The eyeless girl stood silently at the end of the corridor.
Rainwater dripped from her pale dress onto the cracked stone floor while cold darkness spread slowly around her bare feet like ink.
The academy lights flickered violently.
Students nearby screamed and ran the moment they saw her.
One boy whispered in terror:
“Not her…”
Another student immediately covered their eyes.
“She’s not supposed to appear upstairs—”
The eyeless girl ignored everyone.
Her empty eye sockets remained fixed on Nyra alone.
And somehow—
That terrified Nyra more than the Vein King’s crimson eye below them.
Because unlike the monster beneath the academy…
This girl looked human.
Lonely.
Broken.
Dead.
Kael’s expression darkened instantly.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
The girl tilted her head slightly.
CRACK.
Her neck bent unnaturally sideways again.
Then she smiled faintly.
“You said that last time too.”
Nyra’s breath caught.
Last time.
Again that word.
Again the feeling that history itself was repeating.
The Vein King laughed softly beneath the academy.
“The dead remember better than the living.”
Kael ignored it completely.
Silver fire crackled faintly around him as he stepped forward protectively.
“Leave.”
The eyeless girl looked almost disappointed.
“You still think you can stop it?”
Her voice echoed strangely now.
Like two people were speaking together.
One young.
One ancient.
The floor beneath the corridor shook again.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
The crack leading into the abyss widened slowly behind them.
And from deep below—
Something huge moved.
Nyra could hear chains snapping one by one.
The eyeless girl slowly raised one pale hand toward Nyra.
“You need to remember before the final seal breaks.”
Kael’s voice sharpened instantly.
“No.”
The girl’s smile vanished.
“You don’t get to decide that anymore.”
Silver fire erupted around Kael violently.
But before he could move—
Nyra suddenly spoke.
“Wait.”
Everyone froze.
Even Kael.
Nyra looked toward the eyeless girl shakily.
“Who are you?”
The girl stared at her silently for a moment.
Then quietly answered:
“…Mira.”
The name meant nothing to Nyra.
Yet her chest hurt hearing it.
Mira lowered her head slightly.
“I was your friend once.”
A girl laughing beside a lake beneath silver trees.
Long black hair dancing in sunlight.
A voice whispering:
“If we get caught, we’ll both die.”
Nyra gasped softly.
The vision disappeared immediately.
Mira noticed.
“You’re starting to remember.”
Kael looked genuinely uneasy now.
“Stop this.”
But Mira continued staring at Nyra.
“You promised me you would destroy the Vein King forever.”
The whispers inside Nyra’s head screamed again.
“LIAR.”
“TRAITOR.”
“THE FIRST DEATH.”
Nyra grabbed her head painfully.
“What’s happening to me?”
Mira’s expression softened sadly.
“You’re waking up.”
The corridor suddenly darkened.
Not because of the storm.
Because shadows were gathering.
Every corner of the academy hallway slowly filled with black smoke.
The temperature dropped sharply.
And then—
Footsteps echoed from the abyss below.
Heavy.
Slow.
Impossible.
Everyone froze.
Even Kael.
The Vein King laughed softly.
“Ah…”
The footsteps continued.
THUD.
THUD.
THUD.
Something was climbing upward from beneath the academy.
Nyra’s heartbeat quickened violently.
Liora backed away slowly.
“That’s impossible…”
Teachers downstairs started screaming warnings.
Protective barriers lit up across the academy walls.
Silver wolves outside began howling in panic.
Then suddenly—
A gigantic black hand grabbed the edge of the abyss crack.
Students screamed.
The hand looked almost human.
Except its skin was covered in moving eyes.
Another hand appeared beside it.
Then slowly—
Something began pulling itself upward.
Kael immediately moved in front of Nyra again.
“Do not look at it.”
But Nyra already had.
And the moment her eyes met the darkness below—
The world shattered again.
She stood beneath a blood-red moon.
Moonfang Academy burned around her.
Students ran screaming through flames while silver wolves fought shadow creatures across the courtyard.
Blood covered Nyra’s hands.
No.
Seraphine’s hands.
She looked down slowly.
Golden fire burned beneath her skin.
Pain consumed her body. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
And before her—
Kael knelt crying.
Actually crying.
His silver eyes red with grief.
“Please…” he begged shakily.
“Don’t do this.”
Seraphine smiled weakly through tears.
Behind them, a gigantic chained creature writhed beneath the earth.
The Vein King.
Far larger than Nyra imagined.
An entire mountain of darkness and crimson eyes.
And Mira—
Alive.
Human.
Stood nearby screaming desperately.
“You can still stop the ritual!”
But Seraphine slowly shook her head.
“The seal needs a soul.”
Kael grabbed her hands violently.
“Then take mine!”
Seraphine’s expression shattered instantly.
“No.”
“You promised me!”
Tears streamed down Kael’s face now.
“You promised we’d leave this place together!”
The Hollow Flame beneath Seraphine’s skin spread further.
Black cracks crawled across her throat.
She was dying.
The Vein King laughed beneath the earth.
And suddenly—
Nyra realized the horrifying truth.
Seraphine had not sealed the creature alone.
Someone had betrayed them.
Because standing among the burning academy ruins—
Was the Headmistress.
Watching silently.
Unmoving.
As though she had expected all of this.
Then Seraphine looked toward Kael one final time.
And whispered words that shattered his soul.
“Kill me before it takes control.”
Kael broke completely.
The memory exploded apart.
Nyra screamed as reality returned violently.
She collapsed onto the corridor floor shaking.
Kael immediately caught her.
But this time—
Nyra saw the truth in his face.
The guilt.
The grief.
The unbearable pain he carried for centuries.
Because he really had killed her.
Not out of hatred.
Out of love.
Nyra’s tears fell silently.
Kael looked terrified now.
Not of monsters.
Of her.
“…Nyra.”
His voice trembled slightly.
Like he feared she would hate him.
And before Nyra could answer—
The creature climbing from the abyss finally revealed its face.
Or what should have been a face.
Students screamed in horror.
Because the thing pulling itself upward—
Looked exactly like Nyra.