___________________________

"Stop! No!! Stop!"

"I’m right here! I’m the Aberrant Candidate you’re looking for!"

The Aberrant Noble, Abalam, looked down with cold indifference.

She released her grip, dropping Waffel’s battered and bloodied body onto the shore.

Waffel’s face sank into the wet sand as the waves washed over her.

Step.

...

Step.

...

Step.

..

Step

..

Slowly, purple strings whipped out from the treeline, coiling tightly around Abalam’s neck.

"Now, Kenth!" Nagi’s voice screamed from the shadows.

Kenth burst from the bushes, closing the distance in a blurred sprint.

He lunged behind Abalam, pressing the barrel of his loom against the small of her back.

"BOOOOOM!"

A flash like a falling star illuminated the beach for a split second.

"Did... did we get her?" Emma stammered, clutching her side as she struggled to stand.

"No, you did not, "a cold voice replied in the cloud of dust.

Abalam vanished.

Before Kenth could even notice, she was now behind him.

"Squeltch..."

"Huh...?"

"Cough—!"

He looked down. Abalam’s hand had plunged through his back and out of his stomach, dragging fragments of intestine gore with it.

"F-fuck..." Kenth wheezed, his eyes losing focus.

Abalam retracted her arm with a sickening slide and delivered a brutal kick to Kenth’s ribs.

His body was launched like a cannonball, hurtling through the air until he slammed into the shelter.

It shattered instantly, burying his limp body under.

"STOP!"

"Why are you doing this?!"

Finster pleaded, his voice cracking.

"I’m the one you want! Take me!"

Abalam vanished again. In the heartbeat it took for Finster to blink, a single, sinister crimson pupil appeared inches from his face.

"Urk!"

Abalam clamped around Finster’s throat lifting him off the ground with her tail.

"Liar..." Abalam said.

"Let go of my brother!!!"

Azalea charged with her broken scythe with everything she had left, trying to stop the inevitable.

Stab.....

Finster was pierced through in his stomach just like how Kenth was earlier.

_____________________________

Two days ago.

Before Abelam’s Arrival

.

..

..

You’ve grown uncharacteristically indirect, Solaris," Maku remarked, smoothing a non-existent wrinkle in his shorts.

"Is the ’perfect princess’ role truly so exhausting to play as, or is it simply that perfection is a mirror you’d rather not look into today?"

Maku’s voice carried a sharp sarcasm.

Solaris’ expression cracked for a split second.

"Don’t test me, Maku," she said, her tone dropping.

"I’m well aware you’re losing your position in the succession."

A faint shift in the room.

"Did you really think I wouldn’t notice?"

Maku’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Solaris tilted her head just a bit, voice calm again.

"Indeed," Solaris tilted her head, her gaze sharp as a needle.

"But when the ’lost’ cargo is found in the hands of shell guilds, one begins to wonder if the tides are being navigated by a map no one else was invited to see. It’s a dangerous game to play with academy-restricted materials, Maku. One misplaced signature and the architecture of a succession can crumble quite... loudly, especially if it turns public."

"I’m sure the academy appreciates your imagination," Maku replied, his jaw tightening despite his relaxed posture.

"But even the most beautiful story needs a shred of evidence to be more than a fairy tale."

"Oh, the evidence is like your payment trails," she whispered, stepping into his space.

"Fragmented, indirect, and hidden behind two layers of shadows. It’s almost impressive. But even a ghost leaves a chill in the room, and I’ve always been very sensitive to the cold."

Maku’s jaw tightened. His fist clenched at his side, his knuckles turning a ghostly white as he fought to pull his royal mask back into place.

"Enough."

All heads snapped toward Cwal.

"This is not the time for trivial matters," Cwal stated, his voice extremely cold.

"Trivial?...."Maku’s voice dropped to a dangerous whisper, the word vibrating with a sudden, jagged edge.

"Trivial, you say?"

Maku’s voice dropped, anger bleeding through.

A faint, ethereal light began to trace along the strands of Maku’s hair, and his eyes ignited with a low, predatory glow.

He stepped into Cwal’s personal space, his face inches from the other man’s.

"Say that again," Maku hissed.

"You heard me," Cwal replied.

He didn’t flinch. Instead, his hand began a slow, deliberate descent toward the dagger hidden in his storage.

"What is everyone getting so worked up about?" Tasora’s voice chirped, though she looked like she wanted to melt into the floor. She was fidgeting with her sleeves, her face a bright, mortified red.

Tasora stood there looking utterly delirious, flanked by Waffel, who was unceremoniously dragging Kenth by the back of his shirt. Finster came sprinting in behind them, rushing towards the conflict.

"Hey, stop this right now!" Finster shouted, stretching his hands up between the two.

"I don’t know what happened here, but I’m sure this is the last thing we need."

Maku turned his glowing gaze toward the interruption, his lip curling in disdain.

"Out of my way, commoner."

Pow!

Crash!

The sound of the impact echoed like a cannon shot.

