Chapter 196: Last
The sky didn’t just tear—it shattered. Celestial cracks spiderwebbed across the clouds, each one oozing with light that pulsed like a heartbeat. Constellations unraveled in real time above Irasios Academy, flickering like faulty stars on a dying screen. Everyone could feel it in their marrow: the story was bleeding.
The porcelain-masked figure didn’t flinch. Instead, they raised their hand, and with a flick of their fingers, reality twisted.
Students vanished. Not by teleportation—but by erasure. They blinked out of existence like words deleted from a sentence, leaving no sound, no magical residue, no memory. Only Verena and her group remained, shielded by some unseen force—maybe the thirteenth seal’s protection, maybe something deeper.
"Okay, I’m officially done pretending this is normal," Penelope muttered, gripping her sword tighter. "Are we allowed to kill moon-faced drama ghosts?"
"I’d prefer we interrogate them first," Isolde said calmly, but her threads of Bind Magic had already begun spinning from her fingertips, glinting with lethal precision.
Clarina stepped beside Verena, blade drawn. "Say the word."
Verena exhaled sharply. Her pulse was rapid, her hands buzzing with celestial energy. She was still syncing with the new weave—still adjusting to the fact that reality itself had become unanchored. But her focus remained sharp.
"Who are you?" she demanded. "What do you mean, reset?"
The masked figure tilted their head. "This world was written by fools and maintained by liars. I am the Editor. I correct what should never have been."
Editor.
Verena’s stomach twisted. "You’re not from here."
"Neither are you," they replied, serene. "But at least you knew your place. You played the role of villainess well—up until you started straying from your arc."