Two months had passed since the chaos, since the village of Heliana had almost been lost, since the Sins had been unleashed upon the world. The date was Noctvale 20, and despite the sunny morning at the Veinwalker Academy, an uneasy tension lingered beneath my chest like a storm waiting to break.

I had already planned for this month. I knew the next arc was coming and it wasn't a small skirmish. This arc… many would die. Not just faceless rookies. Some were named characters, people I had grown to care for in this rewritten timeline. The thought alone made my stomach twist.

That was why I had begged Master Isen to stay at the academy for at least a month. His reply, delivered with that calm, unshakable grin of his, had been the same he always gave:

"I have duties, Khael. I'll be back when I'm needed. Trust me."

I wanted to punch him. Or maybe just hug him and never let go. I wished, silently, desperately, that he would return before the disaster hit. The thought of leaving the academy leaving everyone I cared about without his protection… it was unbearable.

As I walked through the sprawling grounds of the Veinwalker Academy, my eyes caught the younger students, barely twelve years old, practicing their Shinrei control, echo arts, and basic combat. Their movements were eager, filled with the joy of discovery and the innocent pride of youth. They laughed when someone fell, cheered when someone succeeded.

(These children… they will die…) I thought, my chest tightening. The manga had already shown me the path. I remembered the names, the faces, the screams, the pain. I couldn't let it happen again.

I paused near the training yard, my hands in my pockets, watching a small group of rookies spar with wooden practice swords. Their laughter rang through the morning air, unaware of the shadows creeping toward them in the future.

(I need a countermeasure. I need backup. I need everyone to survive this time.)

The enemy wasn't just any threat. It was one of the strongest in the world: the Eclipse Lord known as Sloth. And not just any Sloth, but the Sloth who had remained mostly inactive, the one too lazy to join the Hollow Nine, yet feared nonetheless.

Sloth wasn't like the other Sins. His strength was terrifying, not in brute force, but in the subtleties of his existence. Two identities in one body multiple souls, multiple strategies, multiple layers of unpredictability. He had trained beyond the limits of ordinary beings, and yet he chose to sleep. To wait. To let others struggle while he remained dormant.

(He's ranked third in the Hollow Nine's hierarchy… only the likes of the hollow nine stronger… yet here he is, sleeping while the world writhes.)

I clenched my fists, imagining the potential carnage. If Sloth decided to awaken, there was nothing in this academy, no matter how talented, that could withstand his onslaught without preparation.

(The only ones capable of defeating him… are the Eclipse Vanguard. And Master Isen.)

A cold weight settled over me. That meant the rest of us, my friends, my classmates, the rookies laughing in the yard were utterly vulnerable. I needed a plan. Multiple plans. Contingencies within contingencies.

I took a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down. Panic wouldn't help. I reminded myself of the manga, of the countless simulations I had run in my head. Each scenario played out with precision, every potential mistake noted.

(I know what's coming. I just have to get everyone ready in time.)

The academy's bells rang, signaling the next training session. I moved toward the main courtyard, where the older students gathered. Their chatter filled the air with mundane topics: who had the best meat at the cafeteria, whose Echo Art had improved the most, whose training left them exhausted yet triumphant.

It all seemed so ordinary. So trivial. And yet, that ordinary life was what I needed to protect.

Khael paused, looking over the grounds with a careful gaze. His eyes scanned the distant horizon, imagining shadows that might fall in the coming days.

(I can't let history repeat itself. I won't.)

I thought of Kaen, wild and impulsive, a firestorm barely contained in a thirteen-year-old body. I thought of Rael, confident and prodigious, but still a boy despite the bloodline powers coursing through him. I thought of Lira, gentle and kind, yet capable of breathtaking strength when pushed. And I thought of Ceyla, whose storm-affinity temper now balanced with calm, tempered by friendships she had only recently learned to trust.

(They all deserve a future.)

I rubbed my temples, feeling the weight of the situation press harder. Shigeo Motome. If there was anyone who could help me anticipate the coming storm, it was him. Lazy genius, IQ over 200, avoids complications like they're a plague… yet somehow always sees the simplest path through the messiest problems.

(If anyone can devise a strategy, it's Shigeo. But how do I even bring this up without sounding completely insane? If I say, 'Hey, an Eclipse Lord might attack soon, and many students will die,' he'll look at me like I'm plotting to summon a Voidborn in the cafeteria.)

I paced a few steps, glancing around the courtyard. Shigeo was sitting under the oak tree near the dormitories, half-asleep, chin propped on his palm. His expression was that eternal mix of boredom and quiet disdain for the world—perfectly normal for him. He muttered something under his breath.

"What a complicated world."

A smirk tugged at my lips. Typical Shigeo. He always said that, and somehow, that simple phrase made everything a little less suffocating.

(Okay… think, Khael. I need to frame this like a normal training exercise. Nothing about apocalypse-level danger, nothing about Eclipse Lords or Sloth… just a… hypothetical scenario. Yes, that works.)

I approached him cautiously. He opened one eye, giving me the usual half-lidded glare.

"Why are you here?" he asked, voice dripping with disinterest.

"Uh… training purposes," I said quickly, trying to sound casual. "I thought we could… run a simulation. You know, for, uh… strategy practice?"

Shigeo raised both eyebrows, finally sitting up fully. "Strategy practice?" He tilted his head, considering. "That's vague. Very complicated world-level vague."

(Good. That means he's curious.)

"Yeah," I said, trying to sound nonchalant. "I thought maybe we could test some counter-strategies against… um… hypothetical extreme threats. Like… really strong opponents."

Shigeo's lips twitched as if fighting back a laugh. "Extreme threats… right. Are you talking about those training dummies in the arena, or are you finally losing your mind, Khael?"

(Keep it casual… keep it casual…)

"No, no… just hypotheticals. You know, like… extreme scenarios. Nothing real," I said, forcing a smile. "It's just… thought experiment."

Shigeo let out a slow sigh and leaned back against the tree, folding his arms. "Hmm… thought experiment, huh? Fine. Let's do it. But if you start talking about Sloth or any of those silly Eclipse Lords, I'm walking away. Deal?"

"Deal," I said quickly, relief washing over me.

He yawned, then muttered under his breath: "What a complicated world."

We spent the next hour in what looked like ordinary strategy training. Shigeo barely moved, but his mind worked like a well-oiled machine. He asked questions, posed hypothetical attack patterns, and I had to explain countermeasures without tipping him off.

(Okay… keep it vague… keep it safe… keep it sane…)

Shigeo occasionally scribbled notes in his notebook with perfect, messy handwriting. Every now and then, he'd look up at me, squinting. "You're unusually tense for someone doing a simple simulation. Are you hiding something?"

I forced a chuckle. "Me? Tense? Nah… it's the… um… heat. Sun's hot today."

He snorted, rolling his eyes. "Hot. Sure. Hot enough to imagine the end of the world, right?"

(Close enough… he suspects something, but not enough to call me insane… yet.)

To be continue