[Timeline: Day 3 of the Tournament – The Invasion]

[Location: The Arena Floor]

The world was ending.

Above, the sky had turned into a kaleidoscope of terror. Headmistress Astra was fighting a duel with a Lich the size of a mountain, their collision shattering clouds for miles. Purple lightning rained down like artillery fire.

But on the ground, Prince Nero saw only one thing.

He saw the girl who had made him bleed.

"Die," Nero whispered.

His hand, wreathed in the white-hot plasma of a miniature sun, swept down toward Elena's neck.

Elena didn't close her eyes. She watched the light come. She was too broken to move, too drained to cast. She simply accepted it.

'I tried,' she thought. 'Alaric... I tried.'

The blade of fire was an inch from her throat.

VW00000MMM.

It was the sound of sound death.

A bass drop so deep it vibrated in the marrow of every bone in the stadium.

Suddenly, the space between Nero and Elena tore open. Not a jagged crack like the sky, but a perfect, circular swirling vortex of absolute blackness.

Nero's hand hit the vortex.

HISSS.

His solar flame didn't detonate; instead, it was instantly swallowed. The black hole drank the fire instantly, leaving Nero's hand cold and empty.

"What?" Nero blinked, stumbling back.

From the black swirl, three figures shot out.

BANG.

A sniper shot rang out from the darkness. It hit the ground at Nero's feet, exploding with enough force to blow the Prince backwards ten meters.

THUD.

A figure clad in heavy, matte-black plate armor landed in front of Elena. She slammed a tower shield into the ground.

A Void Hound lunged at them from the smoke, and the armored figure simply backhanded the beast with her shield, turning its head into paste.

SWISH.

A third figure, lithe and cloaked in shadows, flickered into existence near the destroyed camera crew.

Two cultists who were rushing the stage fell to the ground, their throats slit before they even saw her.

The three figures formed a triangle around Elena.

The Valkyries.

Lyra stood atop a piece of rubble, her bow trained on Nero's skull.

Leona stood like a wall before Elena, her shield glowing with purple runes.

Isabelle spun a karambit on her finger, scanning the crowd.

Along with Alpha and the other girls Lyra had rescued in the past

They wore identical black masks. No faces. No identities. Just threats.

Nero scrambled to his feet, his white uniform stained with soot. He looked at the intruders, his eyes wide with confusion and rage.

"Who dares?!" Nero screamed, pointing a trembling finger.

"I am the Prince! Get out of my way!"

"Quiet, child," a voice said.

It came from the portal.

Another figure stepped out.

He wore a suit woven from the abyss itself, the Abyssal Weaver Suit. It shifted and flowed like liquid smoke.

A masterpiece created by Hephaestus and the dwarves using void creature carcasses and abyss monsters found

On his face was a mask made of polished silver, completely featureless except for two hollow eyes and a painted Zero that seemed to pull the light into them.

Zero.

He walked onto the battlefield with his hands in his pockets. The chaos of the invasion raged around him, monsters screaming, students running, gods fighting in the sky, but the air around Zero was dead silent.

The hovering magitech cameras, programmed to follow the highest mana density, instinctively swivelled toward him.

The image was beamed to millions of screens across the world.

Zero stopped next to Elena. He didn't look at her; instead, he looked at the cameras.

"So arrogant, all of you," Zero spoke. His voice was distorted, deep and metallic, amplified by magic so it drowned out the thunder above.

He turned his head slowly to look at the Demi-Gods fighting in the stratosphere.

"Be it you cultists who run as you please, the gods in the sky, or even this mere prince in front of me," Zero continued.

He turned his gaze to Nero.

"Have you forgotten who I am!"

"Have you forgotten the name zero so soon, o people of Elias!"

Nero's face twisted. He felt it. The pressure. This wasn't a regular teacher. This wasn't a student. This was a monster.

But Nero was insane. His ego, fractured by Elena, shattered completely under Zero's dismissal.

"I DON'T CARE WHO YOU ARE!" Nero roared.

The Prince flared his aura. He burned his life force. His skin turned gold. He channeled every ounce of the Sun Authority he possessed.

"I AM THE FUTURE KING! I AM THE SUN!"

Nero launched himself at Zero.

He turned into a human comet, a streak of blinding white destruction aimed straight at the masked man's chest.

"BURN!"

Leona moved to block, but Zero held up a hand.

'Stay back,' the gesture said.

Zero didn't dodge. He didn't even cast a barrier.

He simply raised his right hand.

The shadows on the ground surged up, wrapping around his arm like a gauntlet.

[Voss secret Art: Eclipse.]

Nero collided with Zero.

WHAM.

The collision should have levelled the stadium.

Instead, there was a sickening CRUNCH.

Zero had caught Nero.

He caught the Prince by the throat.

The golden aura flared, trying to burn Zero's hand, trying to incinerate the suit. But the darkness was stronger. It ate the light. It suffocated the fire.

Nero's feet dangled in the air. His eyes bulged. He clawed at the silver mask, his nails scratching uselessly against the metal.

"You..." Zero whispered, leaning in close so only he could hear. "You hurt my students."

Nero gagged, his face turning purple. The gold faded from his skin, leaving him just a terrified boy in a dirty uniform.

"My... father..." Nero wheezed, tears streaming down his face. "The King... will... kill you..."

Zero tilted his head to the side. The hollow eyes of the mask stared into Nero's soul.

"Let him try."

SNAP.

The sound was loud. Dry. Final.

Nero's head fell to the side at an unnatural angle. The light in his eyes went out instantly.

Zero didn't drop him immediately. He held the corpse of the Golden Prince up to the cameras for a full three seconds. He let the world see. He let the King see.

Then, he opened his hand.

THUD.

Nero's body hit the dirt like a sack of trash.

Silence.

Even the Void Hounds seemed to pause.

The Hero of the Academy? No. The Villain of the Invasion? No.

A third thing.

Zero turned to the camera. He adjusted his cuff links, wiping a speck of Nero's blood from his sleeve.

"The lesson is over," Zero said, his voice cold as the grave.

He snapped his fingers.

The portal widened, swallowing Elena, the Valkyries, and himself.

"Class is dismissed."

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