The Anomaly's Path

Crack!

The heavy, frozen doors behind the inner yard did not just open. They shattered. The big blue ice doors that had blocked the courtyard from the rest of the palace broke into a million pieces under the force of the outside teams breaking through.

Roan was the first to burst through the ruined archway, his long spear raised, his aura flaring to strike down whatever boss was left.

Right behind him came Alice, her dark red energy humming with a violent desire to fight, followed closely by Riven, Arthur, Elisabeth, and the rest of the people. They had rushed the inner sanctum the exact second the boss pressure vanished, expecting a fierce battle, expecting a victory, or expecting to find Leo standing over a monster’s corpse.

Instead, every single one of them stopped dead in their tracks on the blood-stained ice.

The shouting died at once. A heavy, horrible silence fell over the whole yard. Their faces went pale as their weapons lowered, their eyes wide with shock.

To the students watching in horror, it looked like a cold-blooded killing.

The square was a broken, smoking crater, torn apart by black lightning and ash. Near the jagged rock wall, Malva was slumped against the stone.

She was safe, untouched by the destruction, but her uniform was covered in dirt, her breathing was hard, and her sword rested loosely in her shaking hand as she stared forward.

There, right in the middle of the ruin, stood Leo.

He wasn’t wearing a shirt. His whole upper body was bare, open to the freezing air of the Gate. His long, white hair was a bloody mess, stuck to his face and dripping red down his shoulders.

His skin was covered in a scary web of deep, bleeding cuts that were closing up right before their eyes, his flesh snapping back together on the spot. With the silent, dark fire still clinging to his skin and eating the light around him, he looked like a fallen angel standing on a field of death.

...And going straight through the middle of his bare chest was a beautiful, shining silver blade.

The tip of the sword stuck out of his back, dripping with fresh, smoking blood that hissed against the frost. Holding the handle of that sword with a tight, steady grip was Seris. The second-year watcher stood right behind him, her usual blank face broken to show a rare flash of strong feeling.

Leo slowly tilted his head back, his vision blurring with dark spots as the cold power of the sword spread into his chest. His eyes stayed locked on the back of her head. The black fire inside him was finally being pushed down by her cold Lunar power, acting like a safety lock before he could blow up.

”...You are being reckless,” Seris said. Her voice was just as flat as always. She did not sound angry. She did not sound mean. She just sounded like a teacher stating a fact.

Leo coughed, a thick glob of dark blood spilling over his chin, a crazy, defiant smile on his lips.

”...Do you not think...” Leo wheezed, his voice a rough, hollow whisper that carried across the silent yard. ”...It is a... pretty romantic view...?”

Seris said nothing. Her blank gaze stayed steady, but her grip on the sword did not shake. Yet, for a second, her cold mask cracked, her eyes widening a little at the boldness of his words.

Leo’s vision blurred completely, the dark spots taking over. He could feel the cold Lunar power finally sealing his burning core, but his strength was gone.

”And next time... try to hit a bit softer, lady... You don’t know your own strength...” he said, the words barely leaving his lips.

Seris’s face tightened, but before she could answer, Leo’s eyes closed.

His fingers let go of his sword, the weapon clattering loudly on the frozen stone. His knees gave out, and his body went limp, sliding down the length of her silver blade until he fell face-first onto the ice.

He did not move. He just lay there in a pool of his own smoking blood as the dark took his mind.

For a long, painful moment, no one moved. The students just stared in shock, trying to understand the scene of a second-year watcher standing over their top classmate’s body.

”Leo...?”

The whisper came from Amelia. Her face lost all color, her eyes fixed on the pool of dark red spreading under his white hair. She took a shaking step forward, her voice breaking as the horror hit her. ”Leo!”

That cry broke the spell.

Seeing his friend drop like a corpse, Roan didn’t wait for a single explanation. His mind went blank. His eyes went red, a wild, murderous anger taking over.

”You bitch!”

With a loud roar, Roan rushed forward. He did not listen to anyone calling his name from behind. His boots tore through the frost as he jumped over the rubble, spinning his long spear with fast speed.

A twist of wild time power leaked from his weapon as he swung the spear-tip in a killing arc at Seris’s neck.

Clang!

Seris moved fast.

As Leo slid off her weapon, she flicked her wrist, her silver sword moving through the air to block Roan’s heavy spear-strike with perfect aim. Sparks of silver energy burst between them, the force of her block pushing Roan back a step.

”Roan, stop!” Arthur yelled, rushing forward with Riven to grab Roan’s arms and hold him back.

”Get off me!” Roan snarled, his grip tightening on his spear as he glared fiercely at Seris. ”Look at him! She stabbed him through the heart! She fucking killed him!”

The students gasped, their powers flaring as they got ready to attack the second-year watcher. Weapons were drawn across every team, the tension in the room reaching a peak. They were all ready to move.

Alice’s jaw was locked so tight her teeth ground together. Her hand was white-knuckled on her sword, her body trembling with the effort of not lunging forward. ”Roan’s right...,” she growled, her voice low and dangerous.

”That girl needs to explain herself before I cut her down.”

Behind her, Caster was frozen in place, his face pale as he stared at Leo’s still body. ”He... he can’t be...” he stammered.

Julia let out a choked sound, her hands flying to her mouth. Tears welled in her eyes as she took a shaky step forward, only to be held back by Cordelia’s firm grip on her arm. ”No, Julia,” Cordelia whispered, her own face pale.

”Let the teachers handle this...”

Princess Cordelia’s usual royal composure had cracked. Her emerald eyes were wide, her lips pressed into a thin line. She had seen Leo fight, seen him survive impossible odds, but this... this was different.

Elisabeth stood apart from the others, her deep violet eyes fixed on Leo’s limp body.

