The crowd was roaring.
A sea of nobles and civilians filled the Suncoast Grand Stadium, faces painted with colors of their favored houses, eyes locked on the shimmering panels that floated midair—each one showing the live feeds of the ongoing military exam.
"Group Eleven has captured their seventh crystal!" cried Ajsi, the commentator, his voice booming through the arena. "Incredible coordination! That's Valecrest efficiency for you, ladies and gentlemen!"
Cheers erupted again.
In the main screen, Lucien Valecrest, only eighteen, was moving like water and lightning combined sharp, deliberate, never wasting a single motion. His team moved as if they shared one mind. Where others panicked, Group Eleven adapted. Their strategies weren't flashy, but devastatingly effective. Each formation they faced fell in under a minute.
He didn't see the crowd.
Didn't hear the cheers.
He was simply doing what he always did working.
No wasted effort. No arrogance. Just relentless precision.
Somewhere in the high booths, two figures watched in quiet pride. Aria Valecrest, her silver hair catching the sunlight, leaned forward with a smile that refused to stay hidden. Beside her, Darius Valecrest sat with arms crossed, but even he couldn't disguise the satisfaction gleaming in his eyes.
"That's our brother," Aria murmured.
"The kid's finally growing up," Darius said, smirking. "He even reminds me of Mother when she...."
His words caught in his throat as the feed flickered. The air inside the stadium seemed to dip in temperature.
"What's that?" Ajsi's voice cracked slightly. "Hold on, we're getting an… anomaly on the northern edge of the forest."
The cameras adjusted.
A lone figure had appeared among the trees.
A child.
He couldn't have been more than ten. Dressed simply black shirt, black trousers, bare feet pressing softly against the mossy floor. His hair was dark silver, eyes bright, gleaming with a strange, childlike amusement.
The entire arena grew silent.
"What's… a child doing inside the exam field?" Ajsi asked, nervous laughter trying and failing to mask his unease.
Somewhere deep within the stadium, Ian Stormbringer ,the principal of Elarion academy froze mid-step. His aura flared instinctively, a sharp storm of pressure that made nearby knights stumble.
He knew that presence.
"No…" he breathed. "Not him."
Aria's eyes widened. "Darius—"
"I see him," Darius muttered, already rising from his seat. "That can't be..."
"Rhazar," Aria whispered. Her face went pale. "How is he ....?
"Here ," Darius finished grimly. "He was disappeared for years . What is he doing here ? The sudden realization hit him
Lucien !!!
The stadium's screens zoomed in.
The boy looked up, smiling faintly at the hovering magi-crystals. As if he knew the entire world was watching.
Then, softlyalmost tenderly he spoke a single word.
"Domain."
A pulse.
Reality shuddered.
From the ground beneath the forest, black veins spread outward like roots of some monstrous tree, wrapping the entire terrain in a heartbeat. A dome of shadow semi-transparent, pulsing like a living heart swallowed the entire examination ground.
Gasps filled the arena as the dome spread further faster then snapped shut around the stadium itself.
For a moment, there was silence.
Then chaos.
Screams. Panic.
Magic guards tried to teleport out failed.
Ian's aura erupted, aura crackling from his fists as he punched the barrier.
The dome didn't break.
It only rippled, mocking his effort.
Ian's knuckles bled. His jaw tightened.
"An artifact…!" he hissed. "He used an artifact!"
Aria clutched Darius's arm, trembling. "Ian, what's happening?!"
"It's not just his domain," Ian said darkly. "That thing is being fed. Reinforced. It's strong enough to hold a Transcendent for an hour."
"An hour?!" Ajsi's voice cracked through the speakers. "But the exam field—there are over a hundred students in there!"
Ian didn't respond.
He knew exactly what that meant.
One hour of Rhazar was enough to erase them all.
****
Inside the forest, the students were frozen mid-action, confusion spreading faster than reason.
"What's going on?" "Is this part of the exam?" "Why is the barrier up?!"
None of them noticed the boy yet.
He was strolling casually through the clearing, humming under his breath. His eyes sparkled like someone enjoying a playground.
He stopped near a trembling student.
The boy blinked up at him. "H-Hey… are you lost?"
Rhazar smiled sweetly. "Hi."
He stretched out a hand.
The student hesitated, relieved. "Oh uh, sure, hey there...."
Crunch.
A scream tore through the forest as Rhazar's small fingers crushed the student's hand like glass. The bone splintered, and before the boy could pull away, black energy crawled up his arm veins turning dark, flesh corroding, eyes going wild.
"Shh," Rhazar whispered, almost affectionately, as the student began to convulse.
"Don't fight it. It's art."
He watched as the corruption spread skin peeling, blood evaporating, the student's screams melting into madness before silence.
Then he smiled.
A genuine, delighted smile.
In the stadium, the cheers had turned to horrified silence. People stared at the screens, unable to look away.
"Gods above…" someone muttered. "He's just a child…"
"That's no child," Ian spat.
***
"Hi little Valecrest."
Lucien froze.
He was mid-stride, a crystal in hand, when that voice playful, sing-song drifted through the trees. His blood ran cold before his mind even registered it.
He turned.
And there he was.
Rhazar.
The child waved at him, blood dripping from his fingers. His smile was bright, eyes gleaming with unnatural joy.
