Ziraiah's body shook with silent sobs, her screams muffled against Eryndor's palm as he forced her face away from the gruesome sight. Blood pooled beneath Silvie's body, her lifeless form slumped against the glowing boulder, the gaping wound where her face had been still steaming in the cold air.
Valerius stood frozen, his breath caught in his throat. Words failed him. His mind refused to process what his eyes had just witnessed.
Beily felt it before he saw it—the moment Silvie's presence vanished from the world. His legs moved before his mind could catch up, carrying him toward her broken form. He fell to his knees before her, his voice a broken whisper.
"No... Silvie..."
Erydnor and Valerius turned to him, their own grief mirrored in Beily's hollow eyes.
Jeriana's magic surged, her senses reaching out—searching. The moment she felt Silvie's extinguished life force and saw Beily kneeling before her, a memory flashed in her mind.
---
Two Weeks Earlier – Black March Hideout
Beily strode in, grinning, Silvie tucked under his arm like a curious treasure.
"Hey Jeriana, look what I found!" he announced, shaking Silvie lightly. "An Earther! I've never seen one before. Can I keep her?"
Jeriana arched a brow. "You're not going to—"
"Come on, Jeriana," Beily cut in, rolling his eyes. "I'm not like Alcoos. I just find her fascinating."
Silvie had blinked up at him, confused but unharmed.
---
Back to the Present
Jeriana's breath hitched. "Oh, Beily..."
Then her sorrow twisted into fury.
The invisible chains binding the hooded man glowed red-hot, searing the air around them. The man, still holding Anuel by the face, tilted his head at Jeriana.
"Are you angry I killed the human?" he mused. "They arrived not long ago. Surely you couldn't have gotten that close in such a short time."
Jeriana didn't answer. Instead, she summoned her lion spirit—a massive, spectral beast that materialized beside her. But as it locked eyes with the man, it hesitated. Then, to her shock, it took a step back.
"Let go," Jeriana snarled, her voice trembling with rage, "or I will burn you to ash."
The man sighed. "I should erase this ruin, but I have some curiosities to satisfy. I'm also not fond of hurting women. But I have to do my job. I'm in quite the dile—"
BOOM.
A fist collided with the man's face with enough force to shatter mountains.
Omfry.
At the same time, his other hand snatched Anuel's head, shielding her from the backlash of his own strike. The man's grip on her broke as he was sent flying—his body carving a path through the landscape, obliterating walls and boulders in his wake.
The shockwave that followed was catastrophic.
The ground split open, a massive crater forming beneath Omfry's feet. Trees were uprooted, rocks were hurled like pebbles in a storm, and the very air trembled from the force.
The boulder Valerius and his siblings had been leaning against was ripped from the ground, sent spinning through the air at terrifying speed. Beily barely dodged in time, his instincts saving him—but the others weren't so lucky.
Valerius, Erydnor, and Ziraiah were plastered against the boulder like insects caught in a hurricane, their bodies crushed against the stone as it tumbled across the battlefield.
By the time Beily regained his senses, it was too late.
The boulder had crashed into a horde of dangerous beasts, its momentum finally spent.
Beily's grief turned to horror.
He hadn't saved them.
Jeriana's magic shattered as the shockwave struck her, hurling her body across the battlefield like a ragdoll. She crashed through the terrain, tumbling violently before finally skidding to a stop, her body aching from the impact.
Near Lisa, Daiel—who had been safely encased in his barrier this entire time—wasn't so lucky. The force of Omfry's punch sent his protective sphere flying, bouncing across the torn landscape like a pebble skipping over water. When he finally came to rest, he groaned, dazed.
"Hey, Lisa!" he shouted, annoyed. "Don't forget about me, I'm right here!"
Before he could recover, the ground trembled. A massive beast loomed over him—eight legs, a grotesque vertical mouth splitting its body in half. It leaned in, jaws widening, ready to swallow the barrier whole.
Daiel's eyes widened. "No no no, I'm not dying here!"
Desperate, he tried to open a portal inside the barrier. His hands trembled as he strained, sweat beading on his forehead. "Come on... come on...!"
A flicker of light appeared—but the portal was too small.
