The hollow eyes of Xiao Shu stared back at him. Li swallowed hard each time he met that empty gaze. He had forgotten to sort that paper—or perhaps he'd subconsciously refused to.
With a sigh, he dropped his gaze and resumed the task. Assim read silently beside him as Li flipped through journal after journal, their pages rustling softly—until a shout tore through the calm like a blade.
Li snapped his head up. Assim did too.
The sound had come from outside. Without a word, they bolted, Assim taking the lead.
The setting sun draped long shadows across the academy grounds. When they reached the pond, a crowd had already gathered. Moses rushed toward them. Masters Zhang and Xing approached from opposite ends. The guards pushed against the growing throng of onlookers.
Li stepped forward—and froze.
The Karabaw lay dead. Its massive form was still, a hushed grief thick in the air. Disciples stammered explanations through their tears.
"Something came out of the pond," one whispered. "Like a dart—it hit him before he could move."
Guards scanned the pond's surface. Nothing.
The Covenant's enforcement unit had already been alerted. Two S-tiers were en route—one arriving tomorrow, part of the growing precautionary buildup. Rumors spread like wildfire. Even the reclusive masters emerged from their chambers to witness what had happened.
Only the Imbecile in the campus center remained unmoved, frothing at the mouth and twitching on the stone path as usual.
Assim had gone pale. He stepped forward and caught Moses in a brief embrace. Moses looked ready to collapse.
"It's begun," Moses murmured. "Look at the dart. Whoever fired it knew exactly where to aim."
Then, a door appeared behind them—smooth, seamless. It opened, revealing cloaked humans and a towering, translucent blob-like creature. The crowd parted. The blob absorbed the Karabaw's body while the humans documented the scene, snapping images and scanning with silent efficiency.
Without a word, they left—but the door remained.
From its depths, two massive calico cats emerged, clad in spiked gold armor, shiny revolvers holstered at their sides. The crowd shifted again as they calmly escorted the eyewitness disciples to a nearby study hall for questioning.
Assim and Moses disappeared into a private chamber. Master Zhang hurried over, his face creased with concern, to check on Li.
News spread quickly: an S-tier from their star system would be touching down today—not tomorrow—to deter further attacks and prepare for potential moves by the Anti-Covenant militia.
Master Zhang led Li and a few shaken disciples to the tea house to calm their nerves. Someone burst into tears. Zhang said nothing, simply let them cry.
Li didn't cry. He looked up at the setting sun.
Two years of peace—gone.
The warning message had said they had two more days before "the attack," whatever that meant. But even so, none of the masters—not even the youngest disciples—spoke of leaving.
They would stay. Whatever was coming, they would face it together.
All lessons were suspended for the day. Disciples were given time to rest, reflect, or attend the emergency meetings soon to be held on the campus.
Master Zhang sat quietly, watching them. His expression remained calm, but Li could see the fear behind every still eye on campus. The cats had returned and Master Zhang went over to talk with them.
When he came back, he confirmed what Li had been wondering.
Whatever was in the pond had long escaped, the scanning revealed nothing and it would be better to fortify the main campus first before calling a planet wide search.
That meant for now, on this planet, near Wisdom Bank, something dark was on the loose and the Covenant had no interest in capturing whatever it was.