CHAPTER 26: THE WEIGHT OF COMMAND

[Monster Academy — Camila’s office]

The door to the principal’s office opened without a knock. The kind of urgency that came from someone who had been pacing outside for too long, wrestling with whether or not to interrupt.

Mr. Waltz stepped in.

The glow from the tall glass windows behind the principal’s desk cast his face half in shadow. His usually calm expression was strained, his brows drawn in the quiet conflict between respect and alarm.

"Principal Camila," he said, With his tone low but firm, "forgive me for coming unannounced."

Camila lifted her eyes from the parchment she had been reading, her pen freezing mid-air. She wasn’t startled. In truth, she had been expecting this.

Her fingers traced the edge of the document slowly before setting it down beside the seal of the council.

"Mr. Waltz," she replied evenly. "I assume this is about the Council’s decree."

"It is," he said, closing the door behind him with a controlled breath. "And I’ll get straight to it, Camila— please tell me this is some kind of misunderstanding."

Camila leaned back slightly, studying him. "I wish I could..."

He exhaled hard, the weight of his disbelief making his shoulders sag. "They’re sending them out there— our students... to fight...actual entities from the rift? This isn’t training anymore, it’s war."

Camila’s gaze softened. "You’re not wrong, Waltz. But this was never going to stay a simulation forever."

He walked closer to her desk, resting both hands on the polished surface, though his tone remained steady and respectful. "With all due respect, Camila, they’re not ready for that kind of confrontation. We’re talking about teenagers— students who still flinch when their shadows move in sparring sessions. Some of them haven’t even completed their first aura stabilization cycles!"

Camila didn’t interrupt. She let him speak, knowing every word he said came not from defiance— but from care.

"They’re powerful. yes," he continued, pacing a few steps, "but power isn’t the same as control. You know that better than anyone. The Council’s pushing them toward something they don’t even understand yet. I’m afraid this decision will break them before they even get the chance to become who they’re meant to be."

Her voice was calm, but edged with fatigue. "You think I wanted this?"

He paused, looking at her.

Camila stood slowly, the long folds of her white and gold robe flowing as she moved to the wide glass window overlooking the academy courtyard. "Every word you’ve said— I’ve said too. Every warning you’ve given— I’ve already given to the Council. But the decision has been made."

Mr. Waltz’s jaw tightened. "And you agreed?"

Her tone sharpened just slightly. "I didn’t agree, Waltz. I accepted. There’s a difference."

Silence followed... The kind that hums between people who both care too much about the same thing but have no solution to offer.

She turned to face him fully, her eyes was already looking tired but resolute. "If I refused to comply, they’d find someone who would. Someone who wouldn’t hesitate to throw our students into the fire without a second thought. If I remain here, I can at least make sure they stand a chance of surviving it."

He absorbed that in silence, the truth of it cutting deeper than he wanted to admit.

Camila continued quietly, "Venom’s minions have already breached the mortal realm. That’s no rumor— it’s confirmed. We can’t just sit behind these walls pretending our academy is immune to what’s happening outside. The barrier between the realms is thinning faster than we can reinforce it."

Waltz’s expression softened, though the frustration still lingered. "Then we strengthen the barrier. We rally the upper guards, not students. They’re just children, Camila."

"21 is no more a kid Waltz... They’re not just children anymore," she replied, with her voice low, sounding almost pained. "They were born under constellations that mark them as successors to our kind. Every one of them was chosen by energy far older than us. They’re not ordinary. And the world outside is changing— they have to learn to change with it."

He stepped closer, lowering his voice. "Even if it kills them?" Her eyes flickered— not from fear nor from guilt, but the terrible burden of truth. "Even if it has to."

That silence again. It was heavy, thick and suffocating.

Waltz ran a hand down his face. "I’ve trained most of them since their first year. I’ve seen their potential— and their fear. Some of them cry after their first projection burns them. Some freeze when faced with illusions. And now, they’re supposed to face venomous beasts that have torn through entire squads of trained guardians?"

