CHAPTER 199: A LITTLE WAKE-UP CALL [2]

The air in the virtual simulation hummed with energy, sharp and electric against Kyle’s skin.

The sky was a flawless, artificial blue. Bright and empty like a painting that had been ripped straight out of a dream.

Kyle’s fingers curled around Zalrielle’s hilt. The black tachi pulsed in his grip, warm and alive, as if it was just as eager as he was.

’This will be fun’, her voice whispered through his thoughts, dark and amused.

He didn’t respond. His usual smirk was gone, replaced by something colder. His face was blank, unreadable. Only the faint glow in his blue eyes betraying the fire burning inside.

Across the field, Reo and Luna shifted into their stances, weapons ready. Reo spun his silver spear in a smooth arc. The blade flashing under the artificial sunlight.

Luna flexed her fingers, and twin shortswords appeared in her hands. Frost already creeping along the edges. The air around her turned icy, tiny crystals forming at her feet.

They were strong.

Stronger than most. Strong enough to stand with the academy’s best.

But strong wasn’t enough.

Not anymore.

Not after what Kyle had seen.

The Black Gate had shown him what real power looked like. The kind that didn’t just win fights but erased them.

Rodrick. That masked man. Vesper, moving like a storm, reality itself bending around him. Compared to real powerhouse.

Compared to them, Kyle was nothing. A speck in the path of something monstrous.

And Reo and Luna? They were falling behind.

Cedric, Eleanora, Serena, Cassian. They had all grown stronger, pushed beyond their limits by the horrors they had faced.

But Reo and Luna? Sylvie and Lyra? They were still thinking like students. Still fighting by the rules.

But they were more than that.

They were the future pillars. The core of the Path of Transcendence. The ones who would face the coming apocalypse head-on.

That’s why Kyle had already talked to Cedric and Cassian. They would handle Sylvie and Lyra.

Now it was his turn. Reo and Luna were his responsibility.

Because the world wasn’t waiting. The demons weren’t waiting.

And whatever was coming, whatever Vesper had warned about. Would tear them apart if they weren’t ready.

So Kyle would make them ready.

Even if it meant breaking them first.

———

Reo spun his silver spear in a lazy arc. The polished metal glinting under the artificial sun of the training grounds.

The weight was familiar, comforting even, as he adjusted his grip and took a few experimental swings.

Nearby, Luna rolled her shoulders. The twin short swords in her hands frosting over as her ice magic seeped into the blades.

The simulation was flawless. Cool air, the scent of damp soil. The faint resistance of the ground beneath their boots.

Reo flashed her a grin, twirling his spear with exaggerated flair. "These feel good," he called out. "Maybe today I’ll finally beat your icy ass."

Luna scoffed, flipping one of her swords in a quick, practiced motion. Frost spiraled through the air in its wake.

"Keep dreaming, Dustbane" But there was no real venom in it. Just the usual back-and-forth of two fighters who had pushed each other to their limits for months.

Suddenly,

A shiver ran down Reo’s spine. His fingers tightened around his spear before he even realized why.

Next to him, Luna went rigid. Her breath suddenly visible in the air despite the simulation’s controlled climate.

The mana around them twisted.

It wasn’t just cold, it was wrong. Like the air itself had turned heavy, pressing against them, coiling like a python ready to swallow them whole.

Reo’s throat went dry. He’d never felt anything like this before. Not even during their most intense battles.

Their eyes snapped to Kyle at the same time.

He wasn’t smirking. Wasn’t joking. Just... standing there. Still. Unnervingly calm. His blue eyes glowed faintly, brighter than Reo had ever seen it.

The black tachi in his hand looked like an extension of his arm, natural as breathing.

"Both of you," Kyle said, his voice flat, devoid of its usual teasing edge. "Attack me at the same time."

It wasn’t a challenge.

It wasn’t a suggestion.

It was an order.

And without thinking, without hesitation, their bodies moved.

Reo’s grip on his spear tightened. Luna’s swords frosted over completely, jagged ice creeping up the blades.

Because for the first time, they felt it.

The gap.

The terrifying, insurmountable distance between them and him.

Then...

Kyle vanished.

One second, he was there, tachi resting lazily against his shoulder.

The next...

BZZZZT!

A crackle of electricity.

Reo barely had time to register the sound before Kyle was there.

His fist already mid-swing, wreathed in blue-white lightning that spat angry black sparks. The sharp scent of ozone burned in Reo’s nose.

His body moved on instinct. Spear coming up, muscles tensing to dodge—

But it was too late.

Kyle’s fist connected.

CRACK!

The hit sent Reo flying like a ragdoll. His vision blurred, the world tilting sideways as his back carved a brutal trench through the virtual dirt.

He skidded, tumbling end over end, before finally smashing into the far barrier hard enough to make the simulation glitch.

The shattered terrain flickered, just for a second. Before resetting like nothing happened.

Luna barely had time to blink.

"Stop spacing out and attack!"

The voice snapped her back to reality a heartbeat before her instincts screamed at her to move.

Her head whipped toward Kyle just in time to see him pivot toward her. Those eerie glowing eyes locking on like a wolf sighting wounded prey.

She didn’t think.

Her swords crossed in a flash. And a wave of jagged ice erupted toward him, sharp enough to shred steel.

Kyle didn’t dodge.

Didn’t even bother.

With a single, lazy flick of his black tachi, her ice split clean down the middle. Two useless halves dissolving into mist before they even touched him.

Luna’s breath hitched.

Then Kyle stepped forward.

One second. He was meters away.

The next. His fist was already crashing toward her gut.

She barely got her swords up in a frantic X-block.

But it didn’t matter.

The impact smashed her flat onto her back. The force punching every scrap of air from her lungs.

Her vision swam. The cold virtual ground biting into her skin as she gasped like a fish tossed onto land.

Above her. Kyle stood there, completely unfazed. Zalrielle rested lazily on his shoulder like he hadn’t just folded two people in half without breaking a sweat.

"Get up," he said, voice flat. "We don’t have all day."

———