Chapter 82: The Abyssal Gate Opens

The battle was over—
but the world refused to rest.

At the heart of Tokyo, beneath the ruins of the academy, the earth shook again.
An ancient seal fractured, glowing crimson beneath the streets.
From within that abyss, a sound rose — a heartbeat, slow but colossal.
The Abyssal Gate was awakening.

Morning light filtered through dust-filled windows of the academy’s infirmary.
Kanata sat silently beside Lilith’s bed. Her amethyst eyes were open again, filled with something new—
not hatred, but grief.

“You should rest,” he said quietly.
“You won.”

Lilith laughed weakly.
“If victory means surviving, then maybe I lost a long time ago.”

He looked away, watching the sunlight creep across the floor.
“Caine would’ve told you to keep living.”

She smiled faintly.
“You sound just like him.”

Outside, the students were rebuilding training dummies and repairing the grounds where so many had fallen.
For the first time in years, the Academy felt alive again.
Peaceful.
Too peaceful.

That peace lasted only hours.

Aine’s urgent voice cut through the radio channel.
“Kanata! Get to the surface now! Mana surges detected under District Zero—it's not a residual quake!”

Kanata was already moving.
He burst through the courtyard doors, his senses burning with pressure from below.
The air smelled like ozone and blood.

Celestine and Itsuha were waiting at the entrance.
Rinko and Elyana stood behind them, faces pale but resolute.

“The Gate…” Celestine whispered. “It’s reacting to your arm.”

Kanata looked down.
Blue-black veins glowed through his skin like a constellation.
The Right Hand of Oblivion was pulsing—answering something ancient beneath the city.

“Then we end this now.”

He stepped forward, but Lilith appeared at his side, her robe fluttering in the heat.
“You can’t close that gate alone.”

“You owe me nothing.”

“I owe my brother everything,” she replied softly. “And he believed in you.”

The descent felt endless.
Each step deeper made the air colder, heavier.
Runes of ancient civilizations glowed along the walls—sigils from the era of the First Magus.

At the bottom, they found it.

A massive door of obsidian and gold, spanning the entire underground chamber.
Chains of light wrapped around it, cracking under pressure.
From the fissures, black mist poured out like smoke from a bleeding star.

“The Abyssal Gate…” Celestine breathed. “The source of every curse and miracle in our world.”

Itsuha drew her blade.
“Then let’s seal it again!”

But Kanata didn’t move.
He heard a voice from the depths—familiar, gentle, terrifying.

“My son…”

He froze.
It was Obsidian—the Black Dragon.
His father.

“You’ve come far,” the voice rumbled. “But the Gate cannot be sealed by force. Only by sacrifice.”

Kanata’s heart stopped.
“Then tell me how.”

“The curse that feeds on your magic… was born from this Gate. Return it. Give back what was never meant to exist.”

Lilith grabbed his arm.
“Don’t even think about it! If you return that power, you’ll—”

“Disappear,” he finished quietly. “I know.”

Elyana shook her head, tears streaming.
“Sensei, you can’t! You promised we’d travel the world again!”

He knelt and smiled, resting a hand on her head.
“Then live for me, Elyana. See the world I can’t.”

Celestine turned away, fighting to speak.
“You always shoulder everything alone…”

“Not this time.” Lilith stepped forward, her eyes resolute.
“If the curse was born from us, then we end it together.”

Kanata looked at her—really looked—then nodded.

“Let’s close it.”

The Gate screamed as its chains broke.
A pillar of light shot into the sky, splitting Tokyo open.
Reality bent—time and space folding over each other.

From within the Gate, shadows poured out like a tidal wave.
Faces, voices, memories — every soul that had ever been consumed by magic.

Kanata and Lilith stood at the center of the storm, their hands clasped.
The Cursed Dragon Arm and the Null Sigil merged, their light piercing the dark.

“Right Hand of Oblivion — Final Command: Requiem Gate!”

The explosion was silent.

Every color collapsed into white.

When the light returned, the Gate was gone.
Only a crater remained, filled with calm blue light.

Celestine, Aine, and Itsuha stood on the edge, their faces wet with tears.

Elyana stumbled forward, calling into the light.
“Sensei! Kanata-sensei!”

But only the wind answered.

Above the city, a dragon-shaped constellation formed for a moment—
blue and gold, spanning the night sky.

Aine saluted.
“Rest well, founder. We’ll keep your world safe.”

Celestine placed a hand on her heart.
“And we’ll make sure no one forgets your name.”

The Academy thrived again.
New students filled its halls, and peace returned to Tokyo.
At the center of the garden stood a statue—
a young man with a bandaged right hand, smiling softly at the sky.

A small girl with silver-blue hair placed flowers at its base.

“You still watching us, Sensei?”

The wind brushed her cheek—warm, gentle.
For a moment, she swore she heard his voice.

“Always.”

The dragon-constellation shone once more, then slowly faded into the stars.

“Even if the world forgets my name…
as long as they smile, that’s enough.”

— Tendou Kanata