Haven, Mirror Crack.
Voom-
A violent surge ripped through the air, unleashing a deep, resonating tremor that resulted in further cracks appearing from within the Mirror Crack. Following the appearance of the cracks, a large shadow appeared from deep within, enveloping the entire Crack.
“Careful!”
“Move back, step back-!”
The situation was dire. For monsters to appear from within the crack it only meant one thing…
“The supply station has fallen-!”
“Everyone get ready!”
Safeguarding the cracks were the supply stations which were both posts to facilitate entrance to the Mirror Cracks and as a last guard station for the monsters, preventing them from entering the real world.
Unfortunately, the situation was so out of control that the supply station was unable to withstand the sudden onslaught of monsters.
…And that was in spite of the powerful figures that stood guard at the entrance.
“Hierk-!”
A shrill, ear-piercing scream erupted from the depths of the crack, the sound so unnerving it seemed to claw at the soul.
The Crack trembled violently as a colossal figure emerged, its massive hands gripping the fractured edges with its slender dark hands. With each pull, its monstrous figure heaved upward, the ground quaking beneath its weight.
Rumble! Rumble-!
As the figure’s enormous form fully revealed itself, its eyes glowed with a terrifying intensity as they swept over the surroundings with a predator’s gaze.
The air seemed to thicken under the crushing weight of its presence, and a palpable and suffocating pressure enshrouded the area.
It stood there, staring at all the people present behind the crack.
“Ah, ah-“
The faces of several Professors paled at the sight of the creature.
“This…”
Even the more experienced and powerful professors had their expressions tightened at the sight of the creature.
“It’s a high-level Destroyer-Rank.”
Nobody was sure about who uttered such words, but the voice was loud enough for everyone to hear. At that moment, the atmosphere grew even more tense.
The Mirror Crack within the Academy was known to be one of the safer ones. For such a formidable figure to emerge from it, however, was a troubling sign that something was going terribly wrong within the Mirror Dimension.
How did such a strong monster appear from out of nowhere?
Why now of all times?
This made no sense to many of the Professors present, but unfortunately, they didn’t have any time to dwell on the matter. Especially since the Chancellor wasn’t present.
“W-what should we do…?”
Silently swallowing, one of the professors looked around. As things stood, they would be useless in the face of such a powerful figure.
In fact, they’d be rendered completely helpless.
If someone didn’t do anything quickly then-
Swoosh!
It was right then that a figure suddenly manifested before everyone. As her black hair fluttered silently in the air, and her deep eyes scanned the surroundings, Delilah’s gaze focused on the monster trying to pry its way out of the crack.
“Hieeek-!”
As if noticing her presence, the monster let out a powerful shriek, its mere shockwave sending a few of the weaker professors back.
“Ukh-!”
“Ahhhh”
Glancing back, Delilah merely glanced back and waved her hand.
A massive dome of energy materialized above them, enveloping the area in a protective shield. The shockwave faded instantly, allowing the weaker professors to catch their breath and steady themselves.
Before they could voice their thanks, Delilah took a single step in the direction of the monster.
Ting-
As her foot touched the ground, the space beneath it rippled like water disturbed by a single drop.
A powerful, circular pulse of mana surged outward, radiating through the surroundings with an almost tangible force, bending the air and stirring the dust in its wake.
Ting, ting-
More and more ripples formed with each step she took, and a terrifying pressure suddenly started to loom over the surroundings.
It was so overwhelming and terrifying that the surroundings almost came to a sudden
standstill.
As if time itself had halted for all but her, Delilah’s hair floated silently in the still air.
“Hie…”
A sharp, unsettling squeak shattered the heavy silence, emanating from the monster. Its massive figure shifted uneasily, its once confident movements now jittery and erratic as if it could sense the ominous force radiating from her.
Its instincts…
They were warning them about the creature that stood before it.
No…
They were warning it about the monster that stood in front of it.
‘Run, move back-!’
Every hair in the monster’s body stood as its body screamed in fear.
The closer Delilah moved, the less clear her figure became.
With each step she took, her presence deepened into something darker, more menacing. Her
hair swirled upward as she almost seemed to blend with the darkness itself.
The monster’s gaze locked onto her eyes-those deep, black voids that seemed to spin endlessly, drawing all light away from the world. They were the only thing it could see, and they filled its very core with a terror it had never known.
‘Move…!’
It tried to shriek but its mouth was sealed.
Despite its immense strength, the monster seemed to wither under Delilah’s abyssal-like
presence.
Faced with the figure standing before it, a suffocating helplessness gripped the creature, its towering form trembling under what seemed to be a crushing weight.
