The communicator vibrated at 4:03 a.m.
Kikoshin picked it up without opening his eyes. He didn't need to see it to know what it said. He felt it. Like a pulse in his wrist. Like a whisper in his blood.
[System]: Mission Available — Breach Level 5. Location: Forest of Dead Echoes, Western Sector. Objective: Seal Dungeon "Fang of the Mist." Creatures: Umbral Wolves — Class D. Boss: Mist Werewolf — Class C. Reward: 250,000 credits. Assigned Team: 4 Hunters. Estimated Survival Rate: 79%.
He pressed ACCEPT.
Not for the money.
For the pain.
For the hunger.
Because every mission was an excuse to let the Sixth Instinct breathe a little more.
—
The rendezvous point was a clearing at the edge of the Forest of Dead Echoes — a place where trees grew twisted, their branches curling like fingers begging for help, their leaves whispering secrets of people long gone.
He arrived first. As always.
He sat on a moss-covered black rock, gazing at the horizon where mist blended with sky. He carried no weapons. Didn't need them. Not yet.
The others arrived together.
First, Kiara.
Tall. Dark skin. Hair braided with bone beads. Her eyes were golden, like a predator's. Her shadow… was a minotaur. Not an illusion. Not an effect. A beast of muscle and horns, hooves cracking the earth with every step. She carried two curved knives, one at each hip. Rank: C9.
— "You're the one without a shadow," she said, looking him up and down. "The one who survived the Hollow Maw."
Kikoshin didn't answer.
Then, Samune.
Lean. Quick. With a smile that didn't reach his eyes. His shadow was a werewolf — sleek, lethal, claws gleaming even without light. He carried three knives: one on his belt, one in his boot, one on his back. Rank: C9.
— "They say you fight like you know what's going to happen before it happens," he said, tossing a knife into the air and catching it without looking. "I hope that's true. I don't wanna die because of some rookie."
Kikoshin looked at him. Just that.
Finally, Rioyi.
Silent. Cold. Wearing light armor beneath his cloak, a longsword hanging from his belt. His shadow was a full warrior —black armor, closed helm, sword in hand, standing as still as a war statue. He didn't speak. Didn't even look at Kikoshin. Just nodded toward the forest.
— "We enter in five," Kiara said. "Triangular formation. Samune, point. I'll take left flank. Rioyi, rear guard. Kikoshin… you close. Don't stray. Don't improvise. And if something attacks you… scream."
Kikoshin nodded.
Samune glanced at him.
— "You didn't bring a knife?"
— "I don't need one."
Samune snorted.
— "Everyone needs one."
He tossed Kikoshin one of his knives.
Kikoshin caught it without looking.
Samune grinned.
— "Good. At least you've got reflexes."
—
The dungeon entrance was a stone arch covered in worn runes, half-buried among black roots. As they crossed it, the air changed.
They were no longer in a forest.
They were in *its* forest.
The trees were taller. Darker. Their trunks bore carved faces —screaming, crying, pleading. The ground was covered in leaves that crunched like bones underfoot. And the mist… it wasn't mist.
It was breath.
Something was breathing inside.
— "Wolves," Kiara whispered. "Everywhere."
Samune drew his knives.
— "First wave in three… two…"
From the mist, they emerged.
Not normal wolves.
Shadows shaped like wolves. Red eyes. Obsidian fangs. Claws that left grooves in the air. They came in a pack. Ten. Fifteen. Twenty.
— "…one!" Samune shouted.
And the battle began.
Samune lunged forward, knives spinning like blades of death. He sliced the first wolf in half before it could howl. His shadow —the werewolf— pounced on another, driving its claws into its skull and ripping it off in one pull.
Kiara roared. Her minotaur charged like a whirlwind of horns and hooves. It crushed three wolves underfoot, then rammed two others into a tree, pinning them like butterflies on a wall.
Rioyi didn't move.
He only raised a hand.
His shadow —the warrior— advanced. Sword raised. Every movement precise. Lethal. Mathematical. A wolf leapt at him. The sword split it in two before its claws touched the ground. Another tried to attack from behind. The warrior turned, blocked, and decapitated it with a single stroke.
Kikoshin…
…didn't wait.
Didn't think.
