CHAPTER 62: EX 62. SKYFALL

Outside, chaos cracked through the sky like thunder.

The demon froze mid-lunge as the barrier containing the cadets—its prize—flickered and vanished before its eyes. Its yellow pupils dilated in disbelief.

"Impossible," it growled, voice low and unsteady.

It tore through the air to the nearest decoy barrier—nothing. Another—still nothing. One after the other, the barriers it targeted were empty, hollow illusions. Not a single cadet remained.

Panic began to rise in the demon’s chest like bile. It spread its senses across the area, casting its awareness like a net. The cadets it had sensed earlier were slipping away, blinking out one by one. One moment they were there. The next—gone, as if reality itself rejected its hunger.

"What is happening?!" the demon roared, claws raking through trees and stone.

And then—crack!

A lightning-coated fist crashed into the side of its face. The world spun. It was flung from the sky and sent smashing into the forest below with an earth-splitting crash. Smoke and dust rose from the impact crater like a storm had landed.

Hovering above, Rebecca Sky’s cold gaze pinned the demon to the ground.

"Isn’t it obvious?" she said, her voice edged with righteous fury. "You’ve lost."

The demon screeched, veins of black lightning surging around its body as it rose in a blind rage. It unleashed its fury on the land, destroying trees, rocks, even the earth beneath its feet—desperately trying to tear the cadets back into existence with sheer force. Its voice cracked and splintered, repeating in a maddened loop:

"Impossible... impossible... IMPOSSIBLE!"

It no longer resembled a scheming threat, but an animal that was unhinged, mindless and frenzied.

Rebecca’s eyes narrowed.

’That white-haired cadet did well,’ she thought with a smirk. ’Now I can finish this.’

The demon’s bloodshot eyes locked onto hers, frothing with hatred. It bellowed and lunged, all intelligence erased by blind destruction.

But the moment it reached her, Rebecca whispered a single word under her breath—quiet, calm, and final:

"Skyfall."

****

Vanguard Rebecca Sky had only a handful of weapons and skills that reached Tier VII, and each one had been earned through blood, sweat, and near-death experiences.

The ornate longbow she wielded earlier was one such item. The other... was the skill she had just invoked—Skyfall.

It was a reward earned during one of her dives into the trial world, in an Apex Trial known for chewing up S-ranks and spitting out corpses. She and her squad had come dangerously close to becoming part of that statistic. But they had survived. And from that hellish crucible, Rebecca emerged with a gift befitting her title.

An S-rank, Tier VII skill—Skyfall.

Despite its poetic name, the skill did only one thing: Make the sky fall.

The instant she activated it, the heavens shimmered with an ethereal, translucent brilliance. Then—reality twisted. The sky itself began to descend, slow at first, then with terrifying inevitability, like the palm of a god delivering judgment.

The air quaked. The clouds cracked apart. And the pressure... the sheer weight of the descending sky pinned the already weakened demon to the ground like a nail through flesh.

It screamed—not with arrogance or hatred now, but in raw, primal panic.

Rebecca hovered above, untouched by the descending force. The divine pressure of Skyfall passed harmlessly through her, as if acknowledging her authority. Her eyes, calm and resolute, remained fixed on the downed demon.

The demon clawed at the air, flailing in futile defiance, its body burning and breaking as the pressure crushed it deeper into the earth.

As it struggled against the force.

Rebecca narrowed her eyes and spoke a single word, her voice echoing through the collapsing atmosphere:

"Break."

And the sky answered.

It connected with the earth in a world-splitting crash—an impact strong enough to level a Federation region, a force of divine fury made manifest.

Silence followed.

Dust. Debris. Stillness.

Then, slowly, the sky shimmered again and returned to its rightful place, as if nothing had ever changed.

Rebecca floated down, boots touching the shattered ground beside what remained of the demon’s charred, broken corpse. She exhaled slowly, gaze still sharp.

"It is finished."

Without fanfare, she stored the demon’s corpse in her inventory, turned, and departed the battleground—her mission complete.

****

Outside the arena, pillars of light shimmered one after the other as cadets began reappearing across the arena teleportation platform. One... two... then dozens more—each beam bringing back another survivor.

Cheers erupted.

The healers and officers had been waiting the moment the emergency signal went out. Now, they rushed forward, scanning for injuries, providing first aid, and guiding cadets to safety.

Joy crackled in the air like electricity. Just hours ago, these cadets had been locked in fierce competition, hunting and outwitting each other to climb the ranks. But now?

Now they were laughing together, crying together and celebrating together.

Rivals had become comrades in survival.

Among the groups appearing, none looked more relieved than Eden Feran’s.

As the light around them faded and their feet touched solid ground, Eden let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding.

The weight in his chest lightened, and for the first time since the demon’s gaze had locked onto him, he felt the tight grip of death ease away.

He whispered under his breath, almost disbelieving, "I don’t believe it... we made it."

Before he could process further, a force slammed into him from the side.

"Eden!" a voice squealed joyfully.

It was Eleanor.

She tackled him into a tight hug, her arms wrapping around his chest as she laughed with breathless glee. "We made it, I can’t believe we actually made it!"

Eden blinked, stunned—and then blushed. A slow, warm shade of red crept across his face as he realized he was feeling something no amount of trial grinding had prepared him for.

His 19-year-old brain short-circuited slightly.

"Eleanor... you’re, uh... a bit close..." he mumbled.

Eleanor blinked, then suddenly pulled away, her cheeks instantly turning pink as the realization hit her. "Ah—s-sorry about that!"

They both looked away awkwardly, the air between them thick with unspoken emotions and something neither quite understood yet.

But beneath the embarrassment, the truth remained.

They’d made it.

They’d survived.

And they weren’t alone.

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A/N: While writing, I forgot to add this part. But after thinking it over for a while, I decided against it, deciding to explain it myself. Vanguard Rebecca Sky didn’t use the skill "Sky Fall" immediately because it would have killed all the cadets present at that time. However, when all the cadets were teleported away, she could finally go all out and decimate the already weakened demon. I hope the explanation is understandable, if it’s not I don’t know how to help you.

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