Ardent District did not wake up that day.
It snapped.
The morning bells never finished their third toll.
A distant explosion rolled through the eastern ward before sunrise, followed by a second that shattered glass across Scholar's Row. Rune lanterns flickered violently, then died mid-air as if something had bitten through the city's mana circulation itself.
By the time Jeather returned through the gate, smoke was already rising in layered columns.
Something was wrong.
Not "minor incident" wrong.
Not "Silver-tier breach" wrong.
This was structural.
Jeather stood at the entrance for half a second longer than usual.
Then he stepped inside anyway.
"…I leave for a few days," he muttered, "and the city decides to self-destruct."
Velkaria stood beside him, already scanning the horizon. Her ivory armor reflected distant firelight. Astrael's form sharpened behind Jeather, emerald aura tightening like a drawn breath.
"My Lord," Velkaria said quietly, "this is coordinated."
Jeather didn't answer immediately.
Because he could already hear it.
Screaming.
Metal collapsing.
Beast roars layered over human panic.
And something deeper underneath—
Mana pressure.
Multiple signatures.
Some Silver.
Some higher.
He exhaled slowly.
"Yeah," he said. "No kidding."
He didn't go home first.
He went straight to the card shop.
The bell above the door chimed like nothing outside was happening.
Old Man Ruther looked up from behind the counter.
Paused.
Then blinked.
"You smell like disaster," the merchant said.
"I've been productive," Jeather replied, placing his satchel on the counter.
Ruther opened it.
Silence stretched.
Card after card.
Bronze-tier stacks.
Silver-tier seals.
Stable.
Clean.
Dense with mana.
The merchant slowly lifted one Silver card.
Then another.
Then exhaled sharply.
"…You did not do this alone."
Jeather nodded. "Correct."
Ruther looked past him briefly—toward Velkaria and the faint emerald aura behind Jeather.
"…I see."
He began counting.
Hours passed in minutes.
By the end, the counter was stacked with sealed beasts like a small mountain of condensed violence.
Ruther finally leaned back.
"Seven hundred thousand coins."
Jeather blinked.
"…That many?"
"You brought me a battlefield's worth of Silver-tier captures," Ruther replied flatly. "You were expecting what, pocket change?"
Jeather thought for a moment.
"Yes."
Ruther sighed and pushed a heavy coin pouch forward.
It hit the counter with a satisfying, expensive sound.
Jeather picked it up.
Weighed it.
Smiled faintly.
"Rent paid for… emotionally several lifetimes."
Velkaria tilted her head. "Wealth accumulation confirmed."
Astrael murmured, almost amused. "Your priorities remain consistent."
Jeather shrugged. "Money is just future survival tokens."
He paused.
Then added, "Also snacks."
Before leaving, Jeather's eyes drifted toward a small glass display case near the back of the shop.
Inside was a ring.
Simple silver band.
Faint spatial distortion shimmered around it like heat haze.
Ruther noticed his gaze.
"That is a storage ring," the merchant said.
Jeather leaned in. "How big?"
"Two cubic meters internal space."
Jeather stared.
"…That's it?"
Ruther shrugged. "For independent hunters, that's already mid-tier."
Jeather thought about dragging multiple beast corpses through forest terrain.
Then nodded immediately.
"I'll take it."
Ruther blinked again. "No negotiation?"
"I just sold enough beasts to fund a small war,"
Jeather said. "I am not emotionally prepared to haggle about furniture storage."
The ring was placed on his finger.
The space inside his perception shifted instantly.
A hollow pocket.
Clean.
Stable.
He tested it.
A Bronze card disappeared.
Reappeared.
He nodded approvingly.
"Good. I now have invisible pockets."
Astrael added quietly, "You are becoming more dangerous."
"Thanks," Jeather said. "I think."
Jeather didn't leave immediately.
He moved through nearby stalls.
He bought sealing card stock.
Mana stabilizers.
Basic healing salves.
Compressed rations.
A cheap cloak that "looked less like someone who walks into disasters professionally."
Velkaria observed silently.
"My Lord prepares for extended engagement," she noted.
Jeather nodded. "City feels like it's about to throw hands."
Astrael's gaze lingered toward the district.
"It already has."
Jeather exhaled.
"…Yeah. That too."
It started with silence.
A strange, unnatural pause in sound.
Then—
A bell tower exploded.
Not collapsed.
Exploded.
Stone fragments scattered through the air like shrapnel.
A shockwave rolled across Ardent District.
Then—
Beasts appeared.
Not summoned normally.
Not contracted.
Dropped.
Like something had torn open space and spilled them into reality.
Bronze-tier Horned Crushers crushed market stalls.
Silver-tier Ravine Reapers tore through patrol formations.
A massive Thorned Basilisk emerged near the eastern ward, its eyes glowing sickly green.
People ran.
Soldiers screamed orders that were already too late.
Fire erupted across rooftops.
Jeather stood still for a moment.
Just watching.
Velkaria's hand moved to her blade.
Astrael's aura expanded slightly.
