The mont Lia crossed the barrier, the world outside felt strangely quiet.
The chaos of Astralis Arcanum—the explosions, the clashes of mana, the screams—was suddenly muted behind her like a storm sealed inside a glass sphere.
But she didn’t stop.
The corrupted slash on her leg burned sharply, yet she forced her body forward.
Run.
That was the only thought in her mind.
Behind her—
Three hooded Vassel soldiers burst through the opening just before the barrier sealed shut again.
"After her!" one of them shouted.
They imdiately sprinted after Lia.
Inside the academy grounds, Ron saw them disappear beyond the barrier.
"Damn it..."
---
Lia ran.
The academy walls quickly fell behind her as she reached the streets of the academy city outside.
But what she saw made her heart sink.
The city was burning.
Smoke rose into the sky from shattered buildings. Flas devoured wooden roofs and market stalls. The streets that were normally full of people and rchants were now filled with chaos.
People were screaming, running through the streets in panic.
So were crying for help.
Others were already lying on the ground—motionless.
Blood stained the stone roads.
Lia clenched her teeth.
The Vassel had not only attacked the academy.
They were destroying the entire city too.
In several places, adventurers of the city were fighting back desperately. Small groups of armored fighters clashed with hooded attackers in the streets, trying to protect fleeing civilians.
But above them—
Several Vassel warriors floated in the sky.
Their auras were heavy with corrupted mana.
They were weaker than the elites fighting inside the academy...
But even they were far stronger than Lia right now.
If any of them noticed her—
They could kill her in seconds.
Lia lowered her presence instinctively and kept running through side streets.
Her injured leg throbbed with every step.
The corrupted slash burned like poison under her skin.
Still—
She didn’t slow down.
Just find the space gate.
Cross it.
Press the rune.
Tell the Chairman and Vice-Chairman about the attack.
Then everything will be alright.
She clenched her jaw and forced her body forward.
The pain in her leg grew worse with every step.
But she kept running.
Behind her, the sound of footsteps grew louder.
Three hooded Vassel soldiers were chasing her through the narrow streets.
"Quickly! After her!" one of them shouted.
They pushed themselves harder, sprinting through debris and burning alleyways.
Lia felt it.
Her leg throbbed violently as the corrupted slash pulsed again.
A cold, invasive pain spread through the wound, interfering with her mana flow. Her breathing beca uneven as the corruption slowly weakened her strength.
She gritted her teeth.
Damn it...
Behind her, the footsteps were getting closer.
She could hear them clearly now.
If they caught up, it would be over.
Her eyes sharpened.
I have to do sothing.
But she couldn’t unleash too much mana.
If she flared her mana strongly, the flying Vassel warriors above the city would imdiately notice her.
And then—
She would die before even reaching the gate.
Lia inhaled sharply.
For a single instant—
Her sharp green wind aura flared.
She spun while running, using the montum of her sprint.
Her blade swept outward in one clean motion.
Wind Butterfly: Butterfly Slash
A compressed crescent of green wind shot backward down the street.
The slash scread through the air.
Then Lia imdiately suppressed her mana again and resud running forward without even looking back.
Behind her—
The three hooded soldiers saw the attack coming and their eyes widened.
"Dodge!"
Two of them jumped aside.
But the third was too slow.
The compressed wind slash cut straight through his torso.
For a brief mont his body remained standing—
Then it split cleanly in half.
Blood splashed across the street as his body collapsed.
The remaining two soldiers glanced at their fallen teammate before looking ahead again.
Lia was already much farther away now.
"Don’t let her escape!" one of them shouted angrily.
They resud the chase.
anwhile, Lia turned another corner and quickly pulled out the small map Seris had given her.
Her eyes scanned it while still running.
Then she exhaled in relief.
"...Okay."
Her grip tightened around the map.
"I’m near."
.
.
.
Lia ran through the shattered streets.
Her breathing was ragged now. Every step sent a sharp pulse of pain through the corrupted wound on her leg, but she forced herself to keep moving.
The map was clenched tightly in her hand.
Just a little further...
She turned another corner and entered a small open square between ruined buildings.
Her eyes imdiately moved to the right.
And she froze for a split second.
In the quiet corner stood a tall fra of smooth white stone.
Two slender pillars rose high into the air, connected only by a wide beam at the top, leaving the center completely open—like a magical doorway waiting to be awakened.
On one of the pillars was a small carved pocket.
Perfectly shaped to fit sothing.
Lia’s eyes widened.
That’s it.
The space gate.
She took a step toward it—
Then—
"Aaaahhhhhhh!!!"
A child’s scream echoed from the left.
Lia’s head snapped toward the sound.
A hooded man stood there with a cruel grin, holding a small boy by the neck and lifting him off the ground. The child’s legs kicked weakly in the air as tears stread down his face.
Beside them, a woman—likely his mother—was collapsed on the ground, bleeding heavily and screaming helplessly.
Lia looked back toward the gate.
Then toward the child.
Her jaw tightened.
"...Damn it."
The hooded man never even noticed her.
One mont he was choking the child—
The next—
Everything flipped upside down.
For a brief mont, he felt weightless.
Then he realized sothing.
His head had been cut off.
The last thing he saw before darkness swallowed him was a girl holding a white sword.
His body collapsed.
Lia caught the falling child before he could hit the ground.
The boy trembled violently as she gently set him down and helped the injured mother up.
She placed the child into his mother’s arms.
The woman clutched him tightly, sobbing.
"Run," Lia said urgently. "Quickly!"
The woman nodded repeatedly.
