EVIL LOOKS GOOD ON ME

The alarm screamed across Nightfall Academy. Kael dropped his training sword and sprinted. The gates had been breached. He didn’t hesitate. Students screamed in the halls, guards fell under sharp claws and dark magic, and fire flickered along the outer walls. Shadows moved unnaturally fast—creatures that didn’t belong in this world were inside the academy, and they were hunting. Kael’s eyes scanned the chaos. Lower-ranked students ran in all directions. Some tripped over debris and were dragged under creatures’ claws. Others screamed and tried to fight, but their weapons were useless. Then he saw her. Shion. She was at the training grounds, surrounded by the weaker students. Her eyes were wide, fear frozen on her face. She had no chance. Not with the attackers coming from every side. The first creature lunged—a hybrid taller than a man, with claws as sharp as daggers. It slammed into her chest. She went flying across the hall, hitting the stone floor with a sickening thud. Blood splattered the ground. Her friends screamed and tried to help, but one swipe of the creature’s claw sent another student flying into the wall. Kael ran faster. The air was thick with smoke and the metallic scent of blood. His blade flashed through one attacker, severing its arm, but more came. They were endless. He reached her just as a second strike hit. A dark-winged creature swooped from above, slamming its talons into her head. She crumpled. No scream escaped her lips. Her body went limp. Kael’s heart stopped. “No…” he growled. He threw himself into the creatures in front of him, moving with deadly precision. One after another, they fell. His blade was a blur, but he didn’t have time to reach her before more attackers fell on the remaining students. By the time he cut his way back to Shion, it was too late. Her body lay on the cold floor, pale and broken. Blood soaked the uniform she had worn barely days ago. She wasn’t moving. Her chest didn’t rise. Her fingers twitched once, then went still. Kael knelt beside her, checking for a pulse. Nothing. Zero. She was gone. The attackers had vanished as quickly as they came, leaving destruction behind. Students were screaming, running, some injured, some dead. Guards and upper-class students were trying to restore order, but the courtyard looked like a battlefield straight out of a nightmare. Kael’s fists tightened. Shion—weak, quiet, overlooked—was dead. And yet… even in death, something about her felt… wrong. Her body should have been gone, forgotten. But Kael sensed something. A strange, lingering pressure… faint, but present. He didn’t have time to think. The courtyard was still dangerous. Fire burned the walls, screams filled the air, and the surviving attackers could return at any second. He stood and scanned the field, noting which students were alive and which weren’t. Several were injured badly—broken arms, split heads, deep claw marks across torsos. He lifted her body, carrying her toward the infirmary. Every step was heavy, but his eyes never left the battlefield. When they reached the infirmary, nurses rushed forward. “She’s dead!” one yelled. “There’s nothing we can do!” Kael didn’t answer. He placed her on a bed. Machines and herbs were pushed toward him, but nothing would revive her. She had been attacked perfectly—every hit meant to kill, and it had succeeded. And yet… Kael’s eyes narrowed. Her chest didn’t rise, but the faint pressure he felt moments ago remained. Something about this wasn’t normal. He stepped back and scanned her face. There was no fear. There was no pain left. Just stillness. Shion was dead. The academy had survived the attack, but she hadn’t. And Kael… he knew something had changed. Even in death, she left a mark he couldn’t ignore.