Albert leaned against the glowing bark of the second Checkpoint Tree. The faint shimmer of acid steam curling off his shoulders.
The safety aura hummed softly around him like a living heartbeat. The rain outside hissed on the invisible barrier, making the whole world sound like it was boiling.
He opened his palm. The Fate Dice shimmered faintly for a moment, then turned to dust. The glow faded. His body instantly felt heavier. The brief blessing gone. The system screen in his vision flickered with cold digital light.
[ Notice: Fate Dice effect ended. Duration: 00:00. ]
[ Soul Tokens: 14 ]
Albert exhaled. "Fourteen tokens left.…" he muttered.
The system shimmered again, brighter this time. A translucent blue interface hovering in front of him.
[ Side Quest Available: "Tomb of Soltitude" ]
[ Location: Subterranean Chamber under Checkpoint Tree #2 ]
[ Objective: Defeat the Knight General of Unhumans — Shiapup ]
[ Reward: 1 Gold, 2,000 EXP, +5 Soul Tokens ]
[ Description: A forgotten guardian sleeps below the canopy. It devoured the three thousand challengers till now. Only one who conquers fear and steel may earn its respect. ]
Albert's eyes narrowed. "A wolf general, huh?"
The roots of the Checkpoint Tree began to move, groaning like ancient machinery. Vines coiled and twisted, revealing a circular wooden platform carved with glowing runes. A faint wind damp and metallic, rose from the below. The scent of rust and something wild drifted upward.
He stepped onto the platform. The moment his foot touched. The elevator shuddered and began to descend. Creaking slowly, swallowed by the living trunk. The light above dimmed until only faint green patterns on the bark illuminated his descent.
The acid hiss faded behind him, replaced by the sound of grinding stone and distant howls. His reflection glimmered across the elevator's inner surface. His eyes were calmer than ever.
He whispered, "Knight General of Unhumans.… Shiapup. Let's see if you're worth the title."
Below him, the darkness rippled.
When the elevator finally stopped, Albert stepped out into a cavern lined with bones. The ground was slick with silver moss that shimmered faintly, lighting the chamber in ghostly hues.
The sky was clear still some clouds hung there. He was confused.
Wasn't he supposed to be underground? He looked left and right, noticing the large graveyard full of corpse and tombs covered by the creepy mist.
In the distance, two massive predatory rainbow eyes blinked like a diamond in sun.
The creature rose slowly. A colossal wolf, thirty feet tall, its fur like steel threads glinting with acid reflections. Three tails waved behind it. Each carrying a jagged saber forged of dark crystal. The air trembled under its growl.
[ Boss Appeared: Shiapup, Knight General of Unhumans (Uptie 3.1) ]
Albert gripped Kuga, his cursed katana tightly. The rifle Pallbearer floated beside him, magnetically synced to his glove.
He smiled faintly, the corner of his lips twitching upward.
"Let's make this quick, buddy." he murmured, stepping forward as Shiapup lowered its head, baring fangs like swords.
The wolf's voice echoed through the deep ancient cavern. "Mortal with no scent…. why do you descend into my den?"
Albert raised his weapon. "A fair trade — your respect for five tokens."
The glows of forgotten tombs pulsed through the mist, reflecting off the creature's fur.
Shiapup's golden eyes shone like molten suns, fixed on Albert with the calm of a monarch who had seen centuries come and go. His voice rumbled with a hidden sorrow through the hollow environment.
"You step into this domain ground without fear. Tell me, stranger…. do you know where you stand?"
Albert rested his hand on the hilt of Kuga, not drawing it yet. "I stand where I need to be. And where you happen to be, apparently."
The massive wolf tilted his head slightly, its three tails swaying. All of them balancing a saber that gleamed with ritual markings. "Most who arrive here crawl in desperation or die trying to climb back. I see no difference in you."
Albert looked downwards. "I shall maintain posture, even in front of death."
