The gate hadn’t moved in hours.
It just stood there—silent, twisted, sealed tight with flickering glyphs that bled energy like wounds. Not a normal gate. Not even a high-tier one.
This was something else entirely.
Athena stood a few feet from the boundary line, arms crossed, face unreadable as always. Her long coat fluttered in the chilled wind coming off the portal’s distortion. The earth around it was cracked, the trees leaning slightly inward like gravity itself had shifted.
Behind her, members from multiple academy teams were already deployed—scanners out, artifact readers running, enchantments layered like lace across the perimeter. Nothing worked. Not brute force. Not spell logic. Not divine keys.
No signal came out from inside. No trace of the students who entered. Not even mana feedback.
It was like the gate had swallowed them whole.
"Still no response," one of the lead scouts said, holding up a dimmed device. "It’s rejecting all interference. And it’s not just sealed. It’s layered. Like... multiple gates stacked into one."
Athena didn’t respond. Her eyes remained fixed on the flickering portal, mind calculating in silence.
"Do we call in the dean again?" another asked.
"I already did," she replied flatly. "He’s trying to trace the signature from the other side. No luck yet."
A sleek black car pulled up with a hiss of mana-charged wheels.
Athena turned her head slowly, recognizing the emblem on the side before the door even opened.
Her shoulders tensed.
Lady Merrin stepped out. No fanfare. No guards. Just presence. Cold and sharp like winter steel.
The moment she saw the gate, she didn’t even wait for protocol.
"What is this?!" Lady Merrin snapped, heels clicking as she stormed toward Athena. "Where is my granddaughter?!"
Athena kept her tone even. "Inside."
Lady Merrin’s eyes flared with glowing sigils. "And why is she inside a sealed SSS-Rank gate with no escort?"
Athena stayed still. "It wasn’t classified SSS until after it locked. It was unstable. Lucian entered first—"
"Lucian? Lucian Black? The boy with the broken data?!"
Athena’s jaw twitched slightly. "He’s not broken."
"You let my granddaughter follow him into a collapsing gate?!"
"It was Evelyn’s decision."
Lady Merrin’s aura cracked the dirt under her shoes.
"You let her make that decision."
Athena sighed, lifting one hand. "Lady Merrin, please—"
"No. No calm tone. No composed excuses. I want that gate opened now. I want Evelyn out. And I want the fool who let this happen expelled—"
"Enough." Athena’s voice dropped low. Quiet, but sharp.
The noblewoman blinked, caught off guard by the shift.
Athena stepped forward. "I am doing everything I can. The dean is involved. The best trackers and artificers are deployed. You shouting doesn’t crack that gate any faster."
For a moment, Lady Merrin stared like she was about to unleash hell.
Then another car pulled up behind them.
Black again. But not Merrin black.
Athena’s heart sank just a little more.
The door opened, and a trio of Caelum delegates stepped out. Robed. Formal. Faces stone-carved and cold as frost.
"Lady Athena," the eldest one said without greeting, "where are the Caelum twins?"
"Inside the gate," she replied quickly.
"And you allowed this?" another asked, voice sharp.
Athena glanced sideways. "No one allowed anything. The gate altered after entry. They were already inside when it sealed."
"You should’ve known better."
"You should’ve treated them better," she almost said, but didn’t. Her jaw locked instead.
The eldest Caelum delegate took a step forward. "We demand you do something now. Our family—"
"They’re your family now?" Athena said before she could stop herself.
All three turned to her.
She met their eyes. Cold. Unflinching.
"If you care so much, where were you when Silas broke his arm during training and nobody came to check? Where were you when Reia went four months on basic rations because your branch funding never arrived?"
Tension thickened around them.
Athena exhaled through her nose. "They’re not tools. They’re not currency. They’re people. If you want to help now, wait and let me do my job."
Another spike of mana flared across the field.
She didn’t need to turn to know who it was.
The door slammed before the engine fully powered down, and a sharp, echoing voice cut the wind like a blade.
"Where’s my little brother?!"
Athena finally turned.
Lucy Black stormed across the field in red boots, flames sparking faintly around her shoulders even though she wasn’t casting. Her expression was pure fire. Red jacket. Dark gloves. Hair tied up in a rough bun. The infamous Blaze Queen.
The academy team near the gate all subtly backed up.
"Lucy, wait—" Athena started.
"No," Lucy said, pointing. "Tell me where the hell Lucian is. Tell me who the idiot was that let him go into that death trap without backup."
Athena lifted a hand again. "He went in on his own. We didn’t assign him."
"He’s a kid!" Lucy barked.
Athena gave her a look. "You awakened at thirteen and burned down a mountain. Don’t start."
Lucy paused, scowled harder, but didn’t argue.
Athena kept going. "He was already inside before the gate sealed. Evelyn went after him. The others followed."
Lucy’s jaw locked. "And now it’s sealed."
"So what’s the plan?"
Lucy flinched like she’d been slapped. "Wait?"
"We try everything," Athena said calmly. "From this side. From the other. We scan for shifts, test external mana pulses, rotate elemental syncs. But the truth is, this gate doesn’t want to be opened. Not until whatever’s inside is done."
Lucy clenched her fists. Heat shimmered around her.
Athena raised her hand. "Don’t. I know that look."
"I’ll melt the damn thing."
"You’ll destroy it. And everything inside."
The field fell quiet again.
Behind them, the gate hummed—calm. Silent. Untouchable.
Athena ran a hand through her hair and finally let out the sigh she’d been holding for over two hours.
Lady Merrin. Caelum delegates. Now Lucy.
All breathing down her neck.
Trapped behind a gate that ignored every rule.
She muttered under her breath.
"...What the hell is Lucian even doing in there?"
And the gate didn’t care.