Ardent District was no longer a city.
It was a battlefield.
Smoke rolled through broken streets. Rune lanterns shattered. Blood mixed with rainwater in the gutters. Soldiers shouted commands that were swallowed by beast roars.
And above it all—
A mana distortion pulsed in intervals.
Controlled.
Intentional.
Not chaos.
A siege.
The Pattern
Jeather stood atop a collapsed merchant stall, eyes scanning the battlefield.
Velkaria's silver armor gleamed beside him, blade resting against her shoulder. Astrael's towering demonic form loomed at his back, branches twisting like living spears.
Another Bronze beast lunged.
Jeather didn't move.
"Bind."
Astrael's roots erupted from the cobblestone, impaling the creature mid-air.
Jeather pressed a card against its chest.
"Seal."
Light compressed. Another card added to his storage ring.
He didn't even look satisfied anymore.
He was observing.
Tracking.
Counting.
"These beasts…" he muttered.
Velkaria tilted her helm slightly. "They do not behave as wild creatures, my Lord."
She was right.
They weren't fighting randomly.
They were spreading in clusters.
Strategic clusters.
Each cluster centered around a faint mana pulse buried beneath the streets.
Anchors.
Someone was summoning and directing them.
Astrael's deep voice echoed in Jeather's mind.
"This is orchestration."
Jeather narrowed his eyes.
"Summon anchors?"
"Yes."
Astrael's aura darkened.
"These beasts were displaced. Forced."
Jeather exhaled slowly.
"So this isn't a migration."
No.
This was deployment.
Meanwhile — Jefferson
Across the city near the Academy's west gate, Jefferson Vale stood before something that made even him hesitate.
A Platinum-ranked Abyssal Warbear.
Its body was massive, plated in black crystal fur. Each step cracked stone. Its breath alone warped mana currents.
Jefferson's usually calm expression flickered.
This was beyond controlled training.
His contracted elemental beasts spiraled around him—flame hawk, thunder stag, ice serpent—all high Silver.
But Platinum?
He had never fought one alone.
The Warbear roared.
Jefferson raised his hand.
"Tri-Phase Convergence."
Lightning, frost, and flame fused into a spiraling strike that slammed into the beast's shoulder.
It staggered.
But did not fall.
For the first time in years—
Jefferson felt pressure.
Real pressure.
And then—
Through the smoke, he saw something.
Green roots tearing through streets.
Bronze and Silver beasts being sealed rapidly.
Not slain.
Sealed.
His eyes narrowed.
Jeather.
That "cardless failure."
Wasn't panicking.
Wasn't retreating.
He was farming the battlefield.
Jefferson's jaw tightened.
For the first time—
He wondered if Jeather was no longer behind him.
But ahead.
Under the City
Beneath Ardent District, far below the Academy's foundations—
A sealed chamber trembled.
Baron Cedric Vaelthorn stood before an ancient vault door carved with root-like sigils.
Beside him stood Headmaster Alaric Thornvale.
Alaric's angelic frog hovered silently near his shoulder, radiant and calm.
The Baron spoke low.
"They're not attacking the walls."
"No," Alaric replied.
"They're testing the city's mana field."
The ground trembled again.
Something beneath the vault responded.
The frog's divine aura pulsed gently.
Alaric's expression darkened.
"If the Root Core Fragment awakens… this district will not survive."
Jeather — The Slip
Another wave of beasts surged.
Jeather stepped forward calmly.
But then—
A flash.
Rain.
Concrete.
A teenage girl crying on a 20th-floor balcony.
His old hands gripping hers.
"Don't jump."
Her weight shifting.
A misstep.
The rail giving way.
The feeling of falling.
Wind screaming past his ears.
Darkness.
His breath hitched.
A Bronze beast lunged—
Velkaria intercepted instantly.
"My Lord!"
Jeather staggered.
Another memory overlapped.
An underground fight ring.
Blood on canvas.
Cheers.
Then—
A church.
Candles.
Confession booth.
Trying to atone.
Trying to change.
Trying to save someone.
