The Academy's medical wing had become a war zone of organized chaos. Fifty-two wounded students occupied every available bed, some unconscious, others staring at walls with the hollow-eyed look of people who'd seen things that would fuel nightmares for years. Professor Harold moved between them with methodical precision, his healing abilities stretched to their absolute limits as he triaged injuries that ranged from simple exhaustion to life-threatening corruption.

Sarah lay on a bed near the center, her temporal abilities completely dormant. The massive wound where Leo had carved away corrupted tissue was sealed but far from healed Harold's emergency intervention had saved her life, but proper recovery would take weeks. Her face was sheet-white, breathing shallow, and every few minutes her body would stutter between time streams as residual temporal energy misfired through damaged channels.

"She needs specialized treatment," Harold reported to Leo, his voice tight with professional concern. "The corruption didn't just damage tissue it interfered with her temporal manipulation at a fundamental level. Every time her ability tries to activate, it risks tearing the wound open again."

Leo nodded wearily from where he sat against the wall, too exhausted to stand but refusing to leave until all his students were accounted for. "Will she recover fully?"

"Given time and proper care? Probably. But she'll carry scars physical and metaphysical." Harold moved to the next patient, a boy whose arm bore shadow-corruption burns that were resisting conventional healing.

Across the wing, Petra stood near the entrance, her enhanced perception cataloging each rescued student as they were processed through medical triage. Her katana remained sheathed but within easy reach, her posture radiating the controlled tension of someone preparing for bad news.

Gareth noticed her scanning behavior and moved to her side. "Looking for someone specific?"

"Kael." Petra's voice was flat, emotionless in the way that suggested she was working very hard to maintain control. "I haven't seen him among the rescued groups."

"There are still students unaccounted for," Gareth replied, though his analytical mind had already calculated the brutal mathematics. "Two hundred went through the original rift. Fifty-two have been extracted. That leaves "

"One hundred forty-eight still missing or dead." Petra's hand drifted toward her katana's grip before she forced it away. "The question is which category Alex falls into."

They lapsed into silence, watching as more students were carried past. Some they recognized classmates from Arena Combat, students they'd shared meals with, people whose names they knew. Each familiar face was a small mercy, each absence a growing weight.

The Lieutenant appeared in the doorway, his uniform still stained with the corpse-field's residue, his face carrying the exhaustion of someone who'd been operating on pure adrenaline for hours. "All rescued subjects accounted for and processed. No additional essence signatures detected within portal range."

"Meaning everyone still in that realm is either too far from the breach point to reach, or..." Leo didn't finish the sentence. He didn't need to.

"Or they didn't survive the first three days," the Lieutenant completed quietly. "Sir, with respect, the probability of finding additional survivors at this point "

"I know the numbers, Lieutenant." Leo's voice carried an edge that suggested he didn't want to hear them spoken aloud. "But until that portal closes, until we're absolutely certain there's no one left alive to extract, we maintain watch protocols."****

Outside the medical wing, the situation at the portal had descended into barely controlled panic.

Master Vex knelt beside his dimensional array, hands moving through closure techniques with increasing desperation. Sweat poured down his face despite the cool air, his essence signature flickering erratically as he pushed beyond safe limits.

"It's not working!" Vex's voice carried an edge of hysteria that made everyone within earshot tense. "The dimensional framework should respond to these patterns the portal should be collapsing now that Valorian's been disconnected!"

Captain Aldric stood at the threshold with three Master-ranked division Captains, his tactical mind struggling to process a situation that existed outside normal parameters. "What do you mean it's not working? You said once we extracted everyone and disconnected the anchor, the portal would seal naturally!"

"It should!" Vex's academic composure had completely shattered. "Without an essence anchor maintaining the breach, dimensional physics dictates natural collapse within minutes! But it's been three hours and the portal is showing no signs of instability whatsoever!"

Through the shimmering breach, they could see the corpse-field's crimson sky strobing with increasingly erratic light. The realm's collapse was accelerating cracks in the terrain spreading like spiderwebs, some sections of ground simply vanishing into darkness as the pocket dimension fragmented.

