One hour before the Rating Game begins, the Occult Research Club prepares to depart from the old school building.
Ryusei stands just outside, hands in her pockets, watching them with a calm expression.
"Good luck out there. Make it count," she says with a small smile.
Rias walks past her, stopping briefly to grip her hand gently.
"You've already helped more than enough. Thank you, Ryusei."
As the group vanishes into their teleportation circle, Ryusei turns, walking away.
Ryusei retreats into the dense woods, far from prying eyes and the world's noise. The silence helps her think clearly.
She finds a clearing.
"Every time I've summoned an Instance Dungeon, something changes."
She remembers the battle with the Giant Arachnid, the betrayal by the Lizards, and her first Job Change Quest.
She exhales deeply and activates the Job Change Request.
Suddenly, the world shifts.
A massive gate of swirling purple lightning rips open in front of her, humming with unstable energy.
Before entering, a thought hits her.
"Damn. I forgot to do my Daily Quest."
She shrugs.
"Screw it. I'll do it after."
With Charcadet following, she steps through.
The moment she enters, the world turns dim and oppressive, like a forgotten castle buried deep beneath the earth.
A System Notification flashes across her vision:
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[WARNING: You cannot use Potions or the Store in this Instance.]
[Level-Up stat restoration is disabled. Exit is unavailable until quest completion.]
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"Great. Hardcore mode," Ryusei mutters under her breath.
Charcadet clings to her back, tense but alert.
Suddenly, distant metallic thuds reverberate through the walls. The air shifts. Ryusei draws her blade and drops into a stance.
Out of the darkness, a towering armored knight rushes at her with shocking speed—its blade arcing down with weight and fury. Sparks fly as Ryusei parries, feet skidding on the stone floor.
"Charcadet—go! Ember, now!"
Charcadet leaps from her shoulder, launching a burst of fire that engulfs the knight's cape. The armor glows red-hot. Ryusei ducks low and sweeps with her venom-coated blade, slicing at the exposed joints. The knight staggers.
Charcadet unleashes another Ember, this time directly into the visor.
The knight's armor crumbles with a clang, its corrupted soul dispersing into smoke.
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[You have defeated: Hollow Knight]
[Charcadet has leveled up to Lv. 5!]
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Ryusei's eyes widen.
"Wait—he can level up too?"
She quickly pulls up Charcadet's status screen:
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[Name:] Charcadet
[Level:] 5
[Type:] Fire
[Bonded Familiar – Unique]
[HP: 180 / 180]
[Attack: 41]
[Defense: 38]
[Speed: 34]
[Abilities:] Ember (Lv. 2),
Flame Body (Passive) – Chance to burn attackers on contact, Familiar Bond (Passive) – Gains stat boosts when fighting alongside Ryusei
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"So you're growing with me... Just like I thought."
She reaches down, giving him a proud little scratch on the head.
Steel groans as Ryusei launches forward, Kasaka's Venom Fang flashing in a horizontal arc. But the armor doesn't even dent. Her eyes narrow.
"What...?"
She leaps back just as the Knight counters, its massive blade tearing a crater into the stone where she'd stood a moment earlier.
"That armor's enchanted. Fine... let's see how you handle cursed energy!"
With a flick of her wrist, pink-black cursed energy engulfs her blade. She grips the handle tightly, feet planted.
"[Cursed Slash]!"
The slash screeches through the air like a banshee, trailing black sparks. It hits the Knight dead center in the chest—but again, the armor holds. The cursed energy fizzles off, barely scratching the surface.
"Tch. Seriously?"
The Knight surges forward again, blade screaming through the air. Ryusei ducks and rolls to the side, her eyes calm now—analyzing, calculating. Her thoughts drift to her fight with Kasaka, when her first ever weapon broke and she was forced to use her bare hands.
"Alright, screw it."
In one explosive motion, she puts her dagger back into her inventory, channels cursed energy into her muscles, and rushes the Knight bare-handed. She catches the sword mid-swing, her fingers straining but holding.
With a roar, she slams her foot into the Knight's gut, lifts him slightly, and rips the armor apart from the torso. Metal screams as the Knight is torn in half, dark smoke billowing from its collapsing body. The helmet clatters, rolling to her feet.
[You have leveled up! Lv. 41]
Ryusei pants, eyes scanning her stat screen briefly.
From the far corridor, the sound of boots echoes.
"...Oh come on."
A line of three more armored knights emerges from the shadows, weapons raised.
Ryusei cracks her knuckles, smirking.
"Charcadet, let's go!"
