The street had gone silent.
Not the peaceful kind of silence.
Not the comforting quiet of a sleeping neighborhood.
This silence felt wrong.
Heavy.
Like the world itself was holding its breath.
Black fragments from the destroyed poltergeist slowly drifted through the air before dissolving completely into nothingness. The faint smell of burnt spiritual energy lingered around the cracked pavement.
Yuma stood protectively in front of Serena, breathing heavily.
His arm trembled slightly from the fight.
Across from them, Alumna remained calm as always, his long coat swaying gently in the night breeze. Beside him floated Stud, who—despite trying to maintain his usual smug expression—looked significantly less confident than normal.
"…That was only a fragment?" Yuma asked quietly.
"Yes," Alumna replied.
The answer landed heavily.
Serena slowly lowered her dagger.
"…You're joking."
"No."
Stud crossed his tiny arms.
"And unfortunately," he added, "your teacher here doesn't really strike me as the joking type."
The air shifted again.
Serena immediately stiffened.
There.
That feeling again.
Cold.
Watching.
Hungry.
Her breathing became uneven.
"…Behind us," she whispered.
Yuma turned instantly.
At first—
Nothing.
Then the darkness near the end of the street began to warp.
Not violently.
Slowly.
Like something was peeling itself into reality.
The shadows stretched unnaturally across the ground.
Streetlights flickered.
One by one.
The temperature dropped.
And then—
It appeared.
It was taller than before.
Far taller.
Its body no longer flickered like the fragment they had destroyed. This one was stable.
Real.
Its form resembled a distorted humanoid figure wrapped in layers of moving darkness. Long black tendrils drifted behind it like torn cloth underwater.
And where its face should have been—
There was only a hollow void.
A complete absence of light.
The moment Serena saw it—
Her body froze.
Not emotionally.
Physically.
Her fingers tightened around her dagger so hard they hurt.
Her chest tightened.
And suddenly—
She wasn't standing in the street anymore.
Eight Years Ago
Rain poured endlessly from the night sky.
A younger Serena stumbled through a ruined alleyway, tears mixing with rainwater on her face.
Everything hurt.
The world felt blurry.
Behind her—
Something scraped against the walls.
Slow.
Patient.
Following her.
Her tiny hands clutched a broken dagger.
Her breathing was panicked.
"Dad…?"
No response.
Only thunder.
Then—
A massive shadow moved above her.
Serena looked up.
And saw it.
That hollow face.
That impossible darkness staring directly at her.
The creature lunged.
Serena screamed—
Present Day
"SERENA!"
Yuma's voice snapped her back to reality.
Her eyes widened violently.
The poltergeist was already moving.
Fast.
Too fast.
Its body blurred forward like a shadow tearing through space itself.
Yuma reacted instantly.
He shoved Serena backward just as a massive black limb crashed into the ground where she had stood.
BOOM.
The pavement exploded.
Concrete shattered across the street.
Yuma slid backward from the shockwave, immediately raising his guard.
"…That thing's way stronger than the fragment."
"No kidding," Stud muttered.
The poltergeist slowly straightened.
Then—
It tilted its head toward Serena.
Not Yuma.
Not Alumna.
Her.
It recognized her.
Serena's breathing became unstable again.
"…It remembers me…"
Alumna stepped forward.
His expression remained calm.
But his eyes had sharpened.
"…Yuma," he said quietly.
"Yeah?"
"Protect Serena."
Yuma blinked.
"…Sensei?"
"I'll handle this."
The moment those words left his mouth—
The poltergeist vanished.
Alumna moved immediately.
CLANG.
A blade of condensed spiritual energy appeared in his hand just as the creature materialized beside him.
The impact of their clash sent a violent gust across the entire street.
Windows rattled.
Streetlights burst.
Stud immediately flew upward.
"…Oh, this is bad."
The poltergeist attacked relentlessly.
Its tendrils lashed through the air like spears, each strike fast enough to tear through concrete.
Alumna dodged smoothly.
One step.
Two.
A precise movement of his blade severed several tendrils instantly.
But they regenerated immediately.
"…Regeneration on that level?" Stud muttered.
Alumna's eyes narrowed slightly.
The creature attacked again.
This time Alumna countered directly.
He stepped into its range instead of retreating, his blade glowing brighter as he slashed upward.
The strike carved directly through the creature's torso.
For a moment—
The street became silent.
Then the creature's body split apart—
Only to immediately reconnect.
Yuma's eyes widened.
"…It healed."
Stud's expression darkened.
"…No."
He stared carefully at the creature.
"…It didn't heal."
Alumna stepped back slightly.
The poltergeist's hollow face slowly turned toward him.
Stud's voice lowered.
"…It rewrote itself."
Silence.
Even Alumna stopped moving for half a second.
"…That's impossible," Yuma said.
Stud looked unusually serious.
"No," he said quietly.
"…It's forbidden."
The creature suddenly screeched.
Not loud.
Not high-pitched.
Deep.
Ancient.
The sound distorted the air itself.
Serena immediately grabbed her head.
"…Ah—"
Her vision blurred again.
Memories flooded back.
Rain.
Blood.
Darkness.
That face.
The creature moved toward her.
Instantly.
Yuma stepped in front of her again without hesitation.
The poltergeist's arm slammed against his guard, forcing him backward several meters.
His shoes tore across the pavement.
Blood dripped from his arm.
But he didn't move aside.
"…You're not touching her."
The creature tilted its head again.
Almost curiously.
Then—
It smiled.
Not with a mouth.
Not physically.
But somehow—
Everyone there felt it smiling.
Stud's expression immediately changed.
"…No…"
Alumna looked toward him.
"…What is it?"
Stud slowly backed away in the air.
For the first time since they met him—
Stud looked afraid.
"…That thing…"
The poltergeist's hollow face slowly shifted toward Stud.
Stud's voice trembled slightly.
"…I know what it is."
Silence fell across the street.
Alumna's eyes sharpened immediately.
"…Explain."
Stud stared at the creature.
"…That's not a normal poltergeist."
The creature took another slow step forward.
The shadows around the street began moving with it.
Responding to it.
Listening to it.
Stud's voice dropped to almost a whisper.
"…That's a Calamity-Class."
The atmosphere instantly changed.
Even Yuma felt it.
The weight behind those words.
"…What does that mean?" he asked quietly.
Stud didn't look away from the creature.
"It means…"
The poltergeist's hollow face locked onto Serena again.
"…If that thing fully matures…"
The shadows across the street rose higher.
Like servants bowing before a king.
Stud finished quietly—
"…Entire cities disappear."
And the creature—
Took another step toward Serena.