Didn't plan.
He ran.
Straight into the center of the pack.
A wolf lunged for his throat. He leaned back, letting it pass, and drove Samune's knife into its spine. The wolf fell, convulsing.
Another attacked from the right. Kikoshin pivoted, used the first wolf's corpse as a shield, and stabbed the second in the eye. It howled… and fell silent forever.
A third ambushed him from behind. Kikoshin felt it —didn't see it, felt it—. He dropped, rolled, and sliced its hind legs with a fluid motion. The wolf collapsed. Kikoshin stood… and crushed its skull with his boot.
— "Shit!" Samune yelled, staring. "What kind of moves are those!?"
Kiara watched him dodge three attacks in a row, kill two wolves with a single spin, and throw the knife to pin a fourth against a tree.
— "It's not technique…" she murmured. "It's pure instinct."
Rioyi remained still. Just watching.
The wolves began to retreat.
Too late.
Samune and his werewolf herded them into a clearing. Kiara and her minotaur crushed them against the ground. Rioyi and his warrior decapitated them without mercy.
Kikoshin… finished the job.
One tried to flee. Kikoshin chased it. Caught it. Tackled it. Drove the knife into its throat. Then, he dragged it back to the clearing… and threw it at the others' feet.
Silence.
Only the wind through the trees.
Samune was panting.
— "Since when do you fight like that?"
Kikoshin retrieved his knife. Wiped it on the grass.
— "Since I started dying."
Kiara looked at him. Deeply.
— "You're not human, are you?"
He didn't answer.
Rioyi finally spoke.
— "The boss is coming."
And it came.
Not with steps.
With *presence*.
The mist parted.
And it appeared.
A werewolf.
But not like the others.
This one stood three meters tall. Muscles like tree trunks. Claws like swords. Yellow eyes glowing with intelligence… and hunger. Its fur was black as a moonless night. Its muzzle, scarred with ancient wounds. And around its neck… hung a fang the size of a human arm.
**[System]: Boss Detected — "Mist Werewolf." Rank: C+. Ability: Accelerated Regeneration. Weakness: Heart. Bonus Reward: 50,000 credits for clean elimination.**
Samune took a step back.
— "That thing… isn't for us."
Kiara tightened her grip on her knives.
— "We can do it. As a team."
Rioyi drew his sword.
— "No."
And he advanced.
Alone.
His shadow —the warrior— followed, step by step, sword raised.
The werewolf growled. A sound that shook the ground.
It charged.
Rioyi didn't dodge.
Didn't block.
He waited.
At the last instant, he twisted. The werewolf's claw passed centimeters from his face. Rioyi counterattacked —sword upward, aiming for the throat. The werewolf recoiled, surprised.
But not for long.
It growled again. And attacked with fury.
Claws. Bites. Charges. Each strike could split a tree. Each howl could shatter eardrums.
Rioyi dodged. Blocked. Counterattacked.
But didn't wound it.
The werewolf regenerated every injury instantly.
— "Its heart!" Kiara shouted. "It has to be the heart!"
Rioyi didn't respond.
He just attacked.
Sword. Kick. Elbow. Knee. Every movement, perfect. Every strike, calculated. But the werewolf was stronger. Faster. Wilder.
Until…
…Rioyi faked a mistake.
Left his side exposed.
The werewolf bit.
Rioyi screamed —a real scream of pain— but in that instant, with his free hand, he grabbed the fang hanging from the monster's neck… and ripped it off.
The creature howled —a howl of agony.
Rioyi didn't wait.
With the fang in hand, he drove it straight into the werewolf's chest.
Where its heart beat.
The monster froze.
Looked at Rioyi.
And fell.
Dead.
Silence.
Rioyi stood. Bleeding from his arm. But didn't complain. Just wiped the fang on the grass… and hung it around his neck.
— "Collect the loot," he said, walking toward the corpse. "Mission complete."
—
The loot was modest: three bags of shadow crystals, a minor protection amulet, and the boss's fang —worth more than everything else combined.
They split the reward.
250,000 credits. 62,500 each.
Samune tucked his share into his belt.
— "Hey," he said, looking at Kikoshin. "You fight like a demon. Like you know exactly where your enemy will be before they move. And Kiara… you're a beast with those horns. How about we team up? Seal dungeons together. More loot. Better survival. More glory."
