BOOM!!!
Zael kicked the dormitory door open and stepped outside alongside Lily.
The peaceful academy they remembered was gone.
Smoke rose from multiple sections of the campus while students fled in panic through shattered pathways. Screams echoed from every direction as corrupted creatures rampaged freely across the academy grounds.
Above them, emergency barriers flickered unstably.
They were failing.
A second-year student suddenly crashed through a nearby wall, blood covering his uniform. Before he could even stand, a demonized awakener lunged toward him from behind.
The creature's jaw split unnaturally wide while black spikes extended from its arms.
"DIE—!"
SHING.
A void slash flashed across the air.
The demonized awakener froze mid-lunge.
Then its body split cleanly into two halves.
Zael didn't even glance at the corpse as he walked forward.
[Ding!]
[Unit eliminated.]
[+1 Origin Point obtained.]
His eyes flickered faintly.
Origin Points.
The currency for his newly evolved Ascendant Echo.
Interesting.
Nearby students stared at him in shock.
"One attack…"
"He killed it instantly…"
"Who is that?!"
Lily herself moved immediately afterward.
A storm of ice spears condensed behind her before shooting forward violently.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Three demonized creatures attempting to climb a building were instantly impaled.
The surrounding students looked at the two of them like monsters.
And honestly—
They weren't wrong.
A loud roar suddenly shook the area.
Zael looked upward immediately.
A gigantic corrupted beast descended from above, crashing into the central plaza with enough force to shatter the ground.
The thing resembled a mutated ape covered in black crystalline armor. Crimson energy leaked continuously from cracks across its body.
Level 94.
Third Tier Peak.
Students nearby instantly despaired.
"That thing's a commander-class!"
"We're dead—!"
The beast roared again before slamming both fists downward.
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
An entire section of the plaza exploded apart.
Zael narrowed his eyes slightly.
Finally.
Something decent.
Without warning—
He vanished.
Void Step.
BOOM!
The ground exploded beneath Zael as he appeared directly in front of the monster mid-charge.
The corrupted beast barely had time to react before Zael grabbed its face with one hand.
Then—
SLAM!!!
The gigantic creature was smashed headfirst into the ground hard enough to create a massive crater.
Shockwaves spread across the academy plaza.
Everyone froze.
The corrupted beast screamed furiously and tried to rise—
But Zael's knee slammed downward instantly.
CRACK!!!
Its skull partially caved inward.
Still alive.
Durable.
Good.
Black and silver energy erupted around Zael afterward.
Blade Domain expanded.
Except—
This was no longer the old Blade Domain.
The space around him distorted violently as countless enormous spectral blades manifested across the sky like divine weapons descending from heaven.
The air itself screamed under the pressure.
Students nearby looked upward with pale faces.
"What… is that…?"
Zael calmly raised one hand.
Then lowered it.
"World Severing Domain."
The swords descended.
Thousands of them.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The academy plaza vanished beneath the storm of blades.
The corrupted commander-class beast didn't even have time to scream before it was annihilated completely.
Not killed.
Erased.
The resulting shockwave swept across several kilometers.
Even distant battles paused briefly.
Silence followed.
Then—
[Ding!]
[Commander-class enemy eliminated.]
[+1 Origin Point obtained.]
[Current Origin Points: 17]
Zael frowned slightly.
"…Only one?"
Nearby students almost coughed blood hearing that.
ONLY ONE??
That monster required academy lecturers to handle normally!
Yet Zael looked disappointed with the reward.
Lily stared at the destroyed plaza before slowly looking at him.
"…You know," she said carefully,
"At some point you stopped being normal entirely."
Zael thought about it seriously.
"…Probably."
Then suddenly—
A suffocating pressure descended across the academy.
Far stronger than before.
Zael's expression sharpened instantly.
High above the central tower—
The horned demonized awakener from earlier had appeared again.
Except now—
He was looking directly at Zael.
And smiling.
"Well now…"
The demonized commander's voice echoed darkly across the battlefield.
"So this academy actually has a monster hiding inside it."
The surrounding corrupted creatures suddenly began retreating instinctively.
Even they seemed afraid.
Then the horned commander slowly descended from the sky.
Each step cracked the air itself.
Tier Four.
A genuine one.
And unlike ordinary Tier Fours—
This thing radiated overwhelming bloodlust and battlefield experience.
Its crimson eyes locked onto Zael completely afterward.
Then it smiled wider.
"You'll make an excellent sacrifice."
The pressure alone made nearby students collapse to their knees.
Even Lily's expression became serious.
A genuine Tier Four existence was not something lower-level awakeners were supposed to face directly.
Especially not a demonized one.
Yet just as the atmosphere became unbearably tense—
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
A massive explosion erupted from the northern sector of the academy.
A pillar of golden fire shot into the sky before colliding violently against another wave of corrupted energy.
The resulting shockwave shook the entire university grounds.
The horned commander's smile faded slightly.
Then another aura erupted.
This one colder.
Sharper.
A gigantic ice formation rose into the air several kilometers away, instantly freezing dozens of demonized awakeners solid.
And it didn't stop there.
One after another—
Powerful auras exploded throughout the battlefield.
Tier Four.
Tier Five.
Even higher.
The academy authorities were finally making their moves.
But strangely enough—
None of them came toward the central battlefield.
Instead, every powerful aura seemed occupied elsewhere.
As though something—or someone—was deliberately keeping them busy.
High above the academy, spatial cracks suddenly opened.
From within them emerged several more demonized figures.
Unlike the mindless creatures below, these ones radiated intelligence and terrifying power.
One of them wielded chains made of abyssal lightning.
Another had six black wings extending from its back.
A third carried an enormous crimson coffin over one shoulder while laughing maniacally.
Each one intercepted a powerful academy authority directly.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The sky itself seemed to split apart as monstrous battles erupted overhead.
Students stared upward in horror.
"This…"
"What kind of invasion is this?!"
"They planned this…"
And they were right.
This wasn't random chaos.
It was coordinated.
Meticulous.
The academy's strongest figures had been accounted for from the very beginning.
Every major authority was currently being held at bay by an equally terrifying opponent.
Meaning one thing—
The invaders came prepared.
Very prepared.
Zael observed the battlefield quietly.
Then his eyes narrowed slightly.
Interesting.
So he wasn't the only variable here after all.
The horned commander noticed the shift in Zael's expression and laughed darkly.
"You understand now, don't you?"
His voice rumbled like thunder.
"This academy was already doomed before the attack even began."
BOOM!!!
A distant building exploded apart as two high-level awakeners clashed violently overhead.
Meanwhile, more demonized creatures continued pouring into the campus through unstable spatial tears.
The situation was escalating rapidly.
Then suddenly—
A familiar voice echoed across the academy communication system.
Cold.
Calm.
Authoritative.
"All students below Second Tier immediately evacuate toward Shelter Zones B and C."
"Second and Third Tier students are authorized for emergency combat deployment."
"Do not engage commander-class enemies."
A brief pause followed.
Then the voice became noticeably heavier.
"…Survive until reinforcements arrive."
The transmission cut off immediately afterward.
Lily grimaced slightly.
"That's not exactly reassuring."
Zael, however, remained focused on the horned commander standing above the shattered plaza.
Because unlike everyone else panicking around him—
He noticed something.
The commander hadn't attacked yet.
Not seriously anyway.
He was observing.
Studying him.
Almost as though—
He specifically came for Zael.
And judging by the amused look in the creature's eyes—
The feeling was mutual.