His voice broke slightly. "Do you know what that kind of fear does to the young?"

Camila looked at him for a long moment, then spoke softly, "Do you know what helplessness and ignorance does to people like you Waltz? And them too, when they lose people they could have saved?"

That hit him like a blow.

She sighed, returning to her chair. "I can’t protect them from the world. But I can make sure they face it with strength and unity. That’s the only protection left to give."

He sat down opposite her again, leaning forward. "Then at least let me take over their tactical preparation. No controlled tests. Just real drills and simulated field combat that mimics Venom’s creatures. They’ll need reflexes, coordination and control over their panic response."

Camila gave a small nod. "You’ll have full authority over the combat divisions. The Council approved five months of accelerated training before deployment."

"Five days?" Waltz nearly laughed in disbelief. "Five months to prepare the supernaturals for a war against demons that devoured whole civilizations?"

Camila met his gaze. "That’s all they’ll give us."

He rose to his feet, pacing again, this time with purpose rather than anger. "Then I’ll make those five months count."

"I know you will," she said quietly. "That’s why I trust you with this."

He paused mid-stride, her words catching him off guard. "You trust me?"

"I always have, and always will." she said. "You remind me of what this place used to stand for— hope, love, care... not politics or none of that... That’s why I need you now more than ever."

For the first time since he walked in, some of the tension left his face. He nodded slowly, resolve beginning to take root.

"Then I’ll do it," he said. "But promise me one thing, Camila— don’t let the Council use these students as pawns in their game. I’ve seen how easily they discard people once their purpose is served."

Camila looked down, With her fingers curling slightly over the edge of her desk. "I won’t let that happen."

He gave a faint smile, the kind that carried no joy but plenty of faith. "Good. Because if anything happens to them... it won’t be the monsters you’ll have to answer to— it’ll be me. And I know you don’t want to see the other side of me...

"

Her lips curved faintly, though her eyes said she understood the seriousness behind his words. "Noted, Waltz."

He turned to leave, but before his hand touched the doorknob, her voice called out again.

"Waltz..." He looked back.

"...Thank you," she said softly. He frowned slightly. "For what?"

"For being the only one who still believes they can be saved."

He held her gaze for a moment, then nodded once before leaving.

When the door shut behind him, the silence that filled the office wasn’t peaceful— it was suffocating. Camila sank back into her chair, her hands trembling slightly as she reopened the Council’s document. The wax seal glimmered red under the candlelight, a symbol of authority and blood.

Her eyes drifted toward the window once more. Down below, students trained on the open field— laughing, unaware of what awaited them beyond the veil. She envied them for that ignorance, even if it was fleeting.

"Five months," she whispered to herself. "Five months before everything changes. Valkyrie and Bulb just proved their place already... I know the others can follow..."

She closed her eyes and felt the pulse of the academy beneath her— the energy of generations past, the whispers of ancient guardians, and the faint echo of something darker stirring just beyond the barrier.

Venom’s presence.

She could feel it like a shadow brushing against her mind.

He was watching. And he was waiting. She knows he is working overtime, She once had an encounter with him 100 years ago, when she was just an ordinary teacher in the school.

it was because of Camila that Venom managed to stay locked down for over a century. She has incredible abilities that no one knew of, not even the council.

She’s secretly a siren. And rumors had it that sirens are partial descendants of the devil’s. Two things can be true at the same time... Could this mean that Camila is a hybrid as well?...

This is one of Camila’s greatest secrets she didn’t want anyone to know of, if not the council wouldn’t trade lightly with her.

Suddenly, Her grip tightened on the edge of her desk. "You can move your pieces, Venom," she murmured. "But this time, I’ll be ready for you. Again!!!"

Outside, thunder rolled faintly across the horizon— not from a storm, but from the shifting of worlds about to collide.

The academy lights flickered once, then steadied. Somewhere far below, the bells began to toll, signaling the evening hour.

And Principal Camila sat alone in her office, with the weight of command pressing down on her shoulders like a crown she could never remove.