Back in school, the day had started just like any other. The students sat drowsily at their desks, lazily scribbling notes from the blackboard. Teachers, with half-sleepy eyes and monotonous voices, dragged through their lessons, barely keeping the class awake.
The ceiling fans hummed above, the scent of new paint still faintly lingering in the corridors.
Just then,
PUFFF!!
CRACK!
A loud, splitting noise echoed through the air as an invisible force seemed to slam down on the entire building. The windows shattered violently with a high-pitched screech, shards flying across classrooms. The newly painted walls trembled before bursting into sudden flames, the fire licking up from the corners like a snake unleashed from its cage.
Everything went still for a heartbeat.
Then chaos erupted.
"F-Fire!!"
"Run! Get out! The building's on fire!"
"My bag! My notes are inside!"
Students jumped to their feet, chairs screeching and toppling over. Screams echoed down the corridors. The flames spread rapidly, crawling along the walls as though they had a mind of their own. The dry wooden furniture caught first—desks, chairs, and even cupboards, combusting one by one.
Staff members rushed into the hallways, trying to maintain order as panic swept through the crowd.
"This way! Don't push—stay together!"
"Move fast! Don't look back!"
Some teachers grabbed fire extinguishers from the walls and sprayed furiously at the growing inferno.
PUFFFF!
Thick white clouds of extinguishing foam hissed, but the fire didn't die down. It roared louder, spreading faster as if mocking their efforts.
The flames danced upward, curling along the ceiling and exploding from light fixtures, as wooden doors cracked and splintered under the pressure.
"EVERYONE, GET TO THE GROUND FLOOR NOW!!"
The P.E.T. teacher's voice roared over the noise as he pushed students toward the stairwell. His face was red from the heat, sweat dripping from his forehead as he shoved open-classroom doors and yanked back frozen children.
The fire spread violently, classroom after classroom being consumed in mere seconds.
One student, his face streaked with sweat and soot, finally reached the ground floor and spotted the exit ahead.
"There! I can see it! We're almost—"
PUFFF!!
Before he could finish, a pillar of fire exploded outward from the exit like a massive flamethrower. The intense heat knocked him backwards as flames engulfed his arms and shirt. He fell, screaming, rolling on the floor, trying to smother the fire with his own body.
Several students screamed in horror, tripping over one another as they backed away from the burning doorway. The corridor was filled with black smoke, and the fire alarm shrieked uselessly over the chaos.
The P.E.T. teacher arrived on the ground floor seconds later, having cleared the upper floors. But what he saw made his blood run cold. The main exit was blocked by a wall of flames.
"What the hell?! The door—"
He clenched his jaw and turned around.
"Use the other side! Come on, follow me!"
A staff member appeared from the corridor to the east, panting heavily, waving his arms.
"This side's clear! Move! Quickly, this way!"
He turned to run, trying to be the first out.
PUFFF!!
Without warning, flames erupted from that exit as well. The fire whooshed outward like a dragon's breath, knocking the staff backwards through the air. He hit the ground with a sickening thud.
"KYAAAA!!"
"NOOOO!!"
"WE'RE TRAPPED!!"
"CALL THE FIRE DEPARTMENT!!"
"I DON'T HAVE SIGNAL! MY PHONE'S DEAD!!"
The air filled with screams, smoke, and the smell of burning wood and plastic. Some students were crying, coughing violently. A few fainted on the spot. Others dropped to their knees, retching from the smoke and heat.
Raphael stumbled forward, her arms streaked with ash and fresh burns. She turned left and right, panic rising in her chest.
"LEO!! LEO! WHERE ARE YOU?!"
Her voice cracked as she called out, scanning every terrified face in the crowd.
He wasn't there.
She spun around in circles, her heart pounding harder than ever before.
Where did he go?
What if he was still upstairs? What if he was trapped?
She gritted her teeth, her eyes wide with fear.
"LEO!! ANSWER ME!!"
"SENIOR LEO!!"
Another scream rang out—Sakura's voice.
Sakura stumbled through the crowd with fresh burns on her arm and shoulder, followed closely by Luna, whose uniform was half-charred, her skin red from heat exposure.
"Sakura! We need to get out of here! Now!"
Luna grabbed her wrist, trying to pull her away from the spreading fire, but Sakura resisted, yanking her hand back.
"I'm not leaving without him! I don't care if this place burns to the ground—I won't go unless I find him!"
She pushed through the frightened students, tears mixing with sweat on her cheeks as she called Leo's name again and again.
Then, all of a sudden, her legs buckled.
Her breathing became shallow.
"W-What... what's going on...?"
She wasn't the only one.
All across the ground floor, students and staff clutched their heads or collapsed to the ground. Their limbs trembled, strength leaking out of them like water from a broken jar. Some screamed, others gasped in confusion as a strange, dizzying sensation overtook them.
