?


    Ate''s eyes widened as she processed Helena''s words, her mind racing with the implications.


    "An avnche of monsters?" she whispered, her voice barely audible over the sounds of battle raging nearby. "How is that possible?"


    Helena''s grip tightened on her ck staff, her knuckles turning white.


    "I don''t know what exactly is going on, but the Saintess said this isn''t just a simple rift - it''s a copse of the very fabric that separates our reality from something else."


    As if to punctuate her words, a deafening roar echoed from beyond the widening crack in the sky.


    The sound sent shivers down the spines of all who heard it, a primal fear taking root in their hearts.


    Ate''s hand instinctively folded into a tight fist. "We need to warn the others. If what you''re saying is true, we''re about to face a threat far greater than our current squabbles." Helena nodded grimly. "Of course, why do you think we are all here? But first, we need to stop those two," she said, ring towards the blurred forms of Zephyr and Night Terror, still locked in their titanic struggle.


    Their battle had escted to new heights of destruction.


    Zephyr''s red scarf had grown to monstrous proportions,shing out like a living creature, each tendril capable of cleaving through stone and metal alike.


    Night Terror''s form seemed to absorb the very light around it, his four eyes gleaming with an otherworldly hunger.


    Thendscape around them had been transformed into a nightmarish wastnd.


    Craters pockmarked the ground, and the air was thick with dust and debris.


    The otherbatants had long since retreated to a safer distance, their own conflicts forgotten in the face of this disy of raw power.


    Gilbert, his face etched with concern, approached Ate and Helena.


    "We need to put a stop to this madness," he said, his voice hoarse. "If they continue like this, there won''t be anything left to defend when those... things arrive. I can''t even guarantee our own safety."


    Ate threw a displeased frown at Gilbert but looked away and nodded, her mind racing to formte a n.


    "Right now, the only person capable ofmanding that monster is still its master."


    "Then shouldn''t we find Ellis?"


    Ate raised a brow, "What for?"


    "To stop his monster. He has always had something to do with this monster, anyone would have figured that it''s his. Plus, his weakness inbat and having a strong monster to make up for it says a lot."


    Ate blinked at him for a couple of heartbeats and smiled in grim satisfaction before she said:


    "No Headmaster. You have it wrong. Ellis is not the master of this Terror. In fact, it is with Ellis based on the order of its master."


    Sage Gilbert looked intensely at Ate, "Then will you enlighten me, Ate."


    ''Oh, I wish I could be trapped in a loop of this moment,'' Ate reasoned in her head as she opened her mouth to speak to Gilbert.


    "Who else?" she said with a shrug. "It''s Northern, of course."


    Gilbert''s eyes widened, his pupils trembling. "What? What do you mean?"


    Helena, by the way-hearing Northern''s name in the conversation-also freaked out but with moreposure.


    She shifted her focus to the pitch-ck monster fighting on equal grounds with Zephyr whom she felt could beat the crap out of her, despite both of them being Sages.


    Then looked back at Ate. But the fierydy''s focus at the moment was not on Helena.


    "That can''t be. It makes no sense."


    Ate grinned even wider, "He can''t be that strong? It goes against the n?"


    The old man frowned, "What are you saying?"


    Ate''s face contorted with seriousness, "You know what? Maybe it''s time to have this conversation. What exactly did that damn principal send us here to do?"


    "Ate, be careful of what you say!" Gilbert growled.


    Helena looked at both of them for a short while and sighed.


    "I am very interested in this topic and to see how it ys out, but there''s a looming disaster of monsters upon our heads. We need to act fast."


    As she spoke, the sky above them gave an ominous groan.


    The crack had widened significantly, and through it, they could see glimpses of a dark realm. Strange, writhing shapes moved in the inky ckness, their forms defyingprehension. Arlem, his protective barrier still holding strong around the group, looked up and stared, stunned by the horror of the creature that was descending from the shattered rift.


    Helena took a deep breath, steeling herself. "I have an idea, but it''s risky. I can use my ability to create a temporary barrier to separate Zephyr and Night Terror. It won''t hold for long, but it might give us enough time to exin the situation to Zephyr."


    Gilbert''s eyes narrowed. "And what if he decides to turn on us and run away the moment you drop the barrier?"


    "Then we''ll deal with that when ites," Ate interjected. "Right now, we don''t have a choice. Helena, do it."


    Helena nodded, raising her staff high. The air around her began to crackle with energy, her hair whipping around her face as she channeled her power.


    With a cry, she brought her staff down, mming it into the ground and called:


    "Prismic Space."


    A dome of shimmering energy erupted from the point of impact, expanding rapidly outward.


    It engulfed Zephyr and Night Terror in a matter of seconds, separating them from their


    destructive dance.


    The sudden appearance of the barrier caught bothbatants off guard.


    Zephyr''s scarf retracted, coiling around him like a protective serpent. Night Terror''s shadowy


    form solidified, his four eyes darting around in confusion.


    "What is the meaning of this?" Zephyr''s voice boomed, his eyes zing with barely


    contained fury.


    Night Terror let out a low, menacing growl, his ws scraping against the inside of the


    barrier.


    Ate stepped forward, but Helena stopped her in her tracks and said:


    "I think it''s best I speak to Zephyr."


    Ate nodded and stepped back, allowing Helena to walk forward with her hands raised in a cating gesture as Zephyr sneered,


    "You traitor."


    "Calm down, I am not here to pick broken bones with you. We need you to listen." She looked up, "As you can see, there''s a rift above us, and it''s only a matter of seconds before that


    creature struggling to get out falls."


    She red at him, "If we want to survive this, we have to fight together."


    Zephyr''s eyes narrowed, his grip on his twin katanas tightening. "And what makes you think, Helena, under any circumstances will I be willing to fight with you?"


    "Because you are not Afkon," she responded and paused. Then she continued, "You know


    when to put aside personal grudges and prioritize survival. Right now is one of those times."


    Zephyr breathed and looked at Night Terror.


    "And that monster? How are you sure it won''te at me the moment this barrier of yours


    goes down?"


    Helena looked back at Ate who was walking towards Night Terror.


    "It won''t."


    Zephyr grimaced.


    "How can you be so sure about that? It''s a savage monster."


    Helena shrugged, "I know because I know its master. We are friends."