The Endbringer did not awaken.
Yet.
Aerion stood before the sealed altar long after Headmistress Myrienne had left. The cracked chains still glowed faintly, trembling as if struggling to decide whether to exist or break apart entirely.
The weapon that killed gods.
The words echoed in his mind.
Aerion clenched his fists. "Then it stays sealed."
The infinity mark pulsed once—soft, almost approving.
He turned away before the weapon could tempt him further.
By morning, the Academy buzzed with tension.
The duel had spread like wildfire. Stories twisted with every retelling—some said Aerion erased magic itself, others whispered he bent reality with a glance.
Aerion kept his head down.
He had learned something important last night.
Power did not need witnesses.
In the eastern lecture hall, a group of unfamiliar students waited.
They weren't first-years.
They weren't instructors either.
Their uniforms bore no Academy crest—only a small sigil stitched in black thread: an eye crossed by a broken circle.
Lyria leaned closer and whispered, "Who are they?"
Aerion's instincts screamed.
Observers.
Before he could answer, one of them stepped forward.
He was tall, dark-haired, with calm gray eyes that felt unnervingly sharp.
"Cadet Aerion Valenfall," he said politely. "My name is Seris Kain."
Another figure followed—shorter, hooded, with golden eyes that glimmered like a predator's. She smiled lazily.
"And I'm Nyxa. Don't worry, we're not here to kill you."
That didn't help.
A third remained behind them, silent. A girl with white-blond hair and mechanical markings along her neck and wrists. Her gaze flickered over Aerion as if analyzing data.
"…Unit designation Elowen," she said after a pause. "Observation ongoing."
Aerion straightened. "Who sent you?"
Seris smiled faintly. "The Continuum Watch."
The name hit like a chill.
Even Lyria had heard of them.
"They're a myth," she said. "A secret order that monitors threats beyond kingdoms."
Nyxa shrugged. "Myths are just secrets with good PR."
Seris folded his hands. "We monitor anomalies. Paradoxes. Things that… shouldn't exist."
His gaze sharpened.
"Like you."
They met in a sealed discussion chamber, runes humming softly along the walls.
Myrienne was absent.
Deliberately.
Seris spoke first. "We've been watching the Academy for years. Waiting."
Aerion didn't sit. "Waiting for what?"
"For infinity to blink," Nyxa said cheerfully.
Elowen tilted her head. "It blinked three nights ago."
Silence fell.
Seris continued calmly. "You nullified a high-tier spell without mana backlash. That alone puts you beyond standard classification."
Aerion crossed his arms. "So what do you want?"
Nyxa grinned. "To make sure you don't accidentally end reality."
"That's reassuring," Lyria muttered.
Seris's tone softened slightly. "Your parents are uninvolved. Civilian nobility. We have no intention of alerting them."
Aerion's jaw tightened. "Good."
Seris noticed.
"Attachment acknowledged," Elowen said quietly. "Risk factor contained."
Aerion didn't like that phrasing.
Nyxa leaned forward. "Relax, pretty boy. We're not your enemies."
"Then what are you?" Aerion asked.
Seris met his eyes. "Your shadow."
Over the following days, Aerion noticed them everywhere.
Seris observing lectures.
Nyxa lounging on rooftops.
Elowen standing silently near mana arrays.
They never interfered.
They only watched.
And that frightened him more than direct threats.
One evening, as Aerion trained alone in the lower courtyard, Nyxa appeared beside him without warning.
"Your control is sloppy," she said.
Aerion nearly jumped. "Don't do that."
She laughed. "You erase spells but can't sense killing intent behind you. Cute."
Aerion resumed training. "You here to lecture me?"
"Nope." She tossed him a dagger.
He caught it reflexively.
It wasn't enchanted.
Just steel.
"Try fighting without power," Nyxa said. "If you rely on infinity, it'll rely back."
Aerion frowned. "That doesn't make sense."
She smiled thinly. "Exactly."
From the shadows, Seris watched silently.
Elowen spoke beside him. "Probability of future divergence increasing."
Seris nodded. "Good. That means he's choosing."
That night, Aerion dreamed again.
But this time—
He wasn't alone.
He stood in a void of fractured stars. Across from him stood the silver-haired woman from his memories.
She looked at him sadly.
"You were always too kind," she said.
"Who are you?" Aerion asked.
She stepped closer.
"Someone you failed to save."
The void cracked.
Aerion woke with a sharp breath.
The infinity mark burned painfully.
On his desk lay something new.
A black coin.
Engraved with a broken circle.
Nyxa's voice echoed faintly in his mind.
When the Watch stops watching… it means someone else has started.
Aerion closed his fist around the coin.
Far beyond the Academy—
In a place without time—
A throne creaked.
Something ancient shifted its gaze.
And for the first time since his rebirth—
Infinity smiled.