Space folded.

High above Rugarda—far beyond the reach of birds—three figures emerged from a clean tear in reality, their arrival utterly silent. No thunder. No flash. Just presence.

The sky itself seemed to recoil.

They hovered at an altitude where the world below was reduced to shapes and colors, and yet—despite the distance—the heat pressed against them like an invisible tide.

"…This should be the coordinate," said the woman at the front.

She stood slightly ahead of the other two, posture straight, silver-white hair flowing freely behind her like a banner. Her eyes were a sharp cerulean, calm and heavy with authority.

Seraphina Vaelcrest.

She was someone who lived in the inner part of Astraea, where people with real authority lived.

Behind her floated two identical figures—twins in face and form, their long black hair tied loosely, eyes a mirrored crimson.

Caelis and Caelia Nocturne.

Caelis was a guy, yet his features were similar to those of Caelia, who was a beautiful woman.

Still, despite his womanly look, he was a strong guy—definitely not to be underestimated, just like his sister.

But unlike Seraphina, they looked annoyed.

Caelis waved a hand lazily, heat distortion rippling around his fingers. "Ugh. It's hot. Way too hot. What kind of backwater produces this kind of temperature spike?"

Caelia sighed, adjusting the thin mana veil clinging to her skin. "Seriously. I had plans today. Very… time-sensitive plans."

She clicked her tongue. "Why couldn't this wait until tomorrow?"

Caelis snorted. "Same. Do you know how hard it is to coordinate schedules in Astraea? Especially when half the city is—"

"Enough."

Seraphina's voice wasn't loud.

It didn't need to be.

The twins froze mid-sentence.

Her gaze dropped downward.

"Look."

They followed her line of sight.

And went still.

Below them—far below—Rugarda, the great green forest, was wounded.

An entire section of the great forest below them was… gone.

Not burned.

Not flattened.

Erased.

The earth itself was fractured, massive cracks radiating outward like the aftermath of a celestial impact. Stone had melted into blackened glass.

The air shimmered with lingering heat, rising in waves so intense it distorted vision even from this height.

It looked as if a flaming meteor had slammed into the world—and then exploded outward.

"…What the hell," Caelis muttered.

Caelia swallowed. "So that's why it felt hot."

Seraphina didn't respond.

The twins stared harder.

"And we're this far up," Caelis continued slowly. "If the heat's reaching us here… what would it've been like on the ground?"

Caelia's expression tightened. "Fatal. Instantly. Even for S-rankers."

They exchanged a glance.

Then both turned to Seraphina.

"Is this really the work of an S-ranker?" Caelis asked. "Or even SS?"

Caelia tilted her head analytically. "The damage radius isn't that large. Which means the energy was highly condensed. Controlled."

She frowned. "That points to SS-rank at most."

Seraphina still didn't answer.

Her eyes had shifted upward.

Above them, the clouds weren't normal.

They were dark. Heavy. Layered unnaturally, swirling in slow, oppressive spirals.

And they felt… wrong.

Seraphina could tell.

If they were closer to those clouds—

They wouldn't just feel heat.

They would feel pain.

Sensing her focus, the twins looked up as well.

Their expressions changed.

Neither spoke.

But both wondered the same thing.

'Are we prepared for whatever did this?'

They also realized that the heat they felt was both from above and below.

But before they could think much about it—

They felt it.

A gaze.

Not a fluctuation of mana.

Not a sensory probe.

A look.

From below.

All three snapped their attention downward.

That was when they finally noticed the town.

A settlement nestled beneath a transparent dome of mana—demihumans filling the streets, guards tense, villagers frozen mid-motion.

"…They're demihumans," Caelia muttered, frowning.

She wasn't irked by the fact that they were there, but because she could tell that they were settled here.

They, who should be suffering, seemed to be at home here.

"And," Caelis added slowly, "someone down there just sensed us."

Yes, that was another thing that shouldn't have been possible.

However, as they focused on the people gathered at one spot, they noticed two familiar figures, their eyes widening a bit in recognition.

Caelis scoffed. "Isn't that Aldric Baneron? Supposedly the strongest swordsman of Ronzenmore?"

Caelia smirked. "And Marthis Valehart. 'Greatest mage of the past.'" She chuckled softly. "Cute."

Sarcasm dripped from every word, because although they were famous figures in the human domain, they were like frogs in a pond in the eyes of the people in Astraea.

After all, even the weakest S ranker in Astraea had the potential to grow stronger than those guys.

Still—

Their amusement faded soon.

"Whatever they are, they are humans under Astraea's governance," Caelis said, irritation creeping in. "And they're restrained."

Seraphina frowned for the first time, and then she said, "Let's go."

