A top the hill, bathed in fractured moonlight, the relic rested on a pedestal. The team had finally arrived. Six kilometers of treacherous jungle, relentless paranoia, and blood-soaked memories had brought them here.
They were so close.
But just as they were about to step forward—
Rustling.
From behind the dense undergrowth, two teams emerged from opposite directions, their eyes locked onto the relic. Neither had noticed Noah's group yet.
Tension crackled in the air. No signals. No words exchanged. Just the shared understanding of what had to happen.
Weapons were drawn.
And without hesitation—
Steel met steel.
A chaotic clash erupted, blades flashed, and arrows cut through the air.
The sounds of battle drowned out the rustling of leaves, the chirping of night creatures silenced by the war cries and the sharp, sickening thuds of bodies hitting the ground.
Noah's eyes narrowed.
Amid the chaos, one figure stood apart, unmoving. Unlike the others who fought desperately for the relic, this man simply watched, his posture relaxed and amusemed.
Then, without warning—he moved.
A single stretch of his arm.
Noah barely caught it. The climber didn't lunge forward—he pulled.
From the opposing team, a man was yanked into the air, dragged toward him as if caught by an invisible force. But before they even made contact, the outstretched palm curled into a fist.
Boom!
The punch connected mid-air.
The victim was sent flying. flicked away like an insect. His body hurtled, slamming into a thick tree with a sickening crack as the trunk split in half from the impact.
His corpse landed in the dirt, his skull was crushed beyond recognition.
The battlefield went silent for half a breath.
Rolling his shoulder as if shaking off dust, the man exhaled, then spoke.
"The strongest among you is down."
His voice was calm, almost bored.
"Leave."
Noah could see it—the way the remaining climbers stiffened, their eyes darting between each other, between the relic, between the corpse still twitching in the dirt.
He was gripping them where it hurt the most.
Their hope.
The raw, undeniable strength he had just demonstrated crushed that last sliver of belief.
As the man tightened and released his grip absentmindedly, savoring the fear in the air, the losing team instinctively took a step back.
Their minds were caught between the instinct to flee and the shame of surrendering without a fight.
Then…
"L-Lord Kairos! The—The relic disappeared!"
A panicked scream shattered the silence.
Kairos' head snapped toward the relic's altar. His amused face dissolved, replaced by a sharp, piercing glare.
"What—?"
The relic was gone.
The moonlight that had once bathed it now touched nothing but an empty pedestal.
…
"Hahahaha!"
Noah and the team laughed, their breath coming out in sharp bursts as they ran down the hill, dodging trunks and vaulting over tangled roots.
The moonlight was still at their backs, but there was no time to waste.
"Good job, Elara," Noah called out as he glanced back at her.
She was holding the relic firmly in her hands.
Cedric, kept pace beside her, his eyes darting from side to side, always alert.
"Well, I remember from the last few failures," he said between breaths, "that some teams took a more... evasive approach. They just kept moving the relic, changing locations until the time ran out. With Lady Elara on our side, it was almost too easy."
Elara's lips curved slightly at his praise and coughed softly and said, "The relic isn't as heavy as you think."
Cedric paused mid-run, his gaze darting to the trees around them. "Huh, seems like the jungle's unusually quiet this time. Normally, we'd be dealing with those damn apes. A lot of them, too."
Noah's mind flashed, a memory from both Noah and Aaron surging to the forefront… one of the outbreaks in Solmaris, when those beasts overran rural towns. The Fennorian Knights had barely managed to intervene before the damage was done, led by Belz Fennor himself.
He scowled inwardly. God, I hate those apes...
If he had to rank the beasts he despised the most, minotaurs or Apes would be at the top—at least Minotaurs gave him a decent fight and some solid stats—but apes? They were just pure annoyance. If one of them shows up right now and ruins everything...
And just as if the universe was taunting him, an ape lunged out from the underbrush. It slammed into Elara, sending the relic crashing to the ground.
Before Noah could even react, Cedric and Adam were already on it. Rage painted their faces as they charged, moving as a unit, they were as furious as him.
Noah watched them, the sight of two men—his teammates—ripping into the beast with a kind of raw anger that mirrored his own.
These guys... They hate the monkeys too.
Noah's hand moved quickly, revealing the belt of poisoned knives strapped to his waist. His fingers pulled one from its sheath.
