Beneath an Unknown Sky

...

Cold.

That was the first thing I felt.

Not the rough wooden floor of our classroom.

Not the warmth of the morning sun that had streamed through the windows just minutes ago.

Cold.

Cold, polished stone.

"...Ugh..."

A sharp pain pulsed through my head as I slowly opened my eyes. Everything was blurry. My vision refused to focus, while strange voices echoed around me.

"...Is everyone okay?!"

"...Where are we?!"

"...Somebody help him!"

The room felt... wrong.

Every voice echoed as if we had been dropped inside a giant hollow building. The sounds bounced off distant walls before returning to my ears a second later.

"..."

My vision slowly settled.

Dark.

Brown.

Gold.

I blinked once.

Then again.

"...What?"

I rubbed my eyes.

No...

I wasn't dreaming.

Our classroom...

was sitting in the middle of an enormous hall.

The same desks.

The same chairs.

The same school bags scattered across the floor.

Even the teacher's table had somehow come with us.

"...How..."

I slowly stood up, trying to ignore the headache.

Dark stone pillars stretched upward into a ceiling so high that I couldn't even make out where it ended. The walls were carved with symbols and murals I had never seen before.

Large windows lined both sides of the hall, allowing warm sunlight to spill across the polished floor.

It looked...

Ancient.

Elegant.

Almost like something from a medieval documentary.

Then I noticed the people surrounding us.

Rows of men stood perfectly still.

Some wore shining silver armor that looked far too detailed to be costumes.

Others wore long robes decorated with intricate golden patterns.

Each of them carried...

"...Fancy sticks?"

I frowned.

"No..."

"They probably have a proper name."

Still...

They looked like fancy sticks.

I scratched the back of my head.

"...Did we accidentally get transported onto a movie set?"

A ridiculous thought crossed my mind.

"...Is this Christopher Nolan's set?"

"If it is..."

"I wonder if I can meet him."

I quietly muttered to myself.

Someone behind me suddenly spoke.

"...Is this some cosplay event?"

"..."

I slowly turned my head.

"...That was exactly what I was thinking."

For a few seconds...

Everything almost made sense.

A movie set.

A historical drama.

An expensive cosplay event.

Anything...

Anything except...

What my eyes kept telling me.

The armor wasn't plastic.

The swords weren't foam.

The robes swayed naturally whenever a breeze drifted through the hall.

Even the air smelled different.

Fresh.

Clean.

There was a faint scent of incense mixed with old stone.

Nothing smelled artificial.

Then...

One of the elderly men wearing robes slowly raised his staff.

A small light appeared at its tip.

Another mage did the same.

Then another.

Within moments, dozens of floating lights illuminated the entire hall.

No wires.

No electricity.

Just...

Light.

"..."

"..."

"...Okay."

"...Definitely not cosplay."

Around me, everyone finally started reacting.

Some students stood up in confusion.

Some had already begun crying.

Others hurriedly searched their pockets.

"My phone!"

"No signal!"

"Mine too!"

"Try calling someone!"

"I am!"

"It isn't working!"

I pulled my phone out.

No signal.

No Wi-Fi.

No mobile data.

Nothing.

Only the battery icon cheerfully informed me that I still had eighty-two percent left.

"...Great."

As if that was somehow useful.

A sudden silence spread through the hall.

I looked up.

One man had stepped forward.

Unlike the others, his robe carried elaborate golden embroidery. The crystal fixed to the top of his staff shimmered with a faint blue glow.

Even before he spoke...

I could tell he was important.

He calmly looked across our classroom before opening his mouth.

"Welcome."

"..."

I froze.

"...Wait."

How...

How did I understand that?

It wasn't English.

It wasn't any language I had ever heard before.

Yet every word sounded...

Natural.

Almost...

As familiar as my own mother tongue.

I looked around.

Nobody seemed confused by what he had said.

Everyone understood him.

"..."

"...That's somehow even weirder."

The man placed his hand over his chest.

"I am Razel Stanford."

"Head Court Mage of the Great Dorad Empire."

"On behalf of His Majesty and the people of Dorad..."

"I welcome you."

He paused for a brief moment.

Though his expression remained composed...

There was something heavy behind his eyes.

Something that looked almost like guilt.

"You have been summoned to this world because humanity faces an insurmountable crisis."

"Our lands are under siege."

"The Eight Demon Kings have united and wage war upon mankind."

"Kingdoms have already fallen."

"Countless lives have been lost."

"Our Empire now stands as one of humanity's final strongholds."

He lowered his head slightly.

"Only heroes summoned from another world possess the strength to alter this fate."

For a heartbeat...

Nobody moved.

Then—

"...WHAT?!"

...

The grand hall descended into complete chaos.

"You kidnapped us!"

"Send us back!"

"We're not fighting your war!"

"I don't care if your world is ending!"