They were sure that even the one they were looking for must be down there, so they began to descend.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

As they approached the town, the heat intensified sharply. The twins grimaced, mana flaring instinctively around their bodies merely to keep themselves steady.

Sure, even if they didn't do that, they wouldn't get burned, but they would still feel uncomfortable.

"Damn it," Caelis hissed. "This temperature—"

"The barrier," Caelia realized. "It's blocking most of it."

A vast, transparent dome covered the town—elegant, stable, and strong. The people inside probably didn't even know how much heat that barrier was stopping.

The group of three, however, stopped just outside it.

Hovering.

Watching.

Inside the town, heads tilted upward.

Fear rippled through the crowd.

Flying figures were rare.

Three of them—descending from the sky itself—seemed terrifying.

None of the demihumans knew how strong those guys were, but since they could fly—something they had only seen Kael do—they could tell that they weren't someone to be underestimated.

And at the center of it all—

Kael stood motionless.

Golden eyes locked onto them.

Unblinking.

He had been watching since the moment they arrived.

The barrier reflected faintly in his gaze as Seraphina met his eyes from across the divide.

The silence stretched.

Then—

"…Wow," Caelis murmured, eyes narrowing slightly. "Do you see that guy?"

Caelia followed his gaze—and blinked.

At the center of the town, beneath the shimmering dome, stood a black-haired man clad in dark clothes, posture relaxed yet immovable.

Golden eyes reflected the barrier's sheen as if it were nothing more than glass.

"…He's handsome," she said frankly. "Annoyingly so."

Caelis chuckled. "Right? That face alone should be illegal outside Astraea."

He then tilted his head. "Is he human? He looks human."

Their gazes sharpened.

"And I'm sure he's the one whose gaze we have been feeling for a while," Caelia added slowly. "You think he's the one who triggered the alarm?"

Caelis frowned. "If he is… then did he do that?" He gestured vaguely toward the erased forest beyond the town.

Before they could speculate further—

"No," Seraphina said calmly.

The twins fell silent at once.

"He is not human," she continued.

Caelis glanced at her, surprised. "You're sure, my lady?"

Seraphina's cerulean eyes never left Kael. "Completely."

Caelia frowned. "But he looks—"

"Looks mean nothing," Seraphina interrupted, not once looking away from Kael. "I can differentiate races by mana alone." A pause. Subtle. Tense. "And his mana… is unlike anything I've ever seen."

That drew their full attention.

"…Unlike?" Caelis echoed.

Seraphina nodded slowly. "It's pure. Too pure. No turbulence. No distortion. No identifiable racial traits."

Her brows knit together. "I can't tell what he is. Which means I need to be closer."

The twins exchanged a glance.

They knew who she was.

The daughter of a Supreme of Astraea.

She was a woman whose perception surpassed most living beings.

If she couldn't identify him—

"Well…" Caelis said lightly, cracking his knuckles. "That's easy enough to fix."

Caelia smiled, mirroring him as her fingers popped one by one. "We just need to break the barrier and go inside."

Mana surged.

Twin circles flared beneath their feet—interlocking glyphs of crimson and black, humming violently as power coiled into shape. Heat and pressure spiked outward, warping the air around them.

Below—

Kael's eyes sharpened.

The instant the twins' mana flared, he felt it—intent, hostile, and direct.

His hand lifted slightly.

The barrier responded.

The transparent dome shuddered once—then thickened, mana density skyrocketing as layers stacked upon layers in an instant. The air around it screamed softly under the strain.

"What—?" Caelia muttered, surprised, then chuckled. "Does he think he can stop our attack?"

Inside the town, panic erupted.

"They're attacking!"

"The barrier—!"

Evethra was already moving, crimson eyes blazing as she stepped closer to Kael, body angled defensively. Alenia spun on her heel, voice sharp and commanding.

"All units—evacuate civilians into houses! Now!" she barked. "Reinforce doors, stay inside, and do not engage unless ordered!"

The guards snapped into motion despite their fear, ushering villagers back into buildings as quickly as possible.

Vaelen stumbled back a step, staring upward in disbelief. "…They're monsters…"

Aldric's breath hitched, eyes wide as his instincts screamed warnings he'd never felt before. 'These three… they're on a different level.'

The twins unleashed their spell.

Twin beams of compressed mana spiraled downward, striking the barrier with explosive force—

And stopped.

The dome held.

Mana rippled violently across its surface, but it didn't crack. Didn't fracture.

It endured.

Caelis's eyes widened. "…You've got to be kidding me."

Inside the barrier, Kael stood unmoving, golden eyes calm, focused—unbothered.

Seraphina watched him closely.

As the barrier flared brighter under assault, a faint glimmer passed through her eyes.

Interest.

And something closer to unease.

"So," she murmured softly, barely audible even to the twins.

"Let's see what you really are."

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