Chapter 23: Caught Red-Handed, Saved by Chaos
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We barely made it out of the ruins before they found us.
Iris, Emilia, and I stepped into the open forest clearing, breathing hard, the relic still pulsing in my hands.
Then—
A dozen academy enforcers surrounded us.
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[WARNING: ACADEMY RESTRICTIONS BREACHED.]
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I sighed. "Of course."
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The Capture
A familiar voice cut through the tension.
"Well, well. Look what we have here."
Kaiden Aldren, looking far too smug, stepped forward, flanked by two instructors.
Behind him, Instructor Vance looked bored, while Selene watched us with curious amusement.
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"You know," Kaien continued, arms crossed, "most students wait until they''re at least A-Rank before pulling this level of stupidity."
Iris glared. "We handled it."
Kaiden raised a brow. "You handled what, exactly?"
Before we could answer, Emilia elbowed me.
I turned.
And froze.
Because the relic in my hands was glowing again.
And the air around us was changing.
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The Aftermath Awakens
A deep, resonant hum filled the clearing.
The enforcers tensed.
Selene’s eyes widened. "Something’s happening."
The relic shattered.
A wave of energy erupted outward, rippling through the academy grounds.
For a second, nothing happened.
Then—
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[NEW ENTITY DETECTED: UNKNOWN.]
[SYSTEM ALERT: FOREIGN PRESENCE INTEGRATING.]
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The sky split open.
A portal unlike any before tore across the horizon, its edges flickering between existence and something else.
From within—
Something moved.
Something big.
Kaiden’s smug expression vanished. "Okay. What did you idiots do?"
I exhaled. "Oh, you know. Just… something bad."
Nyx sighed in my mind. "This is why we don’t touch unknown artifacts, my master."
Noctis just grinned. "Oh, this will be fun."
And just like that—
Detention was officially postponed.
Because we had bigger problems.