The creature thrust through the hole in the door, its massive twisting horn ripping through the wall's alloys like paper. The sheer weight of its body pushed forward, metal screaming against bone and scale.
The wall shuddered, concrete cracking under the assault. With one brutal swipe of its limb, the monster tore through what remained, metal shrieking as it split apart under terrible force.
Crimson scales caught the pale moonlight, each one gleaming like fresh blood as the beast carved its way through the Academy's reinforced wall.
Its foreleg crashed through, striking the ground with a thunderous impact. Concrete exploded outward, sending fragments spinning through the air like deadly rain.
Mist pooled at its feet, swirling in lazy spirals. The creature's hindleg followed, smashing through the last of the wall. The entire island groaned beneath the weight, trembling as if the earth itself recoiled from this abomination.
The beast pulled its full body through the breach, revealing itself in all its horror. A cathedral of flesh and nightmare stood before them, towering like some cursed mountain dragged up from the depths of hell.
Its hide rippled with scales and muscle, ridged with thorns that pulsed like living veins. Crimson tendrils, thick as ancient trees, lashed from its back, whipping at the sky as if settling some ancient grudge.
The twisted face was a maze of bone and horn—four massive spikes stretched backward while two others curled toward its gaping maw, framing rows of unforgiving teeth.
It raised its serpentine neck, scales pulsing with crimson energy, then lowered its massive head. Crimson eyes blazed like dying stars, ancient and merciless.
As it stared down at them, the world changed.
The air thickened, each breath a struggle.
Instructors collapsed to their knees, clutching their chests as they gasped for air. The wind itself turned crimson, heavy with dread as it drifted through the darkness.
Everything—air, atmosphere, the very stones beneath their feet—pulsed with the vile presence of the thing watching them.
Annette tried to move, but invisible weight crushed down on her shoulders. It felt like the creature's massive limb pressed against her, though the beast hadn't stirred.
It simply stood there, studying them all.
Then, between its scales, eyes opened. And began to fall.
They dropped into the crimson mist below, and from that fog, nightmares emerged. Creatures with four legs and whipping tails, long necks and cruel horns, burst forward at blinding speed—here one moment, gone the next.
Others took to the sky on leathery wings, darkening the Academy's night. Each bore a single crimson eye that rolled across their bodies, watching, always watching.
The Academy drowned in chaos and carnage.
***
Outside the Academy, airships plummeted into the mountain's depths, their broken hulls spinning through empty air. Bodies fell alongside twisted metal, disappearing into the darkness below.
Koll—still wrapped in Lieutenant Dante's stolen flesh—watched the torn Academy wall with cold indifference.
The Majors behind him trembled, faces drained of color as they witnessed the devastation. One sweep of the creature's tentacles had shattered all seven ships floating in the air. Then it had carved through the wall itself, metal screaming as massive limbs punched through.
The Academy was built from the strongest metal in the world, imported from Ironspine Mountain in Reimgard—a mountain of pure iron that had formed from the corpse of the first Leviathan to ever walk the earth.
For this creature to tear through that iron wall so easily meant only one thing. It was a Leviathan too.
Koll knew this, of course. He had arranged for it himself, pouring resources and more than half his strength into this gambit. The effort had left him weak, forcing him to avoid direct confrontation.
But they had defeated his first attempt in Lithia. Most likely Burning Storm's doing.
'At least the bastard exhausted himself and died for it.'
He kept staring at the gaping hole in the Academy wall. The barrier stretched so high that even with the Leviathan inside, he could see nothing of the battle within. Only a section had been torn open. The rest of the wall still stood, though it groaned under the strain.
Azzut swallowed hard, his voice shaking.
"That thing... if they can't defeat it... won't it destroy the rest of the continent?"
Koll glanced back with a frown.
"And what's wrong with that?"
The young Major's throat worked.
"Pardon me, Lieutenant, but aren't we trying to save the continent?"
Koll turned to face them fully.
"Don't be naive. Do you think we have the resources to battle united nations? Right now, I'm certain there's no man on Tra-el strong enough to defeat a Catastrophic Leviathan."
He paused, letting the words sink in.
"The only way would be for all Paragons to join forces. Reimgard would have to get involved too. Once they deal with it, we strike while they're exhausted and end this."
In Koll's mind, that moment—striking while they were broken and spent—would be the culmination of everything.
The final war between those who united to save their continent and his Army would snap the last threads holding peace together.
Once that boundary shattered, Kryos would be free again. And this time, no one would reverse the situation. He would make sure the only person capable of stopping Kryos stayed very, very busy.
The third Major spoke up, his voice thick and intimidating—definitely more mature than the other two.
"Is Burning Storm really dead? You actually killed him?"
Koll stared into the grey eyes of the black-haired boy, whose dark bangs hung above thick brows.
"Do you doubt me?"
The Major shook his head.
"I don't. I watched the dynamic between you two during my days as a constable... Burning Storm might have hurt you, but I hoped he wouldn't have to die."
The man's gaze dropped to Koll's waist.
"Also... not to question you, but where is your sword?"
Koll's expression darkened.
"Not to question me? What gives you the right? Do you have a death wish?"
The air crackled with killing intent. The Major stepped back immediately, bowing his head.
"I apologize."
Koll ground his teeth in irritation.
"You all seem determined to test me tonight. As if killing my only friend wasn't enough. Are you trying to make me kill you too?"
They all stepped back.
Koll's voice turned cold.
"You'd better behave. With the war reaching its climax, we can't afford to waste resources."
"Yes, sir."
They bowed and fell silent.
Moments later, an enormous shadow swallowed the entire island, blocking out what little moonlight remained.