The Watcher slunk into Kael's apartment, his borrowed skin still wet from the rain. The moment the door clicked shut, his form ruptured—flesh sloughing off like melted wax, muscles writhing as they rearranged into his true shape: a grotesque, elongated frame covered in slick, grayish hide, his jaw unhinging to reveal rows of needle-teeth.
"Ahhh… better," he rasped, licking a clawed finger clean.
Then he froze.
Two crimson embers glowed in the darkness.
Vanessa Blaze sat draped across the couch, her boots propped on Kael's mahogany desk, a bottle of his finest whiskey dangling from her fingers. The liquid inside boiled from the heat radiating off her skin.
"An artificial Fallen," she mused, her voice like a scalpel sliding between ribs. "On my grounds." She took a slow sip, the alcohol vaporizing before it touched her lips. "I knew something stank."
The Watcher's pupils dilated—not in fear, but delight. "Vice-Principal Blaze. How… fiery."
"Where's Kael?"
His grin split wider. "In my belly." A forked tongue flicked out, scraping a fleck of dried blood from his teeth. "Tough meat. Loyalty makes sinew chewy."
Vanessa set the bottle down. It fused to the desk, glass melting like candle wax.
"Good." She rose, her hair igniting into a swirling corona of flame. "Now I don't have to hold back."
She crossed the room in a blur, her fist plowing into the Watcher's chest with the force of a cannonball. The impact detonated—flames erupting in a concussive burst, blasting him through the wall and into the storm-lashed night.
Stone and mortar rained down as Vanessa stepped through the wreckage, her body now wreathed in red-hot fire. The rain hissed into steam before it could touch her, the courtyard stones cracking under her footsteps.
The Watcher lay sprawled in the crater of his landing, ribs jutting through his hide—then twitched. Tendrils of black Aether snaked from his wounds, knitting flesh back together with a sound like popping sinew. When the regeneration finished, he wore Kael's face once more.
"Disgusting," Vanessa spat. "You people deliberately implode your cores in search of power, turning yourselves into monsters." She cracked her knuckles. "Let's see how much you can heal."
Students and faculty spilled into the courtyard, Sentinel armor clanking as they formed a perimeter. Confusion rippled through the crowd as they witnessed the Vice-Principal facing off against the Vice-Captain of the Vanguard Club.
"Attack!" Garrick barked, halberd raised-then froze. His eyes darted to the surrounding students, weapon wavering as he took in their terrified faces, the watcher wore Kael's face, after all. What if he'd already replaced other?
"Hold, Garrick! " Vanessa's voice was a whip-crack of authority. "He's a Null—a shapeshifter! One drop of your blood, and he wears your face next!"
Her hands slammed together.
[Fire Style: Ring of Inferno]
A colossal circle of red-white fire erupted around them, twenty feet high, the heat so intense the academy's stained-glass windows shattered. The crowd recoiled—except for Ryan Poseidonis, who leaned forward with manic glee, ice already frosting his fingertips.
"You think this is just infiltration?" The Watcher laughed, his voice distorting as his jaw split down the middle, a second mouth unfurling like a grotesque flower. The sight sent several onlookers stumbling back. "We're a message."
He lunged, claws elongating into serrated blades, black Aether dripping like venom.
Vanessa met him mid-air.
[Fire Style: Sun's Guillotine]
Her leg swung down in a blazing arc, cleaving through his shoulder and severing his arm. The severed limb twitched, sprouting teeth and claws mid-fall—until Vanessa vaporized it with a backhanded fireball.
The Watcher staggered, his stump bubbling—but Vanessa didn't let him heal.
She grabbed his face, her fingers searing through his flesh like hot iron through snow.
"You let yourself be caught," she snarled. "You deliberately led me to suspect you—that skin ripple was staged. Why?"
His remaining eye rolled wildly, focusing behind her—on the crowd. On the fear in their faces.
"To show them…" He gurgled, "...nowhere is safe."
Then his body ballooned, skin stretching—
Vanessa reacted instantly.
[Fire Style: Sun's Burial]
She clapped her hands around his head.
The resulting explosion turned the Watcher to ash, the shockwave rattling the academy's foundations. The Ring of Inferno collapsed, leaving only a smoldering crater—and silence.
Vanessa stood amidst the smoke, her flames dimming to embers. The crowd stared, some in awe, others in terror.
The gears in her mind spun. She had fallen into a trap—a well-crafted one. Only now did she realize she'd helped him carry out his plan perfectly. The seeds of fear, unrest, and distrust were sown in the hearts of students and instructors alike. If even a Viscount could be impersonated, who among the hundreds of Soldier and Knight-ranked students might be a monster?
"Back to your dorms," Vice-Principal Vanessa commanded, her tone brooking no argument. "Now."
As the crowd dispersed, she turned to Garrick. "With me."
---
A few hundred meters away, Duron observed the incident, his golden eyes unreadable. The Hands of the Divine had infiltrators in every major academy—that was his role in Arachis. But they had sent the Watcher for reasons he hadn't understood.
Now he did.
Fear.
"She's pissed tonight," Leo said from behind Duron, startling him.
Duron composed himself. "Yes, she is."
Leonardo Reeves—this man was becoming a thorn in his side. Left unchecked, he could unravel everything.
"Sneaking up on others is rude," Duron said, locking eyes with Leo. "I'm sure you know that, Mr. Leo."
Leo matched his gaze without blinking. For a moment, neither moved. Then Leo smiled—a sly, knowing expression.
"Sorry," he said, not sounding sorry at all, before melting back into the shadows.