As everything around the island went up in flames, the students that were watching the fights either from chariots floating above or the projection casts locally were initially confusing the shockwaves from the fights with those that came from the floating structures.

However, when the castles of the Kings and Queens exploded in a flash of light so bright, there was no more confusion at all, as the entire structure of the islands started shaking up.

Back at the Ville College, the structure positioned in the corner of the artificial island, the initiation of the shaking was quite a bit later, but it occurred when the island had already started to free-fall and break apart.

“Everybody! Get away from here!” Ita called out, her high-pitched voice echoing through the corridors as the students rushed out from the building.

There was a loud cracking sound coming from beside her, and the ceiling rocked before it threatened to come down when suddenly, Charlie dashed right beside her and slammed his fist into the wall. Cast lines extended out from his knuckles before he locked the ceiling in place, though the sudden spike in load started to strain into his body.

“Get..away from here.” Charlie said, turning his body and pinning himself against the wall to keep the other rooms from collapsing. As more and more students made a run for it, Ita stayed behind, watching him even as the students ran past the line of sight between them.

“This is not how you make things up to me.” Ita shook her head, “Don’t just…do this.”

“GO!” Charlie said, his fingers digging into the walls before the level above collasped onto the ceiling, practically doubling the weight in an instant.

Ita tried to come get Charlie when he kicked the ground, temporarily diverting parts of his Wave into morphing the shape of the floor, sending Ita flying out of the door before the entire Ville’s buildings collapsed inward like a pancake.

“CHARLIE!” Ita screamed when the structure tumbled to the ground, though Olivia was able to pick her up by the waist and load her onto one of the packed golden chariots.

They watched as the structure spun and slammed into the soil below at a slightly faster speed than the free-fall of the entire island as the loud boom of the impact became one of the many devastating sounds of destruction around the island.

“Principal Khan had just asked us to all evacuate!” Olivia said, holding back her tears, “We…we should go…”

“Charlie! He’s still down there!” Ita shouted, turning around, but Olivia’s look of devastation broke her heart. As the rest of the students watched on in silence, Ita forced herself to turn away.

“Let’s…let’s get going…” Ita said, and the dozens fo chariots starting moving out.

“Tsk…these shit is so heavy…” Charlie grunted, pressing out against the walls around him. At the last moment, he was able to create a tiny bit of space to prevent himself from being fully squashed. The sensation of free-falling while being locked in the claustrophobic space was a surreal one, though he knew he didn’t have to suffer for long.

The island continued to free-fall further and further, though suddenly, Charlie felt a massive jolt as if someone had suddenly pushed against the falling island, breaking its momentum ever so slightly.

“Perhaps it was someone ultra-powerful? Someone like a member of the Ten Heavenly Pillars?” Charlie wondered, “Or…squadron of Sky Guardians?”

That gentle brake didn’t last long when a subsequent explosion blew up the remainder of the islands. Sounds of Wave blasts ripping through the air were obnoxiously loud, and all Charlie could do is to shield himself even further, wondering what exactly is happening.

A bright yellow flash came through the gaps in the rocks, and the sounds of loud cracks and booms came from outside before blasts of heat shot into the tiny room. Charlie wiped away his sweat and turned to the side when Lily’s hands melted straight through the bricklayers.

Dispersing the flames, Lily yanked Charlie out from his predicament.

“Oh my uselss little brother.” Lily smiled, hugging him close even as her body was still hot from her flames, “You couldn’t even evacuate properly?”

“Hey! I was helping them get out!” Charlie protested when Lily played with his hair before grabbing onto his hands.

“I know.” Lily smiled, slapping onto a piece of flat rock next to them. Charlie nodded and sat on top of it before Lily’s flames covered her entire body again, and she reached forward to lift up the flat rock as a heat shield with Charlie sitting on the other side, “Things are going down everywhere…let’s get out of here.”

“Where to?” Charlie asked, looking around when the artificial island was nowhere to be found, “Where…is the rest of the academy?”

“The Infinite Academy is no more.” Lily shook her head, “We…tried to save it, but the grand commander of PORA succeeded in his plans, and…the world will forever be changed. That’s why we are going home. To our families.”

Charlie blinked a few times, stunned when he suddenly realized that all of the initial pieces of dirt raining down around them and onto the ocean and city down below were just that, the remainder of the Infinite Academy, and the place that was filled with memories for the past few years.