"Thank you... thank you...!"
She ran, carrying the child away through the burning streets.
Lia imdiately turned back toward the gate.
But then—
She stopped.
Two hooded figures stood ahead.
The soldiers who had been chasing her had caught up.
At that sa mont—
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
An explosion erupted behind her.
Lia turned instinctively.
The mother and child she had just saved—
Were gone.
Reduced to drifting ash in the air.
Her eyes trembled.
A tear slipped down her cheek.
Then her jaw clenched.
She turned back toward the two hooded soldiers.
They were smiling.
Lia understood imdiately.
She had no choice.
She couldn’t catch them off guard like before.
And if she didn’t release her mana—
She wouldn’t survive.
But releasing her mana ant the flying Vassel warriors above the city would detect her instantly.
Ti was running out.
She exhaled through gritted teeth.
"...Fuck it."
Her aura exploded outward.
Pink wind surged around her body, sharp currents swirling with glowing butterfly-shaped mana fragnts.
It was weaker than usual because of the corrupted wound in her leg—
But it was still powerful.
I just need to reach the gate.
I don’t have enough strength to kill both.
Only one.
She launched forward.
"Wind Butterfly: Elegant Speed!"
Her body beca a pink blur.
The hooded soldiers barely reacted before she was already upon them.
Her blade flashed repeatedly.
A storm of high-speed strikes tore through the air.
The first soldier tried desperately to block, but the relentless slashes overwheld him.
Blood burst into the air as his body was cut apart piece by piece.
Lia didn’t even stop.
She sprinted straight past the dying man toward the gate.
The last remaining soldier stood frozen for a mont.
He was stunned.
Then he sensed sothing above him.
A powerful presence.
He looked up.
A hooded warrior descended from the sky.
One of the Vassel elites who had been flying over the city noticed the commotion between Lia and them.
The soldier imdiately shouted.
"Senior! Catch her! She’s from the academy! She’s trying to call reinforcents!"
The flying warrior’s eyes turned toward the gate.
And he shot forward instantly.
anwhile—
Lia reached the gate.
Her hands moved quickly.
She pulled out the glowing blue mana crystal Seris had given her and slamd it into the carved pocket on the pillar.
The stone fra began to hum.
Runes ignited across the surface of the pillars.
Light spread outward.
The air inside the fra distorted.
"Co on... co on..."
She looked back.
A dark presence was rapidly approaching from behind.
They noticed .
The hooded elite was already rushing toward her at terrifying speed.
She turned back toward the gate.
"Form already!"
The runes flared brighter.
The air inside the stone fra twisted—
Then opened.
A blue portal ford.
Without hesitation, Lia jumped through.
Her body vanished inside the swirling space tunnel.
The flying Vassel warrior reached the gate only a mont later.
Before stepping through, he shouted toward the soldier behind him.
"Destroy the gate after I enter!"
Then he stepped into the portal.
And vanished as well.
--
Deep within a dense forest near the border of the Gravundar Kingdom, an ancient stone gate stood silently among the trees.
Two tall white pillars supported a wide stone beam at the top, leaving the middle open like an empty doorway.
For a mont—
Nothing happened.
Then the air inside the fra twisted.
A blue portal burst into existence.
The swirling space rippled violently.
And a figure stumbled out.
Lia collapsed onto the forest ground, her breathing ragged. Her clothes were torn, her body covered with cuts, and the corrupted wound on her leg throbbed painfully.
But she forced herself to move.
Her eyes imdiately went to the band on her wrist—the one Seris had tied there.
Her trembling fingers pressed the rune.
Once.
Twice.
Three tis.
Just as Seris had instructed.
The rune glowed faintly.
The ergency signal had been sent.
Lia exhaled shakily in relief.
"...Good..."
But there was no ti to rest.
She imdiately turned back toward the gate and reached for the rune carved into the pillar that would shut down the portal.
Her fingers were just about to touch it—
When suddenly—
A hand shot out of the portal.
It grabbed her wrist tightly.
Lia’s eyes widened.
A hooded figure stepped through the swirling gate.
The Vassel warrior.
He pulled Lia closer effortlessly.
"No," he said calmly.
"You will not do that."
The Corrupted pressure around him was suffocating.
Lia felt it imdiately.
Her breath caught in her throat.
This man—
Is much stronger than Varak.
And the Battle Bond buff that had helped them in battle against varak earlier was long gone now.
She could feel the difference clearly.
The man in front of her is terrifying.
The hooded warrior looked down at her.
"So."
"You ca here to call reinforcents... didn’t you?"
Lia glared at him through the pain.
"I’m not telling you anyth—"
SMACK.
The backhand strike landed across her face.
Her head snapped violently to the side.
For a mont she felt like her jaw had shattered.
Blood filled her mouth.
But she still gritted her teeth.
The man continued holding her wrist.
Then slowly tightened his grip.
Crack.
Pain exploded through her arm.
Her bone was breaking.
"Ahhhhhhh!!!"
Her scream echoed through the forest.
The hooded warrior watched her calmly.
"It doesn’t matter anymore."
"You won’t be calling anyone."
He suddenly grabbed her by the throat and lifted her off the ground.
Lia’s feet kicked helplessly in the air.
She punched his arm weakly, trying to break free—but the strength in her body was fading quickly.
His grip tightened around her neck.
Her vision started to blur.
The hooded warrior calmly pulled out a dagger.
He raised it slowly.
"Now you die."
The blade descended toward her chest—
And then—
Spurt.
A sharp sound cut through the forest.
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