The next morning felt different.
Coker didn't sleep much. He sat on the edge of his bed, staring at his hands like they belonged to someone else.
His body felt the same.
But his soul… didn't.
There was something there now.
A pressure.
A quiet heat.
Like fire hidden under ice.
"Coker, you okay?" Mina asked from the doorway.
He looked up and tried to smile. "Yeah. I just… I think I need some air."
She nodded. "Be back before lunch. And don't fall off the roof again."
"No promises."
He left the house, hands in his pockets, hood up. The village streets were quieter today, and people gave him looks—longer than usual.
Had they heard what happened yesterday?
He wasn't sure.
But he knew one thing—
He couldn't explain it.
Not yet.
He walked back to the training field.
Same trees. Same breeze. Same broken targets.
But the moment he stepped into the clearing, the wind stopped.
Like the world was waiting.
He stood in the center and closed his eyes.
The silence wrapped around him like a cloak.
His heartbeat slowed.
And then—
Thump.
The pressure returned.
Thump.
He clenched his fists. This time, he didn't fight it.
He let it rise.
His body shook, just a little. A strange warmth spread from his chest to his arms, down to his legs.
He opened his eyes—
And saw it.
A faint red symbol, glowing in the center of his palm.
A mark. But not like any rank symbol he'd ever seen.
It wasn't a letter.
It wasn't a magic seal.
It was a jagged, ancient shape—like a broken crown surrounded by thorns.
It pulsed softly. Alive.
"What... is this?" he whispered.
He reached out, and the symbol flickered, then vanished.
Gone. Just like that.
Suddenly, footsteps rushed through the trees.
He turned sharply—ready to run or fight.
But it wasn't Drell.
It was someone else.
A girl with short silver hair, a long black coat, and two glowing daggers at her waist.
She looked about his age, but her eyes were sharp. Serious.
And she stared at him like she already knew him.
"You're late," she said.
Coker blinked. "Huh?"
The girl walked closer, not scared at all. "The mark has appeared. You're the vessel. Right?"
He stepped back. "What are you talking about? Who are you?"
She didn't answer right away. She looked at his hand. "You really don't know anything?"
"No."
She sighed. "Of course. Figures they wouldn't tell you."
Coker frowned. "They?"
The girl looked him dead in the eyes.
"You're not just rankless.
You're the last God Vessel."
The wind blew hard again.
The trees bent.
Coker stared at her, confused.
"What the hell is a God Vessel?"
But before she could answer, a shadow passed over them.
Something landed in the field behind her with a loud thud.
Coker's heart dropped.
It was tall. Too tall. Its skin was gray, its eyes glowing red. Horns twisted from its skull like roots from a dying tree.
A demon.
Not just any demon—a real one.
Not a story. Not a rumor.
Right in front of him.
The girl drew her daggers. They glowed with pale blue light.
"Stay back," she said.
Coker couldn't move. His body was frozen.
The demon opened its mouth, voice like gravel:
"The vessel… must die…"