Scene after scene unfolded like a dream. His family stood at the head of a powerful dynasty, their once-weak foundation now unshakable. His cousins and Aika flourished under the family's strength. Mei Rin smiled beside him, her eyes shining with pride. The Ren family, once looked down upon, now stood above all others.
And Kaito himself stood at the very peak of the world. The strongest warrior alive. Every enemy vanquished, every dream fulfilled.
But something was wrong.
The cheers echoed unnaturally, repeating in a hollow rhythm. The warmth of Mei Rin's hand felt distant, fading even as he held it. His family's faces blurred at the edges, their smiles too perfect, their voices too flat. The members of the Orion Syndicate burned endlessly, never consumed by the flames.
Kaito's chest tightened. His heart pounded. He knew this was too good to be true.
This… this isn't real.
A cold fury surged through him. He forced his eyes open, veins bulging as he fought against the suffocating pressure in his mind. The black mist tightened, trying to drag him deeper, but he refused. His will sharpened like steel.
"This is nothing but an illusion."
His blades burned with light, thunder gathering at their edges. Lightning roared around his body, a storm tearing through the false world.
"Odin's Wrath!"
The illusion cracked.
The first strike fell, and the false glory splintered into shards of light. The second tore through the false voices, silencing the hollow cheers. The third ripped apart the perfect smiles of his family, revealing the black void beneath. And the fourth came like a hammer of judgment, the lightning searing through the false Mist Queen, shattering her image into ash.
The world dissolved in a scream.
Kaito's vision cleared, the throne room returning in a flash. The real Mist Queen Demon reeled before him, her wings flaring violently as the last bolt of lightning struck her. Abyssal mist sizzled around her body, steam rising as the illusion crumbled under the storm.
A shriek tore from her throat, a sound of pure fury and pain. The throne room shook as her voice echoed through the air, her power scattering like broken glass.
Kaito stood firm, his blades still humming with lightning. He had broken free.
The Mist Queen Demon staggered as the last of Kaito's lightning faded. Her HP bar plunged down to 50%, and her furious shriek shook the chamber. At that very moment, the black cocoons covering the fallen Wraith Royal Guards split open one after another.
From inside, massive figures emerged. The once-mysterious iron ranked Guards were no longer the same. Their armor now shimmered with a faint purple hue, pulsing as though alive. Black mist flowed constantly from their ghostly bodies, seeping into the air with every breath. Their forms had grown bulkier, more monstrous, as the Abyssal Energy continued to reshape them.
Most striking of all were their eyes. The pale glow they once carried was gone. Now, their sockets blazed with pure black crystal light, sharp and gleaming like polished obsidian.
A panel flickered before the team's vision:
….
[Abyssal Wraith Royal Guard] (Silver)
Level: 16
HP: 55,000
Attack Power: 800+
….
The change was enough to make even the seasoned fighters of Kaito's group tense. Hiroto's face darkened. Suzune and Raven blade exchanged quick looks. Nina, Kaede, and Lucien all caught their breath. These were no longer the same Guards they had struggled against before.
The thought ran through all their minds as they stared at the stats: Even in a Level 15 dungeon, the Game system had truly broken reason this time.
They had managed, with effort, to bring down eleven Royal Guards before. And now those same Guards were back on their feet, stronger than ever, reinforced by Abyssal Energy.
The Guards let out a furious roar, their black eyes locked on Kaito the one who had harmed their Queen. With frightening speed, faster than Hiroto and the others could intercept, they lunged straight toward him.
Behind them, Hiroto and his team had been striking at the cocoons for minutes, but no attack had even scratched the Abyssal shells. They had stopped trying and focused instead on recovering, drinking mana recovery and minor regeneration potions and healing their wounds. But now, seeing the Guards awaken in their new forms, every one of them clenched their weapons tighter.
The Mist Queen Demon laughed, her voice layered with abyssal tones. She stretched her wings wide, her staff glowing with abyssal runes. She cast a flurry of buffs upon her Guards, strengthening them further, before flapping once more and shooting herself forward straight at Kaito.
Silver-red lightning streaked from her staff, infused with Abyssal Energy, tearing across the chamber. At the same time, the Guards closed in, their blades aimed at Kaito's vital points. These were no ordinary swings; their weapon techniques were honed and brutal, able to pierce defenses with precision.
But Kaito did not waver. His expression sharpened as he activated Wind veil Steps and Mana Steps, his body blurring into motion. He slipped between the Guards' strikes with ghostlike precision, while his Elemental Guard flared around him, the shield of elements absorbing the silver-red lightning from the Queen. Sparks exploded around his body, yet he remained standing.
Instead of unleashing skills, he gripped both the Solstice Blade and Dragon Fang tighter and began carving into the Guards with pure speed and raw power. Sword shadows erupted from his blades in every direction, each strike targeting a vital point. Armor split, black mist scattered, and cracks appeared in their transformed bodies. Even without special skills, under the Overlord's Rage bonus, every one of his attacks left deep wounds.
The Guards roared in fury, but their formation wavered. Kaito spun between them, blades flashing like fire and lightning, before lunging again toward the Mist Queen Demon.
At that moment, Hiroto and the others arrived to support him.
"Hiroto!" Daichi shouted.
The tank charged first, his new shield glowing as he bashed into one Guard with Shield Bash. The Guard, distracted by Kaito, staggered back as the shield smashed into its side.
Raven blade and Suzune moved next, slipping out of stealth to slash their daggers across two other Guards' throats. Blood-mist erupted as the blades cut deep, dealing critical strikes that staggered both enemies.
[Critical Hit!]
At the rear, Nina raised her staff, frost swirling at its tip. "Glacial Prison!"
Ice spread instantly, trapping several Guards mid-motion. Their limbs froze solid, locking them in place before they could chase Kaito again.
Kaede seized the moment, raising hisstaff as lightning crackled along its edge. "Storm Field Burst!"
The explosion of lightning tore through the frozen Guards, sparks and shards flying as their HP plummeted.
Lucien followed immediately, summoning a massive serpent of flame that writhed through the chamber. "Inferno Surge!"
The fiery surge crashed into the Guards, layering flames atop their frozen wounds, their screams echoing as their health dropped sharply.
Meirin stood steady, her bowstring drawn to its limit. "Twisting Arrow!"
Her arrows split mid-flight, spiraling into multiple projectiles that pierced through the Guards one after another. Each impact landed cleanly, carving through their weakened armor.
Daichi stepped forward, his fists glowing with pale energy. "Iron Fist Howl!"
His strike slammed into the jaw of one Guard, the force lifting it off its feet before sending it crashing back to the ground.
The frozen Guards shattered free, but by then their HP had already been cut in half. From 55,000, they were now down to around 25,000 each, even in their new forms.
Kaito didn't hesitate. He broke through the chaos, closing the gap between himself and the Queen. Before she could cast Heal upon her Guards, he lunged with both blades, flames and thunder surging together.
The Mist Queen Demon howled as the blades struck her, blood-mist scattering as her HP bar dipped further.