CHAPTER 98: DATE RUINED [1]

The sound of shattered glass rang through the café as the ground shook again.

Screams filled the air.

Plates clattered to the floor, and the soft amber glow from the lamps turned into a chaos of flickering light and rising smoke.

Lyrium’s heartbeat spiked. His instincts kicked in before thought.

"Not now, fuck!!"

He hissed, voice sharp and low as static crackled faintly around his fingers.

He turned on his heel and rushed back inside.

Tables had toppled, people were ducking for cover, and through it all, Maya.

She was on the floor, half-dazed, one hand shielding her head as dust fell from the ceiling.

"Maya!"

Her head snapped up at the sound of his voice.

"L-Lyrium! What, what’s happening !?"

He grabbed her wrist firmly, pulling her to her feet.

"We’re under attack. Or something close to it."

Her eyes widened.

"Attack? Here?! That’s impossible! The academy’s barrier—"

"—should’ve stopped anything less than a Sage-level strike,"

He cut her off, scanning through the cracked windows where dark smoke coiled like serpents in the air.

"This isn’t normal magic. It’s something else."

Maya’s voice trembled.

"Wh-what do we do?"

Lyrium looked straight into her eyes, expression hard and serious, the calm mask he always wore now replaced by cold focus.

"You need to alert the Top Sage Council. Now. Tell them the barriers have been breached near the lower district. And make sure Headmistress Theodeus knows, it’s not a normal spell."

Maya froze for a moment, still catching her breath.

"Lyrium, wait, you’re not thinking of going out there, are you?"

He gave her a look that said everything without words.

"Of course you are,"

She muttered, biting her lip in frustration.

"You idiot..."

"Hey,"

He said, his tone softening briefly.

"I’ll be fine. I promise."

"Promises don’t mean much if you’re dead, genius!"

She snapped, tears stinging her eyes though she tried to hide them.

"You just said you didn’t know what love feels like, right? So maybe don’t make me figure it out after you blow yourself up!"

Lyrium blinked, surprised by the words, but before he could answer, another explosion shook the streets outside.

The café’s sign tore loose from its hinges, crashing to the ground.

He tightened his grip on her hand, voice firm.

"Maya. Focus. Go to Rihana. She knows what to do. You’re faster with mana signals than most mages, I need you to warn the council before this spreads."

Maya bit her lip again, then nodded sharply, forcing herself to breathe.

"Fine. But if you die, I’m haunting you, got it?"

A faint smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Guess I’ll look forward to that."

"Asshole."

She turned, sprinting through the ruined doorway, weaving through panicked civilians as her mana flared faintly, sending streaks of light into the air, an encoded signal for the academy watchtowers.

Lyrium exhaled deeply, watching her disappear into the crowd.

Then his eyes hardened.

He turned toward the source of the blast, the direction of the central plaza.

Flames danced in the distance, and a strange pulse of energy thrummed through the air like a heartbeat.

A familiar voice echoed faintly through his com watch, Silas, panicked but controlled.

"Lyrium! You there?! The alarms are going off across the campus! What the hell’s happening?"

"Not sure yet,"

Lyrium replied, already moving.

"But whatever it is, it’s not human."

Ren’s voice cut in next, crackling through the static.

"Bro, you’re near the café district, right? We’re detecting a mana spike the size of a damn leviathan core from your area!"

Lyrium narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah. I can feel it too."

The air around him shimmered faintly as lightning began to coil across his arms, illuminating the smoke-filled streets.

He whispered under his breath, eyes locked ahead.

"Whoever did this... you picked the wrong time."

Then, with a flicker of light, he vanished into the haze.

*****

The air inside the Council Chamber was unnaturally still.

Even the faint hum of mana crystals embedded along the golden walls felt quieter than usual.

A circular table, massive, carved from the trunk of the Worldroot Tree itself, stood at the center of the room.

Around it sat eight figures, the greatest minds and powers of Deviants Academy,

the Sage Council.

Each bore the insignia of an element, their robes glowing faintly with their respective hues, fire, water, wind, lightning, earth, and beyond.

At the head of the table sat Headmistress Emily Theodeus, her long hair reflecting the dim blue light of the mana orbs.

Her presence alone carried an unspoken weight, graceful, yet sharper than any blade.

The silence was broken by the sudden slam of the door.

A young aide, barely past his twenties, still panting, his uniform slightly disheveled, rushed in and bowed deeply.

"R-Reporting, ma’am! There’s been an explosion, no, multiple explosions, near the central plaza, right outside the Café District!"

The Council stirred slightly, their expressions shifting from calm to mild interest.

Emily’s eyes narrowed.

"Casualties?"

"Unconfirmed, ma’am. But the energy reading—"

The aide hesitated, swallowing hard.

"—it’s beyond anything we’ve recorded since the Anomalous Rift Incident three years ago."

A low murmur spread among the sages.

Professor Eugene, the same one who had taught class that morning, leaned forward, his monocle gleaming.

"Beyond that incident? Impossible. That rift nearly tore half the northern barrier apart. You’re saying the reading is stronger than that?"

The aide nodded shakily.

"Yes, sir. It’s, unidentifiable. No known elemental signature. It’s not fire, not lightning, not darkness, not even chaos energy. It’s something... mixed. Alive."

That word—"alive"—hung in the air like poison.

One of the councilwomen, an older mage in emerald robes, spoke next.

"Alive? Explain yourself."

