The academy felt different at night now.
Not quieter.
Worse.
Like something beneath the stone halls had finally opened its eyes.
Red emergency sigils glowed across the towers of Eryndor Royal Academy while instructors rushed through the rain-covered pathways toward the western sector.
Toward the Black Archive.
Thunder echoed across the sky.
But even the storm couldn't drown out the alarms.
Inside the medical ward, Zeal stood from the bed slowly while the cracked restraint chains hung from his wrists.
The black pulse inside his chest wouldn't calm down.
THUMP.
THUMP.
Each beat felt like a signal pulling him somewhere.
Kyle stared at the broken restraints.
"…You know, normal people usually don't break academy-grade sealing chains by accident."
Zeal flexed his hand slowly.
Dark scales flickered briefly beneath his skin before disappearing again.
"I didn't mean to."
"That sentence is becoming a problem."
Lucius stepped toward the door first.
"Enough talking."
Lightning sparked faintly around him.
"Something happened in the archive."
Zeal already knew.
He could feel it.
Whatever Chloe touched—
it connected to him.
The moment the academy alarm changed frequency, the pulse inside him reacted instantly.
Like recognition.
Without another word, the four of them moved.
WESTERN ACADEMY DISTRICTRain poured heavily across the stone pathways.
Students watched nervously from dorm windows as instructors sealed entire sections of the campus.
Nobody understood what was happening anymore.
Rumors had already spread through the academy:
Ancient monster beneath the school.
The Greyhound boy is cursed.
The Lockwood heir fought a dragon.
The academy is hiding something.
Most thought it was nonsense.
But the fear in the instructors' faces told another story.
Zeal's group reached the western tower quickly.
And immediately realized something was wrong.
The air itself felt distorted.
Smoke drifted from the windows of the archive tower even though nothing was burning.
Chloe's smoke.
Kyle slowed slightly.
"…That can't be good."
At the tower entrance, several instructors were already unconscious.
No wounds.
No visible injuries.
Just collapsed.
Lucius frowned.
"They were overwhelmed by pressure."
Zeal stepped closer to one of the instructors.
The black pulse inside him reacted instantly again.
THUMP.
The unconscious instructor suddenly twitched violently.
Black veins briefly spread across his neck before fading.
Lucius noticed immediately.
"…The pressure is corrupting mana flow."
Kyle looked disturbed.
"Can your weird monarch thing NOT infect people?"
Zeal ignored him.
Because the deeper he looked into the tower—
the stronger the pull became.
Like something inside was waiting specifically for him.
Then—
BOOOOOOM.
A shockwave erupted from inside the archive tower.
Smoke exploded outward through shattered windows.
Kyle jumped.
"THAT'S DEFINITELY CHLOE."
Without hesitation, the four of them rushed inside.
THE BLACK ARCHIVEThe inside of the tower no longer looked normal.
The hallway itself had changed.
The walls stretched unnaturally far.
The shelves seemed endless now.
Ancient black books floated through the air slowly while golden runes pulsed across the ceiling.
Reality itself felt unstable.
Kyle stopped immediately.
"…Okay. Nope."
Lucius narrowed his eyes.
"A dimensional overlap."
Zeal looked around slowly.
The archive wasn't just reacting to Chloe anymore.
It was reacting to him.
The deeper they walked—
the more the walls shifted.
Like the archive itself was alive.
Then they heard Chloe's voice.
"DON'T TOUCH THE CHAINS!"
The group immediately rushed forward.
They entered the central archive chamber—
and froze.
Massive black chains stretched across the room from wall to wall.
Ancient runes covered every surface.
And at the center—
Chloe stood surrounded by smoke while holding the black-scaled book against her chest.
But she wasn't alone.
A figure stood behind her.
Tall.
Covered in dark robes.
No face visible.
Only glowing golden eyes beneath the hood.
Kyle immediately pointed.
"…WHY ARE THERE ALWAYS EYE THINGS NOW?!"
The figure slowly turned toward them.
Then its gaze landed directly on Zeal.
Silence filled the chamber.
The hooded figure lowered its head slightly.
Like a servant greeting royalty.
Lucius stepped forward instantly.
Lightning exploded around him.
"Identify yourself."
The figure ignored him completely.
Its voice echoed softly through the archive.
"The heir has arrived."
The black pulse inside Zeal surged violently.
The chains throughout the archive rattled instantly.
Chloe looked exhausted.
"Don't let it touch the seals."
Zeal frowned.
"…What is it?"
The figure finally answered.
"A memory."
Then—
it moved.
BOOM.
The figure crossed the chamber instantly.
Fast.
Far faster than any student should've been able to react to.
Lucius did anyway.
CRACK—BOOM.
Lightning exploded through the archive as Lucius intercepted it directly.
Their collision shattered nearby bookshelves instantly.
Kyle's eyes widened.
"…WHY IS EVERYTHING STRONGER THAN US?!"
Lucius slid backward across the floor slightly before stopping.
His expression sharpened immediately.
"…That wasn't a human."
The figure tilted its head slightly.
Then black smoke-like energy began leaking from beneath its robes.
Not mana.
Something older.
The chains across the room shook harder now.
Zeal stared at them carefully.
They weren't holding the figure.
They were sealing something deeper beneath the archive floor.
And the figure was trying to break them.
The hooded entity slowly raised its hand toward Zeal.
"Return to the throne."
The words hit like a hammer inside Zeal's mind.
Instantly—
visions exploded through his head again.
A dragon roaring beneath collapsing skies.
Black armies kneeling.
A throne surrounded by chains.
And himself—
standing above the world while countless creatures bowed before him.
The pressure inside Zeal erupted violently.
BOOOOOOM.
Black energy exploded through the archive chamber.
The floating books ignited instantly.
The chains shook violently.
And for a split second—
golden dragon eyes appeared behind Zeal in the darkness.
Kyle stumbled backward.
"…Okay, THAT one was new."
Chloe's eyes widened.
"He's synchronizing again."
Lucius gritted his teeth against the pressure.
"No…"
Lightning crackled harder around him.
"He's awakening."
The hooded figure suddenly knelt.
Then—
every chain in the archive snapped tighter.
The room trembled violently.
An ancient voice echoed beneath the floor.
Not from the hooded figure.
From below it.
"WHO DARES DISTURB THE MONARCH'S PRISON?"
The entire tower shook.
Outside—
the storm intensified instantly.
Thunder cracked across the academy sky.
And deep beneath Eryndor Academy—
something ancient began laughing.
Zeal grabbed his chest as the black pulse became unbearable again.
The voice below the archive continued:
"At last… the heir returns."
Then the floor beneath the chamber cracked open.
And something enormous started moving underneath.
END OF CHAPTER 13Next Time on Path of the Calamity Monarch…The Black Archive seal begins collapsing completely.
Zeal learns the first forbidden truth about the Monarch system.
Lucius finally sees what truly exists inside Zeal.
And beneath the academy… something ancient is about to break free.