Her expression was unreadable, but her fingers were pressed tightly against her palm. He’s not dead, she thought, her regressor mind already analyzing the situation. The Lunar power is stabilizing his core. But that flame... that flame. What are they...?

Lyssaria stood near the back of the group, her jade-green eyes locked on Leo’s still form.

Her healing instincts were screaming at her to move forward, but she forced herself to stay still. His body is already healing itself, she thought, her fingers twitching at her side. But that flame... I’ve never felt anything like it.

Nyra stood apart from the others, her silver wolf ears flat against her skull.

Her amber eyes were fixed on Leo, her tail completely still. She didn’t speak, but her claws were extended, ready to tear into anyone who threatened him. He gave me food when I was hungry, she thought. He is pack. We protect our own.

Before Roan could break free to charge again, another strong presence hit the square.

Sylvia von Celestial — Arthur’s watcher and Leo’s older sister — stepped out from the crowd, her power instantly calming the wild energy in the room. Her face was pale as she looked at her brother’s bleeding, still body on the ice.

”Seris...” Sylvia’s voice shook a little, a rare crack in her strict, commanding face. ”Is it true? Did you... did you kill him?”

”...No,” Seris answered flatly, lowering her silver blade to her side. Her voice went back to its usual quiet tone. She did not sound angry or cruel. She just sounded like a teacher stating a fact. ”He is alive.”

Roan pointed his spear aggressively at the body. ”Then what the hell is that?!”

”He was losing control of his Flame,” Seris explained calmly, her eyes lingering on the floor. ”...His mind was fading. He told me to fight him to keep him awake... and he commanded me to kill him if he lost control. The blade held his core down before it could explode.”

The entire room focused on that word. Kill.

Alice’s jaw locked, her hand tightening on her sword so hard her knuckles turned white. Arthur stepped back, his chest tight as the weight of what Leo had been fighting alone, while they were busy clearing the outer paths, finally hit him.

Roan’s anger didn’t fade, but his spear lowered a fraction. His eyes were still blazing, but a glimmer of understanding crept in. ”He... he asked you to do that?” His voice cracked. ”That stubborn bastard...”

Suddenly, a strange sound broke the heavy silence.

Hiss...

Small trails of black mist started to appear around Leo’s bare arms, climbing up his shoulders. But it was not the wild, destroying fire from before.

It was a calm, quiet energy.

Wherever the black mist touched, the deep cuts on his chest began to glow with a faint light. The bleeding stopped. The torn skin began to knit itself back together with fast, scary speed, sealing the flesh around the empty space where the silver blade had been.

”He is... healing?” Riven muttered, his daggers lowering as he watched the skin seal itself. ”The bastard is fighting it off.”

”His core didn’t shatter,” Arthur whispered, a mix of awe and pure relief washing over his pale face. ”Look at the mana flow. It’s stabilizing.”

Behind them, the crowd of students burst into frantic whispers.

Fear, confusion, and awe moved through the teams. They had come here to finish a test, but instead, they were watching someone who looked less like a student and more like a thing that just would not die.

Julia let out a shaky breath, tears streaming down her face. ”He’s alive,” she whispered, her voice cracking. ”He’s alive...”

Cordelia’s grip on her arm loosened, and she let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. ”That idiot,” she muttered, but there was relief in her voice.

Before anyone could say another word, the old marks on the palace walls started to flicker wildly, turning from calm blue to a broken red. The temperature in the room dropped fast, and the air shifted so hard that some students gasped, holding their ears as a loud hum filled the air.

Crack! Crack!

The sky above the broken yard split open, showing the dark, swirling void of the Abyss creeping into the space.

”The monster is dead! The Gate is collapsing!”

A loud, commanding voice boomed through the ruined archway.

Professor Morgana stepped into the yard first. The teacher did not have her usual calm look. Her Transcendent power flared, a big dome of dark energy spreading from her body to push back the falling pieces of the breaking sky.

Right beside her was Professor Vance. The young Mana Theory genius was already moving toward Leo, his face pale with shock.

”The space is unstable!” Vance shouted over the roaring wind. ”Morgana, hold the ceiling!”

”All students, fall back to the exit spot now!” Morgana commanded, her eyes sweeping over the blood-stained yard until they locked onto Leo’s bare, scarred body. Her face tightened. ”Medical teams, move in! Now!”

The chaos finally broke into organized panic. Faculty members rushed forward, but before they could reach Leo, a sharp, strong presence cut them off.

Sylvia did not care about the falling space or the screaming wind. Moving past Roan and Arthur, she stepped into the pool of red frost, dropping to her knees beside her brother. Her strict, commanding face was gone, replaced by the raw fear of an older sister.

”Leo...” she breathed, her hands shaking as she gently lifted his upper body against her chest.

His skin was cold, still faintly smelling of burned air and ash. She did not wait for the floating stretchers. Holding him in her arms, she stood up, her own power flaring to shield his limp, bare body from the biting wind.

Seris stood still a few feet away.

Slowly, she put her sword away, the metal click lost in the roaring storm. Her knuckles were white against the handle, her blank mask firmly back in place, but her eyes never left Leo’s face as Sylvia carried him toward the exit portal.

”Move! Out the portal!” Roan yelled, finally recovering as he and Alice formed a guard around Sylvia, guiding her through the panicked crowd pushing toward the exit.

Amelia and Arthur followed close behind, their eyes still wide, gaze fixed on the trailing white hair of the boy who had just turned a simple school test into a nightmare.

One by one, the teams stepped through the flashing light, the portal swallowing them and pulling them out of the dying frost world back toward the safety of the school halls.

The storm of the Grade 4 Gate tournament had finally ended — but as the space collapsed into nothing behind them, everyone in that yard knew that the results of what happened in the gate were just beginning.