The test tower of the Elemental Excellence Academy had fallen silent. The students were gone, and only the instructors remained. One by one, they filed into the surveillance room, grim-faced and tense. Instructor Lucius, tall and commanding with eyes sharp as blades, stepped forward and asked, "How's everyone doing in there?"
On the magical monitors, the workers appeared uneasy, their hands trembling, eyes darting around in panic.
Minutes passed in silence.
Lucius's voice cracked like thunder. "I asked—how are they doing?"
The workers froze. One of them, a thin man with sunken cheeks, stepped forward, his voice barely more than a whisper.
"Sir… we… we can't locate the students on magical surveillance. The device is functioning properly inside the dimension, but… the students… they never arrived. And…" He swallowed hard, "We've lost signal from the teleportation tokens."
Lucius's eyes narrowed. His voice roared through the room. "What did you say?"
"Calm down, Father," a firm, commanding voice cut through the rising panic.
Emilia, his daughter, and one of the academy's most gifted instructors, stepped forward. Her presence was sharp and controlled, her tone breaking no argument. "Half of you, check the teleportation array. The rest—come with me. We're inspecting the portal. Father, go with them."
Without waiting for a response, she strode toward the portal chamber, her boots echoing ominously on the stone floor. Upon reaching the portal, her expression shifted. Her senses flared—this wasn't an ordinary anomaly.
"The portal's locked," she muttered, eyes narrowing. "The energy radiating from it… this is a high-ranking dimension."
Her voice rose, sharp and urgent. "Bring the dimensional energy measuring device!"
A moment later, a junior instructor approached. Average-looking, clean-shaven, with calm eyes that concealed boiling fury—Evan Reid stepped forward, holding the device. But instead of activating it normally, he triggered the high-rank elemental stone embedded within it.
He smiled—a twisted, sorrowful grin—as tears streamed down his face. "Finally," he whispered. Then he laughed. A laugh that sent shivers down the spine of every instructor in the room.
"Hahahahaha! Finally, I'll have my revenge. Let those noble heirs feel what it's like to be abandoned… to be eaten by monsters… just like my family!"
"Back away!" Emilia shouted, instinctively raising her arms. "He's detonating a high-rank elemental stone!"
Her water shield snapped into place, layers upon layers forming a dome around the instructors. But it wasn't enough.
"Evan, what are you doing!?" she cried, her voice raw.
Still smiling, Evan replied, "Oh, Miss Emilia… I know you truly care. But caring and doing something are not the same, are they? You show sympathy, but that doesn't save lives. It doesn't bring back the dead."
With hollow eyes, he added, "Before I go to meet my family, here's a free tip. This portal? It's connected to a B+ ranked dimension. The Chaos Forest. Your precious students are already there. In four months, there won't even be bones left to mourn."
Then, laughing maniacally, he slammed his palm on the device.
The stone detonated.
A thunderous boom tore through the tower, shaking its very foundation. Stone cracked, glass shattered, and instructors were flung like ragdolls. Emilia's shield absorbed most of the shock—but not all. Her body slammed against the wall, her dark blue uniform torn, her snow-white hair disheveled.
Groaning, she forced herself upright, surveying the ruin. Half the instructors lay unconscious, blood pooling beneath them. The portal chamber was in ruins—its wall blown open, revealing the street outside.
Instructor Lucius burst in moments later, eyes wide with horror. His gaze scanned the wreckage.
"Emilia!" he called, his voice breaking.
She stood, barely swaying, but alive.
Relief washed over him. The instructors who'd gone to check the teleportation room came running.
"Take the injured to the infirmary," Lucius ordered, then turned to another. "Call for reinforcements. Now."
His boots crunched over rubble as he approached his daughter. Emilia stared at the center of the explosion, her expression blank.
Lucius placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"
Two minutes passed in silence.
Then, in a hollow voice, she whispered, "Father… all the students… they've been sent to the Chaos Forest."
Lucius's heart stopped. His eyes widened, breath caught in his throat.
"No…" he muttered. "That can't be."
With shaking hands, he reached into his coat and pulled out a violet orb no larger than a marble. He infused it with elemental energy.
"Hello, Principal," he said hoarsely.
A deep, gravelly voice echoed from the orb. "Yes, Lucius?"
Lucius forced himself to speak the words. "The students… they've been transported to the Chaos Forest."
Silence fell. Suffocating. Eternal.
Then, at last, the voice came again—heavy and cold.
"I'll be there in five minutes."
---
Chaos Forest. A B+ rank dimension. Unexplored. Untamed.
A twisted forest where monsters defy the laws of nature—each creature gifted with abnormal, deadly abilities. No second entry is permitted. Once the portal closes, it remains sealed for six months. A forced teleportation spell, inscribed personally by the principal, would activate after four months—if the students survive.
The deadliest of them all?
Ray Phantoms—B+ in classification, but with threat levels pushing A+. They twist reality, rip open space, and hunt with intelligence far beyond beasts.
---
Exactly five minutes later, through the broken wall of the tower an old man entered. Old man stepped through the dust and debris.
He was immaculate—white shirt, black waistcoat fitted to a slim frame, gold chain dangling from his pocket. His beard was trimmed, regal; his hair short and precisely combed. Calm eyes surveyed the destruction.
Lucius straightened and bowed. "Principal."
"How are you, Lucius?" came the old man's thick, steady voice, his gaze never leaving the shattered portal.
"I'm fine, sir. Shall I brief you here or…?"
"Let's go to your office. How's Emilia?"
"She's fine. A few scratches. She went to clean up."
"Good," the principal muttered, relief flashing in his eyes.
They entered the elevator and rose in silence. At the 20th floor, a golden door swung open. Lucius gestured the principal inside.
The circular office gleamed under the sunlight pouring in from arched windows. The principal winced.
"That's too much sunlight for me."
Lucius closed the drapes with a flick of his fingers, dimming the room. Warm light from the chandelier illuminated the center table. They sat.
Lucius explained everything.
When he finished, the principal sat back, hands steepled, expression unreadable.
"That organization…" he murmured. "Ashen Dawn, perhaps."
His tone darkened. "I can't tell you much. But I believe it's them. They were thought to be destroyed a hundred years ago—commoners who rose after their families were slaughtered. Nobles call it 'The Great Order.' Commoners call it… 'The Crimson Purge.'"
He looked Lucius in the eye.
"This is their return. And this year… heirs from most of the ten clans are inside that portal."
He stood slowly, the weight of memory and consequence heavy on his shoulders.
"Inform the ten clans. We cannot handle this alone. If only… if only the Void Sage of the Veylor family were still alive. Then this crisis would have ended before it began."