Special Chapter: Rias

“Wonder what your brother and Elaris are up to,” Orrin muttered as we crossed back through the woods. The gravel crunched under our boots as Geri’s soft panting filled the quiet between us.

Toren gave a dry chuckle. “Probably kissing. That’s how this kind of thing goes, right?”

I rolled my eyes. “They’re not like that.”

But the truth was… they kind of were.

Not in the way people expected. Not yet.

But something between them had changed.

Arthur—my Arthur—wasn’t the same boy who once came home with frostbite and blood on his hands, pretending it didn’t hurt. He wasn’t the same brother who used to sit in silence, convinced he didn’t deserve peace.

He still carried those memories. I felt them in the tension of his voice when the past came up.

But lately… when Elaris was near… something softened.

He laughed more.

He teased more.

He spoke like someone who remembered what warmth felt like.

Like someone who finally believed he had a future.

I didn’t need eyes to see it.

I could feel it in the way he walked. In the shape of his aura when he stood beside her. It was steadier. Fuller. Brighter.

He was still broken. Still healing. But now… he wasn’t doing it alone.

“Wouldn’t be surprised if he told her everything by now,” I murmured.

“Huh?” Seraphine asked, glancing back.

“Nothing.”

We reached the clearing behind the school dorms. The familiar hum of the academy’s mana barrier buzzed faintly in my ears. Geri brushed her side against my leg, a small nudge—reminding me we were safe now. I ran my hand along her thick fur and smiled.

Then—

A pulse. A roar.

A beam of mana ripped across the sky.

Red. Blazing. Furious.

I felt it before I saw it—a blast of power screaming through the night like it wanted to split the heavens.

The color burned across my senses, not just as light but as presence. Fire-element mana—concentrated and violent, arcing like a dragon’s breath across the floating island we had just left.

It wasn’t some training spell.

This was an attack.

My breath caught in my throat.

“Arthur…”

Everyone stopped. Geri growled low beside me. Even Seraphine’s easy confidence dropped into stunned silence.

Marza was the first to speak. “That came from the southern ridge. From where we left them.”

“We have to go back,” Caelan said, already turning.

“No,” I snapped. “Not alone. We need the professors.”

Orrin’s tone was already shifting into battle-readiness. “Come on. Teachers’ dorm’s closer than the front gate.”

Without waiting, we turned and sprinted, the fire-red afterimage still burned into my mind.

I didn’t know what Arthur had just faced…

But I knew one thing for sure.

Something wanted him dead.

And it had just made a mistake.