Chapter 54: Fall of the Ward
The journey back to Astaria Academy was unlike any return before. What was once a sanctuary of learning — a place of duels, studies, laughter, and mundane daily routines — now felt like a fortress on the brink of war. The skies above the spired towers swarmed with Alliance sentinels on griffins and drakes. Mana-forged barriers shimmered faintly around the perimeter, layered in runic defenses that pulsed like the heartbeat of the world itself.
The Essence of Noxarion — that unearthly sphere of void-born matter — was cradled within an enchanted reliquary and escorted by no fewer than five battalions of elite mages, paladins, and warders. It pulsed with a presence unlike anything I had ever felt… as if reality itself strained to reject it. Even from a distance,