For a heartbeat, Lucien couldn't breathe.
Something deep inside his soul twisted violently, like old wounds being torn open.
And then...
Memory.
A flash, burning through his mind.
***
A boy—white-haired, bright emerald eyes twelve at most sitting on a hovercar beside a woman who looked almost like him, older, elegant, radiant.
".....and then he said I couldn't make the jump! But I did! You should've seen his face, Mother ."
"Really?" Clara Valecrest laughed, her voice warm. "You're getting reckless, Luci."
He grinned, proud. "Just like you."
The hovercar glided through the sky, sunlight dancing off its glass surface. Everything was peace, joy then.....
A sharp impact.
Metal screamed.
"Luci!" Clara yelled, grabbing him and leaping out as the vehicle crashed, exploding into flame behind them.
They landed hard on a hill, her body twisting mid-air to shield him. She gasped, but smiled weakly. "You okay?"
Lucien nodded, wide-eyed. "Mother… what—"
A soft chuckle echoed from the smoke.
"Aww," a voice cooed. "You ruined my shot again, Clara Valecrest."
They turned.
Rhazar stepped out from the smoke, childish and cruelly calm, eyes gleaming.
Clara rose, pushing Lucien behind her. "You're still after it, aren't you?"
Rhazar tilted his head. "The fragment belongs to me. You're just borrowing it."
"You'll never...." she began, but he moved first.
They clashed—light against decay , power rippling through the air. The ground cracked beneath their feet, trees bending, sky trembling.
Lucien hid behind a boulder, watching through tears. His mother's aura flared brilliantly, each strike filled with desperate precision. He knew his mother just became a transcendent yesterday and she was strong. But Rhazar… he was smiling. Effortless. Playing.
Then, with a sound like thunder, he struck her through the chest.
Lucien's scream never reached his lips.
His mother gasped, blood spilling from her mouth. In Rhazar's hand, something gleamed—a shard of light, pulsing weakly.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Rhazar whispered. "The fragment of the Architect".
Clara fell to her knees, holding his leg "Please… leave my son… he's just a boy…"
Rhazar's smile softened. "Oh, I will."
For a moment, she believed him.
Until he tightened his grip and crushed her bones one by one, slowly, methodically, like he was sculpting a masterpiece.
Her screams echoed across the hills.
Lucien covered his ears, sobbing.
Then the corruption came—black tendrils crawling across her skin, twisting her flesh, making her eyes flicker with madness. She turned, barely conscious, and looked at Lucien.
"Mother ?" he whimpered. "Stop please stop!"
She trembled, hand raised then stopped mid-motion. Tears streamed from her corrupted eyes as she forced herself to crawl away from him, leaving a trail of blood.
Rhazar watched, his smile fading. "Disgusting. Even now… you cling to that love fit your child "
His voice dropped, cold and empty. "Let's fix that."
Before Lucien could move, Rhazar reached out and with one fluid motion, ripped her head from her body.
Lucien's world shattered.
He could only stare as her body fell, and Rhazar turned to him, still smiling.
"See, little Valecrest?" Rhazar said softly. "Everything breaks eventually."
He laughed, the next thing Ian stormbinger came landing trying to attack but Rhazar was long gone .
The last thing Lucien saw was the head of his mother in the hands of a child.
****
Lucien was shaking.
Back in the present, his fists were clenched so tight his nails dug into his palms, blood dripping to the ground. His breathing was ragged, eyes wide with pain and rage.
He wanted to scream.
He wanted to kill.
But he couldn't—not yet. He was weak painfully so.
Beside him, Noah, his teammate, took a step forward, horrified. "We have to help them! Those students..."
Lucien grabbed him by the collar, his voice low and trembling.
"No."
"What?! He's slaughtering them....!!!!"
"Exactly." Lucien's eyes glimmered, dark with fury. "And we're not stopping him. We're escaping "
He dragged Noah backward, away from the screams, away from the spreading corruption. Every step burned like betrayal. The forest was chaos now students crying, begging, dissolving into dust as Rhazar walked through them humming softly.
Lucien didn't look back.
He couldn't.
If he did, he'd break.
Instead, he ran. Fast, precise, calculating even through the fury.
He pulled Noah along, forcing him toward a safer ridge. Other students shouted for help. Lucien ignored them directing them toward the east instead, toward Rhazar's path.
If anyone was going to stall the monster, it would be them.
He didn't care.
Not anymore.
Each scream behind him was another ember feeding the fire in his chest.
He didn't look back.
But his eyes—those eyes burned with one truth.
This wasn't just survival.
It was personal.
****
In the stadium, the world watched in silence.
The once-roaring crowd sat frozen.
Even the nobles, even the guards, couldn't tear their gaze from the slaughter on the screens.
Aria was trembling, tears streaking her cheeks. "That boy… that thing—"
Darius clenched his fists. "He's back, We have to get Lucien out if there ". He said almost screaming.
Ian's aura flared again, he took the form of full beast splitting the air above the stadium. "And this time," he growled, "he's not leaving alive." All the nobles has gathered to try and break the dome.
The black dome pulsed again, alive and malicious, sealing them all inside.
Inside it, a child's laughter echoed.
Rhazar smiled at the camera, eyes glinting.
"Let's play hide and seek valecrest".