The aide licked his lips nervously.

"The energy pulse... it reacts. When we scanned it from the mana towers, the flux shifted, like it was listening."

A heavy silence followed.

Emily Theodeus closed her eyes for a moment, resting her chin on her clasped hands.

"I see,"

She murmured softly.

"And who was in the vicinity?"

The aide quickly flipped through his crystal notepad.

"Several civilians, students... and one name flagged by the academy’s core registry, Lyrium Blackwood."

At that, several heads turned.

Eugene’s brow furrowed deeply.

"Blackwood... again."

A faint smile curled on the lips of another sage, a dark-haired man in a crimson coat.

"He’s the boy who triggered a mana fluctuation during the Obelisk Trial, isn’t he? The one with the unstable lightning surge?"

Emily’s voice was calm, but her eyes gleamed sharply.

"Yes. The same boy."

"Should I send a retrieval unit?" asked one of the officers stationed near the door.

Emily didn’t respond immediately.

Instead, she rose slowly from her seat, her robes flowing like rippling water.

"No. Not yet."

The aide blinked.

"Ma’am?"

"Sending the units blindly will only add chaos. Whoever caused this wants attention, noise, panic, interference."

Her tone was measured, slow, each word laced with control.

"We will not play into their hands."

"But, Headmistress,"

Eugene interrupted softly,

"if the readings continue to rise,"

"They won’t,"

She said simply.

The air in the room grew heavier, her authority pressing against everyone present like invisible gravity.

One of the sages, a man known as Councilor Alvric, master of the lightning division, leaned forward, tapping his finger against the table.

"If this is indeed connected to the Blackwood boy, we can’t ignore it. His existence itself bends the academy’s equilibrium. The last time a Blackwood manipulated unstable lightning, the northern domain lost half its sky for a week."

Emily gave him a side glance.

"And yet, he remains one of the few who can contain such instability without tearing himself apart. If this is truly his doing... then we may not be dealing with an attack, but a reaction."

Alvric frowned.

"Reaction to what?"

Emily’s gaze turned toward the massive mana crystal embedded in the ceiling, a shard from the Heart of the World Tree itself.

"That,"

She said quietly,

"is what we must find out."

The aide shifted uneasily.

"Ma’am, what should we do until then?"

Emily turned back to him, her tone calm but precise.

"Activate the Skyveil Protocol. I want all communication between the lower district and the upper campus sealed. No rumors, no leaks. Not a single word reaches the public without my clearance."

"Yes, ma’am."

"And send a message to the Observation Wing."

She paused briefly.

"Tell them to track the mana trail. If it moves, alert me immediately."

The aide bowed deeply.

"Understood."

He turned and hurried out, his footsteps echoing through the golden hall until they faded into silence.

For a long moment, none of the sages spoke.

Finally, Eugene broke the quiet, his voice low.

"You think this is connected to the cult reports? The one that mentioned Sleipnir?"

Emily’s eyes opened slowly, silver irises gleaming with faint light.

"After all these years,"

She whispered,

"they still haven’t learned when to stop digging into what should remain buried."

She looked out the window, where far below, the city’s lights flickered beneath the spreading smoke.

"Prepare the Astral Archives,"

She ordered softly.

"We may need to reopen the old records of the Sleipnir War."

The council looked uneasy.

Even speaking that name sent a ripple of cold down the room.

Theodeus added, voice barely above a whisper now,

"And keep an eye on the Blackwood boy. If the anomaly follows him again... we may not be dealing with a coincidence."

The mana crystals dimmed slightly, as if the air itself was listening.

One of the officers, looking tense and hesitant, stepped forward and said,

"Umm... Ma’am... there’s... another issue."

Emily slowly turned her gaze toward him, her calm demeanor cracking just slightly.

"Another issue?"

She asked, her tone low but sharp.

"Don’t tell me it’s what I think it is."

The officer swallowed hard before replying,

"Professor Darcyroix... he’s missing again, Ma’am."

For a brief moment, the entire council chamber went silent.

The faint hum of the mana monitors filled the air before,

Emily slammed her hand against the table.

"Not that man again!"

She snapped, her voice echoing across the hall.

"Every single time there’s trouble, he vanishes like some lunatic researcher on a divine pilgrimage!"

She stood up from her chair, frustration brimming in her voice as she continued,

"That man, Darcyroix, ever since the physical assessment, he’s been obsessed with that boy’s power. Lyrium Blackwood is not a specimen to experiment on, nor is he a threat to dissect! He’s a student!"

The officer tried to interject,

"Ma’am, we believe he might’ve gone near the eastern sector,"

"Then find him!"

Emily cut him off, her expression now fierce.

"Don’t let him get anywhere near that boy’s situation! The last thing we need is Darcyroix meddling again. If he gets involved, he’ll turn a small spark into a damn wildfire."

She took a deep breath, rubbing her temples as she muttered under her breath,

"That man... he’s brilliant, but he’s too blinded by his own curiosity. If he sees even a glimpse of power beyond his understanding, he’ll chase it until he breaks."

Looking back at the officer, she said firmly,

"Send a team. Full mana trace, all possible routes. And if you find him, bring him back quietly. Before things spiral again."

The officer nodded nervously and rushed out, leaving the council chamber in tense silence once more.

Emily exhaled deeply and leaned back into her chair, whispering to herself,

"Lyrium Blackwood... you really are a magnet for trouble, aren’t you?"

*****