The Academy courtyard erupted into chaos.
Students poured from the Hall, screaming and shoving. Some fell, while others trampled over them in blind panic. The tutors shouted orders that no one heard over the noise.
Ethan pushed through the crowd, scanning for Alexander. The prince had vanished during the shadow explosion. But Vexus wouldn't retreat far. Demons fed on fear and terror, most especially Vexus. All this panic was exactly what it wanted.
"There!" Maya pointed toward the center of the courtyard.
Prince Alexander stood beneath the ancient oak tree. His violet eyes were completely black. Shadows still writhed around him. When students ran past, the darkness reached for them with hungry tendrils.
"Everyone get back!" Ethan shouted.
But his voice was lost in the chaos. A Bronze-ranked girl stumbled too close to Alexander. Shadow wrapped around her ankle, dragging her toward certain death.
Ethan's fragment pulsed against his ribs. Power flowed through him as he moved. The world slowed. His enhanced speed again carried him across the courtyard in heartbeats.
He caught the girl just before Vexus could claim her. The fragment's power aged him months in that single moment. His bones ached. His muscles felt heavier.
How much time do I have left?
"The anomaly reveals himself," Vexus said through Alexander's mouth. The demon's voice now clearer and thicker. "How predictable."
Ethan set the girl behind him. "Alexander, I know you're still in there. Fight back."
"He cannot hear you." Vexus tilted Alexander's head with inhuman precision. "This vessel belongs to me now."
More shadows erupted from the prince's form. They reached for fleeing students with malevolent hunger. A young boy tripped. Darkness swept toward him.
Ethan drew the Kingmaker Blade fragment.
Silver light blazed across the courtyard. The fragment had grown since he claimed it, fed by his life force and desperate need. Six inches of gleaming steel extended from an ornate cross-guard.
Students stopped running. The whole school tutors emerged from the Hall, yet none made a move to stop Alexander. Everyone stared at the impossible weapon in Ethan's hands.
He lunged forward. The fragment glowed in his hands like the sun at its zenith, cutting through the smoke like shadow. Vexus barely got Alexander's sword up in time.
Steel rang against steel with a loud clang.
"Faster than expected," the demon observed. "Your transformation is quite advanced."
They exchanged a flurry of strikes. Ethan fought with almost thirty years of experience compressed into that desperate moments. But Vexus had centuries of knowledge and inhuman strength.
Alexander's blade moved so smooth through different forms it was hard to catch up and block. Each strike carried killing intent barely contained by the prince's mortal form. When Ethan blocked, the impact numbed his arms.
"You cannot win," Vexus said between attacks. "This life is wrong. It will be corrected."
"What does that mean?"
"You were never supposed to return. Your execution was meant to be final." The demon pressed forward with renewed fury. "But someone interfered. Sent you back. Changed what should have been."
The Kingmaker Blade. It broke the natural order.
Ethan gave ground. Each parry revealed more skill than a sixteen-year-old should possess. Around them, the crowd whispered and pointed. His secret was unraveling completely.
"Tell me," Vexus continued as their blades locked. "How does it feel to know your interference doomed everyone? That your presence here accelerated our progress?"
Ice filled Ethan's veins. "What?"
"Did you think we wouldn't notice temporal displacement? That we couldn't sense when someone changed the past?" Vexus's black eyes glittered with amusement. "Your return warned us. Made us move faster. Your precious Maya dies because of your meddling."
Rage flared in Ethan's chest. The fragment pulsed in response, demanding more of his life force. He almost let it have what it wanted.
Then pure white light blazed behind him.
"Don't listen to it," Maya said. Her staff fragment glowed like a captured star. "Demons lie. That's all they do."
She stepped beside Ethan, light radiating from her weapon. The shadows around Vexus recoiled from the brilliant radiance.
"Another one," the demon said. "How delightful."
"Two against one," Maya said. "Poor odds for you."
Vexus laughed. The sound shattered every remaining window in the courtyard. "Poor odds? Child, I am wrath incarnate. I have burnt worlds."
The demon raised Alexander's hand. Dark energy gathered around his fingers, promising death. But before he could strike, Maya's staff flared.
Light washed across the courtyard like a tide. Vexus screamed and staggered back, hands pressed against his stolen eyes.
"Impossible," the demon gasped. "Light magic cannot harm us directly."
"This isn't ordinary light," Maya said. Her golden eyes blazed with power. "This is divine light. Blessed by saints and strengthened by sacrifice."
For a moment, the real Alexander looked out through violet eyes. Confused. Terrified. "Help me," he whispered.
Then darkness flooded back into his gaze.
"Temporary," Vexus snarled. "But impressive. Tell me, girl, what will you do when this body dies? When I push it past mortal limits?"
