Chapter 224: Dragon

In West Town Saints Academy, there were currently three known S-Rank students: Ezra, Kelvina, and Perry.

Ezra’s ability still remained a mystery despite everything. Perry’s ability was obviously fire-related, and there was even a name for it. Kelvina’s ability was known, yet unknown.

Of all the S-Ranks, only Perry had shown more than enough of what his ability could do. As for Ezra, he continued to confuse people every time he used his ability. Kelvina, on the other hand, had shown her ability, but people weren’t sure if that was her true ability or just an additional boon for being an S-Rank.

Their current situation was never planned. It was not part of the Tournament organizers’ plans, and it had already escalated beyond anything the tournament organizers had anticipated.

The first incident had been in City A- Echidna, an S-Rank primordial entity, had awakened beneath the tournament grounds and nearly turned a city qualifier into a national emergency.

Now, in City AF, something similar was happening. Only this time, they didn’t even know what they were dealing with.

***

The control center had become unusually quiet.

Hundreds of screens covered the walls, each displaying the locations and status of participating students. Every academy had been assigned a designated color, with their members represented by moving markers.

The supervisors were accustomed to chaos, students getting injured, students fighting monsters, and occasional conflicts between academies.

That was normal, but one screen had just gone dark.

A supervisor stared at it.

"Say that again."

The technician swallowed.

"We lost contact with seven members of West Town Saints Academy."

"All seven?"

"Yes."

The supervisor immediately leaned forward.

"Check their trackers."

"We already did."

"And?"

The technician shook his head.

"Nothing."

A second supervisor stood.

"Could be interference."

"We’ve accounted for environmental interference."

"Then check the drones."

"Already done."

The screen displaying West Town’s last known positions remained frozen. Seven markers had vanished, but only one remained: Ezra Crestfall.

The room fell silent. One of the senior supervisors immediately reached for the communication console.

"Contact Ezra."

**

Ezra had been walking alone through the forest. His steps were calm, expression unreadable. He had left the others less than an hour ago.

The sudden communication request caught him completely off guard. His wrist device vibrated.

Ezra glanced down.

[EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION REQUEST!]

He accepted.

"Yes?"

The supervisor’s voice came through immediately.

"Ezra, where are the others?"

Ezra frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Your team."

"I left them in the center of the Saintfall Expanse."

"Where exactly?"

Ezra gave them the coordinates. The technician entered them, and his expression immediately changed.

"That’s impossible."

The supervisor looked at him.

"What?"

"Those coordinates aren’t transmitting anything."

Ezra’s eyes narrowed.

"Explain."

"We lost every signal from your teammates."

Ezra stopped walking.

"What?"

"Your team’s trackers, communication devices, and observation drone feeds have all disappeared."

Ezra’s expression finally changed.

"How long?"

"Approximately twelve minutes."

His eyes sharpened.

"Send me their last known coordinates."

"We’re already doing that."

His wrist device flashed, and a map appeared. Ezra stared at the location. Something was wrong.

The last position was underground, far beneath where he had left them.

"How deep?"

"We don’t know."

Ezra immediately turned around.

"I’m going back."

"Wait."

He stopped.

"We’re deploying an emergency drone to your location."

Ezra looked upward as a distant mechanical hum approached through the trees. A specialized drone descended from the sky.

Unlike the normal tournament drones, this one was larger, armored, and equipped with communication equipment powerful enough to penetrate several kilometers underground.

It projected a holographic display beside Ezra.

The supervisor appeared within it.

"Ezra, listen carefully."

"I’m listening."

"Whatever happened to your team, we don’t know what caused it."

Ezra’s eyes narrowed.

"Monsters? Possibly. Another academy? Unlikely."

The supervisor hesitated.

"There’s something else."

"What?"

"We’ve detected unusual energy readings in the area."

Ezra became silent.

"How unusual?"

The supervisor looked toward the technician.

"Similar in intensity to the readings recorded during the City A incident."

Ezra’s expression hardened.

"That Mother of Monsters..."

"No. We don’t know."

That answer was enough. Ezra turned toward the forest.

"I’m going."

"Ezra..."

He disappeared- the ground beneath him exploded. The drone struggled to keep up.

The control room erupted into activity.

"Begin emergency evacuation protocols."

"Already?"

"Yes."

"But we don’t know if there’s actually a threat."

"We didn’t know in City A either."

Nobody argued with that. The first incident had taught them something important. Unknown didn’t mean harmless. In fact, the opposite was often true.

"Contact the military."

The communications officer hesitated.

"National military?"

"Local first. If the situation escalates, escalate the alert."

"What about the students?"

"Begin evacuating every team within five kilometers of the Saintfall Expanse."

"And the tournament?"

The senior supervisor looked at the screens.

"We’re suspending it."

"For everyone?"

"For everyone in the affected region."

He turned toward the main display.

"Nobody enters that area until we know what happened."

The order went out.

Across City AF, emergency messages began reaching tournament officials. Vehicles were prepared. Medical teams were mobilized. Military units were placed on standby.

And hundreds of drones began converging toward the Saintfall Expanse. Nobody knew that most of them were already too late.

***

Deep beneath the earth...

CLANG!

Kelvina’s sword collided with a Werefang’s claws. The force of the impact sent a shockwave through the cavern.

She slid backward, her boots carving two deep lines across the stone. The Werefang didn’t give her time to recover. It lunged.

Kelvina’s eyes sharpened.

She ducked, causing the creature’s claws to pass over her head. She spun, and her sword struck its ribs.

The Werefang stumbled. Kelvina followed.

BOOM!

Her knee slammed into its abdomen, forcing it backward, but it recovered almost instantly.

Kelvina grinned. "You’re tough."

The Werefang snarled. Then its body blurred. Her expression changed.

BOOOOOOM!

She was sent crashing through a stone pillar.

"Kelvina!" Marcus shouted.

"I’m fine!"

Dust exploded outward. For several seconds, nothing moved. Then a hand emerged from the rubble.

Kelvina pulled herself out. Blood ran down the side of her face, which she wiped away. Her smile had returned, but something else had changed.

Her hair began glowing, a faint energy traveling through every strand.

CRACK.

Two small projections emerged from her forehead. They weren’t ordinary horns. They resembled the translucent, energy-like horns of a dragon.

Kelvina slowly lifted her head, and her eyes changed next. Her pupils narrowed. Golden irises formed around them, surrounded by a strange draconic glow.

Behind her, something enormous began taking shape- a projection of a dragon.

Its head alone towered over the battlefield. Its jaws opened silently behind Kelvina. The pressure inside the cavern suddenly increased. Several Werefangs instinctively stepped backward, and even the A-Rank creatures hesitated.

Perry stared.

"There it is."

Marcus looked at him.

"What?"

Perry’s expression was unusually serious.

"The thing people keep asking about."

Kelvina rolled her shoulders. Her grin widened.

"You’re making this sound more dramatic than it is."

Perry looked at the dragon behind her.

"Isn’t it?"

Kelvina raised her sword, and the dragon projection behind her opened its enormous eyes. The entire cavern shook. The Werefangs roared and charged.

Kelvina stepped forward, her draconic eyes locking onto them.

"Come."

The dragon behind her roared.

ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!

The sound tore through the underground chamber, and somewhere far above them, Ezra suddenly felt it.

He stopped. His eyes widened slightly.

"Kelvina."

Then the earth beneath him cracked. He looked toward the source of the roar, and for the first time since entering the tournament... Ezra Crestfall ran.