The New Federation's lawless zone.
The name said it all. This place had none of the laws or rules found elsewhere. As for fairness?
Anyone living in the world's shadows could forget about something that didn't exist.
To survive here, people could rely only on themselves.
Pitch-black alleys, whispers buried beneath layers of secrecy, eyes that failed to hide their greed—for mercenaries and ordinary residents alike, these were everyday sights.
Yet in the darkness and shadows, people still dreamed.
What if they looked up and saw something other than night? What if there were another life they could choose?
Unfortunately, most people here had no right to choose.
Some were disposable tools of the New Federation government. Others were lost lambs who had yet to find their own way.
But one person had become the lucky one among countless lambs.
Perhaps it was luck. Or perhaps her nature, so different from everyone else's, had finally won a god's favor.
Whatever the reason, she received a gift.
That gift was a ticket to Lahai-Roi Star Torch Academy.
The girl was overjoyed.
Even if it came with a price that had been set in secret long ago...
So what?
Tired of living in the gutter, the girl would seize it without hesitation.
And after leaving the New Federation, the girl who had known only darkness discovered...
Every day at the Academy was better than she had imagined.
Bright corridors replaced gloomy alleys. Confident discussions replaced deceitful whispers...
Everything here dazzled her. Every new sight made her more eager to understand it.
Only then did the girl realize that being "alive" could be so vivid, so hard to let go of.
She no longer lived merely to survive. She lived for herself.
Bzzz! Bzzz! Bzzz!
But when the Academy's expulsion order finally came down, when the red warning lights began to flash...
The girl thought of the comics and novels she had read at the Academy.
She had read many during her time there, and certain lines and scenes had stayed with her.
Stolen time always, always came to an end.
"Am I really... just going to run away?"
"Mo Bai, go with the others at the Academy to somewhere safe."
There was no time to say more. After giving Mo Bai that instruction, Rover ran outside.
Click—
As the dorm room door shut, Mo Bai looked through the window at the scene outside.
Thick smoke rolled in beyond the Academy. Inside, teachers and students followed the machines toward safety. The beautiful scenery he remembered had vanished.
There was no need to ask what Rover had gone out to do.
Mo Bai still didn't know much about Rover's past. But after seeing how fiercely Rover had gone after the Remnant Star Society, he had come to think of Rover as this world's "hero."
And now, after telling an ordinary person like Mo Bai to stay safe, that great hero had gone off to save the world.
What about Lynae?
Had she taken advantage of the chaos to escape? Then she wouldn't have to worry about the Academy catching her.
No...
She wouldn't do that.
The Academy she loved was in danger. She would surely go and face the Voidmatter Magnetic Storm and the Voidworm too.
And what about him?
Rover and Lynae saw Mo Bai as an ordinary person, and he agreed with them.
He thought he was no different from anyone else in the world. He had just been a little luckier.
If you encountered a Voidmatter Magnetic Storm, run. That was the Academy's rule for ordinary students.
Mo Bai let out a breath.
Under the White Divine Dog's gaze, he stood and walked toward the dorm room door.
At the last moment, he looked back at the Divine Dog that had been watching him all along.
That was his own shadow.
"Come on. It's time to help our friends."
Panic gripped the Academy. The students felt uneasy about everything around them.
A Voidmatter Magnetic Storm was approaching. That meant the Tunneler Swarm Creatures it contaminated would turn from the Academy's little helpers into their enemies.
But that wasn't the worst of it.
The creature behind the storm, the Voidworm, was moving toward the Academy.
A concentrated Voidmatter Magnetic Storm, the Rover Swarm running wild, and the Voidworm's invasion...
The students had no idea what to do.
"Beep, beep..."
In the crowd, the indicator on an octagonal, disc-shaped Tunneler Swarm Creature changed from green to red.
Danger was close.
"Ah! The swarm! The swarm's about to—"
Whoosh!
As the student cried out, he felt something streak past him.
Screech!
A huge, masked bird shaped like an owl let out a cry. Purple lightning crackled around it, and the Tunneler Swarm Creature that had been about to go berserk shut down on the spot.
Mo Bai arrived among the crowd.
The students' screams had drawn him over to see what was happening.
From here, he could clearly see what was happening outside the Academy.
That enormous blue worm...
Without a doubt, it was the monster he, Lynae, and Rover had shaken off earlier.
Beside the giant worm, Mo Bai could make out two figures.
Lynae and Rover were riding a Motorcycle, apparently trying to lure the monster away.
"Tch."
Mo Bai's chest tightened at the sight.
He had only two Shikigami. If he summoned a Divine Dog to guard this place, Nue alone wouldn't be enough to help Rover and Lynae.
But there was no time to subdue a new Shikigami here...
"Doctor Lu Hess?!"
A startled cry rose from the students.
Mo Bai turned and saw the doctor he had met once before.
"I'll take care of the Academy. The Voidworm is a far greater threat than the Tunneler Swarm Creatures."
Doctor Lu spoke gently, as though he had seen through Mo Bai's thoughts. There was encouragement in his voice.
"Then I'm counting on you."
Mo Bai mounted his Motorcycle and sped toward the Voidworm.
As he rode, he tried to think of a way to hurt the monster with what he had.
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