Chapter 10: The City Gate Breach (The Necessary Savior)
[The Race Against the Light]
The Central Commercial District of Seoul was in chaos. The C-Rank Gate Breach—an anomaly usually contained within the first hour—had escalated rapidly. The initial Canyon Scorpions and Mana Beasts pouring through the shimmering blue tear in reality were quickly followed by the true threat: the Contagion Spores, airborne parasites that turned civilians into frantic, aggressive husks.
Panic seized the streets. Local E-Rank security teams were being overwhelmed, and the Stellar Halo's primary response team (B-Rank) was still minutes away due to the immense traffic caused by the mass evacuation.
Rudraunsh, cloaked and moving with unnatural speed, burst onto the scene just as the first few contaminated civilians began lunging at the terrified crowd. He was focused, energized by the massive mana surge from his near-full core.
"Sera, establish remote surveillance. Do not engage," Rudraunsh instructed through the burner phone.
"I have eyes on the sector. The Stellar Halo main force is five minutes out. You have to be quick," Sera's voice was tight with urgency. "Rudraunsh, this is your first time using the Steelbone Warriors in public. Control the narrative. You are the shadow who saves the city."
Rudraunsh didn't reply. He stopped at the edge of the breach zone—a main intersection now choked with abandoned vehicles. He reached deep into the Immortal Sepulchre.
Summon, sustain, dominate.
With a silent, cold surge of Undying Authority mana, the two Steelbone Warriors materialized instantly beside him. The obsidian figures were heavy, dense, and radiated a pure, terrifying cold that seemed to suck the warmth from the air.
[The Dance of the Undying]
The two Steelbone Warriors charged directly toward the Gate, ignoring the panicked, contaminated civilians who now turned their vacant eyes toward the dark summons.
The civilians, infected by the Contagion Spores, swarmed the Warriors. They were strong, driven by biological rage, and clawed at the obsidian armor. The Warriors didn't bother to fight them. They were merely obstacles.
Rudraunsh had a singular goal: eliminate the Source Beast that was holding the C-Rank Gate open.
"Formation Gamma," Rudraunsh commanded telepathically.
The two Warriors split. Warrior One engaged the immediate threat, allowing the contaminated civilians to swarm it. Knives, fists, and random projectiles struck the obsidian armor with sickening force, but the Undying Authority pulsed. Every piece of fractured bone instantly, perfectly reformed. It was a terrifying spectacle of absolute resilience.
Warrior Two cut a direct path through the chaos, sprinting toward the shimmering blue tear.
The Stellar Halo security detail, huddled behind a police barricade, watched in disbelief. They saw a Dark Mage's summons, but instead of attacking the civilians, they were creating a defensive, immortal barrier—a black wall that simply would not break.
[Confronting the Source]
Warrior Two reached the Gate and plunged through, into the mana-choked dimension. Rudraunsh's mind followed it, navigating the dense, purple atmosphere of the C-Rank dungeon.
The Source Beast was a Canyon Colossus—a massive, chitinous scorpion three times the size of a car, its tail pumping out the toxic Contagion Spores.
The Colossus immediately swung its massive pincer, striking the Steelbone Warrior with enough force to shatter stone.
CRACK!
The Warrior's arm was severed at the elbow, and it was thrown backward. The pain registered in Rudraunsh's mind as a sharp, distant pull on his mana core.
But before the Warrior even hit the ground, the arm reformed, and it was back on its feet. The Undying Authority held true.
The key to killing a Colossus was always the soft underside of its jaw. The Warrior, now fighting with the perfect, tireless efficiency of a machine, ignored the crushing claws. It allowed itself to be pinned, using its immortal body as a wedge, forcing the Colossus's head up. The moment the soft jaw was exposed, the Warrior drove its spear-like bone spike—hardened by the Ossuary Fragment—upward.
The hit was perfect. The Canyon Colossus roared once, a sound of agony and shock, before dissolving into a cloud of shimmering purple dust and a single, glowing C-Rank Mana Stone.
The C-Rank Gate, now unsupported, began to collapse inward.
[The Vanishing Act]
In the Seoul intersection, the Gate was imploding, sucking in the remaining purple energy and forcing the contaminated civilians back into a state of stunned confusion as the Contagion Spores were drawn back into the vanishing vortex.
The collapse of the Gate happened just as the Stellar Halo main response team—clad in gleaming white B-Rank armor and led by a stern-faced B-Rank Paladin—screamed into the district.
The Paladin, Captain Jin, saw the aftermath: the Gate was closing, the contamination was receding, and the civilians were recovering. But he also saw the final, unforgivable sight: the second, towering black figure, the Steelbone Warrior, standing amidst the debris.
"Black Magic! Neutralize the Necromancer!" Captain Jin bellowed, raising his light-imbued sword.
Rudraunsh, standing in the shadows behind a crashed bus, felt the sharp, powerful Light Mana focused entirely on his Warrior. He knew this B-Rank Paladin could inflict meaningful, continuous damage that the Undying Authority might struggle to repair rapidly.
His mission was over. He had saved the city, proved his necessary utility, and now had to disappear before the Light could touch him.
He slammed his mental will down.
Return.
In a single, violent flash of indigo, both Steelbone Warriors—Warrior One having just shrugged off a final barrage of attacks from the confused civilians—vanished, leaving behind only the residual scent of ancient bone and earth.
The B-Rank Paladin's light sword swung through empty air.
[The Outcast Savior]
Captain Jin stared at the spot where the dark figures had stood. The Gate was gone. The city was saved. But the savior was an unclassified, forbidden entity.
"Scan the area!" Captain Jin roared at his team. "Find the source of that Necrotic Trace! We cannot allow a dark entity to claim credit for saving Seoul!"
But Rudraunsh was already gone, racing back to the safe house, the C-Rank Mana Stone from the Colossus now safely tucked into his coat pocket—massive fuel for his next evolution.
Back in the secure apartment, Sera watched the live broadcast, her eyes wide as she saw the furious, confused faces of the Stellar Halo team.
She looked up as Rudraunsh entered, his dark cloak dusty and his face pale with exhaustion from the massive mana drain.
"You did it," she whispered, her voice filled with awe and the first true hint of worship. "You saved the city and vanished before the B-Ranks could even arrive. You left them with nothing but rumors of the Black Sentinel."
Rudraunsh sank onto the nearest couch, exhausted but satisfied. He had forced the world to acknowledge his power, even if they couldn't name it.
"The public saw the fear on the faces of the contaminated," Rudraunsh said, closing his eyes. "And they saw the one thing that stood against it, the thing that would not break."
He opened his eyes, meeting Sera's gaze. The cold, analytical alliance was now forged in the fire of shared survival.
"Phase 1 is complete, Sera. They know the shadow exists. Now, we build the Immortal Sepulchre."