"No! I won't!"
Aeron's shout tore through the frozen hall—or at least, it should have. But there was nobody, no Vespera, in front of him.
Strangely, his body remained perfectly still, planted between Emilia and Livia like a statue, though he kept speaking while his eyes burned, twin embers of red in the darkness, unblinking.
Around him, the world had become a gallery of nightmares.
Students stood motionless, their faces slack, their irises glowing the same unnatural crimson. Some whispered to empty air. Others clutched at invisible figures, their mouths forming silent pleas or laughter.
"I won't fail again…" Emilia whispered to no one, her voice hollow. "I won't…"
Beside her, Livia's fingers twitched at her sides. "One more… just one more…"
As for the chubby boy, he was curled into a ball, sobbing into his hands. "No, don't leave me!" he wailed, though the only thing that might have "left" him was the imaginary feast he'd been devouring moments ago.
And then there was Zephyr.
One of the people who seemed to be unaffected of this weird plague.
He moved through the 'chaos' like a blade through smoke.
In his arms, Luna clung to him, her usual sharpness dulled, her eyes glazed red. "Don't leave me," she whispered, her fingers knotting in his coat. The same words as the chubby boy, but laced with a different kind of meaning, at least not food.
"Don't worry," Zephyr muttered, adjusting his grip. "I'll protect you."
His gaze swept the hall, calculating.
"Virion?" he muttered.
No response. Just the chorus of delusions.
Whoever's behind this… they aren't simple.
In fact—
His jaw tightened.
There was probably more than one.
His only solace? That the attackers hadn't come for her. Luna's breath hitched against his collarbone, her warmth the only real thing in this waking dream.
Then—
Movement.
Shadows darted along the far wall—but nobody paid attention to them, not they could.
Zephyr's eyes narrowed. Thanks to his training with Virion, he could see nearly perfectly in darkness. However, they wore masks, he couldn't identify them.
And then—
Another figure. Slipping through the madness with eerie precision.
A name flickered in Zephyr's mind.
Aman?
And—
Is he… blinking?
Right, Aman wasn't just running, he was silently blinking, at least 4 or 5 meters each time.
Is he a Resonator too? Or...
A certain snake crossed his mind, and now that he recalled, it said something about finding someone interesting...
Is it Virion?
_______ ____ __
A few minutes earlier.
____
I slipped through the crowd like a shadow, the cheers for Aeron fading behind.
Then—
Ding-!
━━━◇◆◇━━━
[Scenario - "A Dance with Fate" - Completed!]
"A performance worthy of neither applause nor condemnation. You followed the steps, but refused to let the music dictate your rhythm."
━━━◇◆◇━━━
Oh, nice timing.
━━━◇◆◇━━━
[Title Earned: "The Unwilling Dancer"]
You move to fate's melody when forced, but never lose sight of your own tempo. Those who try to lead you find their grip slipping at crucial moments.
━━━◇◆◇━━━
But, sorry, I don't have time to read all of these now. Can you stop distracting-
━━━◇◆◇━━━
[Title Earned: Silent Puppeteer...]
- Slightly increases stealth, improvisation, and low-profile maneuvers during public events.
[Achievement Unlocked: Defiant Dancer...]
- Slightly improves natural charisma and adaptability in crowd-based events.
━━━◇◆◇━━━
Well, they are good, so please can you stop dist-
━━━━━━━━◆━━━━━━━━
[You aqcuired a skill: Silent Veil - Lv1 (Active)]
Effects:
- Blur your outline and suppress all movement sounds.
- Reduces detection chance by 50%
- Lasts 20 seconds.
Activation Requirements:
- Cannot activate in direct bright light.
Cooldown: 60 seconds
━━━━━━━━◆━━━━━━━━
Oh, sorry, I was wrong, and thank you for the reward.
Ding-!
The system messages faded just as I reached my intended position—a shadowed alcove near the royal family's table. My fingers brushed the wall, confirming its solidity as I muttered in my mind, 'Gotta be careful...'
Then-
Pop.
One chandelier winked out.
Pop. Pop.
