Cato couldn't believe what was going on.

He had been left alone for no longer than 10 minutes when the situation had changed drastically.

Thankfully, Pride was taking his time stalking through the magic academy, and judging from his personality, Cato assumed that he wouldn't intervene in the action even if he was present. He was just that arrogant and cocky.

The first thing that Cato noticed through his clairvoyance, was something he would have noticed even had he not possessed the ability.

A massive mana signature simply vanished from the battlefield. Completely. Without a doubt, that was the sign of someone being defeated. Looking in closer with his clairvoyance, he could see that Shindo had just defeated Greed.

Without a doubt, that was a massive development in the positive direction. However, Cato did not allow himself to even feel slightly good about this.

The look of pure conflict and guilt on Shindo's face essentially summed this up. Because he had been rendered immobile, in order to survive, the students of Theta magic academy would be forced to forsake their morals in order to survive.

They would have to see and commit horrible actions. They would be placed in immense danger, hoping for help that would never come.

At the same time that Greed's magic signature had disappeared, multiple others had appeared as well. A number equaling to over a hundred had just spontaneously appeared. Without a doubt, this was the contents of Greeds vault being emptied.

Students, teachers, and objects alike were suddenly teleported back to the locations in which they had been taken. Multiple of them were unconscious, which was probably due to the shift between dimensions they had gone through.

Combing through the entire magic academy with his clairvoyance, Cato could see that of all the students and teachers who had suddenly been transported back, around only 10% of them had actually remained awake. The rest were knocked unconscious. This unfortunately consisted of a majority of the teachers as well.

How long it would take for them to finally wake again, he didn't know.

All around, the students were still holding on. However, that what worried Cato.

With his clairvoyance, he could pick up on the detail that the students were fighting so hard, with the hope that help would be arriving soon.

They thought that he would arrive, to that at the very least, magic knights from the mages association to arrive.

However, Cato had made a horrifying realization. Well, it wasn't really a realization. He had already known this fact. From the moment he had activated his clairvoyance in fact.

And that was, the mages association would never be allowed entrance. Nor would they be notified.

And the students would not be allowed an exit.

That was because the barrier that surrounded Theta magic academy had been tampered with. Some external force had made edits to a barrier, which not only allowed the enemies to infiltrate, but now, it made it impossible leave or enter. Blocking all forms of communication.

It quite literally made the barrier that was supposed to serve as a protection, into a perfect trap.

And if what Pride was rambling about was right, then there was only one being that could be responsible for messing with the barrier that was made with ancient magic.

The witch of Vainglory.

Whoever she was, she was no push over.

Strapped to the wall, all Cato could do was watch, watch the students of theta magic academy fight for their lives, all while letting his anxiety consume him.

What Cato didn't know, was that even if the mages could've have been informed about what was going on, they would have still taken ages to actually arrive.

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South America-Chile

Prometheus stood atop of a volcano. A massive one at that. It reached over 40,000 feet into the air, its peak tearing well beyond the clouds.

However today, there were no clouds in the sky.

The peak was known by the name, Ojos de Salado. It was the highest peak in all of Chile, standing at around 6 thousand feet.

The question one may ask, would be, what caused such a massive spike in height. And the truth is, no one really knew.

However, the prevailing theory, was mana mutation.

The origin behind magic in the world was also something that no one really knew. It just kind of, appeared one day. There were no 100% trustable sources for exactly what caused it, but the first appearance of magic was one known by all.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

The main theory for what brought magic into the world, was one that revolved the crater in Chicxulub. The one that eradicated the dinosaurs.

Scientist and archeologist who studied around the are noted that that was where the highest concentration of mana could be felt.

They believed that after the meteor hit, it slowly began to allow this alien thing to flow into out world.

Hundreds of millions of years later, and after enough exposure to it, people began to adapt, as they always did. They adapted to be able to use this new power.

That was the origin of mana. A shaky one, with more questions brought up than it actually answered. But it was the widely accepted theory.

Around the same time that theory had begun to gain popularity, scientist also began to observe that things were expanding. Animals were getting larger. Plants, trees, bugs. All of them began to expand and grow in size.

And it manly only living things. Entire continents began to expand. Mountains, volcanoes, the entire planet was growing.

In a century, the planet had doubled in size. It picked up two new moons.

According to the records, it was a horrifying time. People were sure the world was ending.

Witches, wizards, monster sized bugs, entire continents growing?

The entire planet doubling in size?

This widespread panic led to a destabilization of society; were magicians saw their chance to rise to the top.

Mana mutation. That was the name they gave to those phenomena. It was also why some people began to view those who could wield mana as disease. Who spread their infectious poison just by existing.

Prometheus began to walk, watching below his feet as the lava cracked and popped and flew.

Around the world, volcanoes became more active. Perpetually active. Never falling dormant.

Animals became more aggressive, challenging human's role at the top.

