My F-Rank Sagea is Secretly an EX-Rank Calamity

Chapter 29: Execution I

"Put something on! Anything!" Asher hissed, his face pressed flat against the wall, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird.

"Your psychological parameters indicate an elevated heart rate and a severe rush of cortisol," Nova’s voice noted, entirely unbothered.

A light shimmer and the crisp rustle of fabric echoed through the dark room. "I have crafted suitable clothing using a fraction of the system coins. You may look, Host Asher."

Asher turned slowly, parting his fingers with extreme caution. Nova stood there, the dark fabric of a sleek cloak loosely draped around her breathtaking curves, pinned together at the shoulder by a cluster of pure, glowing mana runes.

Her golden eyes locked onto him with clinical curiosity.

"Why are you here, Nova Vesta? In a physical body?" Asher demanded, desperately trying to force his racing mind back into strategic mode.

"Just Nova is fine," she suggested smoothly before continuing. "The match tomorrow is a variable calculation with a 94% mortality rate," Nova stated, walking calmly toward the wooden box of gifts sitting on his desk.

With a flick of her finger, the box splintered open with a sharp crack. Nestled among the protective charms and student trinkets was a dark, pulsing core—a forbidden tracking relic planted by a mysterious elite.

Nova picked it up, and to Asher’s utter horror, she casually popped the dark core into her mouth, swallowing it whole like a piece of candy.

Her golden eyes flared with a brief, terrifying light. "Delicious. Someone wants you dead in the arena tomorrow, Asher. I require a physical medium to forcefully override the arena’s systemic restrictions when the slaughter begins."

Asher tensed, cold sweat forming along his temples. "Someone wants me dead? An elite from the academy?"

"No. The Cabal of the Sunless Eye has awakened," Nova warned, her voice dropping an octave.

Asher felt his chest tighten violently. He had read about them in dusty historical texts when he was a child—an ancient, shadowy syndicate thought to be extinct. And now, their sights were locked on him.

"Wait! Care to explain why?!" Asher snapped frantically, fear gripping his throat. "Why am I being targeted everywhere?!"

Nova let out a soft, almost human sigh. "To put it simply... you, Asher, are an anomaly."

"In what way?"

Before she could answer, a glowing crimson text fractured the space between them:

[SYSTEM WARNING: THE SEAL ON THE PRIMORDIAL CORE IS ERODING.]

[CURRENT THREAT LEVEL: EX-RANK CALAMITY.]

[TIME REMAINING UNTIL MANIFESTATION: COUNTING DOWN...]

"What... what is this?" Asher asked with a shaky breath, the oppressive weight of the warning settling onto his chest.

"Your true Sagea has yet to be fully awakened," Nova revealed, her golden eyes piercing through his gaze.

"Asher, your early Bonding Ceremony wasn’t a coincidence. You awakened spiritually because the Cabal of the Sunless Eye was already orchestrating their move for this exact day."

Asher stumbled backward, his back hitting the edge of the bed. "What? So I’m just some sort of weapon to fend these monsters off?!"

"You only become a tool if you choose to yield," Nova countered firmly. "Instead of accepting that fate, you must become a Sagea Master on your own terms."

Asher collapsed flat onto his mattress, staring blankly at the ceiling as he tried to process the mountain of absurd revelations.

"The remainder of this information is locked under higher security protocols," Nova concluded.

Asher let out a groan of pure frustration, throwing his arm over his face.

Unexpectedly, the mattress dipped. Nova laid down beside him on her side, her radiant golden eyes fully locked onto his profile.

"One vital detail you must remember for the Semi-Finals and Finals," Nova warned softly.

"The Bond Laws grow exponentially stronger at this stage. Be cautious when you step into battle. Focus your attacks on taking down their Sageas—not the students. That is the key rule to unlocking Kaito’s latent potential."

"I see..." Asher trailed off, turning his head toward her, not realizing their dangerously close proximity.

Nova let out a soft, warm huff. Without warning, she leaned in and buried his face directly against her chest, a rare, unprompted sign of affection.

Asher’s mind went completely blank.

Every logical thought evaporated, replaced entirely by the soft, mind-numbing press against his chest.

’Oh, my God... I might get a nosebleed,’ Asher thought wildly.

Yet, he didn’t pull away. He lay frozen under Nova’s soft, rhythmically humming voice, feeling the gentle touch of her fingers slowly threading through his hair.

Before the quiet moment could fully settle, a loud, magical broadcast reverberated through the stone walls of the academy.

"Attention, all students. The Semi-Final matches will commence tomorrow morning. Please make your way to the Grand Arena immediately following breakfast."

Asher reluctantly pulled himself back from Nova’s grasp, sitting up on the edge of the bed. "Hey, Nova... can you transform back into the system interface?"

Nova sat up smoothly beside him. "Of course. I would not wish to compromise your position by being perceived by outsiders."

Asher let out a massive, relieved sigh, pressing his hands together near his chin as if offering a prayer of gratitude.

>>>>>> NEXT MORNING <<<<<<

The Grand Arena was packed to absolute capacity. The air hummed with violent, static anticipation. In the lounge, Remi’s knuckles turned bone-white from gripping the stone railing, her breath catching in her throat.

Down on the sands of the arena, Rowan stood motionless. Opposite him stood Seraphina, her sharp, cold eyes locked directly onto his stance.

"The Semi-Finals will now begin! First round: Rowan Flynn versus Seraphina Malovik! BEGIN!" Lady Kaelen’s voice boomed across the arena.