"Damn my stupid stamina!"he growled, pushing harder. With a final surge of effort, he barely managed to widen it just enough to squeeze through. He dove in headfirst, the portal snapping shut behind him just as the beast's maw closed around the empty barrier.
But his relief was short-lived.
He emerged on the other side—only to find himself surrounded by towering beasts, their glowing eyes fixed on him.
"...Oh, you've got to be kidding me."
---
Miles away, the hooded man lay on his back in a crater, staring up at the sky.
Completely unharmed.
His thoughts were calm, almost bored.
"Hmm. He's weaker than I thought."
With effortless grace, he sat up, then stood, dusting himself off as if he'd merely tripped.
---
Meanwhile, Omfry turned to Anuel, his grip still firm on her.
"Where is Daiel? We have to leave. Is he good to go?"
Anuel shot him a sharp look. "He was with Lisa, but you just blew everyone away!"
Omfry smirked. "Is that the thanks I get for saving your life?"
Anuel's eyes flickered over him—his battered body, the blood staining his clothes, the wild look in his eyes.
"You look like shit, Omfry."
He grinned, flashing bloodstained teeth.
"Thanks."
Omfry's senses sharpened as he locked onto Daiel's presence. "Found him. He's about to be beast food."
Anuel leaned against Omfry's chest, her voice breaking. "Spencer and Alcoos—"
Omfry cut her off, gripping her head firmly. "I know. You don't need to say it." He pushed her away gently, his hands slick with blood. "I'm kind of bloody... all over."
His grip tightened on her shoulder, his voice low and urgent. "Listen, we have to find the others and leave this place, now. That man earlier... he's stronger than me."
Anuel's eyes widened. "What? Stronger than you?"
Omfry's jaw clenched. "There are a whole lot of people stronger than me Anuel, you just haven't come across them yet. one of them just came here. And that's bad. Really bad. Let's go."
They bolted.
Omfry barked orders as they moved. "You go get those elvheins and meet me. I'll get the others."
With that, they split.
---
Omfry blurred past Daiel—and in an instant, the surrounding beasts collapsed, sliced apart before they could react.
Daiel blinked, stunned. "What...?"He spun around, bewildered. "What just happened?"
Then—Lisa appeared right in front of him.
Daiel yelped, jumping back. "Lisa! Don't do that! Since when could you use teleportation magic?"
Lisa frowned. "I can't."
Daiel's voice pitched higher. "Then how'd you just appear out of nowhere?"
Lisa shrugged. "I don't know."
Before they could argue further, Jeriana popped into existence beside them, startling them both.
Daiel threw his hands up. "What is going on here?!"
One by one, the rest of the Black March began appearing—each arrival marked by a sonic boom and a gust of wind.
---
Anuel reached the crater where Valerius and his siblings lay buried. Eryndor, his helmet shattered, heaved the massive house sized boulder off himself with a roar, tossing it aside. Beneath it, Valerius and Ziraiah lay motionless.
Without hesitation, Anuel snatched them up and raced back to Daiel's location, then returned for Eryndor.
Meanwhile, in a nearby hole, a massive hand yanked Gustein out like a sack of grain. Omfry's arms were scratched and bleeding, but his grip was iron.
"Heal me. And be quick."
Gustein hesitated—until Omfry's voice dropped to a dangerous growl. "I'm not playing with you. Heal me. Or else."
Gustein pressed a hand to Omfry's chest, his power flowing. Omfry inhaled sharply as his wounds knit together.
"Much better."
Then he vanished with Gustein, reappearing beside Daiel in an instant.
---
Far away…
Anisa, Lizzy, and Eliana reached their destination.
Eliana turned to her father. "Father!"
King Gozay stepped forward. "Eliana…"
He embraced her tightly.
"Thank the heavens," he whispered, still holding her close.
While still embracing his daughter, Gozay looked up at Lizzy and Anisa. His voice was solemn.
"You have my gratitude."
Maloi approached, eyes sharp. "How did you find her?"
Lizzy replied, "Fenry found her. We've got him to thank. Getting her back wasn't easy."
She paused. Her voice fell quiet.
"We lost Elvis."
Maloi blinked. "What? What do you mean we lost Elvis?"
