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

Chapter 32: ​The Seven-Day Curse

The air in the underground bunkers beneath Ravenhurst Academy tasted like dust and copper.

The magic lanterns along the ceiling flickered low, casting long shadows across bruised faces and torn uniforms.

The arena fight was over, but the silence down here was heavier.

In the center of the room, instructors spoke in quiet whispers as they tallied the dead across the academy’s Tiers:

Auric Circle: 3

Argentum Faction: 2

Aerius Faction: 5

Terra Faction: 4

Umbrax Faction: 3

Seventeen students gone in minutes. Quiet sobs broke out near the back rows as the numbers spread through the crowd.

A younger Terra-Tier girl sat shivering near the edge of the walkway, clutching a cracked wooden pendant. As the instructors finished reading the list, her hands began to shake so violently the pendant rattled against her armor.

Nobody moved to comfort her. Everyone was too consumed by their own dread.

Near the heavy iron vault doors, the Order of Veil stood in a tight circle.

"These doors will hold against physical impact," Lord Zephyr said. "But the children are terrified. They saw Soren appear in the arena without resistance."

"And witnessed how Asher opened a spatial rift to drag Soren out," an instructor added, pressing a glowing healing relic against the fresh burn on his arm.

"Has anyone tracked where Asher went?" Lord Malovik asked.

Lord Ignatius and the others shook their heads. "The spatial residue was too warped. Wherever he landed, he’s fighting alone."

Before anyone else could speak, Rowan stepped out from the shadows near the pillars. His uniform was singed, but his eyes were clear.

Behind him stood four others: Caspian, wiping his dual blades clean; Fang, flexing his muscles; Seraphina; and Laurette, who stood with her arms crossed.

"We aren’t sitting here waiting to see who dies next," Rowan said.

Lord Malovik frowned. "Rowan, back down. The instructors are handling defense—"

"You don’t have enough people," Rowan cut in, refusing to back away.

"Maverick is holding off the border walls accompanied by a small amount of the city’s security against one of the elites and his troops. If that gate falls, these bunker doors won’t matter."

Caspian stepped up beside him, his dark blue hair catching the light of the lamps. "We’re going to the border. The five of us reinforce Maverick and choke the entrance."

Seraphina nodded. "Asher pulled their strongest weapon away so the rest of us could survive... We’re not hiding underground while the gates burn."

Something shifted in Rowan. ’She’s not bad-mouthing him?’ he thought, surprised by her defense of Asher.

Lord Malovik looked at the five of them. None of them were flinching.

As he hesitated, the younger Terra-Tier girl slowly pushed herself up from the floor.

She limped over to Rowan, her eyes wide and bloodshot, holding out a small, pale green stone.

"Take this..." she whispered, her voice trembling. "It’s a low-grade Earth-Vessel charm. It... it stabilizes mana flow if you get hit."

Rowan looked down at the small stone, then at the girl’s terrified face. He took it, gently tucking it into his pocket.

"Keep your head down," Rowan told her softly. "We’ll keep them out."

He turned back to the Order of Veil. After a long pause, Lord Malovik let out a heavy breath and reached for the iron release lever.

"The eastern path is crawling with scouts," Lord Zephyr warned. "If you get overwhelmed out there, we can’t send help. Keep your distance from Malix, back up Maverick, and hold the line."

The heavy vault doors groaned open just wide enough for them to slip through. Rowan took the lead, and within seconds, the five of them disappeared into the dark tunnels above.

>>>>>>>BLEAKSTONE MAW MOUNTAINSIDE<<<<<<<

Deep within the cavern of the jagged mountains, the air was dead silent. In the center stood a humming crystalline seal, and bound inside it was the motionless form of the Grim Prodigy.

A sudden tear split the air near the entrance. Lyra stumbled out, hitting the stone floor on one knee, startling the others in the room.

She coughed violently, clutching her scorched left wrist. Her robes were shredded, her hair tangled, and her eyes burned with frustration.

"Damn that crown..." she cursed under her breath.

She had expected to end Asher’s life in a single moment. Instead, the boy had un-fused from his Primordial System mid-fight, leaving her face-to-face with Nova Vesta.

If she hadn’t activated her recall relic at the last possible frame, that red sky rune would have wiped her off the mountain.

Vanya and the others looked at her with concern, not expecting Lyra to return in such a disheveled state. Lucian Morgaunt’s eyes narrowed at the sight of his right-hand spellcrafter so heavily weakened.

