Rumors about the new professor, Scarlet, spread like wildfire. Since her class on dark magic defense was mandatory, nearly all of Stella Academy’s students had attended. Unlike the usual dull, elderly professors, Scarlet’s youthful, attractive appearance was a welcome surprise, and she quickly gained popularity among the students.

Some of her charm was undoubtedly due to enchantment magic, but it was her playful manner of speaking that endeared her to most of the students.

“…Professor Scarlet?”

With a bored expression, Mayuseong sat at his desk, staring out the window until an intriguing topic caught his ear.

“Hey, Mayuseong, don’t you have dark magic defense class with Professor Scarlet today?”

Mayuseong smirked. If Baek Yuseol or Flame were here, they’d probably tease him, saying, “This guy doesn’t even remember what class he’s supposed to attend.” But the students around him, assuming he knew exactly what his schedule was as the top student, continued to chat.

“She really looked like a middle schooler, didn’t she?”  
“A middle schooler? She must look really young.”  
“Right? But don’t you think something’s strange?”

His friends tilted their heads in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, once a mage reaches a high enough class, they can appear younger, sure. But there’s a limit to how much you can reverse aging. Beyond that, it’s a realm only archmages of the ninth class can achieve.”

“Oh… right.”

“If she were a ninth-class archmage, she might be able to transcend normal human limits. But how could a professor appear as young as a middle schooler?”

As Mayuseong’s friends shared uneasy glances, a heavy silence settled among them.

“Yeah… now that you mention it, it’s odd, isn’t it?”

They had overlooked such an obvious question, almost as if they were being forced not to consider it. Seeing their faces darken with realization, Mayuseong made a conclusion.

“Maybe she really is a prodigy, a genius. It’s possible she’s an incredibly talented kid.”

“Now that you mention it, we haven’t heard anything about where Professor Scarlet studied or what magic tower she came from.”

“Maybe she’s just too young to have much of a résumé.”  
“Learning from a middle schooler… it’s weirdly impressive.”

Seeing his friends believe this theory so readily, Mayuseong’s expression hardened. These students weren’t unintelligent. Stella Academy was filled with brilliant minds, no matter the class or division.

But for even their minds to be so thoroughly blocked by a powerful suggestion spell…

Could the entire academy be under the influence of a single person’s magic?

*But surely this wouldn’t work on the professors.*

A suggestion spell powerful enough to influence the entire academy would be diminished in effectiveness when it came to senior faculty.

*So why aren’t they taking any action?*

He stroked his chin thoughtfully. The answer was simple.

*She has powerful backing. The principal would never have approved her appointment… so it has to be the vice principal, Akihaden.*

With his conclusion reached, Mayuseong rose from his seat.

“I’ve got my next class. I’ll head out first.”  
“Alright! Let us know how Professor Scarlet’s class goes. I don’t have her class until next week.”  
“Sure, I’ll let you know.”

Though his next class was indeed the dark magic defense course, he had no intention of attending. Mayuseong wasn’t reckless enough to confront a mysterious mage wielding such powerful magic without a plan.

---

Meanwhile, in the Primordial Mountain Range, on the Land of the Dead Giants…

Over three hundred mages had gathered, chanting spells on this desolate land, untouched by humans for over a century.

Nine stone pillars, linked to the World Tree’s branches, floated in the air, emitting a rainbow of light. As the mages chanted, the lights intensified, forming a massive, semi-spherical barrier.

“Cough…”

One mage collapsed, foam bubbling at her lips, and the emergency medical team rushed over to carry her away.

After several days of continuously layering double and triple seals, the mages had nearly reached their limit.

Members of the Magical Disaster Response Association, seeing that the collapsed mage was a renowned seventh-class sorceress, were left speechless.

“For even such a distinguished mage to be drained like this…”  
“She worked tirelessly without rest, unlike the others who rotated shifts.”  
“Incredible dedication…”

Given that their mission involved the Twelve Guardians, it was no surprise that the mages were pushing themselves to their absolute limits.

“Still, the seal is almost complete.”  
“Yes. Thanks to the Elven King, the Dwarven King, and the headmaster of Stella, we’ve come this far.”

The first layer of the seal had been the most difficult, and yet those three had managed it alone. Knowing that over a thousand mages had been required to complete the second and third layers over several days, the remaining mages gained a renewed sense of awe for those archmages.

“Just a bit more. Let’s give it our all!”

Just as they prepared to reinforce the seal with renewed hope, a voice called out.

“Hey, what’s that in the sky?”

Everyone squinted, shading their eyes from the bright sunlight to look up. Between the nine pillars, a man with gray hair appeared, walking calmly through the air.

“Who… who is that?”  
“How did an outsider get here?”

Instantly, the security team leapt into action, launching spells to intercept the intruder. But to their shock, the air around him warped, absorbing every spell they cast.

“What the…?”

Realizing that their magic was being reflected back, they hastily erected barriers, bracing themselves.

*Boom!*

Their own spells turned against them, causing damage not only to the security team but also to the mages maintaining the seal.

“Damn it…!”

