When the buzzer sounded, the cheers never came.
Instead, the field fell into an eerie quiet, the kind that follows tragedy.
Within minutes, members of the Adventurer's Association descended from the airships. Their uniforms, a sea of black and silver, cut through the smoke as they began their search and rescue.
They found the wounded first. Then, the bodies.
And finally, the masked men.
One by one, the invaders were restrained and stripped of their weapons. It became clear almost immediately that they were not part of the exam at all. They had infiltrated it.
The discovery sent tremors through the staff.
Security officers were found dead not far from the impact sites, their bodies still smoking from energy burns. Two of the masked men had been obliterated by Tori Reglard's mana beam. Their remains were little more than scorched ash fused into the rock.
The survivors were taken for questioning.
When their masks were removed, the interrogators froze. Every face was the same. Blue hair. Blue eyes. A cold emptiness behind their irises, as if they were puppets of something unseen.
Further testing confirmed the suspicion. They had been molded under the influence of an Authority.
Something ancient and deliberate.
***
By the time the dust settled, the results of the Final Exam were posted.
1st: The Phoenixes
2nd: Sonjuro
3rd: Eluetheria
The celebration was muted.
Sonjuro was penalized by the Association for reckless combat, suspended indefinitely from operating as a solo adventurer.
Tori Reglard was placed under strict observation for the unidentified ability he had manifested during the exam, the beam that had torn through the mountain itself.
Zane, the B-Rank examiner, was stripped of his rank in the association and suspended for negligence. His carelessness had allowed the infiltration to happen in the first place.
***
"Hey… hey, you're finally waking up, huh?"
A voice broke through the haze.
Tori blinked slowly, the light burning his eyes. Above him, his brother's face came into view, weary but smiling faintly. Beatrice rested on Sunless's shoulder, her ears twitching with concern.
Tori tried to rise, but the motion sent pain through his ribs. He looked around in confusion, the sterile white of the infirmary filling his vision. His hand was bandaged. His body felt drained, hollow.
"What happened?" he asked, his voice hoarse.
Sunless said nothing at first. He reached into his pocket and produced a small, gleaming card.
Tori's eyes widened.
It was his Adventurer's License.
For a moment, the exhaustion vanished. His expression shifted from blank disbelief to radiant joy. He snatched the card from Sunless's hand like a starving man clutching bread.
"Ha… haha! We did it! I mean, we actually did it!"
Sunless allowed himself a small smile. Then it faded.
"But not without cost," he said quietly. "The exam was infiltrated, and Mica suffered for it. She was protecting you."
Tori's grin faltered.
He turned his head and saw her.
Mica lay in the bed beside him, motionless. Her skin was pale, her breathing shallow. One sleeve was empty. Her arm was gone.
The room grew cold.
Tori rose slowly, every movement mechanical. His eyes did not change, but something behind them broke.
"How did this happen?" he whispered.
Sunless's gaze dropped. "A high-level technique was used. It did not just sever her arm. It destroyed it from within. Every cell, every organelle. Frozen and killed from the inside out."
He paused, voice tight.
"But that is not all."
Tori did not look up. He simply stared at Mica's face, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek with trembling fingers.
Sunless's tone darkened. "After surgery, the medics found something else. A mark. When they examined it, they discovered it was a curse. It traps her consciousness. Her body is here, but her mind is not."
He swallowed hard. "She cannot wake up, Tori. She is gone."
For a long moment, the room was silent.
Then the quiet broke with a small, ragged sound. A sob.
Tori buried his face in his hands.
Sunless let him cry. There was no comfort to offer, only truth.
In this world, every choice had a price. Perhaps, he thought, this pain would forge something stronger in his brother.
After a while, Sunless stepped out into the hall.
Isaac and Sylph were waiting there. Isaac's arm was in a sling, his face pale from the strain. "Crushed under the rubble," the healers had said. With enough recovery magic, he might regain full function if he endured the pain.
The three of them went to the café down the hall to speak privately, leaving Tori alone.
***
Inside the infirmary, Tori sat by Mica's side.
His hand trembled as he reached for hers.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, his voice breaking. "It's all my fault. If I wasn't so weak, none of this would've happened."
The air shifted.
The light dimmed slightly.
Then, the whisper came, that same invisible chorus only he could hear.
[ The Primordial Observers pity you. ]
[ Some Primordial Observers laugh at your weakness. ]
Tori's head snapped up. His eyes glowed faintly, rage flickering within them.
"Shut up," he hissed through his teeth.
Another message appeared, colder than the rest.
[ The Evil Witch of Calamity advises you to restrain your malice. ]
At that moment, Mica's eyes opened.
A beam of light shot from them, flooding the room. The walls cracked, windows shattered, and the explosion of energy threw Tori back across the floor.
When the dust cleared, the room was unrecognizable. Half of it was torn apart, glowing faintly with residual mana.
And there she stood.
Mica, or something that wore her face.
Her grin was sharp, cruel, utterly foreign.
"Ah… I'm glad you were the one here when the connection was made," she said, eyes narrowing with amused disdain.
Tori staggered to his feet, heart pounding.
[ The Primordial Observer, The Witch of Calamity, says: How dare you interrupt me. ]
[ Multiple Primordial Observers fix their gaze upon the lesser entity 'Mica?' ]
The girl tilted her head, as though listening to unseen voices. Then she smiled.
"Hello, Tori. And to the Observers who watch through him," she said calmly.
"My name is Roxius Saint."