[POV Liselotte]

The stone bridge connecting the academy to the royal castle felt like a tightrope suspended over an abyss of madness. Behind me, the clamor of hundreds of dragging feet and the hollow groans of the students formed a cacophony that drilled into my ears. Leah, Julian, Mizuki, and Arthur stood as a defensive wall, using their shields and weapon shafts to push their own friends back, doing everything they could to prevent the tide of bodies from swallowing us—or from sending any of them plunging into the moat below.

But my focus was locked ahead.

About twenty meters away, blocking the main entrance to the castle walls, stood the figure clad in gold armor. It wasn’t the bright, heroic gold of King William’s guard—it was dull, sickly, as if it absorbed the dying light of the sunset. The Shadow had not only infiltrated the nobles and corrupted the students; now it placed its elite pieces directly in our path.

“That presence…” I murmured, feeling a chill that did not come from my own magic. “It’s the same energy signature I felt in the Valerius laboratory. You’re one of theirs, aren’t you?”

The golden executor did not respond. It raised a massive two-handed greatsword that seemed forged from translucent obsidian. As it moved, the air around it warped, forming small fractures of void. This was no ordinary warrior—it was an extension of the Shadow’s will.

“Lotte, we can’t hold much longer!” Leah shouted from behind. “They’re pushing too hard! If we don’t move forward, we’ll be crushed against the ice!”

“Hold for ten more seconds!” I replied, digging my heels into the ground.

I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the mana in my core synchronize with the absolute cold of the void. I no longer cared about hiding my power. If the Shadow wanted to play chess, I would flip the entire board.

I moved forward—not as a run, but as a displacement of pure cold. In a blink, I stood before the executor. My dark crystal sword clashed against its obsidian blade with a thunderous impact that shook the bridge’s foundations. The shockwave of my ice mana spread outward, forming twin rows of frost spikes along the sides, acting as makeshift railings to keep the pushing students from falling into the abyss.

“Interesting,” said a voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once, filtered through the golden helmet. “The anomaly that freezes fate. The Shadow was curious whether your ice could halt the inevitable.”

“Tell your Shadow that ice doesn’t just stop things—it breaks them,” I replied, pressing harder against the blade.

The executor was incredibly strong. Every swing carried the weight of a mountain and the speed of black lightning. We exchanged blows that would have disintegrated any ordinary knight. I moved like frozen water, redirecting its heavy strikes while searching for an opening in its joints. Meanwhile, it unleashed bursts of dark energy that withered the stone bridge upon contact.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that the situation behind me had become critical. A group of senior students, possessed by unnatural strength, had managed to grab Julian’s shield, pulling him toward the crowd. Leah was pushing them back with small gusts of wind, but she was clearly exhausting herself.

“I have to end this now.”

I shifted my stance and allowed the executor’s blade to graze my shoulder, tearing through my tunic. In return, I drove my free hand straight into its golden chestplate. I didn’t use physical force—I unleashed a burst of absolute zero directly into its core.

The golden metal cracked.

An inhuman scream erupted from within the helmet as white frost began devouring the armor from the inside. The executor staggered, its connection to the Shadow flickering like a candle in a storm.

“NOW! RUN!” I roared, not releasing my grip.

Leah and the heroes didn’t hesitate. Seizing the moment, Julian charged forward with his shield, forcing a path through the few possessed who had managed to flank us. They rushed past me like a gust of wind, heading toward the castle gates, which were beginning to open just enough to let them through.

“Come on, Lotte!” Leah shouted, stopping at the threshold to wait for me.

I gave the executor one final push, releasing a blast of ice that sent it crashing back into the oncoming mass of students. Its armored body struck them like a battering ram, triggering a domino effect that stalled the advancing tide for a few precious moments.

I ran.

I crossed into the castle just as the massive wooden and iron gates slammed shut with a deafening boom. Elliot’s royal guards lowered heavy steel bars into place and activated the sealing runes embedded in the walls.

We collapsed onto the courtyard floor, gasping, our hearts hammering against our ribs. The silence inside the castle—broken only by our ragged breathing—was a violent contrast to the madness we had just escaped.

“We’re… we’re safe…” Arthur whispered, dropping his wooden sword, now splintered and stained with soot.

“For now,” I said, standing and helping Leah to her feet. “But the academy has completely fallen. And if the Shadow could control all those students like that, it’s only a matter of time before they find a way inside.”

We looked toward the battlements. Elliot stood there, watching the tide of citizens and students surrounding the castle. His face was paler than ever, and for the first time, I saw a crack of doubt in his strategist’s gaze.

Whirikal was no longer at war with a foreign army.

It was at war with its own reflection—manipulated by a Shadow that didn’t need swords to destroy a kingdom, only silence and the loss of will of those who were once free.

“Lotte…” Leah squeezed my hand, her eyes fixed on the letter from her father still clutched in her grasp. “Tell me we have a plan. Tell me this isn’t the end.”

“It’s not the end, Leah,” I replied, staring into the darkness beginning to swallow the city.

“It’s just the moment when the ice must become eternal.”

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