"-Marcus Williams, on air from San Francisco."

  "Absolutely Brian. As you can see, here too, Hunters are preparing something massive. Many of them are being called back in their respective Houses and while we weren't able to interview anyone, we were able to get some images that you should be looking at right now on your screens.

  Those are manacores, an invaluable resource for Awakeners that allow them to not run out of magic during Portal dives. From what we gathered, each one of these medium-sized crystals could cost as much as a month of rent in a sub-urban area."

  "You're showing us quite the fortune Marcus. Many would be interested in riches like this."

  "Indeed! However, before any individual gets a funny idea, you should know Hunters protect their resources from theft by many measures impossible to comprehend as a non-Awakener, adding to the military being there most of the time to help.

  But getting back on topic, it has been four days since this sudden mass mobilization. An independent source has already confirmed that these orders most likely come from the Houses of Courage and Knowledge.

  Generally speaking, one House taking action is already enough to create waves on the planet. But for two major powers to make a move..."

  "Do you believe we are witnessing the coming of a seventh super Portal ?"

  "It wouldn't be surprising. But let's hope it's not tha-."

  ZAP-

  The atmosphere in the House of Courage heavy. The cream of the top in of its Awakeners had gathered in the Crimson Hall to discuss more preparation and coordination plans with other Houses. Pierre Coeur de Lion was late again, busy with rendez-vous with his companions but the meeting was still advancing. In a good way. An overwhelming threat was the best way from mankind to unite after all.

  "That was a broadcast from two hours ago. Our movements aren't subtle as we wanted them to be."

  "... Annoying, but unsurprising. Without the Shade's help, we can't filter what news get on the radio and TV. But at least it shows that we are present. And that conventional armies are with us. Speaking of which, the prototypes we've been developing. Are they ready ? The LTPVD I mean." a man in blood red armor asked.

  Many Awakeners scratched their heads in awkwardness at the acronym. Their leader was strong, but his creativity was rather weak when it came to naming things.

  "The what ?! I'm sorry Vampir... but whoever comes up with these acronyms has brain damage."

  "Gosh... The Long Term Portal Diving Vehicles." the now-named man sighed in exasperation.

  "Oh that! Well... I believe the first batch is up for testing. At least that's what I heard last time I looked at the reports. These babies just need to prove themselves in major Portal outbreaks now."

  "Aren't you the one in charge of these reports ? Why are you not even reading them ?! A- anyway.

  Let's hope these things end up saving lives during Portal outbreaks. The duration of development and the costs were quite significant and expectations are high in our ranks. Especially among us warrior and beast-type Awakeners."

  "That's right. But at least we didn't have to fully pay for these. And still, the idea of converting military vehicles into mobile stations that withstand magic miasma is genius. I don't understand how these mage folks manage to do that and how they got to buy trucks, tanks and stuff but huge thanks!"

  "I think it was something about reflective paint, just like anti-radar camo, but infused with mana."

  "As long as it protects us, I'm fine with it."

  "Alright. Let's get back onto what we were discussing. The Arch-Mages have began predicting where the Portal will most likely rift based on... new information from an old relic of a satellite. The dragon is a lot closer than what we thought.

  As things were three days ago, when Maya the Sky Seer used her divination, she deducted, thanks to her Star that the dragon was seventeen light-years away from the zone of Twilight.

  Today, it's about midway in reaching the heart of our galaxy. Which means..."

  "That is has a high mastery over space-rifting. Creating shortcuts to skip such long distances requires an amount of mana we cannot even use in one go. Those of The Hunt might be able to pull it off, they could help, but it's unlikely they would stop guarding the barrier between The Holrde and us."

  "Fuck!" another anxious Hunter draped in a white lion's hide screamed out and slammed his fists on the council table. "Are we even sure we'll be able to withstand the miasma ourselves ?! There's no fucking point in vehicles and tech for the wounded if we can't even step in the Portal to attack!

  Last time someone got magic miasma intoxication, they contaminated a whole city block in Shanghai when they got back! Do I even need to remind you guys that the more mana a Portal boss has, the more we risk getting exposed to it ?! And what about the surroundings ?"

  "Your worries are not without reason, Senior Glacier. But we already took that into account. Barrier specialists will be present where the Portal will appear along with healers from The Constellation of Ophiuchus. Nova the Death Defier will be among them."

  "... I see. Pardon me for my outburst."

  "As I was saying, new information has been gathered. The situation calls for desperate measures and Maya insisted on getting as much intel on a potential location, as you can see in the sky, The Constellation of Knowledge as a whole has shifted to allow Maya to see once again."

  Some Hunters close to the room's windows took a peek to verify their colleague's statement. Far away in the sky, bright lights invisible to non-Awakeners had assembled in the shape of an eye looking at the beyond.

