Jennifer's Room — Jardin Paisible, Evening.
Jennifer sat at her desk, buried under a different kind of pressure.
The rule book for 'Doyen National Academy' lay spread before her—hundreds of pages detailing entrance requirements, curriculum standards, and admissions criteria. She was meticulously planning a study routine for Amili and Armin, but her heart was heavy.
Is this curriculum too harsh for them? she wondered, resting her head on the desk. Can they even manage this level of academic rigour?
But the coursework wasn't her greatest obstacle.
The law was.
To admit the children to such a prestigious academy, they needed proper parents—a legally married couple. In the eyes of Penraven law, Amili and Armin were still just orphans under the care of unmarried guardians.
An idea flickered in her mind, desperate and wild:
What if I arrange a marriage between Johan and Emma? I could register them as their legal parents.
She jerked her head up, a look of sudden horror crossing her face.
No, no, no! That's insane. I can't drag Johan into this. Emma is... Emma.
She looked back at the papers, frustration building.
Amili and Armin are so talented. They've been preparing for this moment for so long. I can't let them down, but the path forward seems impossible.
The tension coiled tighter in her chest.
But I can't force Johan to marry someone he doesn't love, she thought, her grip tightening on the edge of the desk. This is his life. His choice. Not mine to make.
Caught in this impossible dilemma, Jennifer stood and walked to the window.
The quiet street below was bathed in the orange glow of streetlights flickering to life one by one along the road. The evening air was still, peaceful.
Then a solitary figure caught her eye.
Eloise.
He was walking down the street with a strange, hurried purpose—his silhouette passing through pools of lamplight, his movements tense and focused.
Jennifer's face clouded with worry as she watched him disappear into the shadows between streetlights.
Eloise... where is he going at night?
Without a second thought, she abandoned her desk and ran toward the stairs.
Johan, reading in the sitting room, looked up at her frantic pace. "Hey, where are you going?"
"I'll be back soon!" she shouted over her shoulder.
She grabbed her jacket, threw it on, and bolted out the door.
Eloise was walking steadily when a voice shattered the silence behind him.
"Eloise!"
He spun around, surprised. "Jennifer? What are you doing out here at night?"
"That should be my question," she countered, her breath hitching from running to catch up with him.
Eloise's expression tightened. "Jennifer, go home. Now. I can't explain the situation right now."
"What happened? Tell me." Her worry deepened as she saw the grim look in his eyes.
Eloise hesitated, weighing the risk of telling her. Finally, he sighed.
"I don't know exactly what kind of emergency has arisen, but my mana communication sphere turned red."
"What does that mean?"
"It means a war-level situation has developed," he said darkly. "I'm going to the Order's Headquarters."
"N-no, it can be a normal mission, right. I'm coming with you." Jennifer's voice trembled.
"Jennifer, the situation is too dangerous. If I don't go, they'll insist my father go instead, and I don't want him in danger." He looked at her with sudden, tragic softness.
The weight of his words hit Jennifer like a physical blow.
Overcome with emotion, she surged forward and hugged him from behind, her arms locking around him to hold him back.
"No, no, please! You can't go alone. I'm coming with you!"
"Please stay here and take care of your family," Eloise said gently but firmly, trying to loosen her grip. "You're not an Order member anymore. This isn't your burden."
"I just rejoined the Order," Jennifer said, stepping back to meet his gaze with unyielding resolve.
Eloise grabbed her shoulders, his eyes wide with shock. "Jennifer, please—why are you risking your life? What about Johan? What about Joseph and all the children?"
Jennifer took a moment. The faces of her family flashed through her mind.
But her answer didn't waver.
"To save Johan, I have to do this. If I don't go, Johan will sacrifice himself for the Order. To protect him, I can do anything. I'm always ready to save him."
Eloise felt the depth of her words. He understood that shared motive—the desperate, bone-deep need to shield those you love.
A soft, pained smile touched his lips. He reached out, his hand gently brushing her hair.
"Just don't die, my love," he whispered.
Jennifer held his hand, grounding herself in his touch.
Together, they turned to begin the journey toward headquarters.
But they didn't get far.
Suddenly, the air in front of them warped. A shimmering portal tore through the darkness.
An officer stepped through the rift, his face grim and covered in soot. Blood stained his uniform. He looked at the two mages with desperation.
"We need your help," he gasped. "The situation has escalated beyond containment."