In an instant, the mana pools of both fighters violently erupted. The sheer pressure sent a howling gale across the arena floor.

"Whoa!"

"Are you kidding me?! Those two are on a completely different level!" students shouted from the stands in a mixture of awe and panic.

"Wolveria!" Seraphina shouted.

Her ice-chilled, frost-white mana materialized in a blinding burst as Wolveria took shape, taking a low, guarded pose with its glowing eyes locked dead on its prey.

Rowan answered without hesitation.

"Erebus!"

A dense, suffocating purple-black mana surged outward, shaping the form of Erebus. The massive shadow wolf took its place at Rowan’s side, breathing out trails of dark energy.

Asher’s chest tightened. He would have to face the survivor of this monstrous match in the Finals.

Seraphina struck first. "Shadow Lightning!"

The clear sky above the open-air arena abruptly turned pitch black. The crowd gasped in terror—no one had ever seen Seraphina unleash her full power before.

The clouds churned violently as Wolveria’s jagged horns channeled a terrifying surge of dark electricity, aiming the cataclysm directly at Erebus.

"Think you can swallow that?" Rowan asked quietly.

Erebus let out a low, vibrating growl. In one swift, terrifying movement, the shadow wolf’s jaw expanded to impossible proportions, snapping shut and swallowing the entire lightning strike whole.

The entire crowd let out a collective, breathless gasp.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

"IT CAN EAT ELEMENTAL ATTACKS?!"

Seraphina remained utterly unfazed, her mind razor-sharp. ’I need to win this! I MUST!’

Rowan remained completely still.

[QUASAR VESTA NOTICE]

[EXECUTE SHADOW SKILL NOW?]

’No. Not yet,’ Rowan commanded internally.

"Lightning of Judgment! Wolveria, NOW!" Seraphina yelled.

BANG!

CRACK!

The dark clouds split open, flashing from pitch-black to a sickly, blinding golden light. Wolveria’s eyes flared with pure, holy radiance as it leaped high into the air.

A massive, circular golden array hovered over the pit before shattering into millions of razor-sharp shards, raining a torrent of divine lightning down on Erebus.

’Quasar Vesta! NOW!’ Rowan ordered.

In a fraction of a second, Erebus vanished entirely from the arena floor, leaving Rowan completely exposed.

Wolveria came to a sudden, confused halt in mid-air, its target gone. Because of Wolveria’s hesitation, the falling shards frozen mid-flight, suspended harmlessly in space.

Asher’s eyes widened from the sidelines. His brother had somehow completely neutralized a high-tier ultimate move.

[QUASAR VESTA NOTICE]

[SHADOW MOVEMENT: UNLEASHED]

[EXECUTE SKILL?]

"Erebus! Shadow Movement!"

In the blink of an eye, Erebus materialized directly out of Wolveria’s own shadow, its colossal size blotting out the sky behind the ice-wolf. Its eyes burned with merciless intent.

"Fatal Claw!" Rowan commanded cold-bloodedly.

Wolveria’s desperate attempt to twist away failed. Erebus’s massive claws slashed down, dripping with purple-black mana and dark, ethereal flames.

Wolveria let out a deafening howl of sheer agony as its eyes lost their glow. The golden array shattered into nothingness, and the sky abruptly snapped back to normal.

"Recede!" Seraphina commanded, her voice cracking slightly. Wolveria remanifested in front of her, battered and bleeding, but still standing.

A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the thousands of spectators.

Then, the arena exploded into deafening cheers and whistles. Erebus slunk back to Rowan’s side, growling low. The match was far from over—neither fighter was willing to yield.

Until reality itself gave out.

Without a second of warning, the sky shattered.

From the center of the fractured atmospheric veil, a massive, obsidian dreadnought tore through the clouds, casting a shadow that swallowed the entire colosseum whole.

Rowan’s eyes widened in sheer bewilderment. Seraphina froze, looking upward in horror.

A sudden, crushing shift in gravity slammed into the earth. Up in the VIP boxes, the high-ranking members of the Order of Veil stood up in total panic.

"This presence...!" Lady Kaelen gasped, her jaw clenching as her mana flared instinctively.

Standing at the prow of the flying warship, his clothes fluttering in the violent winds and his eyes burning with absolute, dark malice, was Soren Dax.

A tidal wave of corrupted, suffocating mana poured down into the pit, pinning weak-willed students straight to the stone floor.

Before anyone could react, a colossal, transparent dome of blood-red energy slammed down around the entire academy, sealing thousands of trapped students inside.

Asher’s breath hitched in his throat.

DING!

DING!

DING!

DING!

[NOVA VESTA NOTICE]

[WARNING: ILLEGAL COSMIC DOMAIN DETECTED]

[COMMUNICATION CHANNELS: BLOCKED]

[CURRENT SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: 0.02%]

Asher gasped for air as the crushing gravitational aura forced him down onto one knee.

Inside his mind, Nova Vesta’s voice lost every shred of its robotic composure. She sounded utterly terrified.

[HOST ASHER. EVERYONE HERE IS AT RISK OF BEING EXTERMINATED!]

High above on the prow of the ship, Soren Dax’s sinister gaze swept across the screaming crowd, cutting through the chaos to lock directly onto the hidden, unadulterated mana humming deep inside Asher.

Asher couldn’t feel it himself, but Soren saw right through his frail human vessel.

Soren’s lips curled into a brutal, sharp grin as he pointed a glowing relic down at him.

"So..." Soren’s voice echoed like thunder across the sealed domain. "You’re the anomaly that Morgaunt wants dead."