Inside the Academy, the alarm sirens were drowned out by the collective screams of thousands of students. The ground beneath their feet was vibrating with the sheer intensity of the concentrated Solar Qi.
Director Vance stood on the highest balcony, his face pale as he looked at the sky. He was a Rank 6 (Domain Manifestation) master, but even he felt like an ant facing a forest fire.
"Activate the Aegis Shield! Now!" Vance roared, his voice amplified by his Qi.
He slammed his hands against the balcony railing, releasing his full power. A massive dome of translucent blue energy erupted, covering the academy buildings. This was his Domain—The Bastion of Iron. It was designed to withstand nuclear blasts, but against the Solar Flare Protocol, it was like paper in a furnace.
"Director! The satellites... they are locking in!" a professor screamed from the communications room. "This isn't an accident! It's an execution!"
Vance looked up as the sun seemed to descend. A pillar of pure, white-hot plasma, five hundred meters wide, tore through the atmosphere. When it hit the Aegis Shield, the sound was deafening—a screech of dying energy. Vance spat out a mouthful of blood, his skin beginning to blister from the radiant heat.
"I can't... hold it..." Vance gasped, his knees buckling. "Who would do this? Why?"
Just as the shield began to shatter into a million glowing shards, a sudden, unnatural silence fell over the area. The heat didn't vanish, but the sound of the destruction stopped.
High above the dying shield, a tiny, grey speck appeared in the center of the white-hot pillar.