The forest had gone eerily silent.Every sound — every rustle, every whisper of wind — seemed to have been swallowed whole.
Stephen sat beneath the hollow of an ancient tree, its thick roots curling around him like the arms of a sleeping giant. The damp air clung to his skin as he tightened the cloth around his wounded arm. His breath came in slow, uneven pulls, the metallic tang of blood sharp on his tongue.
He'd barely survived that last encounter.Even now, he could still feel the beast's weight slamming against his sword, the shock numbing his entire arm.
But resting too long meant death.
He pressed his palm against the rough bark and pushed himself up, his legs heavy, his gaze scanning the mist ahead. The forest felt wrong — too still, too heavy — like it was holding its breath.
Then instinct made him look up.And what he saw made his blood run cold.
A crimson mist had begun to spread across the sky — slow, deliberate, staining the pale clouds with a sickly red glow. The air thickened with the smell of iron.
His chest tightened.
Something was happening.Something far beyond the scope of a simple exam.
Without thinking, Stephen broke into a run toward the forest's edge.
He didn't make it far before the first growl rippled through the air — low, guttural, hungry.
A hulking beast emerged from the thicket, its fur matted, its eyes gleaming red. Drool streamed from its mouth in thick ropes, sizzling where it hit the ground. Stephen froze. It was a common brute, a species every trainee faced early on — but this one was wrong. Its muscles bulged unnaturally, and veins as black as tar pulsed beneath its skin.
It let out a distorted roar and charged.
Steel clashed against claw.The impact nearly wrenched Stephen's sword from his hand. Pain shot up his wrist as his grip faltered, his body thrown backward. The beast didn't relent — every strike heavier, faster, filled with raw, unnatural rage.
He rolled aside, his blade cutting a narrow line across its flank. Blood sprayed, steaming in the air. The creature shrieked and lunged again.
He could barely keep up.His breath came ragged; his arm screamed in protest.
But when the beast dove for his throat, Stephen twisted his stance and drove his blade up — deep into its chest.
The creature fell with a shudder, its blood pooling dark beneath it.
He didn't wait for it to stop moving. He turned and kept running, every instinct screaming at him to get as far away as possible.
Elsewhere in the rift, the same crimson fog had begun to spread.
Participants fought desperately against beasts that were no longer natural. Their eyes glowed red; their howls carried madness. Some students held their ground, blades flashing in panic. Others were torn apart where they stood.
One boy — barely fifteen — screamed as a claw nicked his arm. Within moments, his skin turned pale, then gray, as his body shriveled. His teammates froze as his life was sucked out of him, his body collapsing into a husk.
"Don't get scratched!" one of them yelled hoarsely. "Their claws— they drain your—"
His warning cut short as another beast lunged, and blood sprayed across the trees.
In the Federation's monitoring chamber, chaos had erupted.
"Something's wrong with the readings!" a technician shouted, slamming keys. "The rift's energy is spiking — it's off the charts!"
On the main screen, the image of the sky inside the rift flickered — revealing faint geometric lines glowing through the crimson clouds.
An older examiner, face pale, leaned forward.
"No… that's not natural interference. That's an array."
A sharp intake of breath followed.
"You mean a spell formation?"
The man nodded grimly.
"And not a minor one. That pattern… it's the Blood Soul Convergence Array. The Demon Worshipping Cult used it a century ago — during the Siege of Ardent Vale. It drains life to summon monsters from the other side."
A heavy silence fell over the room. Then panic.
"Get the academy heads on the line!" someone barked. "Now!"
One by one, channels lit up — connecting to the Headmasters of various city academies, most of them powerful Emperors.But when the call reached the Royal Academy, the representative's face stiffened.
"The Headmaster's still in seclusion," he said hurriedly. "We can't reach him through ordinary channels."
The man known as Jim, the Royal Academy's representative, clenched his jaw and reached inside his robe.From within, he drew out a golden talisman, its surface engraved with intricate runes that shimmered faintly.
He looked at it once, sighed — then ignited it.
A wave of golden light filled the chamber. The air turned thick, heavy — and then a towering silhouette appeared, draped in a dark coat that fluttered despite the stillness. His presence alone pressed the others to their knees.
"Vice Headmaster Taurus," Jim said quickly, bowing. "We had to invoke your clone talisman — an emergency situation has arisen."
The man's expression was stern, his eyes like molten gold under the shadow of his hood. His voice, calm yet cutting, rolled through the hall.
"You used my talisman. Speak — what's happening?"
Jim gestured toward the display screens.
"The rift where the entrance exam is being held has been compromised. The Blood Soul Convergence Array has appeared. We suspect infiltration by members of the Demon Worshipping Cult."
Taurus's gaze darkened. The air in the room seemed to tremble.
"A priest, then," he said coldly. "Only their kind can sustain such an array. Issue an immediate order — all participants are to be evacuated. The trial ends now."
Just as the examiners scrambled to obey, a swirl of black smoke burst into the room.A hooded figure formed from it, laughter scraping like steel on stone.
"Too late!" he croaked. "All your precious prodigies will die here — and the Twentieth Legion Commander will awaken!"
Before anyone could react, Taurus flicked his hand.The intruder's body imploded, crushed into a bloody smear against the far wall.
Silence followed.
"Inform every clan representative," Taurus commanded, his tone low but deadly calm. "Pull the examinees out as fast as possible. Limit casualties. Once everyone is clear, I'll personally seal the rift."
He paused, his golden eyes narrowing.
"If a Legion Commander awakens in there… by the time reinforcements arrive, the entire zone will already be a graveyard."
The examiners moved at once — alarms blaring, orders flying. Emergency gates began to pulse with light as extraction teams mobilized.
Meanwhile, deep inside the rift, Stephen stopped mid-run.A low tremor rippled through the ground beneath his feet.He turned his head — and through the fog, saw the crimson light above burn brighter, like blood igniting the sky.
He didn't know what was happening.He only knew that every beat of his heart was screaming run.
Then, faintly — deep in his soul sea — the Azure Sparrow stirred.A soft, urgent cry echoed within him, its faint wings spreading in warning.
Whatever was coming next…this was only the beginning.