Rain fell over Eryndor Royal Academy.
Heavy.
Cold.
Relentless.
The storm had started shortly after the arena incident ended, as though even the sky itself had reacted to what awakened beneath the academy.
Lightning flashed across the distant clouds.
For most students, the academy had become quieter overnight.
Too quiet.
Entire sections of the central grounds were sealed off by military-grade mana barriers. Instructors patrolled the halls constantly now, and rumors spread faster than wildfire.
Some students whispered that Zeal Greyhound was a monster.
Others believed he was a hidden royal bloodline experiment.
And some claimed they saw ancient creatures kneeling beneath the academy itself.
But nobody knew the truth.
Not even Zeal.
🌑 MEDICAL WARD — RESTRICTED FLOOR
Zeal slowly opened his eyes.
White ceiling.
Cold air.
The faint smell of medicine and mana crystals.
His body felt heavy.
Not injured.
Restrained.
The moment he tried moving—
chains of light tightened slightly around his wrists.
Zeal frowned.
"…Seriously?"
"You should be grateful those are only precautionary restraints."
Instructor Vael stood near the room's window with his arms crossed.
Rain tapped softly against the glass behind him.
Zeal glanced around the room again.
The walls themselves were covered in suppression runes.
Not healing runes.
Containment runes.
"…So I'm a prisoner now."
Vael didn't answer immediately.
Then:
"You nearly destroyed half the academy."
Zeal looked away.
"…I didn't mean to."
"I know."
That answer surprised him slightly.
Vael stepped forward slowly.
"The problem is that intentions stop mattering when people start fearing what you are."
Silence settled over the room.
Zeal finally asked the question haunting him since the arena incident.
"…What was that thing beneath the academy?"
Vael's expression darkened slightly.
For the first time—
the instructor hesitated.
"That," Vael said quietly, "is information students are not supposed to know."
"Yet it knows me."
No response.
Only silence.
And that silence answered enough.
The black pulse inside Zeal stirred faintly again.
THUMP.
Vael noticed immediately.
His eyes sharpened.
"…Still reacting?"
Zeal slowly looked at his hand.
The scales were gone again.
But he could still feel them beneath his skin.
Waiting.
"…It never stopped."
Rain continued tapping against the windows.
Then—
three knocks echoed against the medical room door.
Vael turned.
"Enter."
The door opened slowly.
Kyle Gale walked in first.
Immediately behind him—
Chloe Ashfield.
And after a short pause—
Lucius Lockwood.
Kyle looked exhausted.
"…You look terrible."
Zeal blinked.
"You say that like you weren't thrown through three walls yesterday."
Kyle pointed at him.
"Yeah, but I'm normal."
Lucius crossed his arms.
"…Debatable."
Kyle looked offended.
Chloe ignored them completely.
Her eyes remained fixed on Zeal.
Studying him carefully.
Like she was trying to solve a puzzle no one else could see.
Vael sighed quietly.
"You have ten minutes."
Then he left the room.
The moment the door closed—
silence returned.
Kyle immediately pulled a chair closer.
"So," he said carefully, "want the good news or the horrible news first?"
Zeal already looked tired.
"…There's good news?"
"No."
Kyle leaned back.
"But I wanted to sound optimistic."
Lucius moved toward the window.
"The academy sealed the arena completely."
Chloe continued quietly.
"And the capital was informed."
Zeal frowned slightly.
"…Why would the capital care?"
The room became silent again.
That silence worried him more than the answer.
Finally, Lucius spoke.
"Because ancient-class entities don't appear beneath academies randomly."
Kyle added nervously:
"And apparently your name is now attached to an official containment investigation."
Zeal stared at him.
"…Containment?"
Chloe nodded slowly.
"The academy is hiding it from the students, but several noble families already know."
Kyle rubbed the back of his neck.
"And they're panicking."
Zeal looked down at his restrained wrists.
"…Great."
Lucius suddenly spoke again.
"There's something else."
Everyone looked toward him.
Lucius' eyes narrowed slightly.
"The creature beneath the academy called you a Monarch."
The room fell quiet again.
Zeal's chest tightened slightly.
Because hearing the word aloud again made the black pulse react instantly.
THUMP.
Chloe noticed immediately.
"…Every time someone says it."
Lucius nodded.
"It responds."
Kyle looked between them nervously.
"Okay, can we stop activating mysterious dragon-heartbeat things inside the medical ward?"
But Zeal wasn't listening anymore.
Because something else bothered him.
The creature's words.
The world forgot your name.
Forgot.
Not erased.
Not hidden.
Forgotten.
Like people were supposed to remember.
Zeal slowly looked up.
"…What if this already happened before?"
Nobody answered.
But Chloe's expression changed slightly.
Because she had clearly thought the same thing.
📚 LATER THAT NIGHT
The academy was under lockdown.
Students were forbidden from leaving dorm sectors after dark.
But Chloe Ashfield ignored rules easily.
Especially when curiosity outweighed caution.
Moonlight filtered through the academy's western archive tower as Chloe moved silently between restricted bookshelves.
Ancient records lined the walls.
Dust covered forgotten histories.
And deep within the archive—
there existed one section even noble students were forbidden from entering.
The Black Archive.
Chloe stopped before the sealed door.
Smoke curled gently around her fingers.
Then—
the lock dissolved silently.
She stepped inside.
The room was cold.
Far colder than the rest of the academy.
Rows of chained books stretched endlessly into darkness.
And at the center of the room—
one pedestal remained illuminated.
A single book rested there.
Old.
Black.
Bound in scales.
Chloe's eyes narrowed slightly.
"…No way."
She stepped closer carefully.
The title written across the cover had almost faded entirely.
But one word remained visible.
MONARCH
The moment Chloe touched the book—
the room reacted violently.
BOOOOOOM.
Smoke exploded around her instinctively.
Ancient runes ignited across the walls.
And somewhere deep within the academy—
something awakened again.
🌑 MEDICAL WARD
Zeal's eyes snapped open instantly.
The black pulse exploded inside his chest.
THUMP.
THUMP.
THUMP.
His restraints cracked slightly.
Kyle jumped from his chair.
"WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING?!"
Lucius immediately stood.
Chloe wasn't there.
Zeal realized first.
"…Where's Chloe?"
Then—
the academy alarms began ringing again.
But this time—
not from the arena.
From beneath the western archive tower.
Instructor Vael's voice echoed across the academy through emergency mana communication.
"ALL INSTRUCTORS REPORT TO THE BLACK ARCHIVE IMMEDIATELY."
Lucius' expression darkened.
"…Black Archive?"
Even he sounded uneasy saying it.
Zeal slowly stood despite the restraints still attached to his arms.
The black pulse inside him had become violent again.
Like something was calling him.
No.
Not calling.
Waiting.
Far away—
beneath the academy—
golden eyes slowly reopened in the darkness.
And inside the forbidden archive—
Chloe Ashfield stared at a page that should not have existed.
A page containing a drawing.
Not of a monster.
Not of a king.
But of a boy with black scales standing beneath a shattered sky.
And beneath the image—
one sentence was written in ancient text.
"When the False Monarch awakens, the world will remember fear."
Chloe's breathing stopped.
Because the face in the drawing—
was Zeal's.
🐉 END OF CHAPTER 12
Next chapter begins the Black Archive Arc, where hidden academy history, forbidden records, and the first true secrets behind the Calamity Monarch begin surfacing. But something inside the archive is still sealed… and it may already know Zeal is coming.