The sky above Astrea Academy no longer bore the vibrant blue or peaceful white clouds of a normal morning. The student capital's horizon had shifted into an ink-grey abyss, choked shut by roiling masses of storm clouds that bled a blinding, purplish luminescence. The minor tremors vibrating through the earth had escalated into violent shocks, causing the white marble walls of the academy buildings to groan loudly, as though the grand foundations were being tested by a terrifying force of nature.

Inside his dormitory room, Rian stood tall near the vibrating glass window. He had just ensured that Elia—still weakened from the lingering exhaustion and mental shock—was resting safely beneath a thin, defensive veil of shadow warding he had woven across the corner of the room.

"Stay here, Elia," Rian whispered softly to himself, his gaze slicing sharply through the glass. "The real storm has only just begun."

Outside the dormitory complex, massive panic had erupted into a sea of mass hysteria. Underclassmen and seniors alike bolted blindly through the campus corridors, screaming for friends or weeping in terror as the great magical shielding dome that had long protected the academy began to fracture with web-like, blood-red cracks. Wardens and instructors scrambled outward, clutching staves and attempting to form a makeshift defense line, but the situation was already careening past the brink of total collapse.

Krrrr-ghhhh!

A deafening cosmic fracture echoed from the direction of the academy's main gates—a colossal wrought-iron bastion inscribed with high-tier defensive runes.

The next second, a devastating blast struck the gates from the outside.

BOOM!

A shockwave of black flame and massive, destructive kinetic energy blew the tens-of-tons iron gates into a million twisted shrapnel pieces in a single heartbeat. Thick dust, burning stone debris, and wild tongues of fire choked the air, transforming the pristine, grand front courtyard into a smoking crater of ruin.

From within the roiling billows of dust and blazing fire, hordes of monstrous abominations surged inward. These were no ordinary shadow wolves; these were Abyssal Beasts—hybrid monstrosities wrapped in obsidian scales, bearing massive horns and bloodthirsty red eyes. Behind them, columns of armored mercenaries from the dark sect advanced in disciplined ranks, leveling poison-dripping weapons at anyone unfortunate enough to cross their path.

"Hold your ground! Do not let them breach the fountain plaza!" a senior instructor screamed hoarsely, trying to direct the surviving academy guards to counter-attack.

Yet the defense was meaningless. The monsters of the dark sect moved with a speed and ferocity that completely shattered standard military logic. Within seconds, the frontline broke apart into pieces. Screams of agony, the heavy thud of blunt trauma, and the metallic stench of fresh blood seized the academy air, which had now officially transformed into a slaughter zone.

Amidst the massive chaos, Rian stepped out of the dormitory building through a quiet side exit. He wore his trademark midnight-black coat, the deep cowl pulled low across the upper half of his face while pure shadow energy pulsed with steady stability across his palms inside his coat pockets.

He had no intention of fleeing with the cowardly students scrambling for the underground shelters. For Rian, this invasion was both a golden opportunity and a stage for final reckoning—a moment where he could hunt down the leaders of the shadow sect who had corrupted his past and fractured the peace of the world he now inhabited.

Just as Rian walked down the open corridor leading toward the academy's main plaza, the sky above the courtyard rumbled violently.

Swish!

A colossal pillar of black lightning crashed straight into the center of the main marble square, carving out a massive crater venting toxic, purple-green smoke.

Every skirmish around the plaza ground to an abrupt halt. Students, instructors, and dark sect monsters alike whipped their heads toward the impact zone in absolute horror.

From within the black lightning pillar and the thick billows of smoke, a human silhouette slowly drifted down to the earth.

The figure wore a long black robe tattered at the hem, revealing an ancient, skull-etched plate armor that bled an oppressive, suffocating aura of death. His face was hidden behind a horned iron mask, and in his right hand, he dragged a massive, scythe-shaped magical staff that hissed with toxic energy.

He was one of the highest-ranking commanders of the dark sect leading tonight's invasion.

The sect leader stood tall atop the fractured plaza ruins, then tilted his head back toward the sky. He unleashed an uninhibited, raspy, and horrific laugh that shattered the quiet between distant explosions.

"Well, well... behold the sanctuary of the learned!" the sect commander shouted in a piercing voice that rattled the soul of every listener. "Did you truly think stone walls and ancient magic could shield you from the wrath of true darkness?"

Without wasting a second, the dark sect leader raised his scythe-staff high into the air. Runes carved along the length of the blade flared brilliantly, discharging a wicked magical shockwave that cracked the stone ground beneath his feet.

From the tip of the staff, a torrent of dense, purple poison fog spewed outward, spreading at terrifying velocity across every corner of the academy, poisoning the air and withering every plant or structure it touched.

Behind the shadow of a stone pillar at the edge of the plaza, Rian narrowed his eyes. He pulled his coat collar tighter against the toxic wind, while his crimson-flaring gaze locked unblinkingly onto the sect leader standing at the center of the courtyard.