bone, and mana alike. The sound rolled across the grounds in a single, overwhelming wave.
BWOOOOOOOOOOOM—
Students froze mid-laugh.
Mid-step.
Mid-breath.
"What… is that…?" someone whispered.
The horn sounded again.
BWOOOOOOOOOOOM—
Rougen's expression changed immediately.
Not anger.
Not calm.
Urgency.
His eyes snapped toward the sky.
"Everyone," he said sharply, voice amplified with mana, "listen to me carefully. This is not a drill."
The ground trembled.
The snow stopped falling.
No—
it was being pushed away.
The clouds above the academy twisted unnaturally, spiraling inward as if something massive was forcing its way through reality itself. The air cracked, split by lines of distorted light.
Then the sky broke.
A massive tear opened above the northern mountains, violet and black energy spilling out like blood from a wound. From within it descended shapes.
Too many.
Too fast.
Not beasts.
Not demons.
Aliens.
Unknown lifeforms, their bodies warped, metallic, organic, crystalline, shifting between forms that didn't belong in this world.
A voice echoed through the academy's defensive systems.
"Invasion confirmed. Hostile entities detected. Threat classification active."
Panic exploded instantly.
"What are those things?!"
"They're coming from the sky!"
"Is this part of training?!"
"No—no way—LOOK AT THEM!"
Rougen raised his staff, slamming it into the ground.
"EVACUATION PROTOCOL IMMEDIATELY!"
Magical barriers flared to life around the campus, but the moment they activated—
CRACK.
One shattered like glass.
A creature dropped through.
Rank 0.
Small. Fast. Almost insect-like, with too many limbs and glowing eyes. It screeched and lunged at a fleeing student.
Screams filled the air.
Another tear opened.
Then another.
They came in waves.
Rank 0 aliens poured in first, swarming like living shrapnel. Weak individually—but in numbers, overwhelming.
Then the pressure shifted.
The air grew heavy.
A Rank 1 descended.
Larger. Humanoid, armored plates fused into its flesh, wielding a blade grown from its own arm. It landed with a shockwave, crushing stone beneath its feet.
Students screamed and scattered.
"Move! MOVE!"
"I can't feel my legs!"
Rougen shouted orders rapidly. "Third years, form defensive lines! First and second years—RUN! Do not engage unless ordered!"
Hiko stood frozen for half a second.
Inside his mind, the devil spoke, low and serious.
This is not a test.
Hiko's heart pounded.
Ranks…?
He watched as a Rank 2 alien emerged from the sky.
This one distorted space around it, gravity bending, snow lifting off the ground and orbiting its body. Its eyes glowed a deep blue as it raised a hand—
—and a building imploded.
Students were thrown like dolls.
The academy descended into absolute chaos.
Teachers shouted spells.
Barriers failed.
People tripped, fell, cried, screamed.
"WHERE DO WE GO?!"
"The evacuation gates aren't opening!"
"They're everywhere!"
A Rank 3 appeared.
The moment it did, the sky darkened.
This one was enormous, serpentine, wings stretching wider than the main hall. Its roar shook the mountains, mana pressure so intense that weaker students collapsed instantly, unable to breathe.
Rougen clenched his teeth.
"…Rank 3 already."
Then—
Silence.
For half a second.
The sky pulsed.
And something far worse began to emerge.
Rank 4.
Even Rougen went still.
The Rank 4 alien didn't fully enter the world—only part of it did. A colossal eye opened within the tear, gazing down at the academy. Just its presence crushed mana flow, suppressing spells, warping reality.
Students screamed without realizing it.
Some fainted.
Others dropped to their knees.
Hiko felt his Devil's Mark burn.
Inside his mind, the devil growled.
That one… is dangerous.
Rougen roared, his voice echoing unnaturally. "ALL UNITS FALL BACK! PRIORITIZE STUDENT EVACUATION! DO NOT ENGAGE RANK 4!"
But it was already too late.
Rank 0s swarmed the evacuation routes.
Rank 1s hunted fleeing students.
Rank 2s tore through defenses.
Rank 3s dominated the battlefield.
Nothing was organized anymore.
Nothing was controlled.
Hiko watched Goru drag Leto out of the way just as a Rank 1 blade slammed into the ground where they'd been standing.
"HIKO!" Goru shouted. "MOVE!"
Another horn sounded.
Short.
Urgent.
Different.
"Emergency gates opening in Sector C!"
Students rushed toward it in a panicked flood.
Aliens followed.
A Rank 2 fired a beam of compressed energy into the crowd—
—and Rougen intercepted it mid-air, his Cosmic Room flickering into existence for a split second as reality twisted around him.
"GO!" he shouted. "NOW!"
Hiko's body finally moved.
He ran.
Snow exploded beneath his feet.
Screams echoed behind him.
Explosions lit the sky.
Inside his mind, the devil's voice sharpened.
Hiko.
This is no longer a school incident.
This is a war.
Hiko clenched his teeth as he ran toward the evacuation gate, surrounded by chaos, fear, and collapsing order.
And above them all—
the Rank 4 eye watched.
Waiting.