The Crimson Library disappeared behind Harvey like it had never existed.
No one saw him exit. No guards noticed his absence. Not even the system's trackers within the Academy registered the anomaly—Harvey had disabled them all before stepping inside.
But that didn't mean he was alone.
As he walked down the dimly lit corridor leading to the Academy dormitories, he felt it: a chill in the air, the kind that didn't belong to the late autumn wind. It was the scent of steel. Of killing intent. Faint, like smoke on the edge of a storm.
They're finally moving, he thought, lips curling ever so slightly.
He rounded a corner and stopped. Three figures stood at the end of the hall, clad in matte black coats, faces obscured by masks enchanted to hide identity and aura.
Class S assassins.
"You weren't supposed to return," the tallest one said, voice like gravel scraping metal. "You know too much."
Harvey tilted his head. "You're right. I wasn't."
He took one step forward. The lights above flickered—and went out.
In the dark, the assassins moved, faster than any human should. A blade whistled through the air, aimed for his heart. Another came for his throat.
But Harvey didn't move.
Not physically, anyway.
> [Spellbreaker – Echo Rewrite: Velocity Filtered Perception ON]
Time crawled.
To Harvey, the world slowed to a crawl. The spells his enemies used—their enchantments for speed, strength, invisibility—appeared to him as glowing code strings. He reached out with his will, fingers twitching like a composer in front of sheet music.
One by one, he broke the strings.
Time snapped back.
The assassins stopped mid-strike, their spells shattering into harmless sparks. They stumbled, confused, their movements dull and human again.
Harvey raised his hand.
A crimson seal formed midair—one not registered in any known Academy database.
> [Custom Spell – Null Burn: High-Speed Mana Collapse]
The corridor lit up in blinding red.
The first assassin's body crumpled without a sound—reduced to mana dust.
The second screamed, her protection spells combusting one by one before she exploded in a silent flash.
Only the tall one remained. He fell to his knees, mask broken, face pale and terrified. "W-what are you…?"
Harvey walked over slowly, eyes cold.
"Harvey Arclight," he said calmly. "Last son of House Arclight. Class F student. Forgotten. Weak."
He knelt beside the man, voice barely a whisper.
"And now? I'm the last thing you'll see before your world burns."
The final assassin tried to cast a teleport spell. Harvey touched his temple.
The spell unraveled mid-cast, and so did his mind.
Harvey stood alone in the hallway again, surrounded by silence and a faint smell of ozone and blood.
---
Far away, in the capital, a council of cloaked figures stared at a mirror glowing with static.
"He accessed the Forbidden Archive."
"And activated Spellbreaker."
"…We move up the timeline. Kill or control. No more waiting."
The air around them pulsed with divine pressure. Even gods had begun to take notice.
---
Back at the Academy, Harvey looked out the window. In the distance, he saw the city lights. The calm before a war only he remembered.
And he smiled.
---