Strange Signs (3): The Earth Roars
The ground wailed in agony. The change was so stark that even the most oblivious fool, numb to their surroundings, couldn't miss it.
"Wh-what the hell?! An earthquake…?!"
"No! Th-the ground's rising up…!"
"That's an earthquake, you idiot!"
"You think this is the same thing?!"
Shocked cries erupted from students in the midst of their ordinary exam. As someone had said, it looked like an earthquake at first glance. But the reality was entirely different.
Just moments ago, trees had been at eye level—now they shot up from the earth like geysers, towering overhead. And when that unnatural shift hit them, the very ground they stood on surged upward too, matching eye level once more. What kind of madness was this?
Was a submarine volcano beneath Kelrun Island erupting, lifting the entire island in its wake? Even for an undersea volcano, no one had ever heard of one with the power to hoist an island sky-high.
In the face of this bizarre phenomenon that would have geologists foaming at the mouth, the students could only cling to nearby objects, struggling to steady themselves.
"Kyaaah—!"
"Miss! Hold on tight! You'll fall otherwise!"
"I-I know that much!"
Aren's group was naturally among the chaos.
*Damn, what the hell is this now?*
Aren swallowed a curse under his breath, scanning the suddenly open vista ahead. Screams echoed from all directions far away. Trees uprooted and rocketed skyward; boulders floated lazily before crashing down. Each impact boomed like cannon fire, shaking the earth. No matter how you sliced it, this was way beyond the scope of any exam.
He'd figure out exactly what was happening later, but one thing was clear: this was an unplanned disaster.
"Hey, Neriel! Grab my hand!"
As the ground crumbled beneath her, Aren desperately reached out to Neriel, who had nearly plummeted into the abyss below. Her face twisted slightly—whether from the indignity of needing his help or something else, it was absurd. She had been one roll away from certain death, yet even now, this purple-headed hothead prioritized her pride. In a way, it was impressively consistent.
"A-Aren… What the heck is this? What's going on…?"
Thankfully, as the freak phenomenon subsided a bit, Tiabel regained her wits and asked in a dazed voice.
But it wasn't Aren who answered—it was Neriel.
"I have a theory. This island… maybe those old legends are real after all."
"Legends…? Miss Marit, what do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said. There's been a legend—or rumor, really—about Kelrun Island for ages. That it's alive. Total nonsense, of course."
The island is alive? Their eyes widened at Neriel's calm, baffling words.
"You probably know this, but the island used to be a penal colony for criminals. And those guys all swore they felt it moving. Once, a massive tremor shook the ground, and someone pressed their ear to it—claimed they heard a heartbeat."
"That make any sense? An island with a heartbeat?"
Even Aren, who bought into most tall tales, couldn't swallow this one. He shot her a skeptical look, and Neriel just shrugged like, believe it or don't.
"That's why it was dismissed as rumor. No one bought it back then. But conspiracy nuts and bard types who love spinning yarns called it Kellevos anyway."
Neriel narrowed her eyes as she murmured the name.
"Levos—from ancient myths, the beast that carried an island on its back and floated through the skies. They named it Kellevos after that. And maybe… it wasn't just a tall tale."
"You saying this island's really alive? Then that surge just now was…"
"…Yeah."
As Neriel's gaze sharpened and stretched toward the distant horizon—
—GRRRROOOOAAAAARRR—!
A grotesque head emerged, like a turtle fused with a drake. A deafening roar enveloped everything.
Screams filled the air from every side, pure pandemonium. But Neriel stayed cool, assessing the situation amid the madness.
"…Still, something's off. Logically, an ancient beast dormant for eons wouldn't wake up right now. It's too perfectly timed. Like someone measured it with a ruler."
Aren flinched at her murmured analysis. He had a hunch, alright—99% sure, anyway. Someone had deliberately roused that monster.
And who? Those bastards, obviously.
The repulsive faces from summer break flashed in his mind, and he grimaced like he was holding back vomit.