"Don’t tell me that kid did this to you!" Soren flared, his fists clenching.

Lyra shook her head slowly. "No, it wasn’t him. It was some other girl he had fused with. She’s way too strong... I couldn’t even get her ranking stats."

Damon stepped forward to help her straighten up, a sudden, deadly chill settling over his face.

Vanya crossed her arms and let out a bitter sigh. "The initial spell failed," she admitted, clearly irritated.

Lyra reluctantly pulled away from Damon’s grip and limped toward the sealed creature. She raised her right hand. Only three of her eight floating barrier rings remained.

They spun unevenly around her fingers as she slammed her palm against the purple crystal.

"Veins of iron, drink my curse. Light to shadow, law reverse.

Sunless Mandate: Terminal Rupture!" Lyra chanted.

Crimson sparks shot from the stone, burning her skin, but she held her ground. She forced her remaining barrier rings into the mechanism like chisels.

A slow, radiant purple glow erupted around the crystal before shooting upward as a pillar of light, violently shaking the cavern walls.

CRACK!

Runes crawled across the surface of the stone, and deep within the crystal, the massive creature twitched.

The Cabal elites gasped in victory. Lyra gritted her teeth into a harsh, triumphant smile.

"There it is..."

Vanya clasped her hands together, stepping toward Lyra to embrace her. Morgaunt let out a low chuckle, looking up at the crystal now covered in writhing black runes.

"Although this spell is much stronger, it will still take approximately seven days," Lyra admitted painfully as Vanya handed her a healing potion.

"Is that so?" Morgaunt said calmly. "Then we’ll have to retreat for now."

>>>>>RAVENWOOD BORDERS<<<<<

THUD!

A section of the stone archway collapsed, showering the forest path in sparks and rubble. The eastern perimeter was a total disaster—Ravenwood’s white outer wall was cracked, scorched, and crumbling.

Acolytes in dark armor pressed through the gap, their aggressive Sageas prowling beside them.

Standing on a pile of broken stone in the middle of the breach was Maverick. Dualityx, his massive two-headed python, lay coiled behind him, its fangs bared and stained with dark blood.

Fallen guards and Acolytes were scattered around his boots, but more enemies kept pouring out from the tree line.

"Is that all you’ve got?!" Maverick yelled, preparing his stance for another defensive wave.

"You talk loud for a man on his last breath," Malix cackled, stepping into the center of the chaos.

"You fought well," Malix said calmly, a sadistic smile spreading across his face.

"But your barrier is dropping, and your leaders are hiding underground."

Maverick spat blood onto the dirt. "Do not assume what you do not know. As long as I’m standing, none of you cross this line."

"Then stop standing. You frustrate me," Malix sneered.

He moved in a blur, closing the distance instantly and bringing his colossal halberd down directly toward Maverick’s head.

Maverick had no time to react. Shaking from sheer exhaustion, he could only brace himself—

CLANG!

A harsh, bone-rattling metallic impact cracked through the air.

Maverick looked up. He hadn’t been hit.

Standing right in front of him was Erebus, Rowan’s Sagea.

The massive creature had caught the incoming halberd directly between its razor-sharp teeth.

In one swift, powerful motion, Erebus spun its head, snapping Malix’s grip off the handle and sending him flying across the clearing until he slammed hard into the peak of a distant mountain ridge.

"Looks like you could use some help," Rowan said, stepping up to Maverick and helping him stand straight.

Caspian looked around, gritting his teeth at the sight of the fallen guards, his eyes searching the perimeter. Maverick noticed and spoke, his voice raspy. "The civilians are safe."

Before anyone could celebrate, a sudden, violent chill swept over the battlefield, raising the hair on their arms.

BOOM!

A massive earthquake rattled the ground beneath their feet. A thick, dark mist rapidly billowed out from the forest, engulfing the outer quarters.

Seraphina’s eyes widened as she felt the suffocating density of the incoming mana.

"This isn’t good!!" she yelled.

In the blink of an eye, a streak of blinding yellow light flashed from the mountain peak where Malix had landed.

The light glitched through the sky like erratic lightning. A deafening sonic boom ripped through the air as Malix broke straight through Ravenwood’s outer barrier in a single strike.

Above them, the blue sky and clouds vanished. In their place, a canopy of pitch-black mist settled over the eastern border, acting as a dark, artificial sky.