Kai flinched, pulling back his hand, startled to see Bree suddenly sitting beside him.

"Did I startle you?" Bree turned and flashed a smile.

"Yeah," He rubbed his chest as he almost had a heart attack. "And yes... Yes, it’s fine."

At this point, he found it odd for Bree to still ask permission to sit beside him—when she had already been inside her room and even sleeping next to him. But from her gaze, he could see confusion and doubt.

It seemed she also sensed that he was slightly avoiding her.

Kai didn’t know how to act in front of her now that there was poison in his mind against her.

But he tried to remain calm and normal.

"You don’t want me to sit with you," Bree’s eyes narrowing. "Just say it bluntly. Don’t hide it."

She stood up, intending to leave, but Kai caught her wrist, stopping her.

"It’s nothing like that at all," Kai pulled, making her sit back down again. "How did you even reach that conclusion? I was simply tired and lost in thought. In case you forgot, we barely have any rest these days."

"Don’t lie to me," Bree retorted and freed her arm. "You don’t want to be paired up with me. You don’t even talk to me anymore. And now, all I did was sit down, and you already looked like you’re uncomfortable."

Kai paused.

He really wanted to ask her about the reason she approached him in the first place.

But the words were stuck in his throat.

Misunderstanding his hesitant expression, Bree pivoted her body to face him properly.

"Is it because of what happened that night? Or is it because I cheered for Alex?" She asked. "Am I moving too fast? If I am, then tell me, and I’ll understand. As for the Alex thing, it was petty of me, I’m sorry."

Seeing her puppy eyes made him feel a pang in his heart.

None of those things she mentioned bothers him that much.

He was acting like this because he was suspicious of her, and that made him feel guilty.

"I’m already over them, don’t worry," Kai patted her hand gently. "I’m really fine. You came out of nowhere earlier, so obviously I’m still out of it—especially since I was taking a nap. You misunderstood me."

Lying to Bree felt like dragging a hot steel through his tongue.

But Kai couldn’t cough up the words; at least not now.

"Promise?" She offered her pinky finger.

"Yes," Kai tangled his pinky finger with hers. "I promise."

"Phew..." Bree stretched her legs forward, relieved that nothing bad had happened between them. "I really thought you were angry at me or something. I was so scared. Good thing everything was clear now."

"Scared? What am I even going to do?"

"I don’t want to be visited in the night by the Phantom of Ixos."

"Eugh... That nickname again," Kai sighed; seems like people are going to mistake him for an assassin if that nickname spreads. His eyes then flickered, "Oh, right, I don’t know who else to ask other than you. It’s a bit private, are you fine with it?"

"Shoot," Bree placed a hand on her chest as if taunting him. "Try me."

"Just wanted to ask about your physical stats. How are they looking?"

"Any particular reason you wanted to know?"

"I got stronger, and wanted someone to compare it to."

"Mine is pretty bad... As I told you, my Patron God isn’t that strong," Bree smiled sheepishly, and for a second, Kai wanted to take back his question, but she had already answered. "From the top to bottom, it’s ten, twelve, ten, eight, and one-hundred and fifty."

"Hmm? That’s too high, no?" Kai frowned. "Aren’t you still at grade-zero awakened? And to have a mana stat that high... You’ve opened your second Divine Lock, too?"

Bree didn’t participate in the Blood Rite, so she shouldn’t have access to resources.

It was odd for her to be this strong without resources.

"Just reached grade one recently," She grinned and raised a peace sign. "And as for the second Divine Lock, the academy gave me mana ores to use. A perk for being a High Angel. I already opened it for quite a while now."

Kai nodded; he wasn’t surprised that he was far stronger than Bree.

He’s already a grade-two awakened supernal and has two Primordial Locks. Not to mention, the Goddess of the Primordial Night should be a very high-rated Patron God. At this point, it would be dumb to assume otherwise.

But Bree has many Divine Locks. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

For a Supernal with a higher number of Divine Locks, the difference between their powers and those with lower Divine Locks is negligible at best. A higher number of Divine Locks would no doubt make their focus stat higher, but it’s not significant.

Given time, however, Supernals with a higher number of Divine Locks would dominate.

As more and more of the Divine Locks opened, the Supernal would grow exponentially.

So, this was completely normal.

"What about you?" Bree leaned forward excitedly. "How strong are you?"

"Err... It’s thirty, thirty-one, forty-five, thirty-nine, and... three-hundred and ninety-nine."

"Almost four hundred?!"

Bree gasped; she was completely taken aback by his mana.

"Hmm," She looked down, forehead creasing in contemplation. "While you guys are going through the Blood Rite, I tried researching your Patron God. It’s the Goddess of the Primordial Night, right? I can’t find anything about her. Even in books exclusive to High Angels, I can’t find anything about her. No record. Not even a hint. Nothing."

