The Chamber Below the Shrine
The Crimson Class stood at the edge of the darkness, staring into a room that wasn't meant to exist.
The walls were lined with flickering monitors. Thick cables pulsed with red light. At the center: a cracked stasis pod. Inside it… floated something they'd hoped was just a rumor.
White hair. Calm, dead eyes. A suspended blade beside him, identical to Leo's.
"…A clone," Ard confirmed grimly. "But not a copy. A weapon."
The pod hissed. The fluid drained.
> PROJECT SHADOW-KING
> SOURCE: LEO (DNA)
> POWER LIMITER: 5%
> STATUS: ENGAGED
The clone stepped forward. His body moved like someone in a trance—precise, fluid, terrifyingly calm.
> "Crimson Class identified.
> Commencing purge."
The next second—the world broke apart.
--
A shockwave tore the ground beneath them as the clone vanished.
*BOOM!*
Kira's instinct screamed. He barely turned in time to parry a blow that should've taken off his head.
*CLANG—SSK!*
Sparks rained from their blades. He flipped backward, skidding.
Chris shot in next—sword forward. Their blades met mid-air in a sonic clash. The pressure cracked the reinforced walls.
The clone dropped low and swept. Chris barely jumped. The floor behind him was vaporized by the arc of the clone's sword.
Raya threw fire spheres to force space between them. The clone raised a hand—and redirected the flames like paper.
"Did he just bend her attack?" Sage blinked.
"He's learning," Ard muttered.
Raya screamed as a redirected blast exploded beside her, sending her flying. Chris caught her midair and rolled, protecting her body.
"I'm okay!" she coughed.
Not even a second to rest. The clone blurred and appeared behind Sennya. His hand reached out, a glowing blade ready to pierce her neck.
*SHHHK—!*
Dawson intercepted with his gauntlet, energy rippling up his arm. He groaned as his elbow cracked from the impact.
"MOVE!" he shouted.
They split again. The clone didn't chase.
He stood still.
Analyzing.
Predicting.
---
Kira zipped around the edge of the chamber. "I'll distract!"
He flashed in—vanishing, reappearing, striking at unpredictable angles. The clone parried each strike with casual grace, blade sweeping like a conductor's baton.
Chris charged alongside him, low and fast. He slashed once—twice—ducked—and then feinted, pivoting behind.
But the clone mirrored him perfectly.
Their blades locked—and for a split second, it was like looking in a broken mirror. Chris grunted and pushed, but the clone barely reacted.
He tilted his head.
"Predictable."
Then kicked Chris straight through a wall.
"CHRIS!" Raya cried out.
Lina rushed forward, drawing light-infused daggers and activating support glyphs. She moved in sync with Kira—left strike, parry, shadow dash, high kick.
They tried to flank.
The clone jumped—*landed between them*—and unleashed a pulse that shattered both weapons instantly.
They flew apart like dolls.
"I can't even see his blade," Lina muttered.
---
The class was scattered. Injured. Breathing hard.
"He's not just copying us," Sage realized. "He's… remembering Leo's instincts."
"And adapting to ours as well," Kira added, bruised but standing. "We're out of time."
Chris wiped blood from his chin. "Then we finish it."
He looked to Ard. "Ready?"
Ard stood alone in the shadows, his hands trembling from maintaining a complex glyph circle beneath his feet.
"Just do it quickly," Ard said. "I can't hold the suppression much longer."
"What suppression?" Lina asked.
Ard's head lifted.
"I've been preventing him… from accessing the rest of his abilities."
Everyone froze.
"You're what?!"
"I've been bending distortion fields over his magic systems this whole time. It's why he's still stuck at 5%. If I stop…"
"He becomes Leo," Chris finished.
Kira looked at the clone again.
"I'm not sure that's the case" Kira said. He continued pointing to it. "Look at it well, it's like it can't use more than the 5%....That means u are stopping him from using any skills right".
Ard didn't respond.
Then, he collapsed to one knee. The glyphs around him flickered—unstable.
---
Chris turned to his team.
"This is our last shot. We combine everything—channel through me. Every single one of you."
They nodded—no hesitation.
Chris stepped into the center of their formation.
Raya ignited her flame aura. Kira spun his blades, activating shadow slip. Lina fused light and healing, forming radiant daggers. Sage condensed water into a spear of pressurized energy. Sennya's blood sigils burned into the air. Dawson punched his fists together—raw momentum building in his arms. Dice flipped a glowing Joker card—fate itself warping.
The eight of them merged their power.
The ground cracked. The air screamed. Chris floated, his body a glowing vessel of their combined will.
"CRIMSON FORMATION: UNITY LAMENT!"
He launched forward like a comet.
The clone blinked.
DODGED.
Chris's blade missed—by a breath.
The air warped. Their ultimate move failed.
Failed.
The shock hit harder than the battle.
Kira's eyes widened. "He's too fast…"
Ard screamed from the back.
His glyphs shattered.
The clone twitched.
His aura exploded.
> LIMITER DISABLED
> SYSTEM OVERLOAD IN PROGRESS
Red lightning danced across his skin. The strain of adaptation, suppression, extended battle, and complete synchronization had triggered something far more dangerous:
Collapse.
---
The clone swung blindly—power surging wildly from his body. The chamber began to tear itself apart from the pressure.
He locked eyes on Chris.
Chris clenched his fists. "Then I'll finish this myself."
Raya grabbed his arm. "No… You're still hurt—"
"I'm the only one who can stand."
Wind gathered around him.
His feet left the ground. Flames burst from his chest like a dying star being reborn.
"Let the flames remember—who I am."
IGNIS MODE: TRUE FORM – SOL ARCANUM
Everything stopped.
The heat silenced the storm. The clone faltered—instinct recognizing something far older, far more dangerous than what he had felt ever since his creation.
The clone launched forward, instinct overriding logic.
He slashed—Chris didn't dodge.
He caught the blade…..and melted it in his hand
Chris raised his sword—flaming, ancient, alive.
He then whispered.
"Ignis Art: Ash Eclipse."
He disappeared and reappeared behind the clone, blade glowing dimly.
No visible strike. Just silence.
Then
BOOM.
Light and fire consumed the clone. Not in pain. Not in defeat.
In finality.
As if the world was rejecting him.
He whispered one last time
> "He… is still alive…Watching you…"
Then vanished.
---
Night fell.
The academy was silent.
Kira sat alone on the rooftop, moonlight casting shadows across his face. He still had dried blood on his shirt.
He didn't look up when Lina joined him.
She sat down beside him without a word.
They watched the sky.
"5%," he finally said. "That's all it was. And we nearly died."
She didn't argue.
"I thought I was stronger than this," he continued. "Fast enough. Smart enough. But I couldn't even slow him down."
"You did," she said gently. "You helped us buy seconds. Sometimes, seconds are everything."
He shook his head. "That's not good enough."
She hesitated.
Then—softly—she leaned her head on his shoulder.
"Then let's get better."
Kira blinked. "You're not gonna tell me I did great?"
"Nope."
"Not even a little impressed?"
She smiled. "Ask me again when you can land a hit on me."
He chuckled. "Deal."
They sat in silence again, shoulder to shoulder, beneath the stars.