Kiara smiled.
— "I like it. Three heads think better than one. And four legs run faster than two."
They looked at Rioyi.
He didn't look back.
— "I don't work with devils."
Kiara frowned.
— "Devils? Seriously? Look around. We're all C9. We've all killed things that shouldn't exist. If anyone here is a devil… it's you, with that cold steel shadow."
Rioyi looked at her. For the first time, with something like… interest.
— "Don't misunderstand me. It's not an insult. It's a fact. He —" he pointed at Kikoshin "— has no shadow. He has something worse. Something eating him from within. And you —" he pointed at Kiara "— carry the blood of the labyrinth in your veins. You're not human. You're anomalies. And anomalies… attract disasters."
Samune crossed his arms.
— "Then leave. The three of us will make a better team without someone who thinks saving the world is a solo job."
Rioyi said nothing.
Just turned around.
And walked into the mist.
Without looking back.
—
Kikoshin, Kiara, and Samune watched him disappear.
Then, Samune extended his hand.
— "Team 'Broken Lantern.' Dungeon sealers. Shadow slayers. What do you say?"
Kiara placed her hand over his.
— "Only if I get to name the missions."
Kikoshin looked at their hands.
Then, at his own.
And placed his hand over theirs.
— "Only if you don't ask where my reflexes come from."
Samune grinned.
— "Deal."
—
The next missions were easier.
Not because the enemies were weaker.
But because they… were better together.
They sealed the Dungeon of the Broken Mirror — where shadows mimicked the hunters. Kikoshin figured out the trick: shadows couldn't mimic what they didn't understand. He moved without pattern. Without logic. The shadows went mad. Samune and Kiara destroyed them.
They sealed the Dungeon of the Infinite Whisper — where voices drove you insane if you listened too long. Kiara used her minotaur to smash the walls and let in the wind. Samune sang tavern songs to drown out the whispers. Kikoshin… simply didn't listen.
They sealed the Dungeon of the Stopped Clock — where time slowed down. Samune nearly died trapped in an eternal second. Kikoshin pulled him out… dragging him beyond the effect's field with a rope tied to his waist. Kiara killed the boss — a clockmaker with needle fingers — by impaling him with his own pendulum.
With each mission, Kikoshin's Sixth Instinct awakened a little more.
A wound on his arm. Healed in seconds.
A cut on his forehead. Vanished before it bled.
A claw to his side. The flesh reknit… and grew harder.
Kiara noticed.
— "You're changing."
Samune did too.
— "You don't breathe like the rest of us anymore. Your eyes… sometimes turn black."
Kikoshin didn't deny it.
— "I know."
— "Does it hurt?"
— "No. That's the worst part."
—
One night, after sealing the Dungeon of the Fallen Bridge, they sat around a campfire at the forest's edge.
Kiara roasted umbral hare meat —a three-eyed creature that tasted like burnt cinnamon.
Samune told bad jokes.
Kikoshin watched the flames.
— "Why do you do it?" Kiara asked suddenly. "Why keep fighting? It's not for the money. Not for glory. It's something else."
Kikoshin didn't answer right away.
Then, he said:
— "My father died to save this world. My mother is dying because no one saved her. One day… the Sixth Instinct will consume me. But until then… I want it to be worth it."
Samune stopped laughing.
Kiara stopped eating.
— "Sixth Instinct?" Samune asked.
— "A curse. It makes me stronger every time I'm wounded. But it takes… something. Each time. A memory. An emotion. A piece of me."
Kiara looked at him.
— "How much of you is left?"
He smiled. Sadly.
— "I don't know. But as long as I can hold a knife… I'll keep fighting."
Samune extended his hand.
— "Then we'll fight with you. Until the end."
Kiara placed her hand over his.
— "Until the last monster falls."
Kikoshin looked at their hands.
And placed his on top.
— "Until there's nothing left of me… to save."
—
[System]: Team Registered — "Broken Lantern." Members: Kikoshin Suyo (C9), Kiara Vex (C9), Samune Krell (C9). Synergy Level: HIGH. Missions Completed: 7. Success Rate: 100%. Total Reward: 