I didn't sleep after that.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him—Maldrak—the Infinite Tyrant. His voice still echoed in my skull like molten chains.
But there was something else, too.
A pull.
The flame-mark on my chest—it pulsed like a second heart, drawing me toward something I couldn't understand. Something ancient. Hungry.
---
I returned to the village at dawn.
People froze when they saw me.
Eyes widened. Mothers pulled their children back. A man dropped his basket of wood. Another made a warding sign with his fingers.
I didn't blame them.
I probably looked like a ghost—mud-streaked, bloodied, and smiling like a madman.
"Kael?"
I turned.
Rui.
She stood at the edge of the well, her silver hair tousled, magic cloak slung over her shoulders. She was noble-born, trained in mana arts—and far out of place in a village like ours.
"I heard you were dead," she said softly.
"I was."
She frowned. "That's not funny."
"I'm not joking."
Before she could respond, Dein and Riva jogged up the road, breathless.
"Kael!" Riva gasped. "You're really back?"
"I saw smoke near the watchtower," Dein said. "Was that you? What happened?"
"I killed a Gravetooth Boar."
Dein blinked. "You what?"
I didn't repeat myself.
But before the shock could settle—
The ground trembled.
A distant crack echoed across the fields.
Then came the scream.
A villager ran from the western gate, bloodied and pale. "Dungeon break!" he shouted. "Something came out! Big—fast—monsters! They're—"
The rest was drowned out by the next quake.
---
The fields beyond the village ignited with chaos.
A Ravager Wyrm—a low-tier Dungeon creature, but massive and feral—had emerged from a rupture near the crops. Behind it, smaller monsters crawled and slithered, all from the Abyss Maw's corrupted edge.
Villagers ran. Hunters hadn't arrived yet. There was no time.
Riva turned pale. "We need help. I'll find a high-rank Hunter!"
She ran without hesitation.
Rui's hand crackled with blue mana. "We hold the line. Kael—stay back."
"No."
"What?"
"I'm not hiding again."
I stepped forward. My legs shook, but the flame mark surged—hot and hungry.
> [Warning: Dungeon Break Detected]
Threat Level: Moderate]
Entities: Ravager Wyrm + Spawnlings (x8)
The Ravager roared.
Rui cast a barrier. Dein drew a broken blade.
I moved beside them.
"Are you even armed?" Dein shouted.
I didn't answer.
The flame ignited in my palm.
> [Skill Activated: Soulflame Blade Lv.1]
A sword of dark violet fire burst to life in my hand.
Dein's eyes widened. Rui blinked, stunned.
"…What are you?"
"Someone who doesn't want to lose home again."
Then the monsters charged.
---
It was chaos.
Spawnlings flanked from the left—tiny but fast. Rui blasted two with a burst of lightning. Dein fought another, barely holding it back with his blade.
The Wyrm lunged.
I met it head-on.
The blade struck its side—not enough to kill, but enough to make it scream. It thrashed, knocking me back. My ribs cracked. Pain blurred my vision.
But I stood.
The mark flared brighter.
> [Trait Triggered: Undying Resilience Lv.1]
Reduced damage. Physical recovery accelerated.
I could barely breathe—but I moved.
Strike. Dodge. Burn.
The monsters fell, one by one.
> [Essence Absorbed: +11 XP | +13 XP | +19 XP...]
[Level Up: 4 → 5 → 6]
[Skill Progression: Soulflame Blade → Lv.2]
Rui collapsed beside me, spent.
Dein was bleeding, but alive.
And the Wyrm reared up for a final attack—
—just as a spear of golden light split the sky and pierced its skull.
The Wyrm dropped, dead.
A shadow landed behind us—tall, armored, and glowing with aura.
The high-rank Hunter Riva had fetched.
"…Well," the man said, examining us. "You three look like hell."
---
As the adrenaline faded and the village guards rushed in, I fell to my knees.
The flame on my chest still burned.
But for the first time—
We weren't running.
We stood. We fought.
And I felt it again…
The pull toward something greater.