"I died," he whispered.
Astrael's voice cut through sharply.
"Focus."
The battlefield blurred.
For a second—
Jeather felt rage swell violently.
Not just at Jefferson.
Not just at betrayal.
At fate itself.
He almost let it explode.
Astrael's roots wrapped around his arm.
Velkaria's gauntleted hand gripped his shoulder.
"My Lord."
The grounding contact snapped him back.
He inhaled sharply.
Then laughed.
"Okay. That was dramatic."
Velkaria blinked.
Astrael rumbled softly.
Jeather rolled his neck.
"I fell off a building once. I'm not dying in a city street twice."
He stepped forward again.
Calm.
But different.
Jeather stopped reacting.
He started directing.
"Astrael. Expand terrain control radius."
Roots exploded outward, creating a battlefield grid.
"Velkaria. Flank and herd."
She moved like silver lightning.
Jeather began chaining seals mid-combat.
Bronze.
Bronze.
Silver.
Each card vanished into his storage ring.
The system flickered strangely.
Host behavior deviating from expected growth curve.
Jeather smirked.
"Yeah. I'm optimizing."
Another Silver beast tried to retreat.
He flicked a mana-empowered strike.
The force rippled like compressed air and slammed it back into Astrael's roots.
He didn't question it anymore.
The explanation had clicked earlier:
Mana Empowered Strikes were possible because Astrael's evolution had refined his mana circulation.
Instead of raw casting—
His body now converted mana into kinetic compression.
He wasn't just commanding beasts.
He was enhancing himself.
Jefferson Sees
The Warbear finally collapsed under coordinated military reinforcements.
Jefferson stood breathing heavily.
But his eyes were fixed on something else.
Jeather.
Standing in the middle of controlled chaos.
Not reckless.
Not wild.
Systematic.
Efficient.
Dangerous.
Jefferson's lips pressed into a thin line.
"For someone expelled…"
"…he looks like the center of the battlefield."
For the first time—
Jefferson did not think of humiliating him.
He thought of calculating him.
As the wave thinned, Astrael's voice deepened.
"You are changing."
Jeather raised an eyebrow.
"That's usually how growth works."
"No."
The demon's aura darkened.
"So?"
"The more emotionally unstable beasts you seal… the more I evolve."
Jeather froze.
Emotionally unstable?
Rage-type beasts.
Distorted summoning victims.
Forced displacements.
He'd been absorbing conflict.
Astrael's next words were slow.
"If this continues… you will stop being a summoner."
Jeather tilted his head.
"And?"
"You will become a source."
Silence.
Then—
Jeather grinned.
"Cool."
Astrael stared.
"I always wanted a career upgrade."
Velkaria sighed softly.
"My Lord…"
Another anchor pulse vibrated.
Jeather's clover tattoo burned.
Not painfully.
Resonantly.
He turned toward the Academy.
"That's not random."
Astrael agreed.
"Something below."
Below.
Below the city.
His pulse quickened.
Jefferson was moving toward the same direction.
Precious stood atop a noble estate balcony, watching the mana fluctuations with narrowed eyes.
Headmaster Alaric was already beneath the Academy.
Everyone converging.
The system flickered again.
Hidden Event Detected
Root Core Resonance Increasing
Survival Probability: Unknown
Jeather cracked his knuckles.
"Alright."
He looked at the burning streets.
"Save the city?"
He glanced at fallen beasts.
"Loot the city?"
He looked toward the Academy.
"…Or collect something bigger?"
Velkaria's sword gleamed.
Astrael's roots tightened.
Jeather smiled slowly.
"Yeah."
"Let's move."
Far beyond the district walls—
In a shadowed forest clearing—
A circle of masked figures stood around a bleeding sigil carved into earth.
Their robes were black stitched with bone-white thread.
One spoke softly.
"Phase One complete."
Another replied.
"The Root Core will awaken."
"And when it does?"
A third voice answered calmly.
"Ardent District will fall."
The sigil pulsed.
And somewhere beneath the Academy—
Something ancient opened its eyes.