Chaos erupted across the deck. Too many things crashed together at once—no one had time to watch anyone else. The invaders swarmed like ants, ten times the number of instructors, representatives, and students combined.
Bodies pressed against bodies. Human cries tangled with the sharp ring of clashing blades.
At the rear, Instructor Stevein held the line. The man was a fortress—someone every instructor respected, someone they could trust with their backs. His years spoke for him: over ten as Senior Instructor, countless more as Junior. Scars mapped his service.
The jagged mark across his face told its own story. Seven years back, during the Milhwa festival, he'd thrown himself between students and a monster's fury. The scar remained, but so did the students.
Everyone knew Stevein. Steady. Silent. Perfect in character. He rarely spoke, but when he did, people listened. Kind to his core, obedient to duty.
Which made the scene behind him all the more impossible.
The Student Council lay scattered around his feet. Unconscious. Broken. All except Nyssira—she remained far beyond his reach, and honestly, Stevein felt grateful for that small mercy. The foreigner was the only person he wasn't certain he could drop without raising hell.
He stepped away from the fallen students, his boots silent on the deck. A dark frown carved itself across his weathered face as he stared forward.
The invaders were fading. Vanishing into streams of blood and evaporating.
"What is going on?"
The words escaped him as he turned toward the other airship. From his position near the tower entrance, at the rim of the rear deck, he had a clear view of everything.
His expression darkened further. The white-haired boy faced off against the other man, alone and exposed.
"That fool..."
The words barely left his lips before he melted into the air itself.
Only then did the instructors and everyone else begin their retreat. Still shocked. Still lost. Their enemy had simply... disappeared.
Helena's frown deepened as she stared at the distant ship.
"Isn't that..."
Selis followed her gaze to the metallic vessel.
"Isn't that man with us?"
Then Ellis glanced back, his eyes widened and pale.
"Uh… I think you all need to turn around."
They all slowly turned, and their expression became grim and dark.
***
Less than a minute earlier, Northern had waited for the man to recover from his shock. Absolute Lock had seized the man's talent ability, and the effect showed—he probably tried activating it again and again, failing each time. His surprised expression grew paler by the second.
Then someone appeared behind him. A hand touched his shoulder.
The man's entire body trembled. The fear Northern had been slowly building suddenly exploded, magnified by that single touch.
Northern's frown deepened. The person's identity made it worse.
He knew this instructor well. The man stayed close to Professor Heimburger—the same person the Professor had sent to watch him.
Could this mean...
Northern shook his head, subtle but firm.
'No, it wouldn't be…'
Northern stayed silent, watching the instructor's next move.
The man he'd been fighting trembled, words stumbling over themselves.
"Uhm, listen... I— I—"
"Get out of here."
The instructor's shove sent the man flying. One sharp moment—a blur of motion—and the guy crashed into the ship's rear like discarded cargo.
The instructor turned to Northern, his expression flat as stone.
"You really are persistent, aren't you?"
Northern met his gaze with equal coldness, a dangerous light flickering in his eyes' depths.
"What's that got to do with you?"
He paused, then pressed forward.
"You've finally decided to show yourself? Who are you? What's your real name? I know you're working with Koll."
The man began rolling up his sleeves, slow and deliberate.
"Koll. Right, that strange abomination. Well, one could say we've temporarily teamed up with him to reach our goal. But don't look at me like I'm his lackey. We're merely partners who will gain different things from the same act."
Northern's frown deepened.
"How will releasing an Origin—one sealed for good reason—benefit you?"
The smile that spread across the man's scarred, stone-hard face was grotesque. Terrifying.
"Because it will mark the beginning of death for this forsaken world. And with that beginning, my people will rise again, stronger than ever before. With that sacrifice, we shall reclaim what was rightfully ours."
"I see..."
Northern nodded, barely perceptible.
"So who are you? What is this thing that's supposed to be rightfully yours?"
The instructor exhaled, then drew a slow breath.
"It's better to show you..."
The transformation began. The man grew taller, his skin seeming to melt, flowing like liquid down his body.
Northern watched the flesh wash away. His face grew pale as the truth revealed itself.
Seven feet tall, at least. The sclera of his eyes blazed black while his pupils burned red. White hair cascaded down his back like a waterfall. His skin—a darkish blue that seemed to drink in the little light of the night—stretched over a frame more intimidating than anything Northern had witnessed before.
But those ears. Those long, pointed ears sealed it.
Even with the altered skin and features, Northern could never mistake what stood before him.
An elf.
A very strange and unusual one.
Dark, ominous armor wove itself around the creature's body like living shadow. He extended his hand, and the sword from the fallen man rolled across the deck, snapping into his grip like a magnet finding metal.
Then he swung down with devastating force. The metallic vessel's deck groaned and creaked under the blow.
"Well then, boy. Shall we begin?"
Northern stayed silent for a moment. Then he exhaled and scratched his head.
"You are an elf, aren't you? But what kind? I've never seen an elf look so ugly before. But still, do you think it'd change anything?"
Stevein in his elven form glowered.
"Such irritating words from a human such as yourself. We dark elves were the first creation, the first children of the first world. But we were cast aside because of our imperfection. Oh well, long stories bore me. What matters is my kind have fought tooth and nail to reach this place today. To reclaim a world that should be ours. I cannot have a reckless boy like you spoil all of that."