The thirteenth bell continued ringing.
DONG.
DONG.
DONG.
Each toll shook the mountain.
The underground seal chamber trembled violently as dust and broken stone rained from above.
Something was happening to Moonfang Academy.
Something worse than the Vein King.
Nyra felt it immediately.
The Hollow Flame inside her reacted.
Not with anger.
Not with fear.
With warning.
The Vein King stood motionless.
Thousands of crimson eyes fixed on the darkness above.
Kael stared at him.
“You know what this is.”
The ancient king didn’t answer immediately.
For the first time since awakening—
He looked uneasy.
Then the Vein King quietly said:
“The First Gate.”
Silence consumed the chamber.
Even the Headmistress looked horrified.
“No…” she whispered.
Liora frowned.
“What is the First Gate?”
The Headmistress slowly lowered her head.
Like speaking the answer hurt.
“It was never supposed to open.”
Another bell echoed.
DONG.
The entire academy groaned.
Cracks spread across the underground ceiling.
Black dust drifted downward.
And then—
Something screamed.
Not a human scream.
Not an animal.
Something ancient.
Something imprisoned.
The sound echoed from deep below the mountain.
Far deeper than the Vein King’s prison.
Nyra’s blood ran cold.
Because she could feel it.
Something was waking up.
And unlike the Vein King—
This thing felt empty.
No loneliness.
No sorrow.
No humanity.
Nothing.
The Vein King’s expression darkened.
“When humans chained me beneath the mountain…”
“…they discovered something already sleeping here.”
The chamber went silent.
Kael slowly turned toward the abyss.
“You weren’t the first prisoner.”
The Vein King laughed bitterly.
“No.”
Another scream echoed.
Closer.
The silver wolves immediately backed away from the abyss.
Whimpering.
Afraid.
Nyra had never seen them afraid before.
The realization terrified her.
The Headmistress suddenly shouted:
“We need to evacuate the academy!”
Liora stared.
“Evacuate?”
“There are hundreds of students above us!”
The Headmistress looked pale.
“There won’t be an academy left if the gate fully opens.”
DONG.
The thirteenth bell rang again.
The abyss beneath them split wider.
Darkness poured upward.
But this darkness felt different.
Not like the Vein King’s shadows.
This darkness swallowed sound.
Swallowed light.
Swallowed existence itself.
The Vein King took a step backward.
Actually backward.
Nyra noticed immediately.
The King of Darkness was retreating.
Fear crept into her chest.
“What is it?”
The Vein King’s voice became unusually quiet.
“The Devourer.”
The name alone made the chamber colder.
The Headmistress visibly trembled.
Kael’s face hardened.
“The stories were real.”
Nyra frowned.
“What stories?”
Liora answered first.
Her voice shaking.
“The forbidden records.”
Everyone looked at her.
Liora swallowed hard.
“When I first arrived at Moonfang Academy…”
Her amber eyes lowered.
“I snuck into the restricted archives.”
Nyra wasn’t surprised.
Liora seemed exactly like someone who would do that.
“I found an old book.”
“A book older than the academy itself.”
The Vein King closed his eyes.
Like he already knew what came next.
Liora continued.
“The book said the world wasn’t created by gods.”
Another distant scream echoed.
“The world survived something.”
Nyra felt cold.
“What?”
Liora looked toward the abyss.
And whispered:
“A creature that eats realities.”
Silence.
Even the Vein King didn’t argue.
Which somehow made it worse.
The Hollow Flame inside Nyra suddenly surged.
Golden fire flickered around her hands.
The darkness below responded instantly.
Something moved.
Far beneath the abyss.
Huge.
Ancient.
Hungry.
Then—
A gigantic eye opened.
Nyra froze.
Not crimson.
Not golden.
Pure white.
A lifeless white eye.
Far larger than the Vein King’s.
Far larger than the mountain itself.
And unlike the Vein King’s gaze—
It didn’t recognize her.
Didn’t care about her.
Didn’t hate her.
Didn’t love her.
It looked at the world the way a storm looks at a leaf.
Meaningless.
The moment Nyra met that eye—
Her soul screamed.
The Hollow Flame erupted automatically around her body.
The Vein King moved instantly.
A wall of darkness appeared between Nyra and the eye.
The connection broke.
Nyra collapsed to one knee gasping.
“What was that?!”
For the first time—
The Vein King’s voice sounded genuinely afraid.
“The end of worlds.”
DONG.
The thirteenth bell rang again.
And somewhere above them—
Moonfang Academy began to collapse.