Alexander's form began to change. His muscles swelled. His bones lengthened. Shadows poured from his skin like blood from wounds.
"He's killing the prince," someone shouted from the crowd.
"Stop him!"
But no one moved forward. Tutors and students alike stayed back, too afraid to interfere.
Ethan looked at his fragment. Using more power would age him years. Maybe decades. But Alexander was dying.
How much time can I afford? How much is a friend's life worth?
Before he could decide, Vexus struck.
The demon moved with inhuman speed. Alexander's transformed body blurred across the courtyard. His sword cut toward Maya's throat with killing intent.
Ethan intercepted the blow inches from her neck. The impact drove him to his knees. His fragment blazed as power flowed through him, aging him months in a heartbeat.
"Predictable," Vexus said. "You cannot save them all, anomaly. Every choice costs you. Every victory brings you closer to death."
The demon's next attack came wreathed in shadow. Ethan rolled aside, pulling Maya with him. The prince's blade carved a furrow in the courtyard stones where they'd been standing.
"We can't keep this up," Maya gasped. "He's too strong."
She was right. Vexus was pushing Alexander's body beyond mortal limits. Each second of possession killed the prince slowly. But the demon's power was overwhelming.
There has to be another way.
"Alexander!" Ethan shouted. "Remember the meditation techniques! Find your center!"
For just a moment, Vexus hesitated. Violet flickered in the prince's black eyes.
"Fight him!" Ethan pressed. "You're stronger than this!"
"I... I can't..." Alexander's voice cracked through the demon's control. "He's too strong."
"You are a Valorian prince," Maya said, her staff still blazing. "Your bloodline has ruled for centuries. Don't let this thing steal that legacy."
Alexander's form shuddered. The shadows around him wavered. Deep in those black eyes, something fought back.
Then Vexus roared with fury.
"Enough!"
Dark smoke exploded outward. Students screamed and dove for cover. Even the tutors raised magical shields against the blast.
When the darkness cleared, Alexander stood transformed. His skin was pale as marble. His hair had turned white. Most terrifying were his eyes - not black now, but burning red.
"This vessel is mine," Vexus said in a voice like grinding stone. "And I grow tired of this game."
The demon raised both hands. Shadows gathered above the courtyard, forming into different shapes. Creatures of pure darkness with too many teeth and dark eyes.
"Kill them all," Vexus commanded.
The shadow creatures dove toward the crowd with hungry shrieks.
Ethan's sword fragment burned in his hand. He could stop this. He could save everyone. But the cost would be most of his remaining life.
No choice. There's never any choice.
He raised the Kingmaker Blade fragment and prepared to pay the price.
Then Vexus smiled with Alexander's transformed face.
"Too late," the demon said.
And vanished.
The shadow creatures dissolved like smoke. The oppressive darkness lifted. Students blinked in sudden sunlight, confused and terrified.
Prince Alexander was gone.
"What just happened?" Master Donovan's voice cut through the silence. He stood at the Great Hall entrance, gray eyes tracking the destruction. "Where is Prince Alexander?"
All eyes turned to Ethan and Maya. They stood in the courtyard's center, Divine Weapon fragments glowing in their hands. Evidence of impossible power. Proof of secrets that couldn't be explained.
"Well?" Professor Thorne stepped forward, his expression unreadable. "We're waiting for answers."
Ethan looked at the crowd of faces. Students who'd trusted him. Faculty who'd taught him. All of them demanding explanations he couldn't give.
The war just went public.
"We don't know where he went," Ethan said finally.
It was the truth, but no one believed it.
Whispers spread through the crowd like wildfire. Some students pointed at his fragment. Others backed away in fear. Tutors exchanged meaningful glances.
"Ethan Cole and Maya Thornfield," Master Donovan announced in his official voice. "You are hereby designated persons of interest in this incident. You will surrender your weapons and submit to questioning."
"Our weapons?" Maya's golden eyes flashed. "These are bonded to us. They can't be removed."
"Then you'll be questioned while carrying them. Under full supervision." Donovan's expression was grim. "This way, please."
As they walked toward the Academy buildings, Ethan caught fragments of conversation from the crowd.
"Did you see how fast he moved?"
"That light from her staff... it was divine magic."
"They knew this would happen. They were prepared."
"How long have they been hiding this?"
The questions would only get harder from here. The Academy would demand answers. The shadow cult would accelerate their plans. And somewhere out there, Vexus wore Prince Alexander's transformed body like a mask.
The timeline is changing, Ethan thought. But maybe not the way the demons expected.
For the first time since his return, their enemies had shown themselves publicly. Made mistakes. Revealed their presence to people who might finally listen.
The war was no longer hidden. It was just beginning.