Charcadet chirps and hops forward, fire sparking at its shoulders.
Ryusei moves in first, weaving between the Knights' strikes and deliberately chipping at their legs and arms, slowing them down but never finishing them. She pins one against the wall, twists its sword away, and ducks low to give Charcadet a clean shot.
"Now!"
[Ember!]
A burst of fire explodes point-blank, engulfing the Knight's helmet and causing it to drop like a stone.
[Charcadet has leveled up! Lv. 6]
"Keep it up, little guy."
They press the attack—Ryusei disrupting, Charcadet finishing. Another knight falls, then the last. The flames glow brighter. The air reeks of smoke and scorched metal.
[Charcadet has leveled up! Lv. 7]
Ryusei wipes blood off her cheek, grinning through her labored breath.
"You're gonna be a monster at this rate..."
Ryusei's breath grows heavier. Sweat slicks her brow as she lands a heavy punch on a knight's helmet, sending it flying into a wall. The armored body crumples with a groan of bending metal.
"How many more are there...?"
Her arms tremble slightly as she lowers them. Even her honed stamina, bolstered by strength-enhancing skills, begins to waver. Charcadet, panting but still fierce, hops beside her, shoulder flames burning bright.
That's when the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.
She spins instinctively, barely avoiding the dagger meant for her throat. A figure in black, a stealthed assassin, skids back, vanishing again into shadow.
"Tch... trying to be slick?"
Her eyes dart across the corridor. Shadows ripple—then she hears it: the faint crunch of gravel beneath boots.
CLANG!
She intercepts the next strike mid-air with her forearm, gritting her teeth as the dagger scrapes her skin. With a snarl, she grabs the assassin's wrist, lifts him, and slams him into the stone floor, cracking the surface.
A sudden hum of energy crackles behind her.
She flips backward just in time to dodge a lightning orb flung by a robed mage, his hands still glowing.
"Of course. They always send the glass cannon next."
Ryusei lunges forward, weaving between the arcs of magic. The mage panics and fires another blast—too slow. Her foot connects with his jaw, sending him crashing into the wall. The impact leaves a crater.
She pants, steadying herself against the wall.
"This is bad... they're coming in coordinated waves."
As another trio of enemies approaches, she glances at Charcadet.
"It's your turn, buddy."
Charcadet screeches, launching into battle. The first knight lunges—Charcadet ducks, then releases a searing Ember, striking its exposed side.
Ryusei backs off to catch her breath, watching as the little familiar takes the spotlight.
Charcadet weaves between strikes, flame trailing from his body like a comet. Another enemy tries to flank him.
"New move?"
[Charcadet has learned Fire Spin!]
A vortex of flame erupts around the target, trapping the enemy in a spiraling inferno. The knight tries to escape, but it's too late—each second chips away at its armor, the flames gnawing at its essence.
[Enemy has taken 1/8 HP in burning damage.]
Charcadet spins, flames dancing, and roasts the final attacker in a quick barrage of Embers, his body glowing slightly.
[Charcadet has leveled up! Lv. 12]
Ryusei watches, her breathing slower now, a faint smirk on her lips.
"Looks like I'm not the only one growing fast."
The corridor quiets. The only sound is the crackle of Fire Spin dying out and the soft drip of water from above.
Blood and sweat trickle down Ryusei's brow as she pants, crouched beside the last fallen knight. The air is heavy with the stench of charred metal and scorched earth. Around her lie scattered remnants of defeated enemies, and from one of their still-smoking corpses, something glints faintly under broken armor.
She pulls it free.
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[You have obtained: B-Rank Knights Chestplate]
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Not far from it, another notification flashes:
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[You have found: Key Item - Malicious Armor (Charcadet Evolution Item)]
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Ryusei raises an eyebrow, running her fingers along the Malicious Armor: "Allows Charcadet to evolve upon reaching Level 50."
"So you've got a future ahead of you, huh?" she mutters with a small smile, tossing the item into her inventory.
She quickly equips the B-Rank chestplate and layers on the rest of the armor she had been hoarding through previous raids: plated greaves, a new gauntlet, and shoulder guards. Once her fatigue begins to fade and her body steadies with a wave of energy, she straightens and marches forward.
At the end of the chamber stands an enormous door and she pushes it open.
WHOOOOOSH.
A rush of ancient air blasts her hair back as the door groans open. Beyond it, the air is eerily still—and chilling.
And there, standing with silent authority before an empty throne, is Knight Commander Igris the Bloodred.
"So...this is the final boss.."