Maku was launched, his body skidding across the floor until he collided with the far wall, which made the shelter shake.

Azalea stood where Maku had been, her hand still raised, her expression utterly furious.

"I don’t care who you are or what kind of big shot you think you are," she growled.

"Nobody talks to my brother that way other than me."

Maku snarled, heaving the heavy table off his chest with a roar. He flung the massive piece of furniture across the room with a violent jerk of his wrist.

The table hurtled through the air, spinning wildly as it approached Matt, who was still slumped in a corner, fast asleep.

"Oh no!" Emma screamed, her hands flying, trying to catch it.

The wood whistled through the air, inches away from Matt’s defenseless frame.

It looked like it would crush him, until it stopped. The table jerked to a halt in mid-air, hovering, caught by purple strings.

Faint, shimmering strings pulsed in the light, anchored to the ceiling and floor.

"Enough is enough..."

Nagi stood at the edge of the fray, her fingers outstretched like a puppeteer.

Her usual cheerful, happy-to-go-lucky demeanor was gone, replaced by an uncharacteristically serious tone.

"I thought all the hardship we endured these past days would strengthen our bond, but all I see are children throwing tantrums while the real threats that Cwal is trying to warn are still being ignored."

She flicked her wrist, and the strings disappeared.

The table was lowered gently to the floor.

Maku slowly got up and noticed that almost all the people in the room were against him now.

The glow in his hair finally faded and returned to his normal color.

He glared at Nagi and at Azalea, who remained as Finster, trying to calm down.

"Since everyone is now here... may I continue?" Cwal asked, his voice cutting through the lingering hostility.

"Sure, but fill us in on what’s going on. We just got here." Tasora said, leaning against a pillar.

"It was not the professors who sent us here. The Aberrants are hunting after us." Cwal said.

Everyone in the room went silent, but Waffel only hummed thoughtfully, rubbing her chin with her hands.

"Hmn...."

"You don’t look surprised," Kenth said with eyes squinted.

"Given how long we’ve been on this island and the lack of residual thrum at the teleportation site... I already assumed the worst," Waffel replied calmly. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"Then why didn’t you tell us?" Emma asked, her voice trembling slightly.

"Three reasons, first, there were still other possibilities. I considered a kidnapping situation or a localized portal distortion meant to isolate us for a ransom play."

"Next, it could have been a surprise test by the professors. Unlikely, but I wouldn’t want to miss a chance for a better grade by causing a premature panic."

"And lastly?" Finster asked.

"The most important one. To give hope."

"Hope?" Finster repeated, sounding skeptical.

"Yes. Do you know the true essential for surviving an uncharted island? Food, water, shelter. They matter, but hope is the engine. It makes the impossible seem attainable. Imagine if, the moment we arrived, I told you we were being chased by Aberrants. What would you have done?"

"Prepare for a fight?" Emma said hesitantly.

Waffel nodded in agreement.

"Precisely. And what if that fight never came? We would have wasted our energy, our focus, and our sanity on a ghost. Our enhanced physical capabilities don’t cover our psychological needs. Constant fear is a poison that rots a team faster than hunger."

"So what do we do now?" Finster asked.

"I’m assuming you already have a plan, Cwal?"

"I do," Cwal replied, "but you won’t like it."

"How bad could it be?" Emma cut in, her voice brimming with sarcasm.

"It’s not like we have a choice, given that the legendary Aberrants from our history books are suddenly chasing us."

Cwal nodded, his gaze sweeping over the group before settling on Finster, who was still helping a visibly calmer Azalea to her feet.

"According to my informant, Aberrant Nobles control spatial abilities, but they cannot travel instantly. Because space is intrinsically tied to time, their power has a limit. The further the distance they try to bend, the longer the process takes."

"I’m lost," Finster admitted with his brow furrowing.

"So, what exactly is going to happen?"

"This delay gives us a narrow window before they reach our position," Cwal explained.

"The Aberrant chasing us will likely arrive in a day or two," Solaris added, "especially given the obvious nature of our current location."

Azalea took a deep breath, giving Finster a reassuring smile before turning back to the group.

"What do you mean by ’obvious’? Where exactly are we?"

"Horizon’s End, naturally," Kenth murmured.

"What?"

"WHAT!?"

Finster and Emma shouted together.

"While our knowledge of Aberrant spatial abilities is limited, they are still shackled by the World Line System. They can’t make the impossible possible. In this case, they can’t shift space to a location they don’t know." Waffel said.

"And since Aberrants aren’t exactly a that long-lived species, and they’ve been trapped within Horizon’s End for generations, the only place they would truly know is their own territory," Tasora added

"But why an island? Wouldn’t it make more sense to throw us in a prison or an enclosed room with eyes on us at all times?" Tasora asked

"Who knows," Solaris said. "Perhaps we were extremely fortunate they misplaced us here....."

"Or, this is just another layer of their trap. Either way, we can’t survive on speculation alone. Let’s move."