A deep rumble came from Shiapup's chest of ghost of a chuckle. "A curious mortal. Reek of confidence, not arrogance. That is rare."
Albert replied evenly, "Confidence keeps me alive. Arrogance kills us faster than any bomb does."
The wolf lowered its massive head, narrowing eyes with the weight of memory. "Many years ago, I guarded a king who said those very words. He fell to arrogance disguised as faith. Tell me, human, what do you seek in this place?"
Albert thought for a moment, then spoke carefully. "I'm here for a challenge. And perhaps, for understanding."
Shiapup studied him for a long while, tails moving in slow rhythm like pendulums. "Understanding? you say…. not power, not glory. That already makes you different from the parasites who dig through this soil."
Albert nodded lightly. "I'm Albert Newton. A Detective from the Ramsis Bureau. I…. handle dangerous logistics."
The wolf's golden gaze softened slightly, amused. "A hunter in disguise then. You wear many masks, Albert of Ramsis."
He bowed his great head slightly, blades chiming as they touched the ground. "You have earned the courtesy of my name. I am Shiapup, Knight General of the Unhumans. Guard of this forsaken plane, witness of fallen gods, my homeland...."
Albert looked everywhere and understood, this place was once its homeland which was buried by the history and now being used for tournament stage.
Albert exhaled slowly. "An honor, General."
The wolf's tails swayed higher, forming a halo of gleaming steel.
"Honor," Shiapup said, voice deepening, "must be proven."
....
Up above, beneath the dripping canopy of green firelight, Piere Lal exhaled sharply. The acid rain hissed against his barrier card, thinning fast. His eyes flicked to the far distance. The shimmer of Checkpoint Two flickered between trees, pulsing like a ghostly heart.
"Damn," he muttered, brushing acid steam off his shoulders. "That bastard Newton…. he's already ahead."
He had no idea Albert had taken a side quest deep beneath the checkpoint. All he saw was the faint burn-mark trail on the moss and a few shattered branches. To him, it looked like someone sprinting toward victory.
He cursed under his breath and pulled up his Soul Token ledger. Fourteen left. Not enough for luxury but enough to survive.
At the glowing bark of the Checkpoint Tree, the wooden panels shimmered, forming symbols of trade. Piere pressed his palm over it, his cards rearranging mid-air like a dealer's dance.
"Protection, two levels. Acid nullification, brief-duration. And…." He smirked, eyes narrowing. "Give me a cloak of reflective threads."
He bought some other groceries swiftly.
The Tree's trunk rumbled. The items appeared — faint, spectral, humming with weak mana. Piere slipped the cloak over his shoulders. It shimmered like liquid silver, mirroring the forest around him.
He flexed his hands, the acid no longer biting his skin. "Perfect. I can't lose time here."
Lightning cracked somewhere in the dark distance, storm above snarled. Piere leapt forward, bounding between fallen roots and steaming puddles.
His mind raced. He'll slow down at the next riddle. He always overthinks. I'll catch him there.
The forest groaned as he ran, each raindrop bursting against his barrier. The acid hissed like applause.
"Wait for me, Newton," he said through gritted teeth. "The game's not over yet."
....
The mist coiled like a living thing. Wrapping the cracked tombstones in its cold fingers. The ground was a black mirror of bone dust and melted iron, and from the center of that abyssal graveyard, two figures clashed like myth and rebellion.
Albert Newton, the man of unending tricks, and Shiapup, the knight of the Unhumans.
The great wolf stood thirty feet tall, his three tails each gripping a saber, spinning them with skills too elegant to be beastly. His mane shimmered like liquid silver, streaked with the glow of old suns. When he moved, the air itself folded under his weight.
Albert gripped the Yari of the Kakin Kingdom. The haft gleamed under the blue light of the tombfires. Not his Kuga this time. He had chosen grace over destruction. His boots scraped the ancient soil, forming crescent cuts with each step.
