The academy was screaming.
Not the students.
Not the teachers.
The building itself.
Deep groaning sounds echoed through the walls as cracks spread across the black stone floors like spiderwebs.
Chandeliers swung violently overhead while ancient wolf statues lining the corridors began crumbling apart.
Dust filled the air.
Magic symbols carved into the walls flickered weakly.
And somewhere far beneath Moonfang Academy—
Something was waking up.
Nyra’s heartbeat pounded painfully.
Kael’s words echoed endlessly inside her mind.
“THE SEAL IS BREAKING!”
Another monstrous roar shook the academy.
Students collapsed screaming as black smoke burst through the floors below them.
Liora grabbed Nyra’s wrist tightly.
“We need to get underground.”
Nyra stared at her.
“Underground?!”
Liora’s amber eyes shook with panic.
“If the seal fully breaks, nowhere above ground will survive.”
Another violent tremor threw everyone sideways.
A section of the hallway ceiling collapsed instantly.
Students screamed and scattered.
Nyra barely avoided falling debris as Liora dragged her forward through the chaos.
The corridor lights flickered blood-red now.
And every mirror they passed reflected something wrong.
Not students.
Not hallways.
But burning ruins.
Dead bodies.
And crimson eyes opening in endless darkness.
Nyra quickly looked away.
The whispers inside her head grew louder with every step.
“Return…”
“Open the gate…”
“You belong below…”
Her chest tightened painfully.
The voice beneath the academy no longer sounded frightening.
It sounded lonely.
And somehow—
That terrified her even more.
Another explosion echoed behind them.
Nyra turned sharply.
The Smiling Beast crashed through the hallway wall in a storm of black dust and twisted limbs.
Students screamed.
The creature’s giant mouth stretched wider impossibly as it crawled across the ceiling toward them.
Its eyeless face slowly turned toward Nyra.
And smiled.
Liora cursed.
“RUN!”
They sprinted down the corridor.
The academy around them had become a nightmare.
Dark hands clawed from beneath the floors.
Students cried while teachers desperately cast protective barriers across collapsing staircases.
Then suddenly—
Silver fire exploded behind them.
The Smiling Beast shrieked violently.
Nyra glanced back.
Kael stood in the ruined corridor surrounded by blazing silver flames.
Black smoke curled around him like wings now.
His silver eyes glowed unnaturally bright.
And for the first time—
Nyra realized Kael looked angry.
Not calm.
Not distant.
Furious.
The Smiling Beast lunged at him again.
Kael caught its massive jaw with one hand.
The entire hallway cracked from the force.
Students stared in horror.
Ghosts were not supposed to touch physical objects.
Yet Kael held the creature still effortlessly.
Silver flames spread across the Smiling Beast’s body instantly.
It screamed.
Kael’s voice echoed coldly through the corridor.
“You should have stayed buried.”
Then he tore the creature apart.
Black blood exploded across the walls.
The Smiling Beast dissolved into smoke screaming.
Silence followed.
Students stared at Kael like he was the true monster.
And maybe he was.
Because when Kael turned toward them—
Fear spread instantly.
The air around him felt wrong.
Heavy.
Ancient.
Like death itself stood before them.
Only Nyra didn’t feel afraid.
She felt—
Sad.
Kael’s silver eyes immediately found her again.
Relief softened his face for a brief second.
Then his expression darkened sharply.
“Move.”
Nyra frowned.
“What?”
Kael suddenly grabbed her arm.
And the floor beneath them exploded upward.
A gigantic black tendril burst through the stone where Nyra had stood moments earlier.
The tendril screamed.
Actually screamed.
Hundreds of voices cried from inside it.
Kael pulled Nyra against him protectively as silver fire burned the creature away.
Nyra’s breath caught.
She could feel how cold his body was.
Death cold.
Yet his arms around her felt strangely safe.
Kael looked down at her briefly.
And pain crossed his face again.
Like touching her hurt him somehow.
Then the academy bell rang.
Not three times.
Seven.
Every person inside the corridor froze.
Even Kael.
The whispers inside Nyra’s mind stopped instantly.
Silence consumed the academy.
Then—
Every wolf outside began howling together.
A deep ancient sound filled the mountains.
Liora’s face lost all color.
“No…”
One of the teachers nearby whispered shakily:
“The Seventh Bell…”
Students immediately began panicking again.
Nyra looked around confused.
“What does that mean?!”
Nobody answered.
Because something worse happened.
The walls of the academy began bleeding.
Dark crimson liquid poured slowly from the stone itself.
And words started appearing across every surface.
Written by invisible hands.
Doors.
Windows.
Floors.
Ceilings.
The same sentence repeated everywhere:
SHE HAS RETURNED
Nyra stepped backward in horror.
The blood-writing continued spreading.
OPEN THE GATE
The academy shook violently again.
Then suddenly—
A loud cracking sound echoed beneath them.
Kael’s expression changed instantly.
Pure dread.
“No…”
The floor split apart.
A gigantic crack opened through the corridor revealing endless darkness below.
Cold air rushed upward carrying whispers and screams from beneath the academy.
Nyra looked down into the abyss.
And something looked back.
A colossal crimson eye slowly opened deep underground.
Far larger than before.
Watching her.
Waiting.
Then the creature beneath Moonfang Academy finally spoke clearly.
Its voice shook the entire mountain.
“COME HOME, SERAPHINE.”