At the School Field,
"What's this? Why are we all suddenly told to gather here?" "It's already time to go home."
"I don't know either." His friend answered while shrugging. "It's been a long time since we all gathered like this!"
Hundreds of students gathered on the field with confused expressions. Some were whispering to their neighbors, some were glancing at their phones, and some were already starting to complain because their feet were sore from standing too long.
In the middle of the noisy crowd of students, Nova and Kazui stood calmly in a somewhat front row. Lunar and Noah were also there—standing not far from their brothers. Ena was beside Noah.
"I think something's wrong." Kazui muttered softly.
"That's already obvious now." Nova answered, standing beside him in a flat tone. His eyes scanned the entire field.
Suddenly heavy footsteps were heard from the direction of the main building.
TAP. TAP. TAP.
All the students immediately fell silent and turned toward the sound.
There appeared the figure of a man about 175 cm tall, athletically built, wearing a white shirt neatly tucked into black dress pants.
Iwan—the principal of SMMA and also a Rank B Sage.
Iwan stopped right in front of the line of students, looking at them all with a very serious gaze.
"You must be wondering why you're all gathered here, right?"
No one answered.
Kazui, who stood in the front row because of his tall stature, raised his hand.
"Sir..." "Does this have anything to do with someone named Dedi?"
Iwan turned toward Kazui.
"You're absolutely right." Iwan nodded slowly. "Mrs. Linda from your class said, until now Dedi hasn't been seen since lunch break."
Small murmurs immediately spread among the students.
"Dedi's missing? It seems he's in a different class from me?"
"You've got to be kidding..."
"Where did he disappear to?"
Iwan raised his hand, signaling for everyone to be quiet.
"So, I want to ask all of you here." He continued in a more serious tone. "Is there anyone among you who saw where Dedi was last seen?"
"Dedi?" They began whispering to each other, trying to remember if they saw Dedi today.
Most students shook their heads—they didn't pay much attention to Dedi's presence because the kid rarely interacted with others.
Suddenly a female student named Sari—a girl—raised her hand.
"Sir!" "I saw him!"
All eyes immediately turned to Sari. Iwan stepped closer toward her.
"Where? When? Please explain."
"At that time... around lunch break." "I was walking in the ground floor corridor with my friends, and I saw Dedi walking toward the boys' toilet. After that I didn't see him again."
"Alright." Iwan nodded. "Is there anything else—"
"But wait!" Sari suddenly spoke again, cutting off Iwan's sentence. Her face looked hesitant but still dared to speak. "I also saw Reno going to the toilet at that time—about five minutes after Dedi went in."
She pointed with her index finger toward someone in the crowd.
"He must know something..."
All eyes immediately turned to a figure standing somewhat separated from the other students—at the edge of the field, casually leaning against a large tree trunk with both hands in his pants pockets.
Reno.
His face was calm, there was even a slight smile on his lips.
Students standing near Reno unconsciously stepped back a few steps. They stared at him with looks of fear mixed with suspicion.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Reno raised both hands with a very casual gesture. "Are you trying to accuse me now?"
"What would I even gain from making that kid disappear?" "A kid who doesn't even have any powers. He's just a weak ordinary human, nothing special about him. So why would I bother, right?"
"And," Reno continued while staring directly into Sari's eyes—making the girl step back slightly from intimidation. "When I entered that toilet, it was already empty inside. There was no one, no sounds. And I can guarantee there wasn't a drop of blood or any other signs of violence there."
He smiled widely.
"So please don't make baseless accusations, yeah?"
The atmosphere became very awkward.
Noah, who had been silent all this time, suddenly walked forward.
He stopped right in front of Reno—standing only one meter away from the taller kid. His eyes looked directly into Reno's eyes.
"Wait a moment."
All heads turned toward Noah. Some students even gaped in shock—Noah was a kid who rarely spoke in public, let alone interfered in other people's business, just like his brother, but Noah was more open than his brother.
"How can you be sure that there was no blood left in the toilet?" Noah asked in a flat tone. "Did you check every corner of the toilet? Every wall tile? Under the sink? In the toilet bowl? Behind the door? The ceiling?"
Everyone stared at Reno with looks that became more suspicious—because indeed, how could someone who just "passed by" the toilet be so sure that there was no blood at all? Unless that person deliberately checked every corner carefully.
"Woah, look at your brother." Kazui whispered to Nova in a slightly impressed tone. "What does he want to do, yeah?"
"Who knows." Nova answered casually. "Just give him time for whatever he wants to do now."
*Who is this kid?* He thought while observing Noah more seriously. *His face looks a bit similar to that kid named Nova. Don't tell me... he's his brother, and... He's clearly strong!*
"I already said, I could see the situation inside clearly when I entered." He explained while shrugging. "School toilets aren't that big. I think all students can also see all the corners from the front door without needing to walk around."
"But still," Noah didn't back down at all, continuing to stare at Reno. "If you really have nothing to do with that kid's disappearance, why did you pay attention to details like that?"
"Normal people who enter toilets focus only on wanting to urinate or defecate. They wouldn't have time to check for blood or not, right?"
*Shit.* Reno felt cold sweat starting to come out on his palms even though he tried hard to keep his facial expression calm. *This kid is really dangerous. He's like a snake silently stalking, waiting for the right moment to attack with its venomous fangs.*
The atmosphere became even more tense. Students who were whispering before now became truly silent.
