Serene's black energy field engulfed the entire clearing, muffling sound and warping the light itself.
The Boss, though physically standing right beside her, was psychologically worlds away, its murderous gaze locked onto Neve's clone — its one and only target in the universe.
— Do you want to keep going like this, Remedy? asked Serene, her voice echoing with eerie clarity within the silence of her own field.
In this world, if level represented capacity — the vessel — and training the content — the power that filled it — then combat experience was mastery: the art of knowing how, when, and where to pour that power.
Remedy was only Level 10. His vessel had barely grown, and he had not yet begun to fill it through training. His raw reserve of power was, in theory, limited.
But…
Not even feeling the weight of a one-ton hammer was no small feat. To achieve that, one would normally need absurd strength stats, a stratospheric level.
Yet Remedy wielded it.
That meant one thing: the weapon's « weight » was nullified for him by his power.
The consequence was terrifying — if he swung it at full speed, the kinetic energy produced would be that of a one-ton mass moving at the speed of a punch. A level of power simply unimaginable for someone at his level. No student in this dungeon — perhaps not even a professor — could take such a blow and remain standing.
If he didn't do it, if he fought « normally, »it was by choice.
To gain the combat experience he lacked.
To learn how to fight — not just how to hit.
Remedy exhaled slowly, absorbing the radical shift in the situation.
The duel was over.
The war had changed its nature.
He stood up, ignored the pain in his back, and pointed an accusing finger at Jett.
— Jett. We'll settle this later.
— What did you just say?
Remedy ignored him and walked toward Serene. As he passed Neve, he met her icy gaze.
— I don't know why you want to fight with such killing intent, he said, — but it won't be today.
For the heiress of a wealthy clan, the rewards of this competition were insignificant. In Neve's cold eyes, Remedy read only one thing: a pure, almost desperate desire to cross blades with someone who truly challenged her. Someone like him — someone who shattered all her expectations.
And his words had just postponed that satisfaction.
— I'll come back for you. Soon, Neve replied, her voice more a breath of frost than a whisper.
She activated her return scroll. White light enveloped her as her clone — still under the Boss's aggro — disintegrated into a fine, glittering frost dust. Faced with the chaos orchestrated by Serene and Remedy's deferred promise, she had no reason to stay.
One last exchange of looks — intense, heavy with meaning — with Serene.
Then she vanished.
Remedy blinked, unsettled.
Soon…?
What does she mean by soon?
The battlefield was theirs now.
The Boss.
Jett.
Marcus.
And Serene's black field.
— All right, Serene. Do it, Remedy ordered.
A nearly imperceptible nod was her only response.
Remedy wanted this fight. A real one. Against the Boss, without interference.
And Serene was about to give him that chance.
A point of light appeared above Remedy's head. Instantly, the dark spectral arrows circling above the Boss pivoted, designating this new target as the center of its universe.
— Stop! Jett shouted, bow still drawn. — Where do you think you're going? We're not done!
Remedy shot him a glance as he passed.
Tch… You really don't know when to back down.
— Your turn, Serene, he called over his shoulder. — And don't let them scrape even a single point.
Then he broke into a run, leaving the clearing and plunging deeper into the Heart Forest. The Boss roared, shaking the leaves as it charged after him, massive paws crushing the ground — guided solely by the black arrows pointing toward the moving target that was Remedy.
— Hey! I told you to stop! Jett began, ready to loose an arrow into Remedy's back.
But his words were drowned out by a new sound — a deep, multiplied rumble. Cracking branches. Harsh growls.
The surrounding monsters, drawn by the expanded reach of Serene's energy field, emerged from the undergrowth. Ten. Then twenty. They encircled the clearing, glowing eyes fixed not on Serene — but on Jett and Marcus.
Above each monster floated a smooth black sphere.
From every sphere, a spectral arrow pointed toward… the glowing points that had just appeared above Jett's and Marcus's heads.
[FORCED AGGRO]
Then something else manifested.
A second sphere — identical, but veined with sinister cracks — appeared above each of them.
[DEBUFF: COMBAT WILL −80%]
Jett immediately felt his muscles slacken, a heavy apathy seeping into his limbs. The desire to fight — even the anger that had kept him standing — evaporated like mist.
So that was your plan… he realized, struggling against the lethargy overtaking him.
She doesn't just want to weaken us. She wants to occupy us. Preserve us.
He couldn't use his return scroll. Not with Leo still unconscious at his feet, unable to activate his own. Abandoning a teammate wasn't an option.
But fighting?
With his will in tatters, against a boosted horde controlled by an invisible puppeteer…
He was trapped.
Not to be eliminated — but to be set aside.
Serene's empty gaze, watching them from the center of her black field, was silent confirmation.
The true duel — between Remedy and the Boss — could now begin, free of unwanted witnesses.
---
In the observation room, the silence was almost as thick as the black energy field on the screens.
The Director of Education, Mr. Stern, fingers interlaced beneath his chin, couldn't tear his eyes away from the main display. Serene's cold strategy. Remedy's brutal diversion. The elegant neutralization of Jett's team…
A faint smile — rare and genuine — touched his lips.
— Fascinating, he murmured to himself, his reflection overlapping with the dungeon footage on the glass. — Truly fascinating. This generation… it never stops surprising me.
Reflected in his pupils were the scenes unfolding: Remedy running through the forest with the Boss at his heels; Serene, an impassive statue at the center of her own chaos; Jett and Marcus, frozen in a deadlock of their own making.
One chapter had just closed.
Another — far more decisive — was about to begin.
Chapter 14 — End