The Curtain of Light, the Veil of Lies

Just as Camilla turned around in panic—

"Leave this to me!"

Iris stepped forward and raised her staff. Her voice rang with a clarity that silenced the chaos for a moment.

"O Seven Gods, shine your merciful light upon your children!"

A rainbow sheen bloomed in her irises, divine energy swirling around her like a halo. With a motion from top to bottom, she drew a radiant cross in the air.

"Seven Stars' Protection!"

Voom!

A massive curtain of white light erupted around her and the children, forming a wide dome of holy energy that shimmered tens of meters into the sky.

"Raaaaah!"

The first wave of demonic beasts hit the barrier—and recoiled in agony. Their flesh sizzled, smoke rising in dark tendrils as they clawed madly at the edge of the curtain.

They couldn't breach it.

Growling in frustration, the beasts began prowling along the perimeter, searching for another target.

That target was me.

"Looking for someone?"

I stepped into view, sword drawn. Their gazes snapped to me like hounds spotting fresh prey.

With a savage cry, they surged forward.

"Dale! It's dangerous!"

"Brother, come inside quickly!" the children called out from behind the veil, their small faces filled with worry.

But I took a step forward instead.

"Grrrrr!"

"Kak, kaaaaak!"

"Guaaaargh!"

The demonic beasts lunged from every direction, a twisted chorus of hunger and fury.

Camilla rushed toward me. "I'll handle this side! You take—!"

"No need."

"What?"

Before her sentence finished, I shot forward like a bolt of lightning.

"Grrrk—!"

I sprang off the swinging arm of the nearest beast, drove my blade straight through its skull, and twisted hard.

"One down."

I yanked the blade free and spun to cleave another charging from the side, then pivoted into a back kick that caught a third trying to sneak behind me.

Crack!

The sickening sound of its jaw shattering filled the air as it dropped lifelessly to the ground.

"Three down."

Using the falling beast like a stepping stone, I launched myself into the air and dove into the center of the horde.

'My body feels light.'

The Primordial Flame surged inside me. My mana—now nearly triple what it was just weeks ago—pulsed through my limbs like wind beneath wings.

"Five, six, seven."

A grin curled my lips as I carved through them. They were nothing but straw dolls now.

In less than a minute, the clearing was silent again—thirteen corpses sprawled in my wake.

"Wow…"

"Amazing…"

The children inside Iris's curtain murmured in awe.

Even Camilla, standing beside them, was speechless.

"…Who are you?"

I sheathed my sword. "No time for questions. We need to move—now."

I turned my gaze to the main gate, where screams and panicked shouts rang out. People were still trying to escape while more demonic beasts poured in.

Iris's divine curtain wouldn't last forever.

"Over here! This way! Please evacuate this way!"

Professor Morpheus sprinted toward us, flailing one arm while waving a glowing wand in the other.

"Don't go out the main gate! Head to the dining hall annex! It's a temporary shelter!"

So the professors were organizing a fallback point. Good.

"Iris, take the children and follow him," I ordered.

"Yes!"

But as she turned to gather them, one child let out a cry.

"N-No! Leo's not back yet!"

I scanned the group.

He was right. Leo was missing.

"Where is he?"

"He… he went to the bathroom earlier. And then the beasts showed up...!"

I muttered a curse under my breath. The nearest bathroom was still dangerously far.

"I'll go get him."

"I'll come with—!"

"No," I interrupted Iris. "You lead the kids to the annex. Camilla, go with them."

She hesitated, lips thinning—but nodded. "Understood."

I dashed off, pushing my mana to the edge. My body blurred through the corridors, cutting through the smoke and blood that now tainted the academy grounds.

"Brother!"

There—cowering near the wall of the latrine, I found Leo, his face streaked with tears and dirt.

"Sniff… T-The beasts—!"

"Shh. You're safe now. The others are already heading to shelter."

He blinked rapidly. "R-Really?"

"Come on." I took his trembling hand. "Let's go."

We sprinted toward the dining annex.

By the time we arrived, the battle had reached its peak.

"Haaaaah!"

A crimson blaze surged ahead. Professor Lucas, radiating mana like a furnace, brought his axe down on a beast's skull, splitting it like firewood.

Beside him, Professors Bianca and Jade fought in tandem—ice and illusions weaving together in graceful, deadly arcs.

"Professor!"

Lucas looked over his shoulder. "Dale! You're alive!"

I nodded, shielding Leo behind me. "But where's Professor Morpheus? He should've been here with Iris and the others by now."

Lucas blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"He told us to head here. He was escorting them."

Lucas's brow furrowed. "Morpheus hasn't been here. No one's seen him since the attack started."

My stomach dropped.

"…What?"

"I'm serious," he growled, cleaving another beast in half. "He's been missing since the chaos broke out."

No… that made no sense.

He was supposed to be the one overseeing the sealing ceremony. He was the one who—

Wait.

A memory surfaced.

"I've been so busy preparing for the sealing ceremony lately I haven't had time for anything else."

"Oh, right. You're the one in charge this year?"

"Yeah. Issuing permits for the merchants, organizing the events—exhausting stuff."

My fists clenched.

It was Morpheus who approved the merchant permits.

And those "merchants" were the ones who smuggled in the beasts.

No.

Not merchants.

Demon cultists.

I remembered what the demon I interrogated had said back in the basement of the archive.

"He walks among you. A dreamer in your midst. Smiling, trusting... until the veil falls."

I stared at the battlefield, heart pounding.

Professor Morpheus, the man who smiled and handed out evacuation orders...

He was never guiding them to safety.

He was sending them into the lion's mouth.

I ground my heel into the dirt, fury blazing inside me.

"So it was you," I whispered.

The Archdeacon of Dreams.

Astaroth.