Pitch darkness. A feeling of suffocation. A heartbeat pounding like war drums in the distance.
Kyle Rivers opened his eyes in panic, finding himself lying on a narrow bed in a dimly lit room. His breath was unsteady, and beads of sweat dripped from his forehead as if he had just emerged from a nightmare that refused to let go. He raised his trembling hands to his face, trying to grasp where he was and how he had ended up here. The last thing he remembered... the mission. The academy. The infiltration.
But something felt different.
His stomach clenched violently, as if a snake was writhing inside it, and soon a terrifying pain crept over him, as though flames had ignited in his guts. He let out a muffled groan and turned onto his side, staring at the cracked wall with eyes flickering with terror.
Then it began.
His entire body convulsed as if his bones were trying to escape from his flesh. He clutched his chest, feeling something strange a distorted pulse emanating from deep within his abdomen. He gasped as a wave of dizziness washed over him, and soon it turned into something far worse.
His skin began to lose its color. First, it turned pale like a corpse, then blackened in uneven patches, its edges eroding like burnt paper. He lifted his hand in front of his eyes and saw his skin peeling away like an old layer of paint, while something dark and liquid, inky as night, oozed from the cracks forming along his arms.
"What is this...?!" he whispered in horror, but the words came out choked.
Then came the next wave of agony.
An indescribable pain erupted inside his stomach. He doubled over, wrapping his arms around his waist as if trying to contain the storm raging within him. But the pain was stronger than that. It felt like something moving inside him, multiplying, spreading through his veins like a creeping poison.
He screamed. His cry tore through the small room, but it did not stop it grew louder, reverberating as if another being inside him was screaming alongside him.
Then, amidst the panic, the pain, his complete collapse... the door opened.
A man stood there, wearing the robes of an academy instructor, his hands clasped behind his back, a faint smile playing on his lips.
Kyle lifted his head with difficulty, his eyes wide with terror, his mouth opening and closing, unable to speak. The man stepped closer, leaning down until his face was level with Kyle's, then whispered in a cold voice:
"Well done in delivering the gift."
And at that moment, Kyle realized the harsh truth: he was not a spy... he was merely the carrier of catastrophe.
The next morning, they found his body.
Or what was left of it.
There was something unnatural about the corpse lying in the corridor. The skin looked as if it had melted, then hardened again, forming twisted black patterns like the roots of a dead tree. Kyle's face no longer looked entirely human but rather something distorted, eroded, and his frozen gaze into the void was enough to send shivers down anyone's spine.
Raphael, one of the academy's senior guards, was the first to arrive at the scene. He paused for a moment, trying to comprehend what he was seeing. This was not a natural disease but a curse... something supernatural.
"This... can't be Kyle, right?" one of the guards behind him murmured, his voice trembling.
Raphael did not respond. He knelt beside the corpse, reaching out cautiously, but before he could touch it, he noticed something moving beneath the hardened skin.
He quickly pulled back, his heart pounding wildly. "Stay away from it! Something inside him is still... alive."
Elsewhere in the academy, Selena Gomez was running through the stone corridors at full speed. She knew exactly where she needed to go to the only person who might have the answer.
When she reached the instructor's room, she pushed the door open without knocking. The same man stood there, the same cold smile on his lips as when he last saw Kyle.
"I want the antidote," she said firmly, trying to mask the tremor in her voice.
"The antidote?" the instructor repeated slowly, as if savoring the word. "Do you really think something like this can be contained with a simple antidote?"
"You know what happened to him!" She stepped closer, her fists clenched. "You... you knew all along. What did you do to him?!"
The man smiled, then turned to face the window, gazing at the distant horizon. "What happened to him... was merely the beginning."
Zenith had been watching from afar. He had suspected from the start that something unnatural was happening at the academy. And now, with this incident, the pieces were beginning to fit together in his mind.
"The person we're looking for... the one who spread this curse..." he muttered to himself.
His eyes narrowed in deep thought. "They must be very close to us. Perhaps closer than we expect."
At that moment, panic began to spread.
This was not an isolated case. Reports were coming in about other students displaying similar symptoms.
Something was growing within the academy.
Something that was never meant to see the light of day.
Valerian sat in his room, his body tense like a tightened string on a musical instrument. His breaths were shallow, and his inner voice repeated a single question over and over: "Could this happen to me too?"
He gripped his shirt tightly, trying to calm himself. But he couldn't forget the last look in Kyle's eyes when they found him. It wasn't just fear—it was something deeper... pure terror.
But there was no time to dwell on his fears.
The deep chime of the academy's bell echoed through the halls, announcing an emergency meeting. Valerian exhaled sharply, then stood up, despite the hesitation creeping into his steps. He knew everyone would be there... and that he could not avoid this confrontation.
When he entered the grand hall, the air was heavy with tension.
Students and instructors had gathered in a wide circle, the flickering torchlight casting restless shadows on the stone walls. Murmurs filled the space, anxious glances exchanged. This was not just another incident this was something bigger than anything they had ever faced.
On the platform, the headmaster stood, his face set like stone, his eyes scanning everyone with cautious precision. Beside him stood Raphael, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, his expression rigid as if expecting an attack at any moment.
Then, the headmaster spoke.
"As you all know, we lost one of our students yesterday." He paused, letting the weight of his words settle over the tense atmosphere. "Kyle did not die a natural death. He was subjected to... something we do not yet understand."
At the back, Valerian felt a chill creep over his skin. Everyone waited for the next words.
"But what is worse," the headmaster continued, "is that we have discovered similar signs in other students."
Gasps filled the room. Some exchanged stunned looks, while others whispered in frightened voices.
Selena, who was seated at the front, suddenly stood. "Are you saying this... is spreading?" Her eyes burned with both anger and fear. "And no one is doing anything to stop it?"
"We are investigating the matter," the headmaster replied steadily.
"Investigating?" Selena laughed bitterly. "Kyle is dead! Are we supposed to wait for more bodies before taking real action?"
Before anyone could respond, a sound echoed from one of the hallways.
A low groan... the sound of dragging footsteps on the stone floor.
Everyone turned toward the open door.
A student stood at the entrance.
His face was pale, his hands trembling uncontrollably. Black spots crawled up his neck, writhing as if they were alive. His eyes were filled with terror, but he could not scream he could only whisper in a hoarse, broken voice:
"It's... inside... it's inside me...!"
Then he collapsed to the floor, his body convulsing violently.
Panic surged through the hall.
And Valerian, frozen in shock, suddenly realized...
He had felt the same tremor in his own body moments ago.
And perhaps...
His turn was coming.