The gymnasium ceiling didn't just collapse; it unzipped.
A line of jagged, white code tore through the air above the basketball court, shredding the reinforced concrete like it was wet tissue paper. Debris rained down—chunks of drywall, twisted metal rebar, and the flickering dust of dissolved barrier spells.
"Move!" I shouted, grabbing the sleeve of Seraphina’s perfect blazer.
She didn't argue. The "Investigator" part of her brain must have calculated the odds, and they weren’t good. We sprinted toward the maintenance exit, leaving the screaming students and the expanding breach behind us.
The hallway outside was dark, illuminated only by the red pulse of the emergency lights. We didn't stop. I could feel the pressure wave of high-level mana expanding behind us. It felt like a physical heat, a radiation that made my skin itch. That was Ouroboros. That was Viper.
"The roof," Seraphina commanded, her voice tight. "The lower exits are compromised. The Guild will have perimeter blockers on the ground floor."
"The roof is a dead end," I snapped, kicking open the stairwell door.
"The roof is an extraction point," she corrected, taking the stairs two at a time. "If I can get a signal out to the Upper Districts, I can call for an Admin purge."
I almost laughed. An Admin purge? If she called that down, she wouldn't just wipe the Guild; she’d wipe the school, the district, and me along with it.
"Great plan," I muttered, following her up the concrete steps. "Let's nuke the neighborhood to kill a cockroach."
My legs burned. The adrenaline from the [Soul Devour] was fading, replaced by the familiar ache of a body that hadn't seen a proper meal in years. Being Level 15 helped, but my stats were still unbalanced. I was a glass cannon—high damage potential, zero durability.
We burst through the final door and spilled out onto the rooftop.
ns216.73.216.10da2
and then Add to home screen.