Anisa cut in flatly. "It means he's gone, Maloi. Elvis is gone."
She walked forward slowly and sat on a nearby rock, dust trailing from her cloak.
King Gozay followed her and knelt beside her, gently taking her hand.
"Tell me what transpired," he said.
Anisa lowered her gaze. "We found the princess with the Unbound. But there was a very powerful Dragoon with them. If we wanted any chance of saving her… we had to take him down."
She exhaled. "We combined our strength. Then Elvis arrived and helped. All of it—everything—and the Dragoon still survived."
Her hands trembled slightly.
"He killed Elvis. Started chasing us. He was gaining on us fast, but… something happened. He just stopped. And that's how we made it here."
King Gozay bowed his head.
"Elvis… will not be forgotten."
‐--
Omfry's voice was a whip-crack. "You better have that portal ready, Daiel."
Daiel swallowed hard. "Uh, you see, the thing is—"
Omfry was suddenly nose-to-nose with him, his presence suffocating. "What? What is the problem? You've had enough time to recover. I want no excuses. Open the portal... now."
Daiel flinched but obeyed, straining as the portal flickered to life. It grew—then stalled, barely large enough for Valerius and his sister to pass through.
Omfry's patience snapped. "What is that? You expect us to fit through that?!"
Daiel yelled back, frustration boiling over. "I'm trying!"
Omfry's roar shook the air. "We don't have time!"
Daiel's voice cracked. "It was you who told me to send those treasures to the hideout! You know the further I send things, the harder it gets! Four times—that's how many portals I've opened already!"
Jeriana stepped forward, her voice cutting through the tension. "That's enough. Omfry, cut him some slack. We can make it out of this—I'm sure someone here has stamina-restoring potions. Use your insane perception to find one."
Omfry growled in frustration. "That's not how it works. I don't know what this potion is like, what container they're in—I can't find something I've never sensed before."
Lisa interjected, her tone sharp with urgency. "Then we find a return scroll. There's no way all of these people entered a ruin without one."
Beily scoffed. "Look at us—we didn't bring one."
Lisa shot him a glare. "That's because Daiel was our ticket home." She turned to Omfry, her voice lowering. "You know what a return scroll looks like, don't you?"
Omfry gave a terse nod. "Yes."
Lisa's eyes hardened. "Good. Now let's find one."
Then—
A voice thundered across the battlefield, shaking the very air.
"PROSTRATE YOURSELVES."
The command was absolute.
In an instant, every one of them collapsed to their knees, an invisible force crushing them into submission. Omfry snarled, muscles straining—but he couldn't rise.
Ziraiah's voice trembled. "Val… I can't get up."
Valerius gritted his teeth. "Me neither. What, is this?"
Jeriana's mind raced. What kind of magic is this?
Eryndor's thoughts were darker. Have my legs forsaken me?
Then—footsteps. Slow, deliberate, echoing like a death knell.
Valerius forced his head up—and saw him.
The hooded man.
Draped in a black trench coat, he walked toward them with chilling calm, each step measured, each breath steady. Omfry's eyes widened. How did I not feel his presence?!
Omfry's fingers twitched, his arm straightening for an attack—
The voice came again, colder this time.
"STAY... YOUR HANDS."
Omfry's body locked. His arms refused to move. His veins burned with the effort, but it was useless.
"What?!" Omfry snarled. "What sorcery is this?! He's a Bravo wielder—how can he use magic?!"
The man stopped in front of Omfry.
Looked down.
And smirked.
Then, with infuriating leisure, he stepped past him. Past Lisa. Past Jeriana. Past Beily.
Until he stood before Valerius.
The siblings froze.
The man loomed over them, his presence suffocating. Valerius's breath came in short, ragged bursts. Fear—real, primal fear—clawed at his chest.
Ziraiah and Eryndor were no better. Their bodies locked in terror, their minds screaming one truth:
Move, and you die.
The man's hands remained in his pockets as his gaze swept over them—first Valerius, then Ziraiah, then Eryndor.
Not a word.
Not a blink.
Just the silent, crushing weight of a predator toying with its prey.
And in that moment, they understood—
They were not warriors here.
Not fighters.
Not even victims.
They were nothing.
And he was everything.
To Be Continued...