The atmosphere changed instantly.
Even the battles raging across the academy seemed to pause briefly.
Because the things emerging from the spatial cracks—
Were not ordinary demonized awakeners.
Dark armored hands slowly gripped the edges of the tears in space before figures stepped out one after another.
Tall.
Humanoid.
Encased in black armor fused directly into their flesh. Crimson abyssal flames burned behind the slits of their helmets while corrupted energy leaked from their bodies continuously.
Each carried a different weapon.
A spear.
A greatsword.
Twin curved blades.
And every single one radiated terrifying pressure.
Third Tier Peak.
All of them.
The surrounding students instantly despaired.
"How many are there?!"
"We're finished…"
Even some lecturers had grim expressions now.
This was no ordinary attack anymore.
This was a planned extermination.
The horned commander spread his arms proudly beneath the darkened sky.
"These…" he declared,
"…are Abyss Knights."
Unlike the mindless demonized creatures below, the knights moved with terrifying discipline.
Cold.
Silent.
Professional killers.
Then one of them suddenly vanished.
BOOM!!!
A nearby lecturer was bisected before anyone reacted.
Screams erupted immediately afterward.
The horned commander laughed loudly at the chaos spreading through the academy.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
"This is the future of humanity."
Zael stared downward calmly.
Then—
Crack.
Black lightning flickered faintly around his body.
The horned commander noticed instantly.
"Oh?"
"You're angry now?"
Zael didn't answer.
Instead, black-and-silver energy exploded outward around him.
Blade Domain expanded instantly.
Except this was no longer the old Blade Domain.
The sky itself darkened unnaturally as enormous spectral swords began materializing one after another across the heavens.
Hundreds.
Then thousands.
The pressure alone caused many weaker demonized creatures to collapse.
Students stared upward with pale faces.
"What… is that…?"
Zael slowly raised one hand.
"World Severing Domain."
Then he brought it down.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The swords descended like divine judgment.
Entire sections of the battlefield vanished beneath the storm of blades.
Demonized awakeners were shredded instantly.
Buildings exploded apart.
Even several Abyss Knights were forced backward violently for the first time.
The academy shook continuously under the sheer scale of destruction.
Yet Zael wasn't done.
Void energy erupted around him immediately afterward.
"Void Collapse."
CRAAAAACK!!!
Space itself shattered above the battlefield before collapsing downward violently.
Several Abyss Knights were crushed instantly as distorted gravity folded the surrounding area inward.
Then came abyssal energy.
Darkness spread beneath Zael's feet before exploding outward like a tidal wave.
"Abyss Rend."
A massive black slash tore across the battlefield horizontally, splitting apart dozens of corrupted creatures and forcing even the horned commander to dodge backward.
The students below stared upward in stunned silence.
This no longer looked like student-level combat.
It resembled a battlefield between monsters.
The horned commander's grin slowly faded.
Because for the first time since arriving—
He realized something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Zael was overwhelming the battlefield almost by himself.
Then suddenly—
BOOM!!!
Zael appeared directly in front of the commander using Void Step.
The commander barely reacted before Zael's fist slammed into his face hard enough to distort the surrounding air.
The demonized awakener shot backward like a cannonball, smashing through several airborne abyssal formations.
Zael pursued immediately.
Fast.
Relentless.
Resonance Strike activated.
Each hit stacked more destructive force into the next.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOOOOOM!!!
By the fifth strike, the accumulated energy detonated violently and blasted the commander through half the academy skyline.
The horned commander finally stabilized himself midair afterward, breathing slightly heavier now.
Then slowly—
His smile disappeared completely.
Below, the hooded man watched everything unfold silently.
And for the first time since the invasion began—
Fear crept into his eyes beneath the hood.
Because the boy he came to kill—
Was far stronger than he imagined.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The battlefield had become completely unrecognizable.
Entire sections of AEGIS PRIME University were reduced to ruins.
Flames burned across shattered buildings while spatial tears continued vomiting corrupted creatures into the academy grounds.
Yet despite the chaos—
One thing had become painfully clear to everyone watching.
Zael was dominating the battlefield.
Students stared upward with expressions of disbelief and awe as black-and-silver energy erupted continuously across the sky.
Every movement he made distorted the battlefield itself.
Every attack erased hordes of enemies.
Even the terrifying Abyss Knights were being forced back repeatedly.
And the center of it all—
Was Zael.
The horned commander wiped blood from the corner of his mouth slowly while hovering in midair.
His crimson eyes no longer carried amusement.
Only caution.
"…What exactly are you?" he asked darkly.
Zael flexed his fingers slightly afterward while void energy swirled around him.
"Someone stronger than you."
BOOOOOOM!!!
The commander exploded forward again.
This time, corrupted energy erupted fully from his body as abyssal flames wrapped around his claws.
His speed doubled instantly.
No—tripled.
CRASH!
Zael blocked a claw strike with his blade armament, but the impact still blasted him backward through the air.
The commander pursued aggressively afterward.
Thousands of crimson claw projections filled the sky.
A Tier Four combat art.
"Demon God's Funeral!"
The barrage descended like a storm.
Zael's eyes sharpened.
"Phantom Split."
Two afterimages appeared instantly.
The claw storm tore through them—
Only for Zael himself to emerge above the commander using Void Step.
"NIGHT SEVER."
SHIIIIIIIING!!!
A gigantic void slash descended from the sky itself.
The commander's instincts screamed danger immediately.
He crossed both arms defensively—
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The attack crashed into him like a falling world.
Space ruptured violently around the impact zone while the commander was sent plummeting downward once again.
This time, however—
He caught himself mid-fall.
Then his body began changing.
Black corruption spread rapidly across his flesh while his horns elongated further. Crimson cracks appeared across his skin like molten lava beneath stone.
The pressure around him skyrocketed instantly.
Below, several demonized awakeners instinctively knelt.
The hooded man's expression changed slightly.
"He's… releasing more abyssal assimilation?"
The commander slowly raised his head afterward.
And smiled.
Except now the smile no longer looked human at all.
"Very good…"
His voice had deepened unnaturally.
"You've forced me this far."
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
A gigantic wave of corrupted energy erupted from his body.
The surrounding sky darkened completely.
Several weaker students fainted instantly from the pressure alone.
Even Lily grimaced slightly now.
"This thing…"
"…it's getting stronger."
Zael hovered silently in the air while observing the transformation.
Then suddenly—
[Ding!]
[Adaptive Evolution activated.]
[Analyzing abyssal corruption…]
[Resistance acquired: +15%]
Zael's eyes flickered faintly.
Interesting.
Meanwhile, the transformed commander raised one clawed hand slowly.
Then pointed directly at Zael.
"I changed my mind."
His grin widened monstrously afterward.
"I'm not killing you immediately anymore."
The surrounding abyssal energy condensed violently around him.
"I'm going to drag you back alive…"
"…and personally offer you to the Abyss."
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
He vanished.
This time—
Even Zael barely tracked the movement.
A claw tore toward his head instantly.
CRASH!!!
Zael blocked at the last second, but the sheer force still blasted him across the sky hard enough to rupture nearby space.
The commander appeared again immediately afterward.
Then again.
Then again.
Relentless.
The battle escalated instantly into something even more terrifying than before.
And below—
The hooded man quietly watched the fight while corrupted energy slowly gathered in his palms.
His gaze shifted briefly toward Lily.
Then toward the distracted Zael high above.
A hateful smile slowly appeared beneath the hood.
"…Perfect."