The boom reached every place at the same time.
There was no warning. No preparation. Only the sound – a sound that came from the sky and the earth and the bones of every living being – and then the white light, blinding, deafening. The heat, a wave that swept the world. And then, the void.
Time had stopped, yes. But everyone saw. Everyone heard. Everyone felt.
The second sun had exploded.
And when time began to run again, chaos began.
---
Andy Decatry was in his office when the sky suddenly brightened, and then darkened forever. The explosion came through the windows, shattering the glass, burning the skin of his face. He fell from his chair. The floor trembled. Books flew from the shelves. When he stood up, the second sun had disappeared.
Delluzio ran in, his blue armor covered in dust and ground glass.
"Duke," he panted. "The sun... the second sun..."
"I saw," Andy replied, his voice calm, his hands trembling. "I saw it explode. Calm down, man."
Andy looked out the window. The sea was black, agitated, and the sky... the sky was a dark wound where once two suns had shone.
"Gather the soldiers," he ordered. "And protect the port. The people will panic."
"And the academy? What about it?"
"The academy can protect itself. I can't be everywhere, you know? Just... trust Irina in this one."
Delluzio left. Andy stood alone, staring at the void where the second sun had burned.
---
In the capital, Lirius Remadís was in the middle of a speech when time stopped.
He felt his body frozen, his eyes fixed on the sky, his mouth open on a word that wouldn't end. He saw the second sun explode. He saw the white light. He saw the masked one, in his mind, closing his fist.
When time started again, Lirius fell to his knees. The people in the square also fell. Some screamed. Others cried. Most just trembled.
"The king..." whispered a councilor. "Is the king dead?"
"The king died days ago," Lirius replied, rising. "Now the sun has died. But I am still here."
He climbed onto the improvised stage. The speech he had rehearsed no longer served. Fear was greater than words.
"The kingdom needs a ruler," he shouted, his voice echoing off the stone walls. "I am the heir. I am the king. Trust me, my people!"
The people murmured. Some applauded, out of fear. Others remained silent, out of distrust.
Elisa, his sister, was not there. She had left for the City of the End the day before, with a retinue of discontented nobles. The war of succession had begun before Lirius even finished his speech.
The nobles who remained were divided: some supported Lirius, out of fear or self-interest; others fled during the night to join Elisa. Letters flew from castle to castle, from county to county, from village to village.
---
At Derylini Academy, Ethan was in the training yard when the white light blinded him.
He didn't hear the explosion – he did, but the sound came after the light, when time was already moving again. He fell to his knees. The stone floor trembled. The candles in the lamps all went out at the same time.
"Ethan!" shouted Sara, at his side. "What was that?"
"The sun," he replied, his voice failing. "A sun... exploded."
"How do you know?"
"Look at the sky, Sara."
Sara looked at the sky. The first sun, pale and sad, seemed smaller than the day before. More distant. Where once there had been two lights, now there was only one.
The status system, which he had carried in his mind since arriving in Endomyar, stopped working. The numbers disappeared. Strength, stamina, agility – everything vanished, as if it had never existed.
And then, mana.
Ethan raised his hand. The flame – a small, hesitant flame, but real – lit up in his palm. It didn't hurt. It didn't burn. It just shone.
"Can you use magic now?" asked Sara, her eyes wide.
"It seems so."
He closed his hand. The flame went out. But the mana remained there, running through his veins, asking to be used.
"So the repulsion," said Sara, after a few seconds. "Ana..."
"I know, and I'm happy for this. It's trully a blessing from the gods!"
Ethan looked toward the dining hall. Ana was inside, standing by the window, looking at the sky. She hadn't run when he approached. She hadn't looked away.
"What happened? I heard an explosion, as if one of the suns exploded." she asked, when he entered.
"The second sun exploded, Ana" Ethan replied. "My system stopped working. Tell me: did the repulsion... end?"
"End?"
"Yes, do you still see me as a cockroach?" he tries his best to make a joke, Ana does not smile.
Ana was silent. Her eyes, brown, fixed on his. For the first time since they had known each other, there was no disgust. No fear. Only... confusion.
"I don't know what to say," she murmured.
"You don't need to say anything. Just... don't run away."
"I won't run."
