SWNOVELXO Chapter 25: Chapter 25 – Clash of the Rising Storm
🔥 The First Years Divide
The Academy burned with magical tension. Explosions echoed in the background. Flames lit the dark hallways as mana crackled in the air.
Professor Alden and the other senior staff were still missing—scattered across the academy by illusion spells and barrier traps.
Now, it was up to the students.
> Teach (firmly, to the group):
"We don't have time to think. We split into teams and clear the invaders out!"
> Show:
"Karen, you're with me."
> Raelyn: "Cyrus, let's go."
> Drake: "I'll move solo. Someone's got to cover the eastern wall."
> Criss & Presto, Lyra & Lily, and others also formed squads and moved through the campus.
The air was charged. The real fight had begun.
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🌑 Into the Shadows
Show and Karen blazed their way through groups of masked invaders with precision.
> Karen (cutting down a rogue with her Attract Displacement Beam):
"There are more of them than we thought!"
> Show (engulfed in flame):
"We'll burn through all of them!"
But in the middle of the chaos, a strange sound called out to Show—a whisper in the dark.
He turned toward a hallway cloaked in smoke and shadows. A pull he couldn't resist.
> Karen:
"Show! Where are you going?!"
But it was too late.
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🕯️ Reunion with the Phantom
Show stepped into a dark chamber—the walls were pulsing faintly with mana.
Then—a sudden gust of dark mana.
From the shadows emerged the hooded figure from the Mistwood Forest—the one who summoned the illusion.
> ???:
"We meet again, fire child."
Show flared up and launched a blazing punch—but the man caught it midair, effortlessly.
He grabbed Show by the collar, lifting him slightly, his glowing crimson eyes piercing through the mask.
> ???:
"You're still just a spark. Barely a flame."
> Show (struggling):
"Who… the hell are you?"
> ???:
"Hibris. Of the Dark Order. We are the ones tearing your precious Academy apart."
Suddenly, Drake burst in, launching ice shards with razor precision.
Hibris flicked his wrist, blocking the attack with a dark mana barrier, then smirked.
> Hibris:
"Interesting. Perhaps next time. When your fires burn hotter."
He disappeared into shadows—vanishing without a trace.
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⚔️ The First Major Encounter – Commander Delbren
As the dust settled, Show and Drake barely had time to speak before the ground trembled.
From the opposite gate, a massive man in jet-black armor emerged.
> Delbren – Commander of the Dark Order Magic Type: Armour Manifestation
His body was encased in spiked arcane armor, pulsating with magical energy.
> Delbren:
"You two will do nicely for my warm-up."
> Drake (readying stance):
"That guy's not a foot soldier…"
> Show (igniting both fists):
"Then we go all in."
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🌲 Meanwhile – Raelyn & Cyrus vs General Keto
Elsewhere, Raelyn and Cyrus had reached the southern gardens. The vines around them writhed unnaturally.
> Cyrus (smashing a tree root):
"The plants are alive?!"
> Raelyn (looking forward):
"No… they're being controlled."
Out from the vines stepped a tall man clad in green robes, with leaves and bark covering his arms. He wore a crown of twisted branches.
> Keto – Second General of the Dark Order Magic Type: Nature Domination
> Keto (smiling coldly):
"You two will be fertilizer for the next generation of destruction."
Vines shot toward them like serpents.
> Raelyn:
"Brace yourself. This one… isn't just a test."
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To Be Continued...