The academy training field had become a battlefield.
Smoke rose from broken buildings.
The ground was covered with cracks and burned marks from dark magic.
Students were running everywhere, trying to escape the attacking demons.
Screams filled the air.
Teachers tried to defend the students, but the enemy was too strong.
The giant demon that had landed in the field slowly walked forward.
Each step shook the ground.
Its glowing red eyes stared at the terrified students lying behind Elira.
Some were injured.
Some were crying.
None of them could stand and fight anymore.
The demon raised its claw.
Dark energy gathered again.
"Pathetic creatures," it growled.
"Your world belongs to demons now."
Elira tried to stand.
Her hands trembled as she attempted to summon her light magic again.
But she was exhausted.
Her earlier shield had protected many students, but it had drained almost all her energy.
Still, she refused to move away.
If she ran…
The students behind her would die.
Golden light slowly formed around her hands again.
But it was weak.
Too weak.
The demon laughed cruelly.
"Trying to resist?"
It raised its claw higher.
The dark energy grew stronger.
A single attack would erase everyone in front of it.
Several students closed their eyes.
Some whispered prayers.
Others simply cried.
And at the edge of the broken field…
Auren Vale stood silently.
The wind moved around him.
His eyes looked calmly at the scene.
At the demon.
At the frightened students.
At Elira trying to stand even though she was clearly exhausted.
Auren's heart felt heavy.
Not because he feared the demon.
But because he knew what this moment meant.
If he did nothing…
Many people would die.
But if he used his true power…
Everything would change.
For a long time, Auren had chosen silence.
He had hidden the truth.
Because power like his did not belong in the world.
But today…
There was no choice left.
He looked at the sky.
Hundreds of demons were flying above the city.
Fires burned in the distance.
Screams echoed across Lunaris.
This was not just an attack on the academy.
It was an invasion of the entire world.
Auren closed his eyes.
And whispered softly.
"I'm sorry."
Then he took one quiet step forward.
At that exact moment…
The giant demon attacked.
A massive wave of dark energy shot toward Elira and the injured students.
It was fast.
Too fast for anyone to react.
But before the attack could reach them—
Everything stopped.
The wind froze.
The falling dust in the air stopped moving.
Even the dark energy attack froze in place.
Time itself had been paused.
Auren slowly opened his eyes.
The world around him had become completely silent.
He walked calmly across the battlefield.
Past frozen students.
Past shattered buildings.
Past the enormous demon, which stood frozen in mid-attack.
When he stood directly in front of it, he looked up quietly.
The demon's terrifying face no longer looked threatening.
Because in this moment…
It was nothing more than a statue.
Auren raised his hand.
Darkness gathered softly around his fingers.
Not the cruel darkness of demons.
But something deeper.
Something older.
The Void.
The origin of existence itself.
Auren spoke calmly.
"Erase."
The giant demon disappeared instantly.
Not destroyed.
Not burned.
Not shattered.
Simply removed from existence.
Like it had never been there.
Auren then looked toward the sky.
Hundreds of demons were frozen in mid-flight.
Their wings spread wide across the dark clouds.
He sighed quietly.
"This war is pointless."
He gently closed his hand.
And in the next second—
Every demon in the sky vanished.
All of them.
As if the world itself had deleted them.
The dark clouds above Lunaris slowly disappeared.
The sky returned to normal.
Auren looked across the damaged city.
Fires burned everywhere.
People were injured.
Many had already died.
He remained silent for a moment.
Then he raised his hand again.
A soft pulse of power spread across the entire city.
Broken walls repaired themselves.
Collapsed buildings slowly rebuilt.
Flames disappeared.
Injured people suddenly found their wounds gone.
Everything returned to the state it had been in only hours earlier.
Finally…
Auren lowered his hand.
The city of Lunaris was safe again.
He looked toward Elira.
She still stood frozen in time.
Her face filled with determination as she tried to protect the others.
Auren's eyes softened slightly.
"You were brave," he whispered.
Then he stepped back.
The power around him slowly faded.
He snapped his fingers quietly.
Snap.
Time began moving again.
The wind returned.
Dust fell to the ground.
Students gasped in confusion.
The giant demon was gone.
The sky was clear.
The battlefield had completely changed.
Everyone looked around in shock.
"What happened?"
"Where did the demons go?!"
"Did someone defeat them?!"
Teachers looked equally confused.
Even Elira stared at the empty field with wide eyes.
Moments ago, they had been seconds away from death.
But now…
Everything was peaceful.
No demons.
No destruction.
Just silence.
The instructor looked toward the sky in disbelief.
"Someone… saved us."
Whispers spread among the students.
"Was it a Grand Mage?"
"Maybe the Mage Council sent someone!"
"Whoever it was must be incredibly powerful!"
But no one noticed the quiet boy slowly walking away from the field.
No one noticed Auren Vale leaving through the broken academy gate.
His hands were in his pockets.
His face calm.
As if nothing had happened.
Behind him, students continued talking about the mysterious hero who had saved the city.
"The Unknown Savior," someone called him.
But the person who had done it all…
Simply disappeared into the quiet streets of Lunaris.
Unseen.
Unpraised.
Unremembered.
Just like he always had been.
But far away…
In the dark corners of the world…
Something much worse had awakened.
A presence far more terrifying than the demons that had attacked today.
An ancient ruler of darkness.
A being that had waited centuries for revenge.
The Demon God had opened its eyes.
And the war for the world…
Had only just begun.