The remnant of the Ville College building continued falling down when it was eventually blasted apart by one of the massive Wave blasts. With a loud screech and an explosion, the building became nothing more than a cloud of rocks and bricks.

Right after the massive attacks from the country-level defensive Cast ripped apart the artificial island, Fatera turned towards Augen and immediately grabbed onto him as everything around them started to spin out of control.

“ARGHHH!” They shared a scream when the shockwave of a blast sent them flying far out and away from the artificial island. Fatera tried throwing her arms out as Augen’s still latching to her to stop her body from spinning out of control.

“There…are so much…noise!” Augen grunted, his Wave sensing abilities completely overloaded by all that went on around him, “Fatera! Are you okay?”

“Stopping checking on me!” Fatera grunted, reorienting her eyes towards the ground, though even she wondered if she can survive a fall of this magnitude, “Dominance of the Demon!”

Dark red tinted Wave coated her entire body, and the influence sept deep into Augen’s body as Fatera grabbed onto him. Then, she swung her arms, rotating her body so that her feet is down, and she kicked violently.

A pair of shockwaves exploded under her feet, slightly slowing their speed. She repeated the action, exhausting all of her strength as a rhythmic booming sound filled Augen’s eardrums. With every kick, Augen felt as if his insides were being thrown upside down, and that coupled with the disorientation in the Wave made him close to throwing up then and there.

However, he held onto Fatera, when after what felt like an hour of kicking the air, she landed into the ocean in a massive splash, and Augen dropped into the cold water.

“Shit…shit…” Fatera cursed, sitting back in the ankle-deep water as her heart pounded in her chest, “That…was fucking ridiculous…I…I almost didn’t have enough Wave left…”

“Yeah…” Augen smiled when suddenly he spun his body around and barfed onto the beautiful beach. Fatera let out a laugh before she joined him in the activity.

After cleaning themselves up, they also sat down on the beaches. Augen took out his communication Cast around his ear, though it appeared to have been torn up completely, as nothing happened when he ran his Wave through it.

“So…what now?” Fatera asked when Augen shrugged.

“I…don’t know anymore.” Augen said, throwing the loop of paper into the sand, “If this came true, what about the other fragments of the future I saw? Are they…all going to happen? Is everything pre-determined? Does it not matter…what we do?”

“All of that is too deep for me.” Fatera said, sitting up when suddenly, she formed her Wave glove and fired off a ranged blast to knock aside a piece of rock that was threatening to fall near them, “I just go from one fight to the next.”

“And what would the next one be?” Augen asked. A dark haze started surrounding the two of them and he immediately drew out one of his playing cards before he started losing his strength immediately as if someone had reached into his body and grabbed onto his heart, “Argh…gasp..gasp…”

“Augen?” Fatera asked, when Augen rolled back, falling unconscious as the hold onto his body started to loosen, and he started breathing again slowly and steadily. Fatera held her fingers over his nose, sensing the faint breathes before she turned around towards the one starting the attack.

It was an old man with short white hair, caramel skin tone, and big crimson eyes. He stood tall with the presence of a giant, despite his average height. Fatera glanced at him with her body tensed up and ready to attack before she subtly moved in front of Augen.

“He’s fine.” The old man said, his voice deep and firm like drums, and he spoke with a particular rhythm, “He will be fine. You asked what your next fight will be, Fatera? I can give you the answer.”

“Who are you?” Fatera asked, standing up while forcing her fatigued body to recreate her Dominance of the Demon, “What did you do to him?!”

“You do not recognize me?” The man sounded a mix of surprise and disappointment before he turned his sharp gaze towards Augen.

Fatera shook her head, and the old man chuckled before cracking his necks side to side, when an ocean of Wave poured out from his body, pumping up his muscles and blowing up his clothes like balloons before a black outline of a dragon formed over his body.

“Dominance of the Dragon…” The old man said, suddenly blitzing in front of Fatera with so much speed that the movement felt instantaneous even in her current mode. He reached his hand forward, and all Fatera could do was to stand still and watch, barely able to track the movement of his big, calloused, and dirty hand.

That hand found its way onto Fatera’s hair, and the old man rubbed him in the head.

“I was hoping this will spark your memory, but I guess…you never saw my true strength.” The old man said, drawing his hands back and retracting his dominance mode, “My name is Yan. And I am your father, Fatera.”