Jennifer and Eloise exchanged one last look—a silent acknowledgement that there was no turning back now.
They stepped through the portal.
New World Order Headquarters, Barniglos City Branch.
The Headquarters, once a symbol of unshakeable power and architectural grandeur, had been transformed into a hellscape of smoke and screams.
The main building was shattered. Massive pillars that had stood for centuries were now jagged teeth biting into a sky choked with ash. Officers in torn, bloodied uniforms huddled behind broken walls and overturned stone tables, desperately seeking cover as the ground trembled beneath them.
The entire sector had become a graveyard.
In the centre of the courtyard stood a single man.
He moved with terrifying, rhythmic grace. Each gesture of his hands unleashed a roar of blinding heat and kinetic force.
This was Jecob—a high-ranking member of the Diaftis Order. He possessed the power of Ekrixi, the ancient, volatile mana of explosions. He was a person who attacked the Barniglos City Headquarters.
Waves of fire and force emanated from his palms, turning everything he touched into shrapnel. Just one person was causing this level of destruction—fire pouring from his hands like a river of lava.
To the cowering officers, it looked as if the sun itself had descended to walk among them, burning away hope with every step.
Behind a crumbling barricade, an older officer gripped his bleeding side. His eyes held a mixture of courage and acceptance of death.
"I'm going to create a distraction," he wheezed to his younger subordinates. "As soon as I attack, you all run. Don't look back."
"Don't go out there!" a younger mage cried, reaching for his cloak.
But the officer had already made his choice.
He lunged out from cover, his boots crunching on broken glass. He raised his hand, preparing to snap his fingers and release his mana.
He never got the chance.
Jecob casually snapped his fingers and pointed two fingers like a gun at the charging officer.
A concentrated beam of light shot from his fingertips.
BZZT.
The beam struck the officer's head directly.
He collapsed instantly, his body skidding across the debris. His face was a charred ruin, still burning with the intensity of the attack.
The remaining officers watched in paralysed horror, trembling as they stared at their fallen leader.
The realisation settled over them like a cold shroud: they were outmatched. They were trapped.
All hope of survival began to bleed away into the smoke-filled air.
Among the fallen bodies, Richard stirred.
He'd been unconscious, knocked out by an earlier explosion. Now he woke to see the chaos around him—the burning ruins, the dead officers, the monster in the centre causing it all.
"What the fuck was that?" he muttered, forcing himself to his feet. He looked at the corpse. It was the officers who worked under him. He checked the others to see if anyone was still alive.
They had family, parents, and children who were waiting for them at home.
Richard's fear intensified as time went on. He was searching for Kaeli.
The Kaeli Household — Same Evening.
The dining room was a testament to old-world elegance—a vast space that felt more like a royal banquet hall than a family home. Crystal chandeliers cast warm, shimmering light over the long mahogany table.
Kaeli sat furiously stabbing at her dinner.
Across from her, her parents and two elder sisters ate with practised, aristocratic calm that only made Kaeli's blood boil hotter.
Her father eventually set his silver fork down, watching her with a furrowed brow. "Calm down. Why are you angrier than when you left this morning?"
"I just got promoted to Tier 2," Kaeli snapped, her voice sharp. "But that idiot Richard—that psycho pervert—took me on a mission to fight a Dark Lord Vessel!"
The rhythmic sound of silverware hitting china stopped instantly.
Her sisters froze, eyes widening in genuine shock.
"What?!" Her father stood so abruptly his chair scraped harshly against the marble floor. "You're Tier 2, and you fought a Vessel of the Dark Lord? That's madness!"
In contrast to his outburst, Kaeli's mother—Kina—remained perfectly composed, taking a slow sip of her wine.
"Why not?" she asked coolly. "She is my daughter, after all."
"No! That is NOT okay!" her father roared, gesturing wildly. "It doesn't matter whose daughter she is—she's being sent to her death! She's too young for such dangerous missions!"
Unable to listen to another word, Kaeli shoved her plate away. Her chair screeched as she stood.
She retreated to her room without a word, the heavy door thudding shut behind her.
She threw herself onto her bed, staring at the ceiling.
The house was quiet, but her mind was a battlefield. Despite the late hour, sleep remained impossible. She lay there with eyes wide open, listening to muffled voices drifting through the vents from the hallway.
"She has to quit the Order," her father's voice was strained, thick with worry. "I know she's carrying your legacy, but she's risking her life far too much. She's a child playing with fire!"