Kai paused for a second.

He forgot that Bree knew about his real Patron God.

Matilda might know about his Legacy Skill and Imprints, but Bree was the only one who knew his real Patron God. Others, including Dorian, only knew his Patron God as Moros, which was a cover that Perion provided.

"I tried searching in the library, too. But I don’t have high hopes of finding anything."

"But clearly, she’s extremely strong. I don’t think Supernals with the bloodline of the high and mighty Olympian Gods have stats as high as yours. You should be proud. I’m sure you’ll reach anything you want to reach in the future."

"I don’t... think too much about the future."

Bree’s shoulders slouched, and she exhaled through her nose.

She knew exactly why Kai was like that.

"Now that you have a group, surviving will become easier," Bree held his hand, and this time, he surprisingly returned the gesture. It must be tiring for him to only think about surviving— all the time. "I’m going to help you. I may not be strong, but I can still help."

"Not strong?" Kai snickered. "You can even sneak up on me. How are you not strong?"

For a second there, Bree’s face changed.

But Kai didn’t see it.

"How in the world do you do that, anyway?" Kai raised a brow and glanced at her. "I’m pretty aware of my surroundings."

"Oh, it’s..." Bree stuttered. "It’s a ne—"

Swoosh—!

Before she could finish, Kai’s head snapped skyward. A sharp, piercing sound split the air above—three trails of mana cutting across the heavens like blades drawn from their sheaths. The professors. He watched as the three of them climbed higher and higher until their forms were swallowed by the vastness of the sky, until they were nothing but fading echoes of light.

All of them seemed to go through the illusion translucent barrier and entered the Second Sky.

"What’s going on?" Kai stood up abruptly. "What are the professors doing?"

Dread began to spread inside his chest.

Kai had allowed himself a sliver of peace, taking assurance from what Professor Hera said as well as the fact that the three professors were still in the hive. They hadn’t abandoned the students to their reunions.

They were waiting.

Once the allotted time for reunions is done, they would call everyone back to the academy.

But now, he wasn’t so sure.

Now, all three professors were gone. Not even sparing the students an announcement. Just a sudden, violent departure. Kai’s mind raced—clawing for explanations and finding none that didn’t drip with dread.

"Seemed to be in a hurry... I don’t like this." Bree whispered, also looking skyward.

Kai nodded, "Me neither."

In a rush, Kai and Bree burst from the alley, boots stomping against the mud.

Around them, the hive was still seized with reunions. Students were still distracted by their families, not caring about the fact that the three professors left in a rush. "Find Matilda," Kai said. "I’ll find Dorian and Bryan."

"Okay," Bree quickly made her way to the inner area.

Kai also turned the other way, eyes scanning the road in search of two familiar faces.

He didn’t know if Dorian and Bryan still had family waiting for them. But the fact that neither of them was anywhere in sight suggested their loved ones were still alive—still present. So as Kai moved, he didn’t ignore the families he passed. He couldn’t.

Rumble—!

Above, the sky rumbled again.

It was a deep, guttural growl that vibrated inside Kai’s chest and clawed up his spine.

Kai stopped dead in the middle of the street, forgetting what he was doing, and looked up.

His eyes bear witness to a ripple happening on the translucent barrier separating the First and Second Sky. Almost instantly, his blood ran cold. Not too long ago, he had seen ripples exactly like this.

It happened back in the Fire Swamp.

One of the stray fireballs was thrown further out and collided with the translucent barrier that separated the surface and the First Sky. Its collision sent those same concentric ripples across the translucent membrane.

Something was happening in the Second Sky.

Something big enough to make a ripple.

Now he understood why the professors had flown straight to the Second Sky.

Most likely to help handle whatever was going on there.

"Everyone!!" Kai shouted at the top of his lungs, stopping the reunions around him. Students cast him a sharp glare, annoyed that their family time was interrupted—but he did not really care right now. "Everyone! Find somewhere safe! Get inside!"

"Shut up, Lesser Angel!"

"Have you gone mad? Do you need a fucking beating?"

Despite his warning, none of them took him seriously.

Instead, they were taking offense to his warning.

Rumble—!

Once again, the translucent membrane above rippled, but it was stronger this time.

Kai could see the ripple reaching further than it had the first time.

"If you love your fucking family, you should damn well listen to me!" He roared once again, eyes bulging in frustration. Then, he pointed at the sky. "Look up! Something is happening in the Seco—"

Crash—!

Just then, the sound of cracking glass reverberated through the air.

Kai’s heart skipped a beat.

He looked up and saw something slip through the translucent membrane and fall like a meteor.