Arthur’s face stiffened.
He couldn’t help but recall how many of them had died during the Sphinx mission.
He listened to Sean.
“In those dreams, Neo didn’t injure your Shadow in the first encounter.
“Instead, he was almost killed, and Clara died during the mission.
“That’s not all. I…
“I did something horrible. Something so horrible that it almost cost us our lives…”
Sean stared at the table, unable to lift his gaze and look into Arthur’s eyes.
Because Sean knew.
They weren’t just simple dreams.
Sean was no longer someone who lacked basic knowledge.
A single semester at the academy opened his eyes and showed him the limits of mystical quantities.
“They are not dreams, they are….”
Arthur didn’t complete his sentence.
“Yeah, I know.
“The timing says it all.”
Sean picked the glass of water and gulped it down.
“Since I started seeing the dreams when I awakened my Time element, they aren’t dreams.
“They are our past. The past that was erased because someone regressed and saved my sister.” fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
“So that’s why you were staring at Neo so much.”
Arthur leaned back into the chair.
Sean’s words made it clear—Neo was the only person who acted differently in the Soran mission.
“Neo saved my sister.
“I wanted to thank him, but I couldn’t decide if the Neo who is with us is the same Neo who saved my sister.”
“That’s what was happening. Everything makes sense now.” Arthur smiled bitterly. “He is the same Neo.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“I am.”
Arthur explained.
“You wouldn’t know since you are in a different class. Neo is stupidly strong.
“He doesn’t flaunt his strength, but he doesn’t try to hide it either.
“I was confused why he suddenly grew so powerful.
“Talking to you cleared my doubts.”
Arthur added,
“He regressed.”
A smile appeared on his face.
He had been worried about Sean, since Sean had been acting weirdly.
But clearly everything was alright.
“Damn, now I want to awaken the Time element too—”
“Arthur! Open the news!”
Felix, Brian, Clara, and Nathan rushed into the café.
“Hurry!”
Arthur realized something was up when he saw their concerned expressions.
He took out his device, opened the news, and switched it to a holographic screen.
The news channel showed a lady with a screen behind her projecting a cracked sky.
“Today, at 11:30 pm, the Greenwood Labyrinth has been closed.
“The occasion calls for a celebration; however, the city has been instead enveloped in unrest.
“As soon as the Labyrinth closed, it was replaced by a Window connecting to the World of Shadows.
“According to experts, the Labyrinth’s true purpose has been to seal the Window.
“Now that the Labyrinth disappeared, the seal broke, and the window opened.”
The screen zoomed in on hundreds of Shadow monsters descending from the sky.
“We need to go,” Brian suddenly spoke up. “The Window is apparently an unpredicted Window.
“Its rank hasn’t been evaluated. The authorities will take time to deploy troops.
“Thousands will die in the meantime.”
His body was trembling.
“Please, I’m sorry for what I said earlier, but my family is there.
“You all are Academy students. You would be able to help the situation with your strength.”
No one spoke.
Brian grabbed Arthur’s hand.
“I… I’ll teleport you guys to the city. Please…”
“Stop it,” Sean spoke. “We aren’t strong enough to do anything in that place.
“Besides, you won’t be able to teleport us to Greenwood City in time—”
“What do you mean you aren’t strong enough!?”
Brian exploded.
“The demigods of the past era could do it! Why are you guys so weak!? Wh…Why…?”
Tears started to fall from his eyes.
“Why am I so weak?”
Brian wiped his tears.
His expression grew resolute.
“I apologize for trying to get you involved in something unrelated to you.”
The Divine Energy around him churned.
Just as he was about to teleport, Arthur opened his mouth.
“Wait, look at this.”
His words made others stare at the news.
They had ignored it after hearing the headline.
Arthur pointed at the falling Shadow Monsters.
“They are already dead. All of them.”
The news anchor shouted.
“What was that!? The Shadow monsters suddenly—
“Cameraman Kelvin, please show us the previous footage! We need to see what happened!”
The screen showed footage from minutes ago.
It had a slight red hue, as if a new filter had been added.
The filter was used to let the people see the Auras.
Hundreds of Shadow monsters were flying down.
Suddenly, bolts of red lightning crashed into them.
The attack killed any monster it touched.
A black-haired boy appeared in the sky.
He had jumped so high that he was hovering next to the flying monsters.
The monsters, recognizing him as the source of the red lightning, attacked.
The boy killed them with a single slash.
He used them as footholds and jumped toward the other Shadow monsters.
He continued to move from one monster to another, killing them swiftly before they reached the ground.
However, the monsters were too many.
They were slowly overwhelming him.
Just then, a monster’s attack hit the boy.
He fell from the sky and hit the ground.
The monsters, realizing it was their chance, dove towards the boy.
They circled him, slowly flying down, covering him like a cyclone.
And…
A chilling roar reverberated through the city.
Giant hands came out of the crack in the sky.
The hands grabbed the edge of the Window and pulled the Window apart, slowly widening the tear.
Before the monster could enlarge the crack, another powerful pressure erupted from the ground below.
The Shadow monsters circling the boy started to fall down, dead.
An unfathomable pressure surrounded the boy.
He had suddenly grown stronger.
Condensed red lightning circled his limbs like snakes.
The monster who was trying to widen the Window’s crack roared.
It realized something strong was on the other side of the Window and tried to hurry.
The boy raised his hand.
The red lightning condensed around his arm.
It formed an arrow.
The sheer force of the Aura Arrow distorted the air.
He released it.
The arrow shot through the air, releasing giant bolts of condensed red lightning, killing every Shadow Monster in the sky and flying into the Window.
The attack hit the giant monster on the other side.
The giant monster roared.
It withdrew its hand.
Its roar grew frenzied.
The monster had been angered.
Instead of waiting for it to attack, the boy jumped.
He used the falling monsters as foothold and entered the Window.
Before anyone could react, the Window closed behind the boy.