The night fell silent over Valtherion Academy. Only the humming of mana reactors echoed faintly through the corridors.
"Something's off tonight," murmured Ariane, clutching her staff as the lights flickered.
Beside her, Kael adjusted his gauntlet, the blue rune pulsing weakly. "It's the same feeling from the ruins. That... pulse."
A sudden tremor shook the floor. Dust rained down from the old ceiling, and the sigils along the hallway flared to life.
"Warning—unauthorized mana surge detected."
The mechanical voice of the academy's system echoed.
A dark mist seeped out from the cracks of the floor, twisting into shapes — shadowed humanoid figures, whispering in an ancient tongue.
Ariane's eyes widened. "Those are… remnants of the Promethean War?"
Kael gritted his teeth. "No time to ask. Just move!"
He charged forward, his gauntlet igniting with azure light. One strike shattered a shadow into shards of energy, but two more lunged out of the mist.
Ariane spun her staff, firing a stream of silver flames. The air hissed with energy.
When the smoke cleared, the hallway was scorched — and at the far end stood a figure cloaked in black, holding a fractured emblem glowing faintly red.
"You shouldn't have come back to Valtherion, Kael."
The voice was cold. Familiar.
Kael froze, eyes widening. "...Rhea?"
Before he could step forward, the shadow swallowed her form and vanished, leaving only a single word burned into the wall—
'Genesis.'