As the golden sun sank into the bleeding horizon, the sky itself warped crimson — almost as if the world already knew what was about to begin.

  No student inside the academy understood it.

  But the earth did.

  The wind did.

  Reality itself trembled.

  Outside — where teachers finished their drills and construction workers packed up — every living being suddenly felt that choking, suffocating hatred pressure crush their lungs at once.

  Mr. Stone froze mid–step.

  His jaw clenched.

  Mr. Stone: “…what the hell is this evil pressure…?!”

  Daniel’s skin tingled like thousands of needles crawling over him.

  Daniel: “Yeah… this is darker than that Titan that day. WAY darker.”

  The pressure spiked again.

  Like a continent-sized heartbeat.

  Then…

  …the void behind the forest horizon rippled.

  And the dark army — a thousand demonic constructs created by the Greater Titan — came marching forward. Not running, not screaming. Marching. Perfectly synchronized. Silent. No breath. No emotion. No mercy.

  Their eyes glowed like dead stars.

  Jackson: “OH SHIT— WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!”

  Instantly — Mr. Stone reacted.

  Mr. Stone: “EVERYONE — GET AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE!!”

  Noir tore open a massive spatial portal.

  A roaring, shifting tunnel of pure silver-black distortion.

  Noir: “EVERYONE INSIDE! You’ll reach safe territory!”

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Thousands of teachers, workers, lower rank cadets sprinted and jumped into the portal.

  When it closed — only six remained.

  Daniel. Tom. Jackson.

  Sasha. Selena.

  Mr. Stone.

  Mr. Stone slowly inhaled.

  Mr. Stone: “…you five should leave too.”

  Selena cracked her neck.

  Selena: “We’ve fought Titans longer than you, Stone.”

  Sasha smirked slightly.

  Sasha: “Remember… you’re just a trainee.”

  Stone gritted his teeth for a second… then exhaled like he accepted that truth.

  Mr. Stone: “…fine. But these kids?”

  Daniel stepped forward.

  Daniel: “We’re already in this battlefield. Running now won’t make sense.”

  Tom’s eyes burned orange flames.

  Tom: “Yeah. Unless you’re a scaredy cat, Mr. Stone.”

  Stone grinned dangerously now.

  Mr. Stone: “Good. Then remember. I won’t babysit. This is WAR.”

  In the next instant—

  —The Titan army was right there.

  Not 200 meters away.

  Right. In. FRONT.

  No warning.

  No roar.

  Just silent artificial hatred.

  Daniel’s hand moved first.

  His crimson aura ignited like a flare.

  WAR ERUPTS INSTANTLY

  A massive dark Titan generated a compressed obsidian sphere and hurled it toward them.

  Tom: “FIRE BALL — GO!!”

  Tom thrust his palm forward — a massive fire orb blasted out and collided mid-air — a nuclear-like detonation lighting the entire battlefield.

  Daniel raised his palm — a dome-like aura materialized.

  Daniel: “SHIELD!!”

  A giant crimson barrier formed — the shockwave slammed into it — the barrier cracked — but held.

  Jackson blurred instantly.

  Jackson: “SPEED STEP!”

  CRACK

  CRACK

  CRACK

  Lightning footprints tearing the ground apart as he moved.

  Three Titans heads fell before the bodies even realized they were dead.

  Selena flicked her fingers.

  Threads shimmered everywhere.

  Selena: “THREAD SLASH.”

  Like invisible laser wires — dozens of dark soldiers were sliced clean apart.

  Noir floated slightly above ground. Fingers positioned like a conductor.

  Noir: “Spatial Rend.”

  Reality itself split like paper — a space fracture sliced through twenty Titans in a straight line like nothing.

  Sasha calmly touched her wrist.

  Her voice became horrifyingly gentle.

  Sasha: “…Time Bubble.”

  A spherical transparent gold bubble swallowed a cluster of Titans — inside it — their bodies ROTTED in seconds — millions of years passing for them while only 2 seconds passed outside.

  The bubble popped.

  Dust remained.

  Sasha narrowed her eyes.

  Sasha: “This is just the start…”

  The center shock — Mr. Stone unleashed gravity magic

  Stone raised one single hand…

  Black gravitational rings formed around his arm.

  Mr. Stone: “GRAVITON GUILLOTINE.”

  He swung downward.

  A black crescent slice carved through 40 Titans in one single horizontal line.

  The ground behind them warped from the cut.

  Tom jet–boosted forward using Flame Flight — flame boosters erupting under his feet.

  Tom: “FIRE MACHINE GUN!!”

  Fire bullets — hundreds per second — shredded another army cluster.

  Jackson landed above Tom, lightning dancing across his hair.

  Jackson: “THUNDER BOLTS!!”

  Lightning spears rained like judgement strikes — burning through armor like butter.

  Daniel formed a sword in his grip — crimson solidifying like molten steel turning into blade.

  Daniel: “Crimson Slash!”

  He swung — a crimson wave cleaved through dozens — painting the air red.

  They were overpowering them…

  …but the legion didn’t stop.

  They kept coming.

  Hundreds more.

  Thousands maybe.

  No emotion.

  No pain.

  No fear.

  This wasn’t a fight.

  This was the FIRST REAL WAR.

  Stone wiped sweat from his forehead.

  Mr. Stone: “…kids. Don’t lose focus. Don’t let adrenaline trick you. This war is only opening its first page.”

  Daniel looked ahead — eyes burning.

  Daniel: “Then we’ll write our page with blood.”

  As they prepared to charge again—

  —The ground trembled like something gigantic… far bigger than normal Titans… was approaching behind the army.

  —Chapter 16 ends

  Next chapter: escalation. The first TRUE boss Titan.