  "Ahem... From what we currently know, we are 80% sure that the Portal will appear in Eastern Europe. It's still not precise enough, but we should get more results in a few hours."

  "So we're off ? Wait no, you just said we needed more intel."

  "..."

  The universe... is vast. Truly. Beautiful. Some much Light... but so much Darkness too. Much more Darkness. A coldness that spread its tentacles, its influence, its meaning everywhere. It is truly beautiful.

  A mind so twisted that it wishes to extinguish all of these flickers floating in this sea.

  Such an existence I have become. Something that...

  Another piece in a chessboard of millions of pawns.

  Why did I have to let Wrath control me again ? Why did I have to kill this Star ? Why...

  Because it was so good to do so, right ? A Light I consumed whole. Nihility winning once more !

  KHAHAHAHAH!

  KHA-

  KH...

  ...

  Stop.

  I must hold. To warn Earth. Then I'll go back to... To see My Kin ? No. To... Kill ? My Kin ? To... what ?

  Sigh... Will someone be able... to help Me ? To cure My mind and my body ?

  To get rid of this insanity and of... this form. To regain My humanity and to be Paul... Again.

  Wait what ? Why have I slowed down ?

  Them. The Myriad of the Universe. The near-boundless entities My Kin was the enemy of. The ones who granted me powers to pro- protect... Earth.

  I- am...

  C'mon, not this time, don't let what He put in you win. Stay focused. Please, I-

  If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  - am... Back.

  Last Awakener of planet Earth.

  The Scaled. Fury.

  Nid- hogg...

  From the clutches of The Horde. From Hyperion's Maw. I am... back.

  Ah. This concentration of Light. Is Maddening. I have to...

  Not again. Don't lose Paul. You are so close ! So close ! To... ! TASTEFUL...LIFE!

  STARS !

  GET! AWAY!

  From me! You must... Let me pass!

  I must... carry this message. To Earth. To Mankind, to M-my country. To... my... family

  The... King. The Judge. They were kind Stars... back then. I remember them.

  But please, let me pass. I will not hold for much... longer.

  Them ?!

  I thought that... They wouldn't follow ?

  WHY !?

  In an instant, every nearby Stars had aimed Their power at the being of dark.

  Among these attacks, Blades of celestial light, Arrows of Starfire, pure energy of the Warring Suns, the Chains of Justice, summons of imaginary creatures and many others.

  The startled cry of the abomination of The End was music in The Stars' ears. It meant that it didn't have the time to react. The more they weakened the dragon, the less likely it would be able to rift to Earth and the less likely it would open a Portal.

  "What is an Awakener ? What is a Hunter ? These two questions are the ones we will ponder on in today's philosophy class. You are free to exchange between yourselves, do do research and listen to your classmates' opinions. I strongly advise you to take notes about what you deem important. Yes Lukas ? Any idea ?"

  "You defined Awakeners and Hunters as two different things. But aren't they the same ? Both are individuals who receive A Star's favor, right ?"

  "Actually, this only fits the definition of an Awakener. A Hunter is an Awakener who uses the power they received to challenge Portals. At least that's what my cousin said."

  "Correct miss Maria. While the Awakener has affinity with A Star, the Hunter is someone who makes use of it. That leads to the true question of this class. Would you say that Awakeners have the moral obligation to become Hunters ? Considering only them and the militaries over the world are authorized to Portal dive."

  "I'd say yes. Awakeners do have a chance at life that us normal people could dream of. They can make a difference. I mean... with powers, come responsibilities as that one old man said."

  "I... don't think you should quote a superhero movie. Besides I wouldn't want to be forced on a job where you risk your life everyday. 15 to 25% of mortality rate is not something to joke about with movie quotes. And other than the risk inside of the Portals, there's also miasma poisoning that could kill normal people when you come out of the rift."

  The teacher looked at the class and nodded. The debate was going well. Then he glanced at one particular student who was giving everyone the stink eye.

  "Jeanne. I know this is far from your favorite subject but please, at least say something. I won't bother you for the rest of the class."

  "... Teach. Most of them have no idea of what they're talking about. I'm an Awakener myself. I passed my Hunter license. I dived seventeen times. My brother was one of the people The Administrator took.

  He was also the only one who didn't make it back. My family still cannot accept that the godly powers of the skies weren't able to protect Paul. I'm sure that 95% of the people on this planet haven't figured that if beings like this manifest in our corner of the universe... it means that something bad is about to happen.

  Seventeen times I've said. And I've seen at least ten times the amount of dead bodies as a policeman would in their career. Maria said it. But 25% is just a number. What matters is seeing the actual corpse of the Hunters you were with, the Portal boss annihilating your team because one guy got cocky. It's all in my mind... But you know what teach ?

