Limit

Chapter 18 .O.

"What is that?" Maddie asked, her voice trembling.

"Our class is in there. What should we do?" Ab added, worry clear in his tone.

"Why did the gate suddenly change?" Scarlet muttered, her eyes wide with fear.

The kid with glasses, the only one who stayed behind with us, dropped to the ground, tears streaming down his face. He told us he had the Limit to sense the strength of monsters, and whatever was inside that gate was unreadable. Worse, he said we had the strongest numbers in our class. Under normal circumstances, we might have doubted him, but the crushing pressure seeping through the portal left no room for skepticism. We tried to calm him down, but he kept shouting that our classmates were walking into a slaughter. We needed to run.

"We can't just leave them in there!" I snapped, anger surging through me.

"But if we go in there, we won't survive either," the student muttered, barely above a whisper.

"We're some of the strongest in our class. You checked for yourself. They're doomed if we don't help," Scarlet said, her voice shaking. Her pale face betrayed her reluctance—she was as scared as the rest of us but knew we couldn't just stand by.

"It's fine, I'll go. You guys stay here. Call the school and the local Restrictors," I said, steeling myself.

"You can't go alone. I don't mean to be harsh, but you won't make much of a difference," Maddie added, her tone soft but firm.

"It's fine. I haven't been completely honest about my Limit. If it comes to it, I'll use my full strength," I replied before sprinting toward the gate.

"WAIT!" they all shouted in unison.

To my surprise, they all agreed to go in with me. Together, we took a huge step forward, knowing that if our worst fears were true, this could very well be our end. As soon as we passed through the gate, we stumbled upon the rest of the class. But what we saw on the other side took our breath away. Unlike the ominous aura outside, the inside was eerily beautiful—a massive floating garden, suspended in space, with vibrant colors and peaceful surroundings.

"Mr. Edge, we have to leave!" Maddie shouted.

"What do you mean? If you were scared, you should've stayed behind," Mr. Edge replied dismissively.

"That's not it. The gate changed color after the class entered, which means this is a False Gate," Scarlet said, her fists clenched. Despite her panic, she couldn't stop glancing around, trying to make sense of the beautiful yet deceptive landscape.

"Four-eyes said the monsters here are immeasurable. This gate could be at least a level one," Cole added, his voice tight with anxiety.

Mr. Edge burst out laughing. "Oh, come on. A False Gate? That's just a myth, it's never happened. You kids read too much! And super-powerful beasts? We haven't even found a single one yet!"

"Please, sir, can we leave? I'm begging you," I pleaded, dropping to my knees, my forehead hitting the ground.

The surroundings may have confused everyone else, but my dragon senses were screaming. Something in this place was powerful—far more than Kendrick or Arthur—and it wasn't the peaceful landscape that made my instincts go haywire. It was something darker, lurking just beyond sight, and it wanted us to stay. All I wanted to do was run.

Seeing my desperation, the rest of the class started to believe us. Slowly, the same fear that had gripped us began to take hold of them. The uneasy murmurs grew louder as more students recognized the danger.

"Alright, alright! I'll use the Take-Back Crystal. But don't worry, I'll find another gate nearby that we can explore," Mr. Edge said, smiling, as he smashed the crystal in his hand.

A massive gate opened, and without hesitation, we all rushed through it, hoping to escape. But as we stepped forward, it was like walking through a door, not back home but deeper into the same world.

"Well, this is unusual," Mr. Edge muttered as he realized we hadn't returned to safety.

"This isn't funny, sir! Stop messing around and use the crystal again!" Maddie yelled, panic creeping into her voice.

"I'm not messing around—" Mr. Edge began but fell silent as the ground beneath us started to vibrate.

The glossy green grass shimmered, and the landscape began to shift. Trees erupted from the ground, and the earth itself split and rearranged, like a puzzle being torn apart. In a violent upheaval, the floating garden separated into five enormous islands, drifting in the void of space. Then, in the distance, a blood-red gate materialized before us.

"Sir, is that the way back home?" Dom asked, his voice shaky.

"Maybe... In truth, I've never used one of these before," Mr. Edge admitted, his casual tone doing nothing to ease the tension.

Cautiously, he approached the red gate. As he neared, a massive, clawed hand shot out, grabbing him by the face and lifting him off the ground. Emerging from the gate was a towering wolf-like creature, easily twelve feet tall. It tossed Mr. Edge effortlessly to the far end of the island. The class gasped, instinctively stepping back into a defensive formation, but before we could react, five more wolves stepped through the gate.

Mr. Edge's laugh echoed across the battlefield. "Finally! I thought we were going back empty-handed! These dogs are what you were scared of, Kai?" He appeared in front of the first wolf in an instant, his hand morphing into a blade as he drove it straight through the creature's skull. The wolf collapsed, defeated without much effort. The rest of the class, emboldened by Mr. Edge's display, joined in the fight, their fear temporarily quelled.

But for those of us who had seen the gate change, hope was a fragile thing. Especially for me. I could still sense the danger, but it wasn't coming from these wolves. In fact, I couldn't even sense the wolves at all.

"What should we do, Kai?" Maddie asked, her eyes wide with concern.

"Why are you asking me?" I replied, trying to keep my voice steady.

"Because I can practically feel what you're feeling, and it's freaking me out," she said, her voice trembling.

"Kai, what do you sense?" Scarlet asked, her eyes darting around.

"There's something in this gate—something far stronger than these wolves. My instincts aren't telling me to fight it. They're telling me to run," I confessed.

"What do you mean by that?" Ab asked, his brow furrowed.

"He means we shouldn't be worrying about these wolves when there's something hundreds of times stronger waiting for us," Cole said, stepping closer, his expression grim.

I swallowed hard and nodded. "Exactly."