"You dragged us here without permission!"

One student picked up a chair and slammed it against the polished stone floor.

The crash echoed through the hall.

Another pointed directly at Razel.

"What kind of country kidnaps children?"

"So this is your idea of heroes?"

A girl had collapsed to her knees, crying uncontrollably.

"I want to go home..."

"I want my mom..."

"My dad..."

Beside her, another student desperately kept pressing the call button on his phone despite knowing there was no signal.

"No..."

"Come on..."

"Please..."

"It has to work..."

Others began shouting over one another.

"This whole thing is fake!"

"You people are insane!"

"You expect us to die for strangers?"

"Who do you think you are?!"

Even the soldiers lining the walls exchanged uneasy glances.

The hall that had once been silent now felt more like a marketplace.

No...

Even a marketplace would have been quieter.

Razel remained silent.

One second.

Five.

Ten.

His expression never changed.

Yet...

I noticed something.

The hand holding his staff...

tightened.

His knuckles slowly turned white.

One of the students stepped closer.

"If you're really so desperate..."

"Fight your own damn war!"

The words echoed across the hall.

For the first time...

Razel closed his eyes.

A long breath escaped his lips.

When he opened them again...

The kindness in them had disappeared.

Without saying a single word...

He raised his staff.

A crimson magic circle unfolded beneath its tip.

It rotated slowly.

Layer upon layer of glowing symbols appeared within it.

The temperature inside the hall instantly began to rise.

"..."

Nobody spoke.

A small flame appeared.

It grew larger.

Then larger again.

Until a blazing sphere nearly the size of a carriage floated before him.

The heat alone forced everyone to step backward.

I could feel my skin drying from several meters away.

"...Magic..."

Someone whispered.

Razel extended his staff toward an empty section of the hall.

The fireball shot forward.

BOOOOOOM!!

The explosion shook the entire grand hall.

A deafening roar swallowed every voice.

The stone wall shattered instantly.

Chunks of rock flew across the chamber.

Dust filled the air.

Sunlight burst through the newly opened hole.

A powerful gust of wind rushed inside.

The smell of burning stone lingered in the air.

Complete silence followed.

Not a single student dared to speak.

Even the soldiers looked startled.

Razel slowly lowered his staff.

His voice remained calm.

"...Have I earned your attention now?"

No one answered.

Not because we had accepted his words.

Because...

For the first time...

I could only think one thing.

...

Whatever this place was...

It definitely wasn't Earth.

"...Everyone."

A familiar voice broke the silence.

Angelica stepped forward.

Her face was pale.

But her eyes remained steady.

She stood between Razel and the rest of the class.

Not as a shield.

Not as an opponent.

As someone trying to stop everything from getting worse.

She turned first toward us.

"I know everyone's scared."

"So am I."

"But screaming at each other isn't going to solve anything."

Nobody interrupted.

She continued.

"If what they've said is true..."

"Then they're the only people who know how to send us back."

She finally faced Razel.

"I'll speak on behalf of my classmates."

Razel gave a slight nod.

"You have my attention."

Angelica took a slow breath.

"If we're expected to cooperate..."

"There must be trust."

"And trust begins with conditions."

She raised one finger.

"First."

"No one from our class will be harmed by the Empire."

A second finger.

"Second."

"No one will be imprisoned or forced to remain here by violence."

A third.

"Third."

"No one will be forced to fight against their will."

She paused.

"And finally..."

"We deserve the truth."

"No lies."

"No half answers."

"If you expect us to place our lives in your hands..."

"Then we need a reason to trust yours."

The hall became silent once more.

Razel looked at her for several long seconds.

Almost...

As if judging whether she truly possessed the qualities of a hero.

Finally...

He placed his right hand over his chest.

"I..."

"Razel Stanford."

"Head Court Mage of the Great Dorad Empire."

"Accept every one of your conditions."

A wave of relief spread through the classroom.

It wasn't complete trust.

But...

It was enough to stop the panic.

Razel turned toward the massive doors at the end of the hall.

With a gesture of his hand, they slowly opened.

Beyond them...

A city unlike anything I had ever seen stretched into the distance.

Stone roads.

Horse-drawn carriages.

Towering walls.

People dressed in clothes straight out of a history book.

Every one of them had stopped what they were doing.

They were watching us.

Watching...

The summoned heroes.

Razel looked back at us.

"The Cathedral of Saintess anima awaits."

"The Goddess's Rite will confirm the Oracle's choice."

"Afterwards..."

"I shall answer every question you possess."

He stepped aside.

"Please."

"Follow me."

No one moved immediately.

Then...

One student.

Another.

Soon the entire class began walking.

I glanced one last time at the hole Razel's magic had carved through solid stone.

The edges still glowed red from the heat.

A single thought echoed inside my head.

...

"Whatever this world was...

It was far beyond anything humanity on Earth could ever explain."