Leomaris’s POV:

The reddish sun hung overhead, easing toward the horizon. His attention didn’t stay on it long. Another step, and a collapsed building swallowed most of the view.

The air hung thick, the ground slippery underfoot: moles and damp muddled together, making it hard to find firm footing. The buildings surrounding them had the look of something that had stood for centuries.

The buildings rose to around thirty feet, though most had long since collapsed, their grand structures buried under green grass and vines that seemed to come from nowhere. The smell and thick air spoke of centuries.

Unlike the real world’s brick constructions, these were concrete, the architecture more reminiscent of Ancient Rome than anything modern.

"We should all go our separate ways, then."

Alfred said, and the two of them were already heading down the right alley before the words had settled.

"Take care, Leomaris," Raine said. Charlotte was already heading the same way as Alfred and Warner.

Lucius had his hands in his pockets, eyes darting around in curiosity as he spoke. "What do you think, Leomaris? Where do we head?"

Leomaris thought it over for a moment. He glanced behind him, and the portal was gone.

Enough to confirm it. Whatever else had changed, his knowledge of Rune Realms hadn’t.

His eyes swept the street and snagged on a pattern. Massive statues of knights, on both sides, every ten metres.

He stroked his chin. "I don’t think we were teleported here without purpose. We need to stay close. That will help us locate the Endbringer. If it’s here, proximity improves our chances."

"I agree."

Lucius’s blue eyes moved to one of the statues, and he motioned toward it. The head had come off, leaving a hole around the neck, mostly blocked by the statue.

"Let’s check it out. If it’s secure enough, we can use it as shelter."

Leomaris agreed. His mind was already on to something, but as they moved off, Lucius asked:

"Do you really think this is the Novel Ages... and we’ve travelled back in time?"

With a sigh of frustration he carefully hid from Lucius, he spoke. "Well, that’s the most logical conclusion. Pandora opened the jar, didn’t she? I believe that was what sent the Endbringers to destroy the world... So yes, this place is tens of thousands of years old."

In the Twilight Epoch, humans lived without interference: no gods, no higher beings. They knew nothing of sin or danger or suffering. A utopia, plain and simple. Not until the Orthodox approached Pandora, the first ruler of humans, and handed her a jar as the mark of their alliance.

As long as the jar remained sealed, the Orthodox could live among humans, and that was exactly what came to pass, giving rise to the Novel Ages.

It all came crashing down in the end. Before she drew her last breath, Pandora’s curiosity got the better of her, and she opened the jar.

From the jar came suffering, conflict, disease, pain, and death — all of it poured out upon mankind. It severed the bond between humans and higher beings and slashed the human lifespan in the bargain.

Now, in the Modern Era, humans could reach the gods only through ritual.

"How did you think we survived then... if these creatures filled the world and destroyed everything, and the chances of anyone in the Novel Ages surviving are so slim?"

Lucius noticed the statue the moment they neared it. His head tilted back, eyes crawling up its nearly twenty feet, looking for a way to climb.

"I don’t know. The servants of the Ethereal God of Crimson Waves believe we were created by the Orthodox, not the Genesis. That may be an answer... something we can learn, since we are all still in the dark."

Leomaris didn’t wait for an answer before leaping for the statue’s waist. Within reach, he planted his feet against it and propelled himself directly for the hole at its neck. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

A soft smile tugged on Lucius’s lips. "Interesting."

Without wasting a moment, he mirrored Leomaris and joined him. The hole led into what looked like someone’s old room. A bare mattress, clothes with nothing fancy about them, and wood that had been polished within an inch of its life.

Leomaris was familiar enough with the setting, having read through it in Lucius’s viewpoint. It might have held his attention otherwise. But his mind was elsewhere.

He knew what Instructor Moon was playing at by bringing them here. Moon thought they were too weak to take on an Endbringer, and he wasn’t far off. An Endbringer of a Terror Ruin Realm sat at the same level as the Supreme Lord of a Lesser Citadel.

Second, the conditions he’d set were rigged for them to kill each other, and Leomaris was the one he wanted dead. So even if they bested the Endbringer, whoever came away with its head could sort Leomaris out just as neatly.

Even if he survived, and worse, came out with the creature’s head, Moon could do something mad, chuck him straight into a Malice Rune Realm. Refusing wasn’t a winning hand either. A few words to the Spire Magic Tower and the academy was all it’d take to make his life a proper mess.

He couldn’t refuse to fight either.

He turned for a better look at Lucius, who was busy taking in their surroundings.

Lucius was fond of pushing him to his limit for some reason, and considering everyone but himself would be dead set on success, they’d come at him regardless. No matter what, he’d have to participate.

That wasn’t Leomaris’s problem. Instructor Moon’s motivation was. Lethal enough that Moon wouldn’t do the deed himself but wouldn’t bat an eye if five more cadets went down with him.

He brushed his chin. ’From the look he gave me yesterday, he didn’t have the intention to kill me at first. That means there are more reasons beyond the curse on me. There’s more to his motivation.’

His mind didn’t wander long. Something shook the ground, and both he and Lucius moved for cover without a word. An intimidating presence loomed over them. Countless footsteps, heavy and rumbling, that alone were enough.

Leomaris swallowed hard. "It’s the Endbringer."