But Jeather didn't move yet.
Because something else was happening.
Inside him.
A crack.
A memory.
The Flashback That Didn't Ask Permission
Rain.
High above a city skyline.
Twentieth floor balcony.
Wind too strong.
A girl crying.
"No one cares! No one will care!"
Jeather—not this Jeather—grabbing her wrist.
"Don't be stupid—get inside!"
She shoved him.
Not violently.
Just enough.
But the railing—
Weak.
His grip slipped.
Her hand slipped.
And gravity finished the rest.
Screaming wind.
Falling.
Falling.
Falling—
Then impact that never became memory
.
The Rage.
Jeather staggered.
The present blurred.
The district burned around him but he didn't see it.
He saw betrayal.
Failure.
Helplessness.
And something else—
Anger that didn't belong fully to him.
A voice inside his skull:
They deserve it.
All of them.
Destroy it all.
His breath hitched.
Mana spiked violently.
Astrael's aura flickered.
Velkaria turned sharply.
"My Lord—"
Jeather's hand clenched.
The ground beneath him cracked slightly.
His eyes darkened.
Something inside him wanted annihilation.
Not survival.
Not control.
Humiliation. Revenge. Collapse of everything.
Then—
Astrael's presence pressed into him.
Not forcefully.
Anchoring.
Velkaria stepped forward, voice sharper now.
"My Lord. You are destabilizing."
Another pressure—
Not external.
Internal.
A calm tether.
Jeather gasped.
The rage hit its peak—
And snapped.
The Snap Back
Jeather inhaled sharply.
Then exhaled.
Long.
Slow.
Like someone waking up from falling.
"…What the hell was that?"
He blinked.
Looked around.
City burning.
Beasts rampaging.
Soldiers screaming.
And him—
Standing there like he was about to start a personal apocalypse.
He rubbed his face.
"…Okay. That was dramatic."
Velkaria relaxed slightly. "You nearly lost control."
Astrael's voice was calm but firm. "Fragmented memory resonance. Emotional override detected."
Jeather blinked again.
Then pointed at the burning street.
"Cool. Love that for me."
He sighed.
"I almost became a villain for five seconds."
Astrael responded dryly. "Four and a half."
Jeather nodded. "Good correction. Precision matters."
Velkaria stared at him.
"…You are unusual."
"Thank you."
"That was not a compliment."
"Still counts emotionally."
Then He Started Thinking Properly
Jeather scanned the battlefield.
No panic.
Now calculation.
Bronze beasts: easy seals.
Silver beasts: profit.
Higher-tier beasts: unknown value.
Soldiers: distractions.
Loot: irrelevant… maybe.
People screaming: background noise.
He tapped his chin.
"So," he muttered. "Option A: save people.
Option B: seal beasts. Option C: profit."
He paused.
Then smiled faintly.
"…Why not all three?"
Astrael sighed. "Predictable outcome."
Velkaria drew her blade. "Orders?"
Jeather cracked his neck.
"I collect."
Then he stepped forward.
The Hunt Inside the Collapse
A Silver-tier Ravine Reaper lunged at fleeing civilians.
Velkaria intercepted instantly.
Steel clashed.
Jeather appeared beside it mid-strike.
Mana surged through his arm.
He struck.
Not flashy.
Compressed.
Controlled.
The Reaper staggered.
Velkaria finished it.
Seal.
A Bronze Horned Crusher crashed through a building.
Jeather sighed.
"Rude."
Astrael rooted it in place.
Seal.
A rare beast emerged next—
A Silver-tier Ember Wyrm, flying low through smoke-filled streets, igniting rooftops as it passed.
Jeather stared up at it.
"…Okay that one's kind of cool."
Velkaria: "Target?"
Jeather: "Absolutely."
Astrael: "Confirmed?"
Jeather: "Collector instincts are screaming."
They engaged.
The Wyrm fell within minutes.
Seal.
Jeather exhaled.
"This is like shopping during a discount apocalypse."
Velkaria blinked. "…That analogy is concerning."
And Somewhere Else in the Chaos
Baron Cedric Vaelthorn stood amid collapsing district walls, shouting orders.
Headmaster Alaric Viremont's barrier arrays flickered violently as he reinforced defensive zones.
Jefferson cut down a Silver beast with precise fury, eyes burning.
Precious moved through civilians, stabilizing mana flows with grim focus.
None of them yet understood the scale.
But they were beginning to.
Because the beasts weren't random.
They were coordinated.
Directed.
And somewhere beneath Ardent District—
Something was still opening.
Jeather sealed another Bronze beast and exhaled.
He looked at the burning district.
Then at Velkaria.
Then Astrael.
"…You know what?"
Velkaria: "Yes, my Lord?"
Jeather smiled faintly.
"I think I found a new hobby."
Astrael: "Killing beasts?"
Jeather: "Collecting them during societal collapse."
Velkaria: "That is not a hobby."
Jeather: "It is now."
He cracked his knuckles.
"And honestly?"
He glanced at the chaos.
"I'm kind of getting good at this.".