At the War Room.

Jonah stood next to Vanessa. His eyes were fixed on the glowing map of the world that filled the middle of the room. The map glowed with a soft blue light.

For weeks, it had been like this. They couldn't move forward. They were only able to wait.

Julian Sterling couldn't be found. He didn't send any more monsters or assassins. Instead, he sent rumors. He sent news articles that were published in respected papers, articles that put small, dangerous seeds of doubt about the Academy and its power. He sent quiet, political pressure that tied their hands and made it impossible for them to act. He was fighting a war with money, influence, and lies, and it was working.

General Ironwood hit his hand down on the holographic table. The blue map of the world flashed for a second. "He has us pinned," the general said in a low, angry voice. "Without clear proof of a direct military threat, the Royal Council will not authorize any action against him. They still see this as just a corporate dispute."

The Headmaster was standing on the other side of the table. He looked tired. "Patience, Titus. A man like Sterling, a man with such a big ego, will always overplay his hand in the end."

"We don't have time for patience!" Ironwood shot back, his frustration boiling over. "He's building something out there. We can all feel it. The rumors from our spies, the resources he is moving... something big is coming."

Jonah felt it too. It was a constant buzz of fear in his mind, a feeling that something terrible was about to happen. Ever since their escape from the Syndicate's tower, it had felt like they were all just waiting for a huge storm to finally hit.

Suddenly, a new sound broke the tense silence of the room.

BLARE! BLARE! BLARE!

It was a loud and painful scream that came from every sensor in the room at once. Bright, red emergency lights flashed across the walls, covering the room in a bloody, pulsing glow. On the main console, many different, urgent warnings popped up all at the same time.

"What is that?" Seraph demanded, and her hand was already on her sidearm, her body tensed and ready for a fight.

Vanessa was already at the console, and her fingers were moving fast on the holographic keyboard, trying to understand what was going on. "It's… it's everything," she said, and her voice was tight with confusion. "Every magic detector we have across the globe is going crazy. It's a global energy distortion. The readings are off the charts."

The blue world map in the middle of the room glitched for a second, then it changed. A huge, circular section of the remote Southern Ocean, a place of just water and a few empty islands, flashed a violent red. Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, it went completely black.

It was a black hole in the map where the soft blue light of the planet's natural magical energy used to be. The streams of data that flowed across the holographic globe now bent and twisted around the black spot, as if they were afraid to touch it.

"What just happened?" Draven asked, and his voice was a low, deep sound.

Jonah stared at the black spot on the map. "It's gone," he whispered. "The magic there… it's just completely gone."

Right after he spoke, an urgent PING sound filled the room. It was an encrypted message. The silver phoenix symbol of the Silver Phoenix Empire appeared on the main screen.

The Headmaster stood up straight. His tiredness was gone, and it was replaced by a sharp focus. "Show the message," he ordered Vanessa.

It was Princess Ariana, but her calm way of speaking was gone. It was strained and filled with rage that Jonah had never heard from her before.

"Our Mages have detected a hostile weapon activation from space," she said, and her words were short and exact. "The energy signature is artificial… and it is perfectly stable."

"It is not a failed experiment. It is a success."

The message ended. The silence returned to the War Room, but it was more intense and chilling than before.

Jonah looked at the black hole on the map. An orbital weapon. A weapon in space. Sterling had built a weapon that could… switch magic off.

"A demonstration," General Ironwood said, and his earlier anger wasn't there anymore. It was replaced by a chilling, quiet calm. "That wasn't an attack on anyone. He fired on an empty stretch of ocean just to show the world what he can do."

Vanessa looked up from her console, and her face was pale. "The dead zone is five miles wide," she said, her voice shaking. "The amount of energy that would be required to completely erase that much magic from existence… it's impossible. It would be like trying to dry up the entire ocean with a single match."

"And yet, he did it," the Headmaster murmured. His tired eyes were locked on the black, empty spot on the map.

The political game was over. The rumors were done. Sterling had stopped trying to convince the world that he was right. He had just shown them that it didn't matter what they thought. He now had a weapon pointed at their world, and his finger was on the trigger.

Jonah was instantly terrified. This was the moment. This was the storm. It wasn't coming anymore. It was here. Every nation, every mage, every single person with even a drop of power would have felt that sudden silence in the world's magical flow.

The Headmaster slowly raised his head. He looked at every person in the room. He stared at Jonah, and Jonah saw in his eyes the terrible burden of what was about to happen.

"This is no longer a political game," he said. "He has just sent an invitation to a world war."

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