“He’s using spatial magic! Avoid using projectile spells and focus on direct spells instead!”

The mages shifted tactics, trying to cast spells that would create magical constructs at the target’s coordinates.

“Good attempt…”

The gray-haired man, however, didn’t flinch. None of the spells landed where intended. Fireballs exploded on the ground, ice spikes appeared out of nowhere, and compressed air blasts recoiled, strangling their own casters.

*Coordinate disruption.*

A signature defense mechanism of spatial mages, disrupting targeting by scattering coordinates. But this was extreme—even the highest-level spells fired from hundreds of meters above were misdirected with ease.

Only one other mage was known to command such a vast area with spatial magic—Eltemun Eltewin, Stella’s headmaster.

“A… a ninth-class… archmage?”

The idea that another spatial mage of Eltemun’s caliber could exist was unheard of.

“Being called a mere ‘mage’ offends me.”

With a snap of his fingers, the gray-haired man forced the security team to plummet from the sky as their flying magic deactivated.

He then stretched out his hands, gathering mana before clenching his fists. Slowly, the seal’s stone pillars began to drift apart, and the branches of the World Tree, which the Elf King had intertwined, started to tear.

“No! Stop him!”

The mages desperately cast more spells, but nothing reached him. Instead, their spells ricocheted wildly, harming only their own comrades.

“This can’t be happening…”

In despair, the mages began to falter, some even falling to their knees. But just then, a soft blue light spread throughout the area, enveloping the seal stones in an ethereal glow.

“Annoying…”

For the first time, the gray-haired man frowned and backed away as the torn seals began to reassemble, held together by shimmering strands of light.

Emerging from the sky with long silver hair and a youthful face was none other than Eltemun Eltewin.

With a cheerful smile, he looked at the gray-haired intruder and said, “Twelve Guardians’ Shadow Moon, you look quite dashing, don’t you?”

The man called Shadow Moon regarded Eltemun in silence.

“A human who can manage space manipulation, huh?”

“‘Manage’ is a bit harsh, don’t you think?” Eltemun replied casually, though he was acutely aware of the gravity of the situation.

*This is bad. I was hoping to return to Stella and rest…*

Eltemun was exhausted from days of maintaining the powerful seals. Flowerlight, the Elf Queen, had already collapsed and been taken away by high elf knights, and the Dwarven King had stubbornly stayed until he too succumbed to fatigue.

With the regular mages unable to land any meaningful blows on Shadow Moon, they were of little help.

*Even at full strength, I might not be able to defeat him.*

As a spatial mage, Eltemun could manipulate space, but Shadow Moon was practically space incarnate.

He needed to stall.

In a bid to buy time, Eltemun spoke to Shadow Moon.

“Why are you interfering? I thought you Twelve Guardians despised each other. Isn’t that why I was sealing you away?”

Shadow Moon narrowed his eyes.

“We must gather together.”

“Huh. Didn’t expect you to be so friendly. But wouldn’t Dangalto Lunar be upset if you woke him?”

“This is our only chance.”

“You know the rule, though. You Twelve Guardians are never supposed to meet. It was decreed by the Progenitor Mage. Are you really going to break it?”

“Rules…”

Shadow Moon scoffed.

“Such rules have been broken millions of times already.”

“…Millions?”

Since the Twelve Guardians had first appeared in the world over a thousand years ago, there was no record of them ever meeting each other—at least, none that El

temun knew of.

“With a human mind, you wouldn’t understand.”

“Well, I’m pretty smart for a human. Why don’t you explain? If your reason is convincing, I might let you go. You know I can make things difficult for you if I choose.”

Eltemun’s words were not meant to provoke but to buy time, persuading rather than antagonizing Shadow Moon.

Shadow Moon paused, as if weighing his options, then spoke slowly.

“It is fate. All Twelve Guardians must gather.”

“And what happens then?”

“An eternal night will awaken.”

“Is that… a good thing?”

“It is.”

“Can I trust you on that? An endless night sounds… terrifying.”

“It is your role to walk the path of fate. If you don’t want to incur the wrath of the stars, surrender quietly, Archmage.”

“The wrath of the stars, huh…”

Eltemun hadn’t expected anything reassuring from Shadow Moon. After all, in every myth, folktale, and legend, the same warning was repeated: *The Twelve Guardians must never meet.*

The reason was clear.

Their gathering would inevitably bring disaster.

“You, more than most, should understand the weight of fate,” Shadow Moon intoned. “You cannot resist it.”

“I know it well,” Eltemun replied, expression hardening.

“So then, step aside.”

Shadow Moon assumed Eltemun had accepted the inevitable, thinking he too understood the natural order of things.

But even Shadow Moon was unaware of one thing:

The will of humanity to survive… was far stronger than he imagined.

Eltemun’s mouth curved into a smile, though his eyes remained steely, almost lifeless.

“Sorry. Now that I’ve heard you out, I still can’t allow it.”

“…Are you prepared to face the wrath of the stars?”

Eltemun clenched his hands, gathering space itself around him.

“The human drive to survive defies even fate, Shadow Moon. Even if that fate is handed down by the gods themselves.”