The underground chamber was falling apart.
Stone pillars collapsed.
Ancient runes shattered.
The abyss beneath Moonfang Academy widened with every heartbeat.
And far below—
The White Eye remained open.
Watching.
Waiting.
Nyra struggled to breathe.
Her entire body shook violently.
The moment she had looked into that eye, it felt as if something had tried to erase her existence.
Not kill her.
Erase her.
As though she had never been born.
The Hollow Flame blazed around her instinctively.
Protecting her.
Defending her.
Even the darkness of the Vein King had rushed forward to shield her.
The realization alone terrified her.
The Vein King slowly lowered his massive head.
Thousands of crimson eyes remained fixed on the abyss.
Not on Nyra.
Not on Kael.
On the White Eye.
Like a predator watching something even worse than itself.
Kael tightened his grip on his silver blade.
“Can it reach the surface?”
The Vein King’s answer came immediately.
“Not yet.”
The word “yet” made everyone’s blood run cold.
Liora swallowed nervously.
“What happens if it does?”
Silence.
The Vein King’s countless eyes slowly closed.
As if remembering something horrible.
Then he whispered:
“Entire worlds disappear.”
The chamber shook violently again.
DONG.
The thirteenth bell rang.
A crack of pure white light appeared inside the abyss.
Not silver.
Not golden.
White.
Cold.
Empty.
The moment it appeared—
Every shadow in the chamber fled from it.
Even darkness feared that light.
The Headmistress finally freed herself from the remaining tendrils and landed heavily beside a broken pillar.
Blood covered her robes.
But she remained standing.
Barely.
“We need the Origin Seal.”
The Vein King’s eyes snapped toward her.
For the first time—
Anger appeared.
“You would use that?”
The Headmistress looked exhausted.
“What choice do we have?”
“What’s the Origin Seal?”
Nobody answered immediately.
Which was never a good sign.
Finally Kael spoke.
His voice unusually tense.
“The Origin Seal was the first magic ever created.”
The Headmistress nodded slowly.
“Before Moonfang Academy.”
“Before the Vein King.”
“Before the Hollow Flame.”
Nyra blinked.
That sounded impossible.
The Headmistress looked toward the White Eye below.
“The Origin Seal is the reason our world still exists.”
Silence.
Then Liora whispered:
“…And it’s hidden somewhere inside the academy.”
Another tremor shook the mountain.
DONG.
The bell rang again.
Suddenly—
A scream echoed from above.
A student’s scream.
Then another.
And another.
Nyra’s eyes widened.
The academy.
The students.
They were still up there.
The Vein King immediately noticed her expression.
“Go.”
Everyone froze.
Kael stared at him.
“What?”
The ancient king looked upward.
Toward the academy.
Toward the children.
“The White Eye’s influence is spreading.”
His voice became grim.
“Soon the students will begin disappearing.”
Nyra’s heart nearly stopped.
“Disappearing?”
The Vein King’s expression darkened.
“Forgotten.”
The word felt worse than death.
The Headmistress visibly paled.
“No…”
The Vein King continued.
“The Devourer does not kill.”
The White Eye below widened slightly.
“It consumes existence itself.”
Another scream echoed above.
Closer.
Then suddenly—
A silver wolf burst into the chamber.
Its fur was covered in blood.
It stumbled desperately toward the Headmistress.
Something clutched tightly in its mouth.
A photograph.
The wolf dropped it.
Her breath caught.
The photograph showed three students standing together beneath the academy’s silver trees.
But something was wrong.
The image looked torn.
No. Not torn.
Missing.
There was an empty space between the students.
As though someone should have been standing there.
But wasn’t.
The Headmistress stared at the picture.
Then horror filled her eyes.
“No…”
Liora looked confused.
“What?”
The Headmistress grabbed the photograph.
Hands trembling.
“There were four students.”
Silence.
The chamber froze.
Nyra looked again.
And suddenly—
She knew.
The Headmistress was right.
There should have been four.
But she couldn’t remember who.
Nobody could.
The realization struck like lightning.
The missing student wasn’t dead.
They had been erased.
The White Eye blinked.
And deep beneath the abyss—
Something laughed.
Not loudly.
Not cruelly.
Just hungry.
The Vein King immediately stepped before Nyra.
His shadows spread across the chamber protectively.
“It’s already feeding.”
The Hollow Flame erupted around Nyra again.
Golden fire.
Silver moonlight.
Darkness.
All three powers answered together.
The White Eye noticed.
For the first time—
It focused entirely on Nyra.
And a voice echoed through her soul.
Unlike the Vein King’s voice.
Unlike Fenrir’s.
Unlike any human voice.
Cold.
Empty.
Ancient.
“FOUND YOU.”
Nyra’s blood turned to ice.
Because somehow—
The Devourer had been looking for her.
And now…
It finally knew where she was.