Mi-cha floated like divinity incarnate. Her hair—silken threads of gold—rose and shimmered as though responding to an unseen cosmic current, each strand casting ethereal light that bathed the battlefield in radiant warmth. Around her, the sky rippled with hues of stardust—rose gold, silver-lilac, and gleaming sapphire—refracting from her form like she was the sun reborn.
The once-proud principal staggered backward, eyes wide in terror, his breath stolen by her overwhelming presence. He trembled—not from cold, but from the sheer majesty of her being.
"I… I didn't know you were this strong!" he choked, his voice faltering beneath the weight of her aura.
With a defiant surge of pride, he lashed out—a fist aimed directly at her core, trembling with mana. But before his strike could land…
Time itself shattered.
The world became a still painting. Leaves froze midair. Distant clouds ceased to drift. Students mid-gasp were suspended like marble statues. The entire dimension was locked in a stasis field—except Mi-cha.
She moved freely within the frozen moment, her steps light, as if she danced across the fabric of time itself. Each movement trailed glimmers of astral dust, golden and divine, like a shooting star sketching history across the cosmos.
"Everything's… stopped," she whispered, the thrill in her voice unmistakable. "No—I'm just moving too fast for reality to keep up."
She twirled gracefully behind the principal. And with a single, almost loving touch of her finger to his back—
Boom.
A cosmic shockwave erupted. The principal's body was launched like a comet, bursting through the walls of Wysteria Academy, hurtling through the multiverse. Friction turned to fire. Her energy, infused in that touch, ignited within him—his resilience delaying the inevitable—but it was futile. He combusted into brilliant golden flames, scattered atom by atom across infinite stars.
Time resumed.
In less than a blink, Mi-cha reappeared beside Ji-hoon, now cloaked in his incandescent Nova Awakening, and Kim the Elf, wrapped in gleaming rune scripts that hovered like orbiting moons.
Without so much as a breath, Mi-cha raised her hand. A soft glow pulsed—and Kim's Runes shattered like fragile glass, his power state canceled instantly.
Flash. Flash. Flash.
In a blur of radiant light, she dismantled the remaining four first-class students. Each was incapacitated before their minds could process her movement—a golden storm incarnate.
Kim dropped to one knee, gasping, eyes wide in disbelief. "I… I couldn't even react… She really is Muhan's girl." His voice trembled with a strange mix of awe and defeat. "If I can't surpass her… there's no point challenging Muhan."
Together, Mi-cha, Ji-hoon, and Kim descended slowly from the stars, their figures outlined by the glittering remnants of battle. Mi-cha's aura dimmed slightly as she gently lowered herself to the academy courtyard, golden feathers of light fluttering off her like falling petals.
As she landed, her celestial energy receded into her core. A system notification appeared before her, glyphs rotating like rings of divine scripture.
> [STATE UNNAMED]
Please name your transformation.
Mi-cha placed a finger on her chin, reflecting. "This form… it's luminous, transcendent, like a being sculpted from grace and serenity." She smiled softly. "Then I'll call it… Grace Form."
The system chimed once more.
> New Passive Skill Acquired: Celestial Eyes
Ability: Observe multiversal coordinates with limitless range. Grants telescopic vision across dimensions.
Her irises blazed a molten gold, becoming windows to the cosmos. She scanned the stars, her vision flying past galaxies, nebulae, dimensions folded like pages in a divine book.
But… no trace of Muhan.
Her brows furrowed. "Where are you…?" she whispered, a silent ache forming in her chest.
---
Elsewhere…
A reality apart, far beyond the edge of even divine perception, two titans clashed—Muhan Lockhart, cloaked in the raging storm of Aether Awakening, and Jin-ho, consumed by his primal Beast Form.
Their blows echoed like war drums across the void. Each punch tore fissures in time. Each kick carved valleys through the celestial layers of the Hyperverse.
Entire star clusters disintegrated under the force of their battle.
Black holes trembled. Laws of physics screamed. Reality cracked and groaned.
Aether and feral essence collided—blue and crimson energies weaving a storm so vast it swallowed creation itself.
Suddenly—
Reality ruptured.
A monumental force emerged. Space stilled. The cosmos held its breath.
Descending in solemn silence was a figure cloaked in shadow and cosmic flame—The Demi-god of the Leveling Realm. His presence bent the very fabric of existence, his gaze commanding the attention of every atom.
"You've taken half the Hyperverse with your childish war," he spoke, his voice deep and boundless like the void between stars. "Impressive… but reckless."
Muhan and Jin-ho froze, both warriors battered, their auras still flaring. Their eyes met—each silently acknowledging the gravity of what stood before them.
The Demi-god swept his hand. Darkness surged—a living, breathing shadow that swallowed the battlefield. The Hyperverse vanished.
When light returned, they stood in a quiet, empty realm. The stars were whole again. Reality restored.
"This is mercy," the Demi-god said, cold and clear. "Next time… I will not intervene."
His eyes glinted—not with anger, but ancient judgment. "Settle your conflict without unraveling existence itself."
Then, like smoke across the void, he disappeared.
---
Back at Wysteria Academy…
Mi-cha stood on a lone rooftop, her hair rustling in a gentle astral wind. Her golden eyes scanned again—across every layer of the omniverse. But still, no Muhan.
Her voice broke softly into the night.
"Please… come back to me."