The crowd's murmurs turned uneasy. I pressed myself flatter against the wall, activating [Silent Veil] instinctively. My outline blurred as the skill dampened even the sound of my breathing.
Pop. Pop. Pop—
Darkness swallowed the hall whole.
A split-second later, white-hot pain cleaved through my skull. My vision split—
I saw myself sprawled on the marble floor, bathing in blood, eyes glassy. Around me, dozens of students lay butchered.
[Blessing of Virion has been activated. Successfully resisted mental illusion.]
The vision shattered like glass.
"Huff... Huff..."
I gasped, staggering as the pain receded to a dull throb. My hands came away wet with sweat, not blood.
What the hell was that? A premonition? A vision?
Hmm?
Around me, the ballroom had descended into chaos.
Students thrashed and screamed, their eyes glowing crimson in the dark:
"I won't let you take her again!" (A third-year clawing at empty air)
"Stop laughing! STOP LAUGHING AT ME!" (A girl cradling her head)
"Where's my sword?! WHERE'S MY—" (A royal guard patting his hips frantically)
An AOE illusion attack? I wiped my brow quickly donning the night vision glasses. Are there anyone else-!
My breath hitched as I spotted five masked figures slinking toward the royal table like shadows given form.
At the table, Prince Cedric stood rigid, his usually composed face twisted into a manic grin. "N-no, I am the King!" he slurred to empty air, arms outstretched as if addressing a phantom court. "It should be me on that throne—!"
Beside him, Princess Sara trembled, tears cutting silver trails down her cheeks. "M-mother, please..." she whimpered, small hands clutching at her dress. "Don't leave me again..."
The lead masked man raised a gloved hand, halting his team.
"What do we do?" hissed the shortest figure. "This wasn't part of—"
"Proceed with the plan," the leader interrupted, his voice muffled but firm. "We can't mess with whatever this is." His masked face swept across the hallucinating crowd before locking onto Sara.
"We will just take girl. Quick."
"But the client-!"
"He will handle it on his own, let's go."
[Silent Veil]'s timer ticked to zero.
"Hmm?" The leader frowned and looked around. "Let's leave quickly."
I remained statue-still as they bundled the princess into a black shroud and retreated toward a service exit.
Think. Follow or—
'Boy.'
The voice slithered into my skull—sibilant, ancient, unmistakably Virion's.
'I'll give you something.' The words coiled around my spine like a physical presence. 'In exchange, protect the people. And... save that girl.'
My jaw tightened, my mind spinning . What about you? And Zephyr? Luna?
A psychic chuckle vibrated through my bones. 'I'm a bit occupied. And don't fret over the couple—the boy can do it himself.'
So Zephyr is strong?
'Yes?'
I gave the slightest nod.
Yes.
The moment I nodded, my world ignited.
Ding-!
[Winged Tyrant's Blessing is being enhanced...]
A searing, verdant fire erupted from my chest, spreading through every vein like liquid lightning.
My muscles twisted—not in pain, but in transformation—fibers reforging themselves into something denser, sharper. My vision sharpened until I could count the dust motes swirling in the darkened air.
Maybe, I'm exaggerating a bit-
Then came the light.
A dark emerald radiance burst from my skin, wrapping around me like a second layer of armor. It hummed with strange yet familiar energy, the same primal force that lived in ancient forests and the deepest ocean trenches.
The power settled into my bones with a final, shuddering pulse. My entire being thrummed with energy, like a drawn bowstring waiting to be released.
Ding-!
━━━━━━━━◆━━━━━━━━
[Winged Tyrant's Blessing: First Feather]
(Temporary Buff)
Effects:
- Grants enhanced physical capabilities. (×5 Strength, Speed, and Reflexes.)
- Allows [Blink Step] within a 5-meter range. (Cooldown: 2 seconds.)
- Envelops the user in a Dark Verdant Shield that absorbs a fatal attack.
Duration: 10 minutes
Cooldown: 1 month (?)
━━━━━━━━◆━━━━━━━━
My eyes flickered across the window—absorbing every detail in a split second—just as the masked men reached the midpoint of the hall with Sara.
No time waste.
Blink-!