CHAPTER 33: The Thirty-ThirdFracture

The blond troublemaker scoffed, turned, and strode out of the cafeteria. His footsteps echoed sharply, fading only when the door slammed shut behind him.

Silence stretched—not from fear, but because he was still there.

Karna.

His presence hadn’t dimmed; if anything, it grew heavier by the second. The air thickened, as if bracing for a second explosion that never came.

He didn’t move. Didn’t speak.

Just stood—arms loose by his sides, golden artifacts hovering behind him like divine sentinels.

Then, slowly, he tilted his head toward me.

“You handled that well,” he said, voice unreadable. “But you took the bait too easily.”

I held his gaze. “And you show up like a god and expect me not to react? My history with gods isn’t exactly… great.”

He let out a short, low laugh.

“I’m no god. Just someone who stops kids from burning their futures before the match even starts.”

He turned toward the exit.

I raised my voice, cutting through the thick silence.

“Who are you?”

He paused, just enough for me to catch his left eye over his shoulder.

“Karna,” he said. “Son of the Sun God.”

And then he left.

The door shut behind him with a soft thud—somehow louder than it should have been.

For a long moment, no one spoke. Then whispers crept back like static after a blackout. Chairs scraped. Forks clinked. A shaky breath escaped from the back wall.

I was still standing.

Alric was the first to break the silence, sitting down with arms crossed. “Well. That answers the question you had earlier.”

I blinked. “What question?”

He gave me a look like I’d missed something obvious. “You asked who the strongest student at the academy was.”

Slowly, I sat. “That was him? Karna?”

Alric nodded. “The top student. The one who was supposed to be gone already. Looks like he’s back early.”

I nearly shouted, “THAT STUDENT LOOKS LIKE A DEITY! DID YOU SEE THE TWO GLOWING ARTIFACTS ON HIS BACK?! WHO ELSE HERE HAS THAT?! EVERYONE ELSE LOOKS NORMAL COMPARED TO HIM!”

Saaya chuckled at my outburst.

“Man, makes me wonder—if Karna’s like that, who the hell is Avalon?”

Alric glanced at me. “Sukara, think about it. Why is he here? If you ask me, it’s painfully obvious.”

I looked at Saaya. She nodded.

“Guess that makes him our fourth ally for the inter-academy brawl.”

Far away, in the quiet depths of the academy, a sudden flare ignited—a burst of blazing flames erupting from thin air. The air shimmered with heat as flickering fire swirled and coiled, twisting like a living inferno.

From the heart of the blaze, Karna emerged, stepping forward calmly through the burning veil. The golden artifacts on his back glowed brighter, their light reflecting in the dancing flames.

Principal Lyra barely blinked as the fire died away, revealing Karna standing in the center of her office.

She smiled. “I’m glad you came.”

Karna returned the smile, his eyes calm but burning with quiet focus.

Lyra tilted her head. “Don’t get me wrong—I’m happy you’re here. But I didn’t expect you to actually come back to the school.”

Karna sat down. “When you said there was a science user who entered the Hidden Fractal, I couldn’t help but be curious. I saw a glimpse of his power. It intrigued me. I want to see how he fights.”

Lyra smiled faintly. “So does this mean you’ll be the fourth member for the inter-academy brawl?”

Karna leaned back slightly. “Do you really need to ask? I’m curious about Sukara, sure. But I can’t let another school try to humiliate this one just because we have a science user. That’s not right—and you don’t deserve that hate.

Besides, if Sukara’s here, who knows what the other academies might send next? I’m all for having a science user at our school. Even if science is a lost art, or close to it… it still fascinates me.”

Lyra turned to look out the window.

“Well, thank you. They were struggling to get a fourth member. They even went looking for Avalon. Heard a rumor she was nearby and tried to recruit her.”

Karna let out a mighty laugh.

“Avalon? There’s no way she’d show up here for this.”

Lyra sighed.

“I wonder how she’s doing. I hope she’s okay.”

Just outside the academy gates, a woman stepped onto the stone path.

She was around 5’6”, with long blue hair tied into a side ponytail. Her presence felt like a calm pressure against the atmosphere—controlled, deliberate, dangerous.

She wore a form-fitting corset-bodice, built like an armored shell of magical origin, covered in shifting hexagonal fractal patterns that shimmered with every movement.

The neckline rose into a regal, crystalweave high collar, shaped like broken glass reassembling itself—hovering just off her skin like it rejected reality itself.

Long, semi-transparent sleeves drifted past her hands, lined with ancient Scalar glyphs—visible only when she moved or summoned power.

Her skirt flowed in layered shards of crystalline-blue fabric, weightless and in constant motion, as though suspended in zero gravity. Along the hem glowed subtle runes and looping geometric seals, pulsing faintly with her presence.

Above her head hovered a crown of broken glass and starlight, not worn but suspended by pure magic.

Blue crystal bangles and a silver choker adorned her neck and wrists, while floating hex-rings drifted near her ankles—amplifiers waiting to activate.

She stepped forward, obsidian-glass heels clicking softly on the stone, the runes on her boots glowing with quiet intent.

A weapon hovered beside her—a shifting staff-spear, flickering between forms, echoing her control over both elegance and destruction.

The mysterious blue-haired woman let out a breath.

Heavy. Cold. Focused.

And then, without a word, Avalon walked into the academy