But whining wouldn't help. Right now, all he could do was—
Shing—
"Anyway, let's go check it out. Sitting here twiddling our thumbs won't solve shit."
Take down that head, quell the chaos somehow. Sword in hand, Aren muttered boldly.
"Yeah. Don't worry, Aren—I'll protect you."
Tiabel clenched her fist, rising to follow behind him.
"…No, I'll act separately."
But for some reason, Neriel shook her head and turned away, stepping off on her own.
Splitting up in this mess was risky as hell, but recalling her earlier words, Aren got it. She was probably hunting the culprits solo. Dangerous? Absolutely. Necessary? Without a doubt.
"Do what you want. Just don't push it."
"Hmph. Worried about me? Guess I've hit rock bottom."
She snorted, floated low into the sky, and vanished into the woods.
*Flutter—*
At the same time, high above the island, the academy professors and proctors who had been overseeing the exam hovered in the air, mana unleashed in haste.
The sudden crustal upheaval. Then the legendary beast's head appeared—and faces went pale across the board.
"Impossible…! Kellevos? That was just a myth!"
"Myths don't matter now! The students are still trapped inside!"
The professors raised their hands in unison, unfurling magic circles toward the island. Dozens of protective barriers and teleportation glyphs activated simultaneously.
But—
Bzzzzt!
A sharp metallic screech rang out as an invisible barrier repelled every spell. Layer upon layer of blue barriers spread like waves, encasing the island completely.
"Wh-what is this…? My dimensional transfer's blocked…?!"
"This isn't a simple seal. At least seven layers of overlapping spells. The beast's doing?"
"No way…!"
Dense enough to bar even a single ant, no question. Sure, monsters used mana unlike regular beasts, but generating a barrier this advanced on its own? Was this the power of an ancient monster?
"First, assemble a barrier team and find a way to breach it. And nine times out of ten, this beast didn't wake itself. Someone's behind it."
As everyone reeled in shock, head proctor Azela alone stayed composed, issuing orders.
"Someone's doing? What do you mean, Professor Azela?"
"Think back to the recent incidents at the academy. It's not hard to guess."
"No way…! Them?!"
She nodded silently at her colleague's stunned question. Faces hardened. This inference might be even more dangerous than the beast awakening.
"The rest of you, fan out and hunt the presumed culprits—the Silence Followers."
"Understood. I'll handle that team."
"Count on you."
As the stern-faced female professor vanished, Azela gazed coldly at the heaving island—no, the monster's carapace.
*Something's off.*
A strange unease gripped her. By her reckoning, this was likely outsiders' work—high odds it was the Silence Followers who had stirred the academy before. That tracked.
But if so, why this approach? It felt inconsistent. They'd been bold yet stealthy till now. What shift in just that short time made them go so aggressive and flashy?
Azela couldn't make sense of it. And above all, what were they after to go this far?
*Just chaos? Nah, doesn't fit.*
Something didn't sit right. Sometimes, gut feelings like this nailed it more than hard evidence. Azela could only hope today wasn't one of those times.
*Flutter—*
Gripping her trademark witch hat, Neriel descended somewhere. Near the eastern coast, as Aren had mentioned.
Kellevos's head loomed distantly, bellowing thunderously—but that was irrelevant. She had another purpose here.
"…Why don't you come out? Hiding like that won't escape my eyes."
"……."
She growled a threat toward the dense thicket. No reply.
Taking it as a dead end, she silently conjured a fireball and hurled it beyond the bushes.
BOOOOM—!
The woods vanished in an instant inferno. Neriel watched impassively, then frowned.
Footsteps crunched.
From the flames emerged a lone figure, striding out aloofly. Hooded deep in robes, face hidden by a grotesque mask stitched like sewn lips. The sight alone turned her stomach, and she was about to unleash hell again—
"Neriel Marit, right?"
A voice like nails on chalkboard leaked from the mask, distorted and eerie.
She glared—what of it?—and the robed figure extended a hand.
"Perfect timing. Care to join us?"
"…What?"
With the second most ridiculous proposal of her life.