All of it required new technologies to be developed, new adaptations to be made to avoid being left behind.

But perhaps the greatest example of this, could be found in the massive structure before Prometheus' eyes.

A massive storm of fog. Fog so thick and large that it was impossible to see through. Fog so dense, that the shadow that could be constantly moving behind it only seemed more terrifying.

That massive storm of fog concealed the equally massive continent beyond.

Antarctica.

That was the one wild card this world could not adapt to.

It quadrupled in size, and its expansion seemed never ending. With every year, figures came out about how Antarctica had grown exponentially once again.

It kept on growing and growing. So much so, that for the first time in how many centuries of war, the 6 continents united.

The formed a new 7th continent. Faux.

It would serve as a military outpost. Hundreds of meters away, would be a wall made of mana resistant material. That wall would serve as the barrier to stop the expansion of Antarctica.

However, they would need to be replaced every few months.

On top of that, Faux had failed its purpose. Every envoy, expedition, extraction team, whatever you wanted to call it, everyone sent there never returned.

Eventually, it was dubbed the lost continent.

And humanity, for the first time, left something unexplored.

Prometheus stopped his pacing when he reached the very edge of the volcano's peak. Immediately, he was blasted by an insanely powerful gust of wind.

Placing his hands in front of his face, and digging his feet deeper into the ground, Prometheus took the massive blast head on.

HIs black coat flew wildly in the wind, and his hair was whipped backwards.

Still, the windstorm raged on, blowing Prometheus farther and farther back until he was sure he'd be dropped straight into the boiling hot lava of the not so dormant volcano behind him.

That was until he felt a hand on his back, and all of a sudden, the windstorm raging on in front of him had no effect. He nearly tripped anyways, just from the sudden shock of it all.

Turning to his right, he saw a girl standing next to him. She was dressed in a nun's outfit, and just like Prometheus, she was unaffected by the wind. She was transferring that to him, allowing him to stand in the face of the windstorm without flinching.

"Common, don't ruin the fun!" Prometheus shouted, trying to get her hands off of him, however she was not letting go.

"And let you take a tumble off the deep end? You may be a freak, and as enticing as that idea may be, you are also our leader."

"Aww, that really hurts you know. Aren't nuns supposed to be caring Mia-"

Prometheus ducked, and suddenly there was a white boot where his head used to be.

Mia had almost taken his head off with a high kick.

Maintaining that crouched position and admiring the view, Prometheus spoke.

"Can you believe it? An entire continent, lost from the grasp of the world."

Mia lowered her leg before shooting Prometheus a look that told him what she really thought of him. "Your obsession with that place only grows with each passing moment. I hope you don't genuinely plan on sending more forces over there. You've already sent so many, and 90 percent who go past the first few meters end up dead."

"But that's what's so interesting! We've barely scratched the surface of that place, and yet what we have found can quite literally shake the balance of the world! Tip the scales!"

Thunder boomed loudly, and a bolt of lightning nearly took of his head, but he didn't seem to care.

Mia looked down at him like she wasn't buying shit he was saying.

Prometheus waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "They're all loyal soldiers anyone's. Dedicated to helping me light the entire world with flames of revolution. They all knew the risks when joining the Fangless Python."

Prometheus stood, stretching out his arms.

"And you'd really put a whole revolution at risk to satisfy your curiosity?"

Prometheus simply smiled, taking a glance at the massive windstorm in front of him. A common occurrence near Antarctica.

"These flames,"

Pointing at the storm, and whispering 'Bang!' to himself, the entire windstorm was vanquished instantly.

"Won't ever be put out."

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"Prometheus? Flames of revolution?" Masayoshi repeated the words that Wrath had just said, confused.

"What's there to be confused about?"

Besides the fact that hearing the word, 'revolution' was undoubtedly concerning in the context of everything going on around the world. But also, it was how cryptic what he said was. What he was implying.

"Oh, don't tell me that you really were so shortsighted." Wrath continued to taunt Masayoshi while approaching closer and closer. Yuri tensed, clenching his pistol tighter, and aiming at Wraths head.

"Can't you see the bigger picture? This battle here, its just one of many."

Masayoshi's eyes widened, and Wrath grinned.

"N-no way." Masayoshi's mind was reeling at the possibilities. Did that mean, the terrorist attacks al around the world leading up to this date, Wraths acts, this attack, they were all connected?

"This is occurring at a global scale. All right here, right now. A single question is being widely debated around the world. Through words, or through violence."

Wrath spread out both of his hands wide.

"I'm sure you've asked yourself this question before. Where, what, is justice?"

Masayoshi felt chills rush down his spine, and his eyes narrowed in anger.

"What the hell do you presume to know about justice?"

Wrath's grinned grew once again, as he realized his taunts had the intended effect.

"Then let's settle this. Whose idea of Justice, is right."