As Aeon held the black diamond necklace in his hand, he sat silently, deep in thought.
"This necklace… one of the seven pieces that will become part of the chaos in the future. Just like the stories said—it's tempting, dangerously so."
He gazed at the gem. As black as burnt charcoal, it looked like an ordinary stone from afar. But under the light of dawn, it shimmered with an almost otherworldly brilliance—captivating, mysterious.
"It caused wars between noble families. Vanished 200 years ago… Who would've thought it was hidden inside Venessa Academy all along? With this, I have two now. One from Oklo Village… and this. They'll come for it. I need to move to the next phase."
He clenched the necklace gently in his palm, then glanced at Silvia lying silently beside him.
But something wasn't right.
He leaned in slightly.
She was breathing too evenly… her fingers twitched slightly.
She was pretending.
A mischievous grin crept onto Aeon's face as he remembered how she had teased him before.
Payback time.
He moved closer and brushed her cheek with his cold fingers, rubbing lightly.
"She looks even more beautiful when she's asleep," he whispered, voice low and teasing. "Like a little fairy."
Silvia, listening with her heart hammering in her chest, gritted her teeth and tried to keep still.
But Aeon wasn't done.
He leaned even closer, his forehead touching hers—light, but enough for their noses to brush.
Silvia's heartbeat surged. Her cheeks flamed with heat.
Aeon, trying to stifle his laughter, put a hand over his mouth.
Then—
He blew air gently into her ear.
Silvia shivered, barely containing a squeak.
But still, she didn't move.
Aeon smirked and cradled her face with one hand. Slowly, he leaned in—
Silvia's brain screamed "Abort! Abort!"
Just as his lips brushed her forehead—
"Enough!" Silvia burst, shoving him away and sitting up, her face a bright, strawberry red.
Kayle blinked innocently. "Oh! You're awake? I thought you were still sleeping…"
Silvia narrowed her eyes. "Y-you knew I was pretending?!"
He chuckled. "Who, me? Nah. You're just such a good actress… I totally fell for it." His grin was smug.
Silvia huffed, cheeks puffed in frustration, looking like an angry squirrel.
"You—!"
"What?" Aeon teased, shrugging.
" This is not you do it" Silvia said.
"What do you mean" kayle said
And
But then, Silvia did something unexpected. She stilled. Composed herself.
Then, calmly—too calmly—she grabbed Kayle by the collar and yanked him forward.
Before he could react—
She kissed him
Aeon's eyes widened. Completely blindsided.
The soft moonlight spilled into the infirmary, casting long shadows of two figures—frozen in time.
Silvia held him close, lips lingering for just a few seconds longer. Then she finally pulled back with a gasp, catching her breath.
Aeon was stunned. Silent. Breathless. Brain fried.
The same Aeon who had predicted his enemies' movements… outwitted assassins… crossed through 50 worlds—
Was absolutely defeated.
Silvia smirked, eyes gleaming with pride.
"That's how you do it. Got it?" she said with a triumphant grin.
Aeon still hadn't processed what happened. His ears were red now.
He tried to breathe. Compose himself.
"You… Silvia… You shouldn't just do that—"
"Oh my," she interrupted sweetly. "I simply marked what's mine. That was a confirmation seal."
She winked.
Aeon stared at her, still processing. This isn't how Silvia acted in the original story… She never made a move like that.
Then it hit him.
> "Of course… this version of Silvia is different. Just like me. This isn't the same story anymore. I have replaced kayle and changed his destiny and Silvia's destiny was related to kayle."
Before he could gather his thoughts, the door opened and Jack stepped in.
"Oh hey, you're awake!" he said cheerfully—then paused, looking at the two of them.
"…What happened here?"
Kayle and Silvia turned to him at the same time.
Both of them blushing.
Jack blinked.
"Wait… did I miss something?"
James was confused by the thick tension lingering between Kayle and Silvia, but before he could ask—
Kayle broke the silence, standing up and brushing off his coat.
"Nothing. Silvia's hungry. I'll go fetch something for her."
James tilted his head. "Don't worry, I can go. You've been here the whole time. Stay with her."
"No," Kayle replied, already heading to the door. "I need to use the restroom anyway."
James gave a nod. "Alright, if that's the case."