‘No…!’
A hand pressed against its head.
It was cold.
So very cold.
And then…
The monster’s consciousness blurred, fading into never-ending darkness it couldn’t pry itself
away from.
||
The world grew silent shortly after that.
As all eyes fell on the Chancellor who had effortlessly taken out such a powerful figure,
everyone started to wonder something;
“Did she get stronger…?”
“Why does it feel like she’s stronger than before?”
“It’s not just me right?”
Unconcerned about the murmurs that were coming from all around her, Delilah pulled her
hand away from the monster.
If one looked closely, they’d still notice that it was breathing.
She hadn’t killed the creature.
…The reason was that there was something she was interested in trying.
Swoosh!
Right then, a figure appeared behind her.
“Are you not going to kill it?”
His voice was soft and warm, carrying a soothing cadence that seemed to melt tension away.
Turning around, Delilah merely gave Atlas a quick glance before shaking her head.
“No.”
“…You’re not?”
“I’m not.”
“May I ask why?”
“Because there’s something that I want to try.”
“Oh?”
Atlas raised a brow, expecting Delilah to elaborate further, but she never did. Waving her
hand, the monster faded out from everyone’s sight.
Shortly after that, she glanced in the direction of the Mirror Crack. Her eyes pierced right
through the crack and into the broken supply station that lay behind.
Her eyes closed for a brief moment.
‘…I should’ve arrived earlier.’ With the Academy’s Mirror Crack being on the safer side and being one of the Seven Monarchs
of the Empire, Delilah had no other choice but to depart to Bremmer to quell the situation
over there.
Atlas was the same too, with him having no choice but to go due to his surname, leaving the
Academy in a vulnerable state.
Theoretically speaking their absence shouldn’t have caused this much of an issue, but nobody could’ve expected the presence of a Destroyer-Rank.
“It’ll take a while to rebuild the supply station. Thankfully, we’ve sent all the cadets out. I
wonder how they’re doing.”
Delilah glanced his way and didn’t answer.
She didn’t trust him.
She was sure he was trying to get a read of where the cadets were, but only she and a few
others she trusted knew their location.
Taking out a small orb, Delilah glanced at it and nodded.
“They’re doing fine.”
The orb was an emergency measure that she had set up in advance. In case any of the cadets
were in danger, she’d be able to appear before them at any moment.
She could also see what they were up to.
In this case, her focal point of attention was the second years.
They were the group that tended to be in the most danger. Having overlooked their situation
the entire time, she almost made a trip to where they were on several occasions but stopped
herself just as many times.
The situation looked dire, but at the same time, it never reached a point where she had to
intervene. The only issue was that she lost track of three cadets halfway through the situation,
but she was also sure they were doing fine since she had another relic that enabled her to tell if they were fine or not.
She did sigh in relief when she saw them again, but things took a strange turn yet again.
Most importantly, several scenes left her surprised when she was peeking at them, but she decided to keep quiet for now.
She was going to investigate later.
For now, there were important matters at hand. Casually glancing in Atlas’s way one more time, she stepped forward and her figure began to fade from everyone’s view.
As she disappeared from everyone’s sight, the only one who was able to see where she was
going was Atlas as his eyes traced her parting figure.
Finally, after he could no longer keep up with her, he turned his eyes away and looked in the
direction of the Mirror Crack.
Cra Crack-
Compared to last time, there were even more cracks present. Seeing the changes, his lips
pulled up ever so slightly.
“Soon…”
He mumbled, his voice only audible to himself.
“Soon.”
***
“Get us out-!”
Kiera’s shouts reverberated within the confines of a small chamber where everyone was held.
Almost everyone was in the chamber with the exception of three figures. They were none
other than Kaelion, Caius, and Julien.
“I’ll kill you!”
Bang!
Kiera smashed her hand against the door of the chamber.
“Are you stupid?”
It was then that Aoife spoke as she ruffled her hair in annoyance.
“Keep that up and they will never let us out.”
“Do you want me to kill you instead?”
“You can try, but you’re just going to give them more reason to keep her here.”
“Ukh-!”
Kiera held her hair with both hands.
“I swear to god. When I get out of this place I’ll-“
Clank!
Right then, the door opened and a figure nobody was familiar with appeared.
He was a tall man with short brows and short brown hair. Casting a quick glance around, he opened the door and sighed.
“Please follow me,” he said, his voice deep and lacking in any emotion. “We will begin checking to see if any of you are still under the influence of the spell. Once everything is clear, you will be freed.”
