Chapter 28
After their victory against Team Verdance, Dorm D had become the unexpected favorite of the Celestial Exhibition. But popularity came with its own weight—and not everyone celebrated their rise.
On the morning after the match, Astern woke to find a folded slip of parchment tucked beneath his door.
"Come to the Lower Sanctum at dusk. Alone. — R"
He didn't need to guess. Rylen's signature was scrawled like a whisper across the corner.
---
The Lower Sanctum wasn't a place first-years often visited. It was buried beneath the academy's central tower, used mostly by third- and fourth-years for specialized rituals and elemental attunement. It pulsed with old magic—quiet and patient.
Astern arrived early.
He stood among stone pillars etched with ancient angelic script, the walls humming with sealed power. The room was circular, its floor carved with the Seven Attributes in a ring of golden runes. In the center, a pool of still water reflected the ceiling, where constellations slowly shifted.
Rylen emerged from the shadows.
"I wanted to see something for myself," he said, walking slowly. "There's a rumor that you carry two attributes. That you command beasts with no bond. That you walk between light and shadow like it's your birthright."
Astern didn't respond.
Rylen stepped closer. "You aren't afraid of power. But are you afraid of purpose?"
He raised his hand, and the water in the center of the sanctum swirled upward. From it, a pillar of crystal formed—transparent, alive with threads of energy.
"Place your hand on it," Rylen said. "Let it speak to you."
Astern stepped forward. The moment his skin touched the crystal, his mind was pulled inward.
---
He stood in a void of stars and stone. Before him, massive statues loomed—angels, demons, ghouls—all carved into a circular coliseum.
In the center sat a throne. Empty.
The voice that echoed was neither male nor female, neither old nor young.
"You carry chains woven from two worlds."
A shadow appeared behind the throne, its form shifting between winged angel and horned ghoul.
"You are not meant to choose between them. You are meant to bind them."
Astern's chest burned.
His emblem glowed beneath his shirt.
The throne trembled.
Then—
He was back.
The crystal shattered.
Rylen stood stunned, eyes wide. "That… that was the Throne Vision. Only those touched by Origin see it."
Astern staggered, breath heavy. "What does it mean?"
Rylen's voice was hushed now. "It means you're not just part of a prophecy."
"You are the prophecy."
---
That night, Kaela and Lunaria noticed the change.
Astern sat at his desk, writing. But the way his aura wrapped around him—tighter, heavier—felt different.
Like the world had whispered its secrets into his ear.
And he had whispered back.