Reno laughed softly—but his laugh sounded slightly forced.
"If you want to accuse me of being the mastermind behind that kid's disappearance," He stared at Noah, "Show concrete evidence then! Don't just talk without a clear basis. Can you?"
Before anyone could answer—
"Sir!" Linda, standing beside Iwan, suddenly shouted, her hand pointing in a certain direction. "What is that on top of the school building?"
All students—even Iwan—immediately turned in unison toward where Linda pointed.
On top of the five-story school building, right at the edge of the roof, stood an... strange figure.
Its shape resembled an adult human about 180 cm tall, but its entire body looked like it was made of blazing fire.
There was no clear face—just a dark silhouette behind the flames. No eyes, no nose, no mouth. Only a vague head shape.
But somehow, everyone who saw it felt like they were being stared at.
The figure didn't move at all. It stood at the edge of the roof with a very upright posture.
"That... what is that?" A student whispered in a voice barely audible.
"A supernatural creature..." Another student muttered. "That's clearly a supernatural creature..."
"Don't tell me..." A female student standing in the middle row spoke with a trembling voice. "That creature is responsible for Dedi's disappearance."
"CALM DOWN!" Iwan shouted in a very loud voice. "All of you, don't separate! Stay here until I return!"
After saying that, Iwan's body began to change.
WHOOOOSH!
From his back emerged a pair of fiery red wings about three meters long on each side. The fire formed a structure similar to bird wings—with "feathers" made of flickering flames moving beautifully.
Surprisingly, the fire didn't burn his uniform at all.
Because that power was his own—an extension of his soul manifested in physical form. Unless his power was taken and used by someone else, only then could it hurt his body or clothes.
"Ah, I just remembered that the principal is actually a Sage!" A male student shouted. "His fire is so cool!"
"You're right!" His friend answered while staring at Iwan's fire wings. "I heard, every supernatural power has different power levels. I'm jealous of people who have powers like that..."
"Be quiet and don't move from here!" Iwan warned once more before—
WHOOOOSH!
He immediately launched into the air at incredible speed.
His fire wings flapped once—creating an air blast that made several students standing too close stagger backward—and his body immediately shot into the sky.
Within three seconds, he was already at a height of fifty meters.
The fire creature on top of the school building seemed aware that someone was approaching quickly.
Its head—or more precisely, the upper part of its body shaped like a head—turned toward Iwan who was flying closer at high speed.
Upon "seeing" Iwan who was already very close, the creature immediately turned around and ran toward the back of the building at extraordinary speed.
TAP TAP TAP TAP!
Each step left traces of small fires on the roof surface—which immediately went out within a few seconds. The fire enveloping its body left traces of thick black smoke billowing into the air.
"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE RUNNING, BASTARD!" Iwan shouted from the air.
His wings flapped harder, increasing his speed.
The distance between them grew closer rapidly—
Twenty meters.
Fifteen meters.
Ten meters.
Eight meters.
Five meters.
Iwan's hand was already raised, his fingers already wide open, ready to grab the creature—
But just when Iwan could almost touch the creature with his fingertips—just when the distance between them was less than one meter—
FWOOSH!
The fire creature suddenly disappeared just like that.
Really just... vanished.
"WHAT?!" Iwan shot past the place where the creature had been standing. "WHERE DID IT GO?!"
His eyes scanned every corner looking for signs of the strange creature's presence.
All that was visible were rows of shady trees behind the school and some old buildings.
There were no signs of the strange creature's presence anywhere.
Iwan used his sensing ability—sending waves of spiritual energy in all directions to detect the presence of supernatural creatures.
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
"Damn..." He muttered in a frustrated tone.
After searching for five minutes without results—checking every building, every large tree, even the parking area and back warehouse of the school—Iwan finally gave up.
He directed his body back to the field and began descending slowly.
His fire wings gradually shrank before finally disappearing when he was almost touching the ground.
THUD.
He landed calmly on the field ground—right in front of the students who were still gathered.
"Sir, how did it go? Did you catch it?" Linda immediately asked.
Iwan shook his head slowly.
"It disappeared suddenly. Right when I was about to catch it, it just vanished." He answered in a frustrated tone. "I already searched the entire area behind the school, but there were no traces at all. No supernatural aura, no energy traces, nothing."
"I'm almost certain that creature has something to do with Dedi's disappearance. But without concrete physical evidence, I can't do anything."
The atmosphere became very quiet. Some students looked at each other with worried faces.
A female student in the back row—a girl—raised her hand.
"Sir... if that's the case, do we still have to go to school tomorrow? Isn't it dangerous if that creature appears again and attacks us?"
That question made all students nod in agreement quickly.
"Right, Sir!"
"What if that creature attacks again?"
Iwan raised his hand, signaling for everyone to be quiet.
"You're right." Iwan nodded with a serious expression—he knew this decision was best for student safety. "For the next few days—maybe a week—school is closed until the situation is truly safe. I'll contact supernatural experts to investigate this case thoroughly."
Some students immediately looked relieved hearing that—some let out long sighs.
Iwan looked at all the students.
"Now you may go home." "But remember—go straight to your respective homes. Don't wander around. Don't go to isolated places. Always be with friends or family. If anyone sees something strange or suspicious—supernatural creatures, strangers following you, or anything that makes you uncomfortable—immediately contact me or other teachers. Understand?"
"Yes, Sir!" They all answered.
"Alright. You may disperse now!"