It felt like something was being drained from their very souls.
Their energy, their stamina—being sucked out.
Back behind the mountain,
"Haha... yes. I can feel it now..."
Kai stood atop a cliff, his eyes closed as his body glowed faintly with a pulsing.
His power was growing, slowly but surely. And with it, the energy of his champion also surged.
"No... What have you done?"
Valra, standing a few steps behind, stared at him in horror. Her face had gone pale.
Kai slowly tilted his head, a cruel smile spreading across his lips.
"Nothing much. Just tapping into a very... large energy source."
His eyes glinted with malice.
"And with this many souls packed in that school, I'll reach Stage Three very soon."
Valra gritted her teeth, fists clenched tightly by her sides as visible veins throbbed on her forehead from fury and frustration.
"We should help them first!"
She shouted, voice cracking with desperation as she looked toward the burning school, her champion still locked in battle nearby.
Leo stood beside her, horror written all over his face. His breath hitched, and he stepped forward.
"They're going to die—!"
"It's impossible, motherfuckers! Hahaa...!"
Kai's voice boomed through the chaos, his laughter deranged and manic. His arms were wide open like a madman welcoming the end of the world. His face was flushed with twisted joy.
"That's not just any ordinary barrier. That thing was crafted by none other than the God of Death—NERGAL!"
He grinned wider, his voice laced with mockery and arrogance.
"Motherf*ckers! Hahaa! None of us can even enter that shit. And if you even try to break it—just try—the whole place goes up in flames. Everyone inside dies instantly!"
Valra's eyes widened as her heart dropped.
"N-Nergal…?"
She spun around, her gaze locking onto a bulky figure with a towering, haughty posture—his body radiating intense heat as he effortlessly battled her champion. Blow by blow, he was overpowering him, every movement sharp and precise.
Kai tilted his head, watching her reaction with sadistic amusement.
"We'll grow stronger just by watching… absorbing their essence, their souls as they burn inside."
He turned to Leo, voice turning venomous, mocking.
"Whatever you do, the outcome's the same… I'm the one walking out as the winner this time."
He paused, then sneered with narrowed eyes.
"What are you gonna do now, fucker?"
With a lazy flick of his wrist, he raised a single finger and muttered something under his breath. A sphere of compressed water burst into existence, rippling with strange energy.
In an instant—SPLASH!
The water ball smashed into Leo's chest like a cannon, throwing him backwards through the air.
"LEO!!"
Valra screamed, her body jolting forward. But Kai was already in motion. He raised his arm again and launched another water blast toward her.
The pressure of his power was slowly increasing.
Leo, still airborne, twisted instinctively—his eyes bracing for the impact of the ground fast approaching his face.
THUD!
A powerful arm caught him mid-fall, the landing softened at the very last second.
Pride had arrived.
She held him firmly, then set him down on the rocky ground with calm grace.
"Are you alright, Leo?"
Leo, breathing heavily, nodded, though his heart still thundered from the blast. He struggled to stand, his legs shaking under him.
"Y-Yeah… I'm fine."
He wiped his mouth, eyes darkening.
"...Do you know a god named Nergal? God of Death or something?"
Pride blinked, her expression tightening slightly. She gave a small nod.
Leo's lips thinned. His voice lowered, becoming cold, detached.
"Good. Then I want you to cut him apart... limb by limb."
Without another word, he turned and took off—running full speed toward the school engulfed in unnatural flames.
Pride watched him disappear.... Then her gaze shifted toward the battlefield. Nergal clashed brutally with Envy, Kai was grinning madly, and Valra was trying to recover.
Pride's hand gripped the hilt of her sword tightly.
She stepped forward.
"Look at that! Another champion is joining the fun now."
Kai let out a laugh as he continued pouring water in sharp arcs, extinguishing the fireballs launched at him.
His gaze flicked to her lazily.
"Where's your master, huh? Did he run away with his tail between his legs?"
Pride didn't respond to him. Her eyes were focused entirely on Nergal.
Her voice came out low and emotionless—like ice cutting through fire.
"Nergal, the God of Death… the one who commands the flames that consume life. The one who traps souls inside barriers that even other champions can't cross... Not even Gods can step inside his creation once it is sealed."
Kai blinked, his smirk faltering for a split second. He hadn't known that much about his own champion.
"Wait—what? You know that much about him?"
Pride turned her head slowly toward him. Her expression was calm, but her tone was sharp as a dagger.
"I know more than you ever will. And you've made the mistake of something... You picked the wrong enemy, Nergal... My master isn't like us!"
"Huh?"
Kai looked confused for a second—but something about her tone made him hesitate.
Step...
Leo stepped into the fiery dome of destruction... He entered the so-called dome that even gods couldn't enter.