The thin, ethereal thread of Gaebulg began to materialize, stretching out from his grasp. But instead of a single, direct line, it splintered—ten directions, each thread a choice of attack.
.He threw the first knife, followed by another, and then another, the knives slipping through the air with lethal precision.
But then—
A rustle. A sudden shift behind him.
Noah didn't even see it coming. The ape leaped from the shadows. Its claws ripped through the air, barely grazing his skin.
Shit.
He twisted just in time to avoid a more fatal blow, but the sharpness of the attack left its mark. His nose and left cheek burned with the sting of fresh injury. Blood dripped, but there was no time to dwell on it.
Before he could react, the ape's monstrous hand clamped down on his shoulder, its grip like iron.
With a growl, Noah yanked another poisoned knife from his belt, slashing it across the creature's side.
One. Two. Three—he didn't stop, couldn't stop. His arm moved aggressively, the blade sinking deeper with each strike. The ape's grip slackened, its body weakened with every puncture, but Noah didn't let up.
He kept stabbing until the creature released him, its massive form crumpling to the ground in defeat.
Shit…That was close.
As the mist around him began to dissipate, Noah's breath still heavy in his chest, the world seemed to slow.
The adrenaline that had surged through him began to fade, replaced by a subtle, growing exhaustion.
But before he could even think to relax, the familiar flash of notifications exploded in his vision…
[You have defeated a Verdant Brute.]
[You have defeated a Verdant Brute.]
[You have defeated a Verdant Brute.]
[You have defeated a Verdant Brute.]
.
.
.
[Stamina increased.]
[Dexterity increased.]
[Strength increased.]
…
[System Window – Ark]
NAME: Noah Orthar
AGE: 20
PERSONAL ATTRIBUTE:
Innocent (Divine)
PERSONAL SKILLS:
Gáe Bulg
STIGMA:
Innocent Shall Receive a Second Chance (488)
OVERALL STATS:
Stamina: E (30-->36)
Strength: E (20-->23)
Dexterity: E (25-->28)
Vitality: F (10)
…
The moment the notification faded, the weight of reality came rushing back. Voices that had been drowned out by the chaos of battle filtered back into his awareness—muffled....
"Noah!"
Elara's voice.
He turned, his pulse still high, only to find Adam standing with difficulty, his leg smeared with blood. He was barely keeping himself upright, his expression twisted in pain.
Elara moved before Noah could react, already reaching out. "I can carry him—"
Noah cut in. "No. You have to carry the relic."
"I'll take Adam."
Elara hesitated, but she knew he was right. They were running out of time. The trial wasn't over yet, and dawn was creeping closer.
Then Noah noticed something strange.
A few steps away, Cedric was hunched over the fallen apes, his knife working with eerie precision as he dissected the creatures.
He delicately extracting organs and removing any dark, tainted parts.
"…What are you doing?" Noah asked him.
Cedric barely looked up. "We need food. Adam needs nutrients. If he doesn't recover soon, he won't be able to move properly, and we'll all be at a disadvantage." He held up something dark red, slick with blood. "Ape liver. Packed with nutrients. Also enhances Sylix flow—it'll help his recovery."
Noah turned his gaze toward Adam, watching as his younger brother's breathing came in slow, uneven exhales. His face was pale, pain laced through every twitch of his brows.
Noah exhaled. Well… a meal from Orvathis won't kill us.
He shifted Adam's weight, guiding him toward a nearby tree before easing him down. Without a second thought, he removed his own cloak, laying it on the ground to serve as makeshift bedding. Adam barely reacted, already half-asleep, exhaustion gripping him completely.
Meanwhile, Cedric had finished gathering the necessary organs. He wasted no time, drying out damp wood and igniting it, skillfully managing the fire despite the jungle's humidity.
Just as the flames crackled to life, a sound broke the fragile peace.
A rustling.
Noah's body tensed immediately.
From beyond the dense green, something moved.
Everyone was on their feet in an instant, weapons at the ready. Even Elara, despite carrying the relic, shifted her stance, prepared for the worst.
Everyone except Adam, who remained slumped against the tree, barely conscious.
And then, the figure emerged.
A man, stepping through the thick foliage as if he belonged to the jungle itself. His hair was stark white, catching the dim glow of the firelight, and his eyes—striking and unmistakable—were a deep, unnatural violet.
Noah knew that face.
He had seen him before.
At the relic site.
The man who had watched the battle unfold like a game.
The same man who had killed a climber in cold blood.