Chapter 4: The Monster Beneath the Sakura Tree

The Riftborn Academy Tokyo was nothing like the schools Kohaku remembered from his ancient world.
Crowded hallways.
Flashing screens.
Students laughing loudly over trivial things.

He walked through the corridor trying to act “normal,” though he had absolutely no idea what normal even meant in this age.

A pair of girls whispered loudly as he passed.

“He’s so handsome!”
“Did you see his eyes? They look unreal!”

Kohaku kept walking, stiff like a soldier who’d been thrown into a festival he didn’t understand.

This era is too noisy… and too bright.

He sighed.

What he truly wanted was a quiet corner to gather his thoughts—but peace never lasted long for him.

“Nagumo-san! This way.”

Miyuki waved from beneath a sakura tree.
Her hair shimmered in the morning sunlight, white as snow and soft as silk.

Kohaku walked toward her, still thinking.

Seraphina’s aura… It’s faint but unmistakable. She doesn’t remember. Not yet.

He sat next to her, trying to blend in. But even here, students stared at him from afar.

Miyuki giggled softly.

“Um… don’t worry about them. They just like new people.”

Kohaku rubbed the back of his neck.

“It’s… strange. This world. Everything is different. Loud. Confusing.”

“It’s scary at first,” Miyuki admitted. “But… you get used to it. Eventually.”

Kohaku didn’t respond.

Because something else caught his attention—

A shift in the air.

A faint ripple.

A distortion in mana that no one else could detect.

His expression sharpened.

A portal…? No, impossible. Not in a place like this.

Miyuki noticed his change in posture.

“Nagumo-san? Is something wrong—”

A scream tore across the courtyard.

Students scattered as a crackling tear formed in the center of the school garden—
purple light leaking from its jagged edges.

A rift.

“W-what is that!?”

“Run! Monster! MONSTER!”

From the rift crawled a small, twisted beast—its skin like stone, its jaw lined with crooked teeth. A Riftling—small but vicious.

Kohaku stood immediately.

“Miyuki. Stay behind me.”

She froze.

Then several more creatures slithered out of the portal—
six, then eight, then ten.

Students panicked and fled.

Kohaku stepped forward—

But something tugged at his sleeve.

Miyuki.

Her red eyes trembled.

“I-I can help too… I don’t want to run away anymore.”

He hesitated.

Then nodded.

“Then stay close.”

The Riftlings lunged.

Kohaku vanished from Miyuki’s sight—reappearing behind one creature and crushing its skull with a single strike.

But the others rushed toward the students.

Miyuki stretched her hands forward, fear burning in her throat.

“S-stop… please stop…!”

A Riftling leaped at her—

And at that moment—

Her eyes widened.

Something inside her snapped open.

A warmth.
A memory.
A voice she didn’t recognize yet felt she’d known forever.

“Light is not a gift. It is a choice.”

A burst of white-blue radiance exploded from her palms, forming a barrier around her and several scattering students.

The Riftling slammed into it—
and disintegrated into dust.

Gasps echoed.

Miyuki stared at her glowing hands.

“I… I didn’t know I could… do that…”

Kohaku’s eyes widened in recognition.

Seraphina… your power is awakening.

But more Riftlings poured out. The barrier flickered—Miyuki wasn’t strong enough to maintain it.

Kohaku darted forward, slicing through the pack of monsters with breathtaking speed.

One final Riftling hissed, preparing to leap at Miyuki.

Kohaku grabbed it by the head—

And crushed it.

Silence fell.

Students stared at him in shock.

Miyuki trembled as her barrier faded.

“Nagumo-san… what was that? Why do I feel… like this power isn’t mine?”

Kohaku didn’t answer.

He couldn’t.

Because he felt the mana surge beneath the academy grounds.
Something much bigger was coming.

He grabbed Miyuki’s shoulders.

“This is only the beginning. Don’t leave my side from now on. Understand?”

She nodded slowly.

The rift closed with a violent snap.

But the academy courtyard was left in ruins.

Raiden Ainzwellestein stood beside his desk, staring at the emergency alert appearing on his tablet.

A red symbol flashed:

RIFT ANOMALY DETECTED – CATEGORY UNKNOWN
ESTIMATED ORIGIN: BIG WAVE SIGNATURE

His hand trembled.

“Impossible… This early? No… Not now…”

He took a slow breath, gripping the edge of his desk.

This was no small incident.

This was the beginning.

The first tremor of what Caelus had feared.

Raiden exhaled shakily.

“The Big Wave… is coming.”

The window shattered behind him as lightning cracked across the sky.