Kayle exited the infirmary with a faint smirk on his face, his footsteps quickening as he left the building. But instead of heading to the cafeteria or the restrooms, he turned toward the arena, now sealed off due to the recent chaos.
The entire arena was a graveyard of debris—collapsed ceilings, shattered stone, and broken beams. The silence was heavy. Aeon slipped behind the ruins and found the hidden entrance—the underground passage he had uncovered during the incident. The door was still ajar.
Without hesitation, he descended the dark, crumbling staircase. The air was thick and damp. Shadows crawled across the walls. Aeon's smile curled like a hunter approaching his prey.
After walking for several minutes, he arrived at a heavy stone gate. He pushed it open slowly and slipped inside.
The vault.
A vast underground chamber, glittering with jewels, ancient artifacts, rare accessories, and magical tools piled in ornate chests and locked boxes.
But Aeon wasn't alone.
Two figures cloaked in black stood at the far end of the room. Faces hidden. Voices low.
> "What do you mean you couldn't find it?" the first cloaked man snapped.
> "I checked the entire vault. The item isn't here. Are you sure your intel was accurate?" the second replied.
> "I got it straight from the Head. Do you think he gave me false information?"
> "Then where the hell is it? We even used the academy's own students as pawns to trigger the incident. If Venessa Academy finds out, the whole clan is finished!"
> "Shit. This is a mess… Did the Clan Leader send us here to die?"
Just then, a voice echoed behind them.
> "Looking for this?"
Both men spun around.
Aeon stood calmly, holding up the black diamond necklace, the gem shimmering with a quiet menace.
> "Who the hell are you?!" barked the first man.
> "That—! That's the item we're looking for! How did a brat like him get it?"
Aeon raised an eyebrow. "This old thing? Hm. Thought it might be important."
The first man drew his blade. "Hand it over, and I promise you a painless death."
Aeon sighed and rolled his eyes. "Seriously? That line again? Third-rate villain dialogue… My ears are bleeding at this point."
> "Enough. Kill him and take the necklace!" the second snapped.
They charged.
Their blades slammed into Aeon's chest—but his body melted into a pool of black liquid.
> "W-What?!"
From behind, Aeon's voice echoed, calm and amused.
> "That was a clone."
They turned. Aeon stood behind them, completely unharmed.
> "He's not normal," one of them muttered. "I can't sense his mana… If he hadn't spoken, I wouldn't even know where he was."
> "He's just a kid!"
> "Don't be stupid. This kid's dangerous."
Aeon shoved his hands in his pockets. "So… are you going to attack or keep gossiping? I've got places to be."
Both cloaked men lunged again.
Aeon moved effortlessly, his steps fluid, ghost-like. Their attacks swiped through empty air.
He didn't even raise a hand. Their frustration grew.
Then—
One of them pulled out a glass vial.
> "Cover your face!"
He hurled it. The vial shattered midair, and a cloud of violet poison erupted, covering the chamber in thick, choking fog.
> "That should kill him."
> "Are you insane?! That poison could spread to the academy!"
> "We didn't have a choice. Grab the necklace and go."
But the poison began to swirl unnaturally—like it was being pulled.
To their horror, the black diamond in Aeon's hand started absorbing the gas, drinking it in like a starving beast.
Aeon stepped through the mist, eyes glinting. "Just like in the original story… it feeds on poison."
> "You—how do you know that?!"
Aeon's smile vanished. His voice turned cold.
> "Thank you. I needed to test it. You Doroka Clan bastards."
Their bodies tensed.
> "You… You know our clan?!"
Aeon's voice dropped to a whisper.
> "Dead men don't need to know."
Suddenly—the shadows around his feet twisted and surged upward.
A monstrous shape formed from the darkness—twisting limbs, clawed arms, and a skull-like grin.
Aeon's eyes turned black as midnight.
With a roar like tearing metal, two obsidian spikes shot from the creature and impaled both intruders through the chest.
They gasped—then the darkness devoured their bodies whole.
Nothing remained.
Not a scrap.
Not even a drop of blood.
The vault was silent once again.
Aeon looked at the necklace, now pulsing faintly in his hand.
He erased all signs of the battle with a single sweep of his mana and vanished into the shadows.
