- Three months after the chaotic demon attack, a tense calm had settled over the academy, a false sense of security that Leon couldn't shake.
- He, along with his tight-knit team—William the paladin, Olivia the mage, Rose the saintess, Noah the magic swordsman, Anna the swordswoman—trained relentlessly.
- The six of them, forged in the crucible of battle, had become an inseparable unit, their skills complementing each other with seamless precision.
- His friends, however, weren't blind. Noah watched Leon during their breaks, a concerned frown etched on his face.
- "He's not the same," he confided to Anna one afternoon.
- "He's always in his head, like he's fighting another battle we can't see." Anna nodded, her cold demeanor changed into consern.
- "I know. I've tried to talk to him, but he just... closes off. He's with us, but he's not with us." They worried.
- Even Leon's fiancée, Rose, felt the growing distance. She would sit beside him during meals, her hand hovering near his, wanting to reach out and pull him back from whatever dark place he was in.
- "What is it, Leon?" she'd whisper, but he would only offer a strained smile and a vague reassurance that he was fine.
- This wall he had built between them was an invisible torment, and she ached for the days when their laughter filled the halls.
- but they also respected his space, attributing his change to the lingering trauma of the battle—a decision they would soon come to regret
- Then a new truoble started. This new wave of fear didn't begin with a roar but with a chilling silence.
- It started as whispers in the academy halls, then became a horrifying reality: students and teachers were turning to stone.
- The phenomenon was swift and merciless. People would be going about their day living normally, then a sudden pallor would cross their face, and within moments, their flesh would start to harden, a gray, crystalline shell forming over their bodies.
- Leon's blood ran cold when he saw it firsthand. A fellow classmate, mid-conversation, froze in place, a hand half-raised.
- Another, a teacher, was petrified at her desk, her face locked in an expression of surprise.
- The full scale of the horror hit him when it affected his own friends.
- Noah was mid-sentence, his arm frozen in a gesture of conversation.
- Anna's eyes, wide with fear, stared into eternity. Even his steadfast new partners, William and Olivia, succumbed to the curse, their forms turning to stone right before his eyes. - The weight of his unshared secret became a crushing burden, a heavy cloak of guilt.
- He had known about this event from the original game storyline, the Stillness incident.
- but seeing it happen to those he cared about was a different kind of agony.
- He also noticed that even his fiancée, Rose, had been affected, her beautiful features now locked in a stony expression of confusion.
- Leon was alone. The hero and his entourage were away, leaving the academy in chaos.
- " He was not a help anyway." He siad that to himself thinking how to stop this incident.
- Then he remembered the game's solution: a specific counter-spell located within the deepest part of the cursed library in the academy that was off-limits.
- This was his only hope. He broke into a sprint, weaving through the panicking crowd and the newly-formed statues, his mind a blur of determination.
- The path to the library, however, was blocked by a new type of enemy—not the mindless beasts, but monstrous, distorted figures that infiltrated the academy grounds.
- He encountered a pack of them near the library entrance, their bodies twisted into grotesque, misshapen forms, their eyes glowing with a malevolent red light.
- These were B-rank demons.
- One of them, a creature with razor-sharp claws, lunged at him, its movements a sickening mix of human grace and demonic ferocity.
- Leon parried the attack, his sword clashing against the demon's claws with a screech of metal.
- He was forced to fight, a frantic, desperate dance of steel and shadows.
- He had to be quick, to conserve his energy. He dodged, parried, and struck with practiced efficiency, taking down one demon after another.
- The battle was a test of his resolve, a brutal reminder that the world had changed and the stakes were higher than ever.
- Finally, he fought his way through the demonic blockade, stumbling into the dark, dusty halls of the cursed library.
- He found the section he was looking for, a tome glowing with a faint, corrupted aura.
- He grabbed it, his heart pounding in his chest, and as he read the formula, a cold dread filled him.
- The symbols were twisted, the incantation reversed. The dark magic used by the demons wasn't the same as in the original story.
- the Principality had altered the formula, making it a more potent and sinister version. The game's solution was useless.