Chapter 50: The Truth Unveiled
The shattered classroom stood silent.
Broken glass covered the floor.
Desks lay overturned.
The air still crackled with traces of red lightning.
Lee Kung stood motionless in the center of the room.
His hand gripped the Dragon King's Sword so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.
His breathing was uneven.
His chest rose and fell rapidly.
For weeks he had doubted himself.
For weeks he had wondered whether his instincts were lying.
Now he finally had his answer.
Gin Morino was the Final Piece.
And worse...
He was working with Lee Kang.
The realization burned like fire inside him.
A familiar voice suddenly echoed from the hallway.
"LEE!"
Mia.
Moments later the classroom door burst open.
Mia rushed inside.
Sio Jun followed close behind.
The werewolf immediately stopped when she saw the state of the room.
The shattered windows.
The damaged walls.
The scorch marks left by Lee's aura.
Her silver eyes widened.
"What happened here?"
Mia quickly ran toward Lee.
The blonde girl's face was filled with worry.
"Lee!"
He didn't answer.
His gaze remained fixed on the place where Gin had disappeared.
Mia placed both hands on his shoulders.
"Lee."
Still nothing.
Only after several seconds did his eyes finally focus.
He looked at her.
Then at Sio Jun.
Then slowly lowered his sword.
"He knew."
Mia frowned.
"What?"
"He knew everything."
The two girls exchanged looks.
"What are you talking about?"
Lee took a deep breath.
Then told them everything.
From finding Gin's notebook.
To discovering detailed records about all of them.
To the confrontation.
To Gin revealing himself.
To the purple eyes.
To the dark energy.
To Harris being alive.
And finally...
To Gin's disappearance.
When he finished speaking, silence filled the room.
Neither Mia nor Sio Jun spoke immediately.
The weight of what they had just heard was enormous.
Finally Sio Jun cursed under her breath.
"I knew it."
Lee looked toward her.
"You knew?"
"I didn't know."
She crossed her arms.
"But I knew something was wrong."
The silver-haired werewolf growled softly.
"He smelled like Shadow Realm corruption."
Mia slowly sat down on a nearby desk.
Her face had gone pale.
"So all this time..."
She looked at Lee.
"He was spying on us?"
Lee nodded.
"Every day."
Mia clenched her fists.
The betrayal hurt more than she expected.
They had shared classes.
Meals.
Conversations.
Laughter.
And all of it had been fake.
The blonde girl lowered her head.
"I actually thought he was becoming your friend."
Lee didn't answer.
Because so had he.
That was the worst part.
Despite his suspicions...
Part of him had genuinely started trusting Gin.
Sio Jun punched a nearby wall.
The concrete cracked.
"I say we find him."
"Right now."
Lee shook his head.
"It's not that simple."
"Why not?"
"Because that's exactly what he wants."
The room grew quiet.
Lee began pacing.
His mind was racing.
Analyzing.
Calculating.
Thinking through every possibility.
"If Gin wanted to stay hidden, he would have."
Mia looked up.
"You think he revealed himself intentionally?"
"Yes."
The answer came instantly.
"He wanted me to know."
The realization sent a chill through the room.
Because if that was true...
Then everything was part of a plan.
Every meeting.
Every conversation.
Every tournament match.
Every smile.
Every friendship.
All of it.
Planned.
Engineered.
Controlled.
Sio Jun's ears flattened.
"I hate smart enemies."
"Same."
Before anyone could speak further, Lee's sword suddenly vibrated.
All three turned.
The Dragon King's Sword glowed bright red.
The energy was stronger than usual.
Far stronger.
Then a voice echoed directly into Lee's mind.
The Final Piece moves.
Lee froze.
The voice again.
The sword.
It had spoken.
Mia immediately noticed.
"The sword?"
Lee nodded.
"It spoke."
Sio Jun rolled her eyes.
"Of course it did."
Mia ignored her.
"What did it say?"
Lee hesitated.
"The Final Piece moves."
The room fell silent.
No one liked the sound of that.
Not even a little.
Suddenly alarms began echoing throughout the school.
Red lights flashed.
Students screamed in confusion.
Emergency sirens activated.
Mia immediately stood.
"What now?"
Lee rushed toward the broken window.
His eyes widened.
Outside—
Dark clouds had appeared above the city.
Not natural clouds.
Shadow clouds.
The same ones that always accompanied Dehaska's forces.
People on the streets were running.
Cars stopped.
Buildings shook.
Something massive was happening.
Sio Jun's eyes narrowed.
"No."
Far above the city skyline—
A huge tear opened in the sky.
Purple energy poured from it.
Like a wound in reality itself.
Lee felt his stomach drop.
He had seen that phenomenon before.
Only once.
During the fall of Azura.
When entire armies crossed between realms.
His grip tightened around the sword.
"No..."
Mia looked at him.
"What?"
Lee stared at the sky.
Fear slowly entered his voice.
"That's not a portal."
"What is it?"
The sword answered before he could.
The ancient voice echoed inside his mind.
A gateway.
A permanent gateway.
Lee's eyes widened.
Permanent.
That word changed everything.
Portals could be closed.
Destroyed.
Sealed.
But gateways...
Gateways remained open.
Forever.
Unless something powerful enough destroyed them.
And there were very few things capable of doing that.
Suddenly Lee remembered something.
The Dragon Reactor.
His eyes widened further.
The laboratory.
The reactor.
The activation warning.
Everything connected instantly.
Mia saw the realization appear on his face.
"Lee?"
He turned toward them.
"We have to get back to the Heroes Lair."
"Why?"
"The reactor."
Sio Jun frowned.
"What about it?"
Lee looked toward the growing gateway.
His expression darkened.
"I think that's exactly why Gin revealed himself."
The room became silent.
Because suddenly everyone understood.
The notebook.
The spying.
The monitoring.
The observations.
Gin wasn't just gathering information about them.
He was gathering information about the Dragon Reactor.
The weapon Lee had secretly built.
The one capable of wiping out entire armies of shadow creatures.
The one thing that could potentially destroy a permanent gateway.
Mia's face went pale.
"You think Lee Kang knows?"
"I know he does."
Sio Jun cursed again.
"Then what are we waiting for?"
She cracked her knuckles.
"Let's move."
The three immediately left the classroom.
Outside, chaos had begun spreading through the school.
Students pointed at the sky.
Teachers tried maintaining order.
Nobody understood what was happening.
Only Lee Kung and his companions knew.
The war was coming.
Not tomorrow.
Not next month.
Not someday.
Now.
As they ran through the school grounds, Lee couldn't stop thinking about Harris.
Somewhere out there—
His friend was still alive.
Still imprisoned.
Still waiting.
And now Lee finally had a direction.
A target.
A purpose.
Gin Morino.
The Final Piece.
The false friend.
The spy.
The key to finding Harris.
The key to finding Lee Kang.
The key to ending everything.
Lee's red aura flickered around him as determination hardened inside his heart.
The next time he met Gin Morino—
There would be no lies.
No tournaments.
No pretending.
Only answers.
And this time...
One of them wasn't walking away.
To Be Continued...