Aeon stepped out of the hidden vault, his uniform catching the wind as he walked under the darkening sky. There was a subtle smile playing on his lips, a quiet satisfaction flickering in his eyes.
"My darkness attribute has grown stronger," he murmured to himself. "I can feel it—every movement, every command flows more naturally. I've become one with the shadows."
He moved effortlessly, each step in tune with the dimming light around him.
"With time, I'll be able to create forms beyond anyone's imagination. I can already control every element… but darkness and light—they're different. Too volatile, too consuming. If mishandled, they don't just destroy your body… they erode your soul."
His voice softened.
"That's why Lana warned me. Not everyone is meant to touch these forces... Lana... I still miss you. Those days were simple—happy. If fate grants me one more chance…"
He trailed off as he reached the infirmary. The hum of magical equipment and the scent of healing herbs greeted him. Inside, James and Silvia were waiting near her bed.
James looked up, annoyed.
"Took you long enough. What were you doing? Don't tell me you fell sick too."
Kayle held up a paper bag, calm as ever.
"Nope. Just went out to get these. Pastries—for you guys."
Silvia's eyes lit up like a child's.
"Pastries?! I love those! Gimme, gimme!"
He handed her the bag.
"Here. Eat slowly or you'll choke. You're still recovering."
As she happily unwrapped the pastries, Kayle glanced around.
"Most of them are still unconscious, huh?"
James nodded, more serious now.
"Yeah. The first and second years are in relatively better shape, but the third years... some were barely alive. The academy transferred them to the city hospital."
Silvia lowered her pastry.
"If it weren't for them, we would've died. They gave it their all…"
James leaned back, frowning.
"This whole situation has caused massive uproar in the capital. I even heard rumors that the Royal Family is sending investigators. And the students' families will arrive tomorrow."
Kayle nodded thoughtfully.
"It was inevitable. Venessa Academy is one of the Four Great Academies of the Atheliya Empire. Most of its students come from prestigious noble families… some even from the Five Great Clans."
James sighed.
"Which means the academy is under a microscope now. One wrong step and heads will roll."
Silvia looked around at the rows of bandaged students.
"Do you think… everything will change after this?"
Kayle's voice dropped slightly, calm and unreadable.
"It already has."
The Next Day
The academy had suspended all classes until the following week. With over half the students still recovering in the infirmary, and administrators knee-deep in the investigation, the once-bustling halls of Venessa Academy had fallen silent.
Parents from across the empire began pouring into the academy grounds—worried, furious, and demanding answers. The tension only grew when the Imperial Family sent two representatives to oversee the inquiry.
As for the two students who had summoned the high-ranking spirits... they now lay on death's door. Their bodies were ravaged, caught directly beneath the uncontrollable beings they had conjured. Though they were labeled the culprits, the truth lay deeper.
> "I've already dealt with the ones truly responsible," Aeon thought, standing silently near a window. "But the academy will never uncover that. The trail ends here."
The investigation would soon stall when officials discovered that the spirits hadn't been summoned from the students' mana at all. Instead, it would be ruled that the two boys—rivals vying for the same girl's attention—had sought power to outdo one another. They had purchased Mainix Stones from unidentified sellers in the capital's underground markets.
Mainix Stones—rare magical runestones used in artifact creation and magic engineering—were highly regulated, but not impossible to obtain through illegal means. That single revelation would give the royal investigators the leverage they needed.
They would use this as an opportunity to begin interfering in academy affairs—an unprecedented move.
Until now, Venessa Academy stood as an autonomous institution, shielded from royal authority by ancient decree. It was founded 500 years ago by two legendary figures: the ninth-circle archmage Haniss Marsha and the peerless swordmaster Jonathan Royce. The twin statues guarding the academy gates were sculpted in their honor, a tribute to their vision of free, unshackled education.
The king of that era had granted the academy its sovereignty, even imprinting the Royal Seal on its charter. To defy that document would be to commit treason—even for a member of the royal family.
But politics was a slippery game.
> "Lorath…" Aeon muttered under his breath. "She's desperate for power, and this incident is exactly the excuse she needs. But not this time. This time… it won't go her way."
His eyes gleamed with resolve.
> "Time to set my next move in motion."