The demon tore itself fully into the corridor.
Its body was twisted, skeletal, wrapped in black mist. Claws scraped against stone as it shrieked—a sound too sharp for something only Rank E.
It wasn't supposed to be here.
It wasn't supposed to exist yet.
Kael stepped forward.
Not because he was brave.
Because hesitation meant death.
The creature lunged.
Kael didn't block.
He shifted half a step to the left—exactly as he remembered scout-types doing before a second strike.
The first claw missed.
The second came faster.
He ducked.
The broken pipe in his hand stabbed upward again—same weak point.
This time, he twisted.
Black blood splattered across the corridor wall.
The demon screamed.
Mana exploded outward.
The shockwave slammed Kael into the stone.
Pain shot through his ribs.
Too strong.
It's stronger than it should be.
The creature thrashed wildly, its body destabilizing.
Kael forced himself up.
If it finished stabilizing inside this timeline, it would evolve.
He couldn't allow that.
He rushed forward again.
The demon opened its jaw—
And something inside Kael answered.
A pulse.
Deep in his chest.
Not mana.
Not adrenaline.
Resonance.
The world slowed.
For a fraction of a second—
He saw threads.
Thin silver lines running through the demon's body.
Core pathways.
Weakness points.
His eyes widened.
This wasn't memory.
This wasn't knowledge.
This was—
Affinity.
The pipe moved before he consciously decided to.
He pierced directly into the primary core node.
The demon froze.
Silence.
Then—
It shattered.
Not like before.
Not into mist.
Into particles of condensed mana that spiraled toward Kael.
They didn't disperse.
They absorbed.
Straight into him.
His body trembled violently.
Heat surged through his veins.
His chest burned.
Then—
A second pulse answered the first.
Two different currents of mana collided inside him.
One dark.
One bright.
Opposites.
His vision blurred.
Dual… compatibility?
The ranking crystal never showed this.
Because it had never fully awakened.
In his previous life, he never pushed himself to the edge this early.
He never forced resonance.
Now—
Something had broken open.
Footsteps thundered down the stairs.
"Mana disturbance detected—!"
Darian's voice.
Kael looked up sharply.
Too loud.
The explosion had triggered sensors.
The corridor lights flickered violently.
Kael steadied himself just as Darian appeared at the end of the hall, sword drawn.
He froze at the sight.
Black residue on the walls.
A torn crack slowly sealing itself.
And Kael—
Standing alone.
Breathing heavily.
"You…" Darian's eyes narrowed. "What did you do?"
Kael didn't answer.
Because he didn't fully know.
Darian stepped forward cautiously.
"I felt demon-class mana. Don't tell me—"
His gaze dropped to the floor.
To the scattered fragments dissolving.
His expression shifted.
Impossible.
"An F-Class… killed a manifested demon?"
Kael wiped blood from his lip.
"It attacked first."
Darian stared at him.
Suspicion.
Confusion.
A hint of unease.
"You don't have enough mana capacity for that."
Kael met his eyes calmly.
"Maybe the rankings are wrong."
The air grew heavy between them.
Darian had talent.
Instinct.
He could feel something was different.
But before he could speak again—
A faint crack echoed above.
Both of them looked up.
The ceiling vibrated.
For a split second—
The air tore open.
A vertical black slit formed midair.
Red eyes flickered within it.
Watching.
Darian stepped back instinctively.
"What is that—?!"
The slit closed instantly.
Silence returned.
Only their breathing remained.
Darian's knuckles tightened around his sword.
"That wasn't a normal spatial fluctuation."
Kael knew.
Because that—
Wasn't supposed to happen at all.
The timeline isn't just changing.
It's reacting.
And it's accelerating.
Darian's gaze shifted back to Kael.
"Report to the faculty immediately. If you're hiding something—"
"I'm not," Kael cut in calmly.
Which was technically true.
He wasn't hiding something.
He was interfering with destiny.
Darian hesitated.
Then lowered his blade slightly.
"…You're different."
Kael didn't smile.
"Everyone changes."
Not everyone remembers dying.
Darian studied him one last time before turning toward the stairs.
"This isn't over."
No.
It wasn't.
As Darian left, Kael leaned against the wall.
His body still burned.
Two currents of mana rotated within him.
Not stable.
But real.
Dual affinity.
Hidden from the crystal.
If this spreads—
If the academy finds out—
Everything accelerates again.
And somewhere far beyond the academy grounds—
A massive shadow stirred.
A voice echoed across an unseen void.
"He awakened sooner."
Another voice answered.
"Then eliminate him before divergence increases."
Kael opened his eyes slowly.
He didn't hear the voices.
But he felt something.
A shift.
Like a hunter marking prey.
Good.
Let them move.
This time—
I'll be ready.