Rian’s body was still lying on the side of the highway. Rain kept pouring as if the sky wasn’t done cursing his fate. Smoke from the burning car curled upward, gasoline and scorched metal mixing with the cold night air.
“...This wasn’t an accident…”
His battle instincts screamed louder than the pain in his wounds. And sure enough—seconds later, the driver from earlier staggered out of the smoke. His body was charred, half his face burnt away… yet he forced a smile.
“Rian… thank you… for everything…”
“Huh? Dude, what are you saying?” Rian tried to stand, wanting to check his driver’s condition. But out of nowhere, the man hugged him. Tight. Too tight. Rian moved to push him away—until he felt something in the man’s jacket.
Click.
A bomb trigger.
“...Forgive me.”
BOOOOM!!!
Flames wrapped them both. The massive explosion shattered the highway, car alarms blaring everywhere. But within the inferno, Rian’s silhouette still stood—smoking, scorched, yet alive.
“A regular bomb? Doesn’t work on me, bro. But damn… he even slapped a curse seal on me before blowing himself up.”
Before he could breathe, dimensional gates ripped open around him. Dozens of sorcerers in battle gear teleported in, surrounding him like a firing squad.
Rian stepped back.
“...Yeah, I don’t like where this is going.”
From the last gate, three figures emerged—faces Rian knew all too well:
Rio: wielder of the Spear of Light.
Akito: manipulator of time.
Kino: user of Absolute Barrier.
They were his students. His own troublemaker disciples—the ones he was proudest of.
“Rio…? Akito? Kino?”“What the hell are you guys doing here?”
Rio lowered his head. Kino bit his lip. Akito spoke first.
“We… got direct orders from the council.”“Rian… starting today, you are classified as a god-level threat.”
“Threat?” Rian let out a short laugh. “Seriously? Just ‘cause I’ve got black wings and a spirit shotgun? You guys are joking way too—”
“...You’re half-demon, Rian,” Kino cut in softly. “Someday… you’ll lose control.”
Rian fell silent. The rain poured harder, soaking his unhealed wounds.
“So my whole future gets decided without anyone asking me, huh?”
He glanced at the curse seal burning on his arm. Without even chanting, he tore it apart like paper, golden dust scattering into the rain.
“You call me the traitor… when you’re the ones stabbing me in the back first.”
No one answered. Only silence.
Rian sighed.“…Fine then. Come at me.”
His eyes turned cold. His body shifted into full battle form.
BOOOOM!
The battle erupted.
Sorcerers charged all at once. Rian’s spirit shotgun thundered, its blasts tearing through shields and bodies. His raven wing spread wide, smashing three mages into a wall, bones crunching. His owl wing absorbed incoming spells like they were nothing.
“You really thought I wasn’t ready for this day?”
Rian fought alone against the entire squad—like a storm that refused to die. The fight raged out of the highway, tearing into the city. By the end, corpses and rubble littered the streets. Only three were left: Rio, Akito, Kino.
He couldn’t finish them. No matter how far they’d gone, they were still his students.
“Move… before I lose it.”
Rio stepped forward anyway, spear blazing. The clash was brutal—blood, bullets, magic colliding. Streets cracked. Streetlights died, leaving only the glow of explosions and spellfire.
But in the end…
Among the wreckage, only one body stood.
Rian.
His flesh torn, bones cracked, blood flowing uncontrollably. Yet he stood. Staggering, but eyes still burning.
Rio, Akito, and Kino lay collapsed. Barely breathing. Even Akito—the last to strike, managing to stab deep into Rian’s chest—was unconscious, drained of spirit energy.
“…I can’t just leave you like this.”
With trembling hands, Rian dragged their bodies to the middle of the street. Under the pouring rain and black sky, he began chanting an ancient spell—a forbidden high-class healing incantation, banned by the sorcery council for its soul-crushing cost.
Golden-blue light wrapped his students’ broken forms.
They jolted awake, wounds closing, breaths steadying.
But—
“Cough—! Hurghhh!!”
Rian coughed blood, knees hitting asphalt. His hands shook, face pale. His spirit energy almost gone. His inner hunger barely restrained.
Still, he wasn’t finished.
Dragging his battered body, he flew off with torn wings, blood dripping across the streets. He crashed down on a sidewalk, then forced himself upright again, like a puppet refusing to fall.
Civilians screamed, running in terror. He didn’t care.
He pushed into a small convenience store, the bell jingling.
Ding…
Customers bolted—except one. A buzz-cut young cashier in a ragged hoodie. His eyes went wide, not in fear, but awe.
“R-Rian… you… you’re really… Rian?!”“My idol… but—your wounds, sir!”
Rian said nothing. He walked to the stationery aisle, grabbed a notebook and pen.
Blood dripped onto the floor. His breath came short. His vision blurred.
He placed the items on the counter with trembling hands.
“P-Pay for this…”
The cashier froze, fumbling under the counter for a high-grade healing potion. But before he could hand it over—
Time ran out.
Rian’s body swayed.
He sat against the wall of the minimart, clutching his new notebook.
He began to write, ink smearing with blood. Only one sentence made it onto the first page:
“I just wanted a quiet life… maybe being a cashier would’ve been better?”
Dot.
The pen slipped from his hand.
His eyes closed.
His body stilled.
The rain stopped.The minimart lights flickered, then glowed bright.And from nowhere, a cool breeze swept inside.
The cashier bowed his head…
“…See you again, Dark-Winged Hero.”
Screen fades. End of Chapter 2.