  I couldn't care less when I compare this to Pierre fucking Coeur de Lion announcing that Paul died because of a mysterious entity ! He dropped this and left ! I guess that true Courage goes only up to a certain level."

  "... I'm sorry Jeanne."

  "Ah... Sorry too. I vented on someone who didn't ask for anything."

  "No no, it's quite alright. I was a psychologist before becoming a philosophy teacher. I am quite interested in your story, as a teacher and as a psychologist."

  "Ah, that makes sense as to why you can stand... us teens.

  ... By the way Mr. Vieuxvin, I shouldn't be saying that so openly but get some anti-mana pills from the medicine store today. You've surely seen it already but the Houses have been calling their Hunters. Some big operation is being prepared. Some guys at my place are saying it's an S-rank Portal forming and you know how much mana these ones release."

  "This big ? That's worrying. I usually refrain from listening to rumors but after seeing how every radio channel seems to be speaking about strange deployments of Hunters, I'll follow your advice. Thank you Jeanne."

  "Hm."

  "Huh, guys, is the Eiffel Tower supposed to light up like that ?"

  Jeanne instantly shot up from her chair and rushed to the window of the classroom, a feeling of dread rising in her mind.

  "It's-" she whispered softly, still catching most of her classmates' attention "- not good! Get anti-magic pills! Quick !"

  "Wha- ?!"

  Seeing the teacher doing the same as Jeanne, the others students snapped out of their trance and followed suit.

  And sure enough, the alarms of the school began to relay a message no Awakener wanted to hear.

  Attention: mana flares incoming, all citizens should seek shelter in mana-proof buildings or consume anti-mana medicine. Time remaining before contact: four minutes.

  All recovery-type Awakeners must be ready to assist any wounded they encounter. Do not attempt to move until the alert is over.

  Attention: mana flares incoming, all citizens should seek she-

  The students were laying down under their desks, feeling the viscous substance in the pills they took, spreading in their bodies while the message kept replaying over and over, adding to the tension of the situation.

  At least there hadn't been any message about a rift opening nearby.

  After what felt like an eternity, the waves came. A slow, rhythmic pulse that sent pens, textbooks, tools flying everywhere and shattered windows as it passed. While the non-Awakeners could not sense it, Jeanne started to cough violently and started throwing up her lunch and breakfast.

  The waves of raw and uncontained magical energy were like multiple tsunamis against a frog desperately holding on by trying to stay afloat before another wave crashed into it. The mana that passed through Jeanne's body was too much. At some point her nose started bleeding but she was barely conscious enough to react.

  Finally the alert stopped and Mr. Vieuxvin rushed to get the teen to the infirmary, leaving the rest to the class representative.

  Cease this ! I was not here to fight you ! And you are no match for Me !

  A clawed paw swatted away a lance, a tail blocked a sword of ice, wings shielded the dragon from a volley of space debris hurled towards it.

  I endured much worse at the hands of Hyperion. You cannot even imagine what I went through. You cannot imagine what He did to force this body and mind on Me. But at least, thanks to Him, I do have to power to fight and take revenge. To protect my planet.

  The Stars were faltering one by one. Not only because of the difference in power, but also because of the words that had been coming out of the maws of Death. The more the Stars listened, the more they felt like they were hearing a wounded animal, desperate to save its territory, not a mad animal trying to destroy.

  For the last time... Let. Me. Pass. Let Me see the world, my country, my friends, my family. There is no point in continuing this battle. The more you stall, the more the rest of The Horde grows Their power.

  ... Is there no entity able to restore my humanity ? No Star who holds such power ?

  Have you... tried ? On something that lived to tell the tale ? It's worth a shot! Please. In return, I could help to get rid of Them.

  ... Wouldn't you like this more than the alternative of me being one of Hyperion ? And besides... You have no leverage over me. I could intrude this domain and you would not be able to stop me from doing so.

  Do know that I could have barged in, but I wanted to do things nicely. Only your Constellation of Hunt and War were the ones who angered Me and made Me lose control.

  As far as I've seen, you are hindering yourselves as long as there is Life involved. As long as I remain on Earth, you wouldn't be able to harm Me. Moreover, I am pretty sure our fight caused quite a ruckus.

  I see...

  You do not leave me a choice.

  At the very same instant, the Dragon let our an ear-splitting cry before engulfing itself in black fire and lightning. The Stars recoiled to avoid getting hurt by the menacing shroud of miasma.

  Meanwhile, in the heart of the cloud, the dragon began tearing space with its jaws. As the bite marks stretched and widened, they revealed the sight of an old, man-made tower of iron in the distance.

  The reptilian body forced itself in the rift, breaking apart fragments of void along the way and the cloud of miasma exploded on the nearby Stars, leaving them wounded, shocked, fearful and uncertain.

  Paris... I am... back.