"Human." Shiapup's voice rumbled, deep as thunder, resonating through the mist. "You are fighting with respect. Rare. Most tremble before they strike."
Albert gave a faint grin. "You're the first wolf I've met who compliments mid-duel."
The beast chuckled, a sound like stones grinding. Then he lunged.
Albert parried, Yari twirled. Its steel dancing in arcs of light but Shiapup's three sabers met it like the wrath of three storms.
Their clashes shattered the ground beneath them. The wolf's movements were disciplined, following ancient skills. Not a single motion was wasted.
Albert's arms screamed under the pressure. His heels dug into fractured rock as sparks burned his coat edges. He's not even fighting full force.
"You're wondering why I'm here." Shiapup said between slashes, voice calm despite the ferocity. "Why a being who's mastered combat, who's seen a hundred empires rise and fall, stands imprisoned beneath this cursed tree."
Albert barely dodged a downward swing that carved a trench through the ground and began an earthquake. "Yeah." he said, breathing hard. "You don't strike me as someone who belongs to the dead."
The wolf paused, his golden eyes dimming like dying suns. "I was banished. My homeland, Valir of Showjan—was annihilated by my own trusted people.
The punishment given to me by the High Ones was immortality without company. Every creature I care for…. rots into a monster."
He twirled his blades in silence. "So.... I simply learned how to live without caring."
Albert felt something deep in his emotions. The punishment sounded worse than death.
Shiapup's eyes lifted. "Now, let us end this with dignity."
The air shattered.
Shiapup raised one saber toward the sky. The mist churned violently as energy condensed into the blade's edge, glowing crimson-black—an anti-matter beam. The tombs around them began to sink and melt, stone dripping like wax.
Albert's instincts kicked in and he somehow evaded it. He rolled aside as the beam fired, slicing through the astral barrier like the wrath of a fallen god. Everything in its path—stone, metal, mist, atoms—disintegrated.
He landed hard, half his shirt disintegrated. "Holy shit." he hissed. "That could've erased me from existence."
Albert Newton was never someone to retreat. His eyes narrowed. He pressed the Yari into the ground, flipping backward and his left hand reached for the acid vial from earlier rounds. One drop of it on the spearhead.
"Let's gamble." he muttered.
When Shiapup swung again, Albert lunged. He twisted mid-air, the Yari whistling like a serpent through the darkness.
The spear's tip sliced across Shiapup's flank enough to sting. The acid hissed, biting at the unholy fur.
The wolf staggered, one tail slamming into the earth to steady himself. "Well played."
Albert landed, panting. "Sorry, old one. Nothing personal."
The wolf raised his head proudly, even as his wounds glowed faintly. "No apology needed. You fought with respect. The forest remembers such fights."
Then, lowering his sabers, he smiled not the smile of a monster, but of a teacher who had finally found a worthy student. "Albert Newton of Ramsis," he said, voice echoing through the graves, "I grant you my honour."
The moment the words left him, the System Screen unfolded before Albert's eyes,
[ Side quest Complete: Tomb of Soltitude ]
[ Reward: +1 Gold, +2,000 EXP, +5 Soul Tokens ]
[ Total Tokens: 19 ]
[ You are the 7th Warrior to have conquered The Knight General Of Unhumans. ]
Albert sheathed the Yari on ground and bowed slightly. "I'll remember this, sir. Maybe someday, they'll lift your curse."
The great wolf's golden eyes softened. "If they do, I'll seek you out, human. Until then…. walk the thin edge of your fate wisely."
The mist rose once more, curling like ink. Shiapup's form began to fade into it, dissolving into motes of light.
Albert watched silently, then turned toward the elevator gate that had opened behind him. Its wooden branches glowing like a spine of light.
He stepped on. As he ascended, he whispered under his breath,
"For someone cursed with immortality…. he fought like he still had a reason to live."
The mist below swallowed the graveyard whole.
And the Knight General's laughter, low and noble, echoed long after Albert was gone.