"I know the risks," her mother replied, her tone unyielding. "But it's her destiny. You cannot hide a lion in a birdcage forever."
"I don't want to hear it! She's too young for this burden!"
"Fine. I'll talk with Richard," her mother said with cold finality.
In her room, Kaeli rolled onto her side, pulling the covers tight.
Even here, I can't escape it, she thought bitterly.
Driven by restless energy she couldn't name, she sat up. She didn't hesitate.
She threw on her officer uniform and manifested a portal to headquarters.
But when she stepped through the shimmering rift, she didn't find the quiet halls she expected.
She found a battlefield.
Destroyed buildings. Corpses of dead officers. Fire everywhere.
Kaeli stumbled out of the portal, realising she'd emerged directly behind the man causing the chaos.
The sight that met her eyes was staggering. The building she'd walked through just that morning was unrecognisable. Smoke billowed from every crevice. The air tasted of ozone and burnt flesh.
"What... what happened?" she whispered.
Her gaze fell on the officer collapsed in the dirt—the one who'd just been killed.
Jecob slowly turned around.
His eyes were cold, reflecting the orange glow of the burning ruins.
"Who are you?" Kaeli demanded, her hand instinctively going to her weapon, though her heart hammered against her ribs.
Jecob didn't waste time with introductions. He raised his hand, pointing a single steady finger directly at her forehead. The air around his fingertip began to distort with lethal heat.
"Your death," Jecob replied simply.
Just as the air around his finger began to ignite, a flash of silver light tore through the smoke.
Richard materialised with a roar, his Illumina Sword whistling through the air.
SLASH.
In one fluid motion, he sliced through Jecob's extended hand.
Blood sprayed onto the scorched earth. Jecob let out a guttural howl—not of pain, but of surprise.
"Back off, Kaeli!" Richard shouted.
Jecob didn't retreat.
Instead, he channelled his Ekrixi mana inward, triggering a massive explosion centred on his own body.
BOOM.
The blast was gargantuan—a shockwave of fire and kinetic force that levelled the remaining pillars. The impact caught Kaeli and Richard squarely, throwing them like ragdolls across the courtyard.
They slammed into the jagged remains of a broken wall.
The breath was knocked from Kaeli's lungs. Her vision swam as blood trickled from a gash on her temple.
"Don't... get up..." Richard wheezed, his armour cracked and glowing with residual heat.
But Kaeli, driven by her mother's legacy and her father's fears, forced herself to stand.
She raised her hand to strike back.
Before she could manifest even a spark of mana, a sharp beam of yellow light struck her from above.
A second figure descended from the shadows—Paul, another elite member of the Diaftis Order.
He lunged forward, grabbed Kaeli by the hair, and slammed her head into the stone-hard ground.
CRACK.
"Be fast, or you'll be slain by predators," Paul sneered. "The weak have no place in this new world."
He increased the pressure, his boot hovering over her neck as if to crush her skull.
"Hey! Stop! Leave her!" Richard yelled, struggling to his feet while leaning on his sword for support.
Paul paused, his gaze shifting to Richard. A cruel smile touched his lips.
"Don't kill her," Richard commanded, his voice shaking with effort. "She's just a child."
From the heart of the dying flames, Jecob stepped forward.
He was no longer clutching his stump. In place of his severed hand, a limb of pure glowing mana had formed—a hand of fire that pulsed with volcanic intensity.
His face was contorted in a mask of pure fury.
Without a word, he raised his new fire-hand and hurled a concentrated mana sphere directly at Richard.
The projectile screamed through the air, trailing scorched ozone.
Just as the sphere was about to impact, a voice like a thunderclap ripped through the roar of fire:
"ATTACK!"
The space around the courtyard fractured.
Dozens—then hundreds—of portals tore open simultaneously, illuminating the ruins in chaotic strobes of light.
Hundreds of Order members charged through the rifts, weapons drawn, mana surging.
High above the carnage, a figure descended from the sky.
Eloise hovered in the air, his silhouette framed against the moon.
Massive, leathery bat wings sprouted from his back, unfurling to their full, terrifying span. As he moved, he blocked the moonlight, casting a gargantuan shadow over the surface.
This was his true form.
This was the Lunar Shadow.
Jecob and Paul looked up, their expressions shifting from triumph to sudden, sharp apprehension.
The tide of war had turned in an instant.
The reinforcements had arrived.
And their leader was a nightmare in flight.