The mountain pass was a narrow, jagged wound in the earth, where the wind screamed through the crevices like a dying beast. Ren moved with a predatory stillness, his boots crunching softly on the frozen shale. He was five days into his journey toward the Demon Lord's border, and the air had changed. It was no longer just cold; it was thick with the scent of ozone and the heavy, burning pressure of high-level mana.
He stopped, his hand going to the hilt of a rusted dagger he had scavenged. He didn't need the blade for combat, but it was a useful conductor for his Siphon Aura.
[Warning: Multiple High-Density Mana Signatures Detected.]
[Distance: 500 Meters. Alignment: Hostile.]
Ren pulled his hood lower, the bark mask casting a long, jagged shadow over his chest. He didn't run. He didn't hide. He simply stood in the center of the path, waiting. He had known this moment was coming. The King wouldn't let a "Defect" roam free, especially one that was growing faster than his chosen legends.
Through the mountain mist, four figures emerged. They weren't soldiers in heavy iron; they were elite. At the front was Kaito, his crimson and gold cape fluttering violently in the wind. Beside him stood Lucas and Riven, along with a squad of six Royal Knights.
Kaito looked different. His eyes were brighter, burning with an unnatural orange light, and his skin seemed to radiate a constant, shimmering heat. He held a spear made of dragon-glass that hummed with the power of a volcanic eruption.
"Stop right there, sorcerer!" Kaito shouted, his voice booming across the canyon. He didn't recognize Ren. To him, the figure in the mask was just a "Dark Mage" the King had ordered him to execute. "You've been terrorizing the northern villages and stealing the Crown's resources. By order of the King, your life ends here."
Ren remained silent. He watched Kaito—the boy who had made his life a living hell in high school, the boy who had laughed when Ren was thrown into the mud. Seeing him now, draped in the finery of a "Hero," Ren felt a strange sense of pity. Kaito was still a puppet, just on a grander stage.
"Not much of a talker, are you?" Lucas sneered, stepping forward. He flicked his wrist, and a blade of compressed air sliced through the mist, narrowly missing Ren's shoulder. "We heard you were some kind of ghost. You look like a beggar in a mask to me."
"Kaito," Ren said. His voice was distorted by the mask—deep, hollow, and vibrating with the power of the Void.
Kaito froze. His grip on the spear tightened. "How do you know my name?"
"The King sent you to kill a ghost," Ren continued, his voice echoing off the canyon walls. "But he didn't tell you why. He didn't tell you that the 'Ghost' is the only one who knows how to get you home."
Kaito let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "Home? Why would I want to go back to being a student when I can be a god? This world belongs to the strong. And you... you're just another monster for me to slay."
Kaito leveled his spear. "Fire Pulse!"
A wave of concentrated heat erupted from the dragon-glass tip. It wasn't a simple flame; it was a beam of white-hot plasma that melted the very stones in its path. The knights stepped back, shielded by the sheer intensity of the attack.
Ren didn't move. He didn't dodge.
[Skill Activated: Void Consumption (Level 3)]
As the fire hit him, the world seemed to turn into a negative photograph. The white-hot beam didn't explode against Ren's chest. It hit an invisible, swirling vortex. The flames began to spiral inward, shrinking and compacting until they were sucked into Ren's open palm.
The silence that followed was deafening. The smell of scorched earth filled the air, but Ren stood untouched, his hand glowing with a faint, orange heat that was rapidly fading.
[Mana Absorbed: +800]
[Current Power Level: 4,300]
Kaito's jaw dropped. "That... that's impossible. My power level is nearly 6,000! Nothing can just absorb my fire!"
"Is that what the King told you?" Ren asked, taking a step forward. "That you were invincible?"
"Shut up!" Kaito roared. He turned to Lucas and Riven. "Attack him! All at once!"
Lucas summoned a cyclone of air blades, while Riven launched a volley of high-pressure water spears. The Royal Knights charged with enchanted steel. It was a coordinated strike designed to kill a high-ranking Demon General.
Ren closed his eyes for a fraction of a second.
[Skill Activated: Siphon Aura]
A dome of translucent black energy erupted from Ren's body. It didn't push the attacks away; it pulled the magic out of them. The air blades dissipated into a gentle breeze. The water spears turned into harmless mist. Even the enchantments on the knights' swords flickered and died, the steel becoming heavy and dull.
The knights stumbled, their strength suddenly drained. They fell to their knees, gasping for air as the "Void" began to tug at their own internal mana.
Ren moved. He was a blur of grey and black. He didn't use a weapon. He moved past the knights, his hands tapping their chests lightly, leaving them unconscious in his wake. He reached Lucas and Riven before they could even blink.
With a swift movement, he grabbed both of them by the throat.
[Mana Devouring in Progress...]
"Wait! Stop!" Lucas choked out, his face turning pale. "Ren? Is that... is that you?"
The recognition hit them like a physical blow. Even through the mask, the way Ren moved—the quiet, steady intensity—was unmistakable.
Ren let go, pushing them back. They collapsed into the snow, shivering as their power levels plummeted. He didn't want to kill them. He wasn't like them. He just needed to clear the path.
Finally, he turned to Kaito.
The "Hero" was trembling. His spear was shaking in his hands. He looked at his friends on the ground, then at the masked figure who had just dismantled an elite squad in seconds.
"You... you were a Null," Kaito whispered, his voice cracking. "You were 120. I saw the stone! It's not fair! I'm the hero! I'm the one who was chosen!"
Ren walked up to him until the tip of Kaito's spear was pressing against his chest. Ren didn't even flinch. He reached out and wrapped his fingers around the dragon-glass blade.
"The stone measures what you can give to the world, Kaito," Ren said. "It doesn't measure what you can take."
With a sudden, violent surge of the Void, Ren shattered the spear. The dragon-glass exploded into a thousand harmless shards, and the massive reservoir of fire mana stored inside it rushed into Ren's body.
[Mana Absorbed: +1,500!]
[Total Power Level: 5,800]
The backlash sent Kaito flying backward. He hit a rock wall and slumped down, his glowing eyes dimming back to their natural brown. He wasn't dead, but his "Hero" power had been stripped away, leaving him as weak as he had been on Earth.
Ren stood over him, the mountain wind whipping his cloak. He looked down at the boy who had once been his greatest nightmare.
"The King is lying to you," Ren said. "There is a way home. But you'll never find it as long as you're his slave. Stop following his orders, Kaito. Go back to the villages. Actually help someone for once."
Ren turned away, looking toward the dark horizon where the Demon Lord's castle sat amidst a sea of purple clouds.
"Ren!" Kaito called out, his voice weak and desperate. "Why... why aren't you killing us? We treated you like trash. You have every reason to end us right here."
Ren stopped. He didn't look back.
"Because I'm going home," Ren said. "And I don't want to bring any of this world's blood back with me. I'm done being who you think I am."
Ren vanished into the mist, his Hollow Step making him a shadow once more.
Behind him, Kaito sat in the snow, surrounded by his defeated friends. The "Hero" was gone. There was only a scared teenager left. He looked at his empty hands, then at the path Ren had taken. For the first time in his life, Kaito didn't feel like a king. He felt like a fool.
Meanwhile, Ren's status window flickered in the darkness.
[Current Power Level: 5,800]
[Objective: Reach the Demon Lord's Territory (15% Travelled)]
[New Title Progress: The Unknown Lord (Level 2 - Known by the Chosen)]
Ren's heart was steady. He had crossed the first major hurdle. He hadn't let revenge slow him down. He had faced his past and walked away from it. Now, there was only the future—and the million points of power he needed to break the sky and go home.