Chapter 72 - The Echoes of Mythical Beasts (8)

The air twisted.

What was once a tranquil dusk now churned into something unnatural—ominous clouds spiraling overhead, thick and low like they were being dragged down by an unseen force. The winds that had danced softly moments ago now howled with a sharp edge, carrying with them the scent of scorched earth and something older... something

feral

.

Then it echoed across the sky.

A

roar

—guttural, immense,

primordial

—ripped through the silence, shaking the mountain’s bones. It wasn’t a cry of hunger. It was fury. Agony. A beast long buried, awakened before its time.

Luca’s body stiffened. His head snapped toward the direction of the sound.

"No..." he muttered, eyes narrowing, a cold sweat breaking across his neck. "Those bastards—please tell me they didn’t touch it."

A deep, gnawing dread unfurled in his chest. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. The slumbering beast—was it disturbed?

Beside him, Aria’s face had gone pale. She clutched her pendant, trembling slightly before steadying herself. Her eyes darted skyward as she whispered something beneath her breath. A moment later, her

celestial swan

materialized in a flash of divine light, wings outstretched, sensing the same shift.

The swan’s gaze turned distant, filled with weight and understanding.

"The inevitable... can it be stopped?" it whispered, more to the wind than to anyone else.

Aria didn’t hesitate.

"We can only do our best," she said firmly, then turned to Luca. "We have no time. Let’s ride on the celestial swan. We need to find the others

now

."

Luca nodded grimly, a storm already forming behind his eyes.

He knew it.

This wasn’t just some disturbance.

As Luca and Aria soared through the darkening skies on the back of the

Celestial Swan

, the chaos unfolding below stretched endlessly in every direction.

The once-sacred inner sanctum now resembled a battlefield. Beasts—small and large, tamed and wild—were running, flying,

fleeing

. Trees groaned under the force of gusting winds, and mana-charged tremors pulsed through the land like warning bells. Screams echoed faintly from scattered groups of students, desperately trying to regain control of their summoned partners.

"This is..." Aria muttered, her brows furrowing, "...more than just a disturbance."

Luca scanned the horizon, his heart pounding. He reached into his robe and pulled out a glowing

communication crystal

, the familiar shimmer flickering with urgency as he activated the link.

"I’ll contact Professor Seraphina," he said, trying to keep his voice steady. "If something’s going wrong in the outer sanctum too, she might know more—and she can locate the others."

The crystal pulsed, then Seraphina’s voice broke through, breathless and sharp with tension.

"Luca? Is that you? How are you? Is everything okay? The atmosphere in the outer sanctum is

hectic

—something’s gone terribly wrong. The beasts are out of alignment. It’s like something ancient is disturbing them."

Luca exhaled slowly.

So it really is everywhere...

"It’s the same here in the inner sanctum," he replied grimly. "We need to regroup. Can you gather as many as you can in the central convergence zone? The middle area where both realms overlap."

"Understood," Seraphina answered. "I’ll do my best to keep the outer sanctum calm."

"Also," Luca added quickly, "can you share the locations of the others inside? We’ll gather them on the way."

The crystal glowed once more before shimmering with a projection of several glowing dots scattered across the sanctum. Luca turned the crystal toward Aria.

"There," he pointed. "Let’s move."

Aria nodded, and the Celestial Swan picked up speed, slicing through the turbulent sky with divine grace.

The first figure they encountered was

Aiden

, soaring through the wind atop his radiant

Alicorn

, its silver mane trailing streaks of light behind it. He looked battle-ready, his halberd pulsing with energy.

They exchanged no words—just a firm nod. That was enough.

One by one, they gathered the others.

Aurelia

, her violet cloak billowing as she stood atop a summoned Kirin.

Selena

, hovering with icy composure on the wings of her

Ice Phoenix

, frost trailing in her wake.

Vincent

, lightning crackling faintly around him as he stood atop a storm-borne wyvern.

Kyle

, holding onto his

Gryphon

with a rare look of concern in his eyes.

Lilliane

, clutching her staff tightly as her

Nine-Tailed Fox

glided beside her, eerily calm amidst the storm.

Elowen

, radiant and focused, her

Fairy Glyph

shimmering protectively around her.

Every one of them had forged a bond. Every one had heard the roar. And every one knew—something had awoken.

As the group assembled midair under the spiraling heavens, the sky above them cracked with a faint, unnatural light. Luca looked around, counting them silently. They were all here.

But even now, he could feel it—

the ground trembling far beneath them

.

Kyle asked, "Does anybody know what is happening?"

Silence. Thick and suffocating. No one spoke. Their eyes darted to one another, faces pale, breaths uneven. The unspoken truth lingered in the space between them—something was

very

wrong.

Luca clenched his jaw, thoughts spiraling.

I have a theory... should I say it? No... I have to. They deserve to know.

He took a deep breath and said, "I think... it’s the ancient beast the council elder warned about. Something must’ve triggered it."

Vincent’s cold voice cut through the tension. "And how can you be so sure?"

Then—everything shifted.

The wind stilled.

The air turned dense, heavy like iron. Mana in the atmosphere became erratic, clawing at their skin like static fire. A low rumble echoed from the horizon, so deep it rattled bones and set hearts pounding.

And then... a

shadow

fell upon them.

An immense darkness, like a mountain tearing free from the earth, began to rise in the far distance. But it wasn’t a mountain. The very sky seemed to recoil as the outline of a

monstrous

creature loomed into view—ancient and wrong, as though reality itself struggled to contain it.

Time seemed to freeze.

Their expressions changed—first confusion, then awe, and finally, unmistakable horror.

The creature’s silhouette alone dwarfed even the tallest peaks, its shape partially obscured by storm clouds that churned unnaturally around it. Limbs—or

something like limbs

—shifted slowly in the mist, each movement sending shockwaves through the mana fields. Its roar hadn’t even come yet, but its very presence screamed in their minds.

Lilliane stumbled back, eyes wide and unblinking. Aria brought a trembling hand to her lips. Even Vincent, usually composed, tensed visibly.

Luca’s voice was barely a whisper, yet sharp as a blade. "There it is."

No one answered.

No one

could

.

Elowen finally broke the silence, her voice small and shaken. "But... why now? What made it... wake up?"

No one had an answer.

Even Luca didn’t know. In the game, this beast had only been mentioned in hushed tones. It had lived for thousands for years Its lair was an unreachable zone—sealed by ancient magic, forbidden and unexplored. It was never shown, never fought.

But now... it was

real

. And it was

awake

.

Luca’s mind raced.

The devil commanders... it has to be them. But what did they do?

He steadied himself. There was no time to be paralyzed by fear.

"I’ve contacted Professor Seraphina," he said, forcing calm into his tone. "We’ll regroup at the midpoint between the inner and outer sanctums. We have to go—now."

As everyone mounted their mythical beasts, preparing to take off, Luca remained standing on the ground, hesitating. He looked up at the sky, then around at the others, uncertain.

Lilliane blinked and tilted her head. "Huh? Luca, you didn’t form a contract with any beast?"

Her voice, loud and innocent, immediately drew everyone’s attention.

A moment of awkward silence followed as all eyes turned to him. Even the wind seemed to pause.

Luca scratched the back of his neck, clearly embarrassed. "...No. I didn’t."

The group was stunned.

Luca—the one who led them through the trials, who carried them through battles, who always seemed so composed—

hadn’t formed a contract

?

He sighed, then added quickly, "My Time and Space affinity seems to have unsettled them."

Aurelia was the first to break the silence with a soft smile. "It doesn’t matter. Come on, Luca. Ride with me. Kirin won’t mind."

Kyle, ever the loudmouth, added with a grin, "You can join—-"

Aurelia shot him a glare so sharp he went silent mid-sentence.

Luca chuckled awkwardly. "Thanks, Aurelia. I’ll take that offer."

He stepped up and climbed onto Kirin’s back behind her. The divine beast gave a short, approving huff, its white mane flowing like threads of moonlight.

Elowen also turned toward Selena. "Do you mind if I ride with you? The Fairy Glyph is... kind of tiny."

Selena nodded. "Of course. Hold on tight.."

With everyone aboard, the group took off, rising into the night sky under the oppressive weight of a storm-clouded moon.

The sky was eerily dark.

The stars were hidden.

And below them, the land twisted under unnatural shadows.

They flew onward, toward the central gathering point—where Professor Seraphina and many others waited—unaware of what they would face. Of the beast still roaming, unseen. Of the cries it had already silenced. Of the lives it had already taken.

The wind carried only the flap of wings and the distant echoes of terror.

The true horror... had just begun.