Deep underground, inside the Royal Arcane Academy’s main building, there was a secret storage room.
It was protected by tons of powerful defense spells.
On this day, a mysterious figure walked quietly through the dark corridors.
He wore a long black robe that covered him completely and a creepy white smiling mask on his face.
"Hehehe..." he laughed softly to himself.
"Finally... today I get what I ca for!"
ROOOAAARRR!!!
From outside ca a huge monster roar, followed by loud explosions.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The whole place shook a little.
"Wow, they’re really going wild up there, huh?" the masked man chuckled.
He sounded amused as he strolled toward the final door.
The door looked plain, just old black wood, but everyone knew it was anything but normal.
"Let’s see..." he muttered.
He placed his hand on the door.
The second his palm touched it, ZAP!, a glowing invisible wall stopped him cold.
"Hmm..." He pulled his hand back and rubbed his chin, thinking.
"This thing is seriously fancy. If it wasn’t for her, I’d have no chance at all."
He reached into his robe and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
On the paper was a crazy complicated diagram: circles inside circles inside more circles, each one packed with tiny equations and formulas.
It looked like soone’s brain had exploded onto the page, in a good way.
"I still can’t believe she figured this out," he whispered.
"I only explained the basic idea... and she just... boom! Created this masterpiece."
He held the paper in his left hand and raised his right hand.
"Zaaxi..." he said in a low voice.
A soft red glow appeared in his palm.
"Oriana 6... 9th Raiga..."
A bright red circle ford in the air.
"T-2... Shale... Gaino..."
More and more complicated symbols appeared inside the circle, spinning slowly.
The mont the first circle finished, the door reacted!
A blue circle lit up across the entire door. It was covered in even more overlapping circles.
But as soon as one new circle appeared in his hand... one circle on the door vanished with a soft pop.
"Ha! Five..." he counted excitedly.
He kept going.
Circle after circle appeared in his hand. Circle after circle disappeared from the door.
It took a long ti, maybe thirty full minutes.
By the end, sweat dripped from under his mask. He was breathing hard.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
But then—
A huge grin spread across his face under the smiling mask.
"Finally!!!"
All the blue circles were gone.
Creak!
The heavy door slowly swung open with a low, eerie sound.
The masked man stepped inside.
The room was huge and wide open. Every few steps, there stood short pillars about waist-high.
On top of each one sat a clear glass box, and inside each box glowed small, shiny treasures.
"Where is it...?" he muttered to himself, walking forward slowly.
His eyes scanned the glass cases one by one, but he never lingered long on any of them.
"As I rember from the TST... it should be at the very end, in the right corner," he whispered.
He picked up his pace and headed straight there.
After just a short walk, his gaze locked onto one particular box. His eyes lit up behind the mask.
"Finally! There you are!"
He rushed forward with quick, excited steps.
On this special box was a flat board that looked a bit like a chessboard, but way different.
Instead of equal black and white squares, it had only 20% black, 20% white, 20% red, and a big 40% gray. The colors ford strange, beautiful patterns.
The masked man’s eyes sparkled with greed and joy.
"Divination Board!" he breathed out, almost laughing.
He reached out eagerly to grab it—
ZING!!
A sharp electric shock zapped his hand hard.
"Tsk!" He pulled back fast and clicked his tongue. "Still has that annoying protection, huh?"
He slipped his other hand into his pocket, about to pull sothing out...
BOOM!!!
A massive explosion rocked the entrance door!
His head snapped toward the sound in an instant.
Dust and smoke cleared... and a tall man stepped through calmly.
He had wild red hair, muddy-brown eyes, and a long scar running down the left side of his face.
A dangerous grin spread across his mouth.
"So the intel was right," the red-haired man said in a low, amused voice.
"Soone really was after the Divination Board. You even orchestrated the whole chaos outside."
A glowing red circle appeared in his palm, spinning slowly.
"P-Professor Ignel...?" The masked man’s voice cracked.
His face went pale under the mask. He took a shaky step back. "But... how?!"
Professor Ignel didn’t bother answering. He simply raised his hand.
"Infinite Cast: Fire Fist!!"
WHOOSH!
A gigantic flaming fist roared into existence in the air, bright orange and crackling with heat. It shot straight toward the masked man like a teor!
The masked man’s eyes went wide in panic.
He threw both hands forward in a hurry.
"Infinite Cast: Barrier!"
A shimring blue shield popped up in front of him, glowing brightly.
But—
BOOM!!
The fire fist smashed into the barrier with explosive force. The shield shattered instantly like glass!
The blast sent the masked man flying backward through the air, crashing hard against the far wall with a painful thud.
"Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough!"
The masked man hacked violently.
Blood sprayed from under his smiling mask and dripped onto the floor. His whole body trembled in shock.
"How... how is this possible...?" he wheezed. "How in the world...?"
Step. Step. Step.
Professor Ignel walked forward slowly, his boots echoing in the silent room.
"So it really was true," he said in a low, dangerous voice.
"Soone from the academy was working with the Zlycons all along."
He stopped right in front of the masked man and stared down at him.
"How...?" the masked man whispered again, voice shaking. "No one knew... no one could have known..."
Professor Ignel clenched his fists so tight his knuckles turned white.
"We would never have caught this filthy rat," he growled, anger rising in his voice, "if it wasn’t for that mysterious ssage from the unknown sender..."
He didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t need to. The fury was clear on his scarred face.
He lunged forward and grabbed the masked man by the collar, yanking him up roughly.
"Let see who you are," Ignel snarled. His eyes burned with rage.
"Betraying your own people... for the Zlycons? Disgusting!"
The masked man tried to struggle, but his body was too broken from the blast. Panic flooded his wide eyes behind the mask.
Professor Ignel raised his other hand slowly... dramatically...
"Let see the face of the traitor!!" he roared.
He gripped the edge of the white smiling mask—
And ripped it off!
Clink!
The mask clattered to the stone floor.
For a heartbeat, the room was dead silent.
Professor Ignel stared at the revealed face.
His eyes went huge. His mouth dropped open. It looked like his eyeballs might actually pop out of his head.
Pure shock. Pure disbelief.
"Julius...?"
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