Another beast appeared at the portal's edge a Chitinous Behemoth, its armored form moving with desperate urgency that suggested it was fleeing the realm's destruction rather than hunting prey. It lunged at the threshold, and the moment its body touched the breach's event horizon, it dispersed. Chitin, flesh, essence everything broke apart into geometric fragments that scattered into nothing.

"At least the beasts can't cross," one guard observed, lowering his weapon slightly.

"Of course they can't cross!" Vex snapped, his professional frustration bleeding through. "The portal hasn't activated for bidirectional transit yet that takes seven days minimum for dimensional calibration! Right now it's still configured for one-way extraction, which is why anything trying to enter from the other side gets rejected at the threshold!"

"Then what's the problem?" Aldric demanded. "If nothing can come through, why the panic?"

"Because the portal won't close!" Vex's hands slammed against the array in pure frustration. "Every closure technique I attempt fails! Every pattern that should force this artificial dimensional collapse just... doesn't work! It's like something is actively preventing the breach from sealing, but I can't identify what!"

Captain Aldric's expression hardened as he processed the implications. "You're saying we have a artificial dimensional rift that we can't close, leading to a dimension rift, and we have no idea why it's staying open?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Vex slumped against the array, exhaustion and professional defeat written across his features. "I've studied dimensional theory for forty years. I've modeled every possible configuration, every known interference pattern. Nothing in the academic literature describes this kind of forced stabilization combined with rejected closure attempts."

"Could it be feedback from the realm's collapse?" one of the guards suggested. "Some kind of resonance effect?"

"No." Vex's voice carried absolute certainty born from decades of expertise. "Collapsing realms release dimensional energy, but that energy should accelerate portal closure, not prevent it. This is the opposite it's like something is deliberately holding the breach open against natural physics."

The implications settled over everyone like ice water.

"How long can we maintain a secure perimeter?" Aldric asked, his tactical mind shifting to containment protocols.

"Indefinitely, if we have to," one Master-ranked captain replied. "But that assumes the portal maintains its current properties. If whatever is keeping it open decides to change parameters, if it suddenly allows bidirectional transit "

"Then we'd have a direct invasion route from a hostile dimensional realm into the Academy's heart," Aldric finished grimly. "Understood. Double the guard rotation. No one approaches the portal without Master-rank escort."

Behind them, the doors to the medical wing opened and Professor Harold emerged, his face grave. "How bad is the situation?"

"We have a dimensional portal we can't close, leading to a realm that's actively collapsing, with no understanding of what's maintaining the breach," Aldric summarized with brutal efficiency. "How would you classify that?"

"Catastrophic." Harold's medical expertise gave him an uncomfortably clear picture of what could happen. "If the realm's collapse destabilizes the portal's properties, if it starts allowing transit before we can seal it "

"We're aware of the risks, Professor." Aldric's tone made clear he didn't need the worst-case scenarios spelled out. "What's the status of the rescued students?"

"Most are stable. Sarah Millbrook is critical but recovering. The soldier who took shadow-corruption is responding to treatment." Harold paused, his expression darkening. "But we need to move them away from the portal's vicinity. If the breach destabilizes unexpectedly, anyone within fifty meters would be a victim."

"Agreed. Begin emergency relocation "

"Sir!" One of the guards was pointing at the portal, his weapon raised. "Movement at the threshold!"

Everyone's attention snapped to the shimmering breach. Through the dying realm's crimson light, something was approaching the portal with staggering, exhausted movement.

Humanoid.

Not a beast.

"Possible survivor!" Aldric's tactical instincts engaged immediately. "All units, defensive positions! Do not assume friendly until confirmed!"

The figure drew closer, moving with the kind of determined desperation that came from pushing far beyond physical limits. Its silhouette was distinctly human two arms, two legs, proportions that matched Academy students rather than the twisted forms they'd seen in the corpse-field.

"It's going to try to cross," Vex warned, his academic knowledge providing grim context. "If it's human, if it still registers as originating from our dimension, the portal should allow transit. But if it's been corrupted, if its dimensional signature has been altered "

The figure reached the portal's event horizon and paused.

For one terrible moment, everyone held their breath, waiting to see if it would disperse like the beasts, waiting to learn if whatever approached was still human enough to cross.

Then it stepped through.

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