A sharp breath cut through the silence.
Dante jolted awake, his body tensing as if dragged back from the edge of something dark. His hand shot out instinctively, gripping Jinx's wrist.
She flinched slightly—but didn't pull away.
"…Dante?" her voice came out softer than she expected.
His breathing was uneven, his chest rising and falling like he was still fighting something unseen. Slowly, his eyes opened.
One glowed a deep, burning crimson.
The other… was calm. Human. Brown.
For a moment, he just stared at her—like he wasn't sure she was real.
"…You shouldn't have come here," he rasped.
Jinx blinked, then let out a shaky breath, forcing a smirk onto her lips even as her hands trembled slightly.
"Oh yeah?" she said lightly. "And let you die all tragic and mysterious?"
She leaned closer, her voice dropping.
"Not on my watch."
Something in his expression softened—but only slightly.
From the corner of the cave, a weak groan broke the moment.
"Ugh… can you two not have your emotional reunion without background noise?"
Jinx turned sharply.
"Pixie!"
Pixie was slumped against the cave wall, looking like she had just fought death and barely won. Her usual glow was dim, her skin pale—but her grin was still there.
"Relax," Pixie muttered, waving a weak hand. "I'm alive… barely. Did it for the aesthetic."
Jinx snorted despite herself, shaking her head.
"You're actually insane."
"Thank you," Pixie replied proudly, then winced. "Ow. Don't make me laugh. I might actually die this time."
Jinx exhaled, the tension in her chest finally loosening just a little. She turned back to Dante, her expression softening as she brushed his silver hair away from his face.
"You scared me, idiot," she murmured.
Dante's gaze flickered.
"…Sorry," he whispered.
And for once, he actually meant it.
By the time they returned to the academy, the morning fog hadn't fully lifted.
A crowd had gathered near the gates, voices low, uneasy. Something about the air felt… off.
Jinx slowed slightly.
"Why does it feel like we missed something?" she muttered.
Dante didn't answer immediately, his eyes scanning the crowd.
"Because we did."
Near the front, a student sobbed quietly, clinging to someone for comfort.
That someone was Rika.
She stood there, calm and composed, her hand gently resting on the student's shoulder as she murmured soft, fake reassurances.
"It's alright," Rika cooed. "You're safe now."
But her eyes...
They weren't soft.
They weren't kind.
They flicked up.
Locked onto Jinx.
Then shifted to Dante.
And in that instant, something dark flashed beneath her perfect smile.
Her lips curved slightly.
"…The Phoenix healed him," she murmured under her breath.
Her gaze sharpened.
"How… inconvenient."
Behind her, something moved.
A shadow—thin, unnatural—slithered along the ground, curling at her heels like a living thing.
Rika didn't even look at it.
"We'll have to move faster," she whispered.
The shadow stilled.
As if it understood.
Deep beneath the academy, far from prying eyes, the air grew heavy with heat.
Flames licked the edges of a massive, gaping abyss—a hell mouth pulsing with raw, unstable energy.
Cloaked figures stood in a wide circle around it, their faces hidden, their presence suffocating.
The atmosphere shifted the moment Rika stepped into the chamber.
Even the elders felt it.
One of them turned sharply.
"You're late."
Rika said nothing at first, her heels clicking softly against the stone floor as she approached the edge of the abyss.
She peered down into it, her reflection twisting in the flames.
Then she smiled.
"Apologies," she said smoothly. "I had… loose ends."
The Headmaster stepped forward, his voice low, controlled.
"The ritual cannot proceed without precision."
Rika glanced at him lazily.
"I'm aware."
"The requirements remain unchanged," he continued. "Phoenix fire… and a demon's heart."
A murmur spread through the cloaked figures.
One elder stepped forward, their tone sharper, edged with warning.
"Those two forces are meant to balance each other," they said. "You are not creating harmony. You are provoking destruction."
Rika's smile widened slowly.
"Balance…" she repeated, almost amused.
She turned to face them fully now, her eyes gleaming with something dangerous.
"Is overrated."
Silence.
Heavy.
Unsettling.
Then she tilted her head slightly, her voice dropping into something darker… colder.
"And lucky me…"
Her lips curved into something almost predatory.
"I already have both."
The flames in the hell mouth surged violently and everything went black.