They stood together in the middle of the empty dining hall, looking at each other. The cold outside continued to tighten. The first sun, pale and sad, illuminated the world that had once been brighter.
---
In Lunos, Linda Lunos was standing by her daughter's bed when the white light blinded her.
Time stopped. She saw the second sun explode. She saw the masked one, in her mind, closing his fist. She felt the heat, the fear, the loss. And she knew that what she saw was shown to the entire world by the pope. That vision was shown by the pope. too.
When time started again, she fell to her knees. Her hands, braced on the floor, trembled.
"Marchioness," called Baron Sanderá, running in. "What was that?"
"Are you stupid?" Linda replied, rising. "The second sun... died."
"How?"
"I don't know exatly how. But I will find out. The only thing I know is that someone, a masked man, did it. But... h-how?"
She looked at Luna. The girl remained in a coma, her amputated arm wrapped in clean cloths, her face pale. She had not woken since the day the Leviathan attacked her.
"Barons Refibus and Seru," said Sanderá, hesitantly. "They are still trying to return. They say they want to help with the defense."
"Fuck them," Linda replied without turning around. "If they set foot in Lunos, I'll kill them myself."
"And the Aryster? Those living on our lands?"
"Expel them. Or kill them. I don't care."
"Marchioness..."
"The masked one came from Aryster. It was in their castle that the second sun exploded. Blame them."
Sanderá didn't answer. He just left.
Linda touched Luna's forehead.
"Wake up, daughter," she whispered. "I need you."
Luna did not wake.
---
On the borders of Mercius, the village was called Asphodel.
Ierály was on her way when time stopped.
She felt her body frozen, her eyes fixed on the sky, her arms open to the horizon. She saw the second sun explode. She saw the masked one, in her mind, closing his fist; a vision sent by the pope. And she smiled.
When time started again, the Contraranures fell to their knees. Some screamed. Others prayed. Most just trembled.
"Calm down," Ierály ordered. "The sun has died. But we are still alive."
The village of Asphodel lay before her, defenseless, with three hundred inhabitants and a small church dedicated to Decatry.
"We attack at dusk," said Ierály. "I want the village taken before dawn."
"And the survivors?" asked a cultist.
"Enslave them. The strong to the mines. The weak to the fields. The children... the children stay with me."
"The children, leader?"
"Children are easy to mold. They don't need promises. Only fear."
At dusk, the Contraranures emerged from the forest like shadows – black robes, bone masks, curved knives. There was no negotiation. No warning. Only death.
Ierály entered the village. The smell of blood mixed with the smell of smoke. The bodies of peasants lay scattered in the streets. The survivors, huddled in the square, trembled.
"The people of Endomyar," said Ierály, loudly, "call me the Shadow Queen. I like the title. Repeat it."
"Shadow Queen," whispered the cultists.
"Shadow Queen," repeated the survivors, out of fear.
Ierály smiled.
The sky above remained dark.
The second sun would not return.
---
Ethan and Ana trained together that night.
The yard was empty. The candles, few. The first sun, pale and sad, illuminated the land as it had never illuminated before – alone, fragile, doomed.
"Show me," said Ana.
Ethan raised his hand. The flame – larger than the first time, more stable – lit up in his palm. Blue-white, warm, alive.
"You always wanted to use magic," said Ana.
"Always. Now I can."
"And the system?"
"Dead. Perhaps forever."
"Do you miss it? I kind of do,"
Ethan thought. The numbers, the repulsion, the strength, the stamina. All that had defined him for months.
"No," he replied. "It was a cage."
Ana touched the flame. It didn't burn. It only shone.
"My divine power remains," she said. "But it's unstable. Sometimes it works. Other times, not."
"And the mark?"
Ana touched her chest. The scar of Anorys, red and bright, pulsed slowly.
"It's still here. But it doesn't hurt as much."
Ethan extinguished the flame.
"We'll fight together," he said. "When the war comes."
"The war has already come."
"Then we'll die together."
"Or win."
Ana almost smiled.
"That's the first time you've said something optimistic."
"It's the first time I've believed it."
They fell silent. The wind blew cold. The first sun, pale and sad, illuminated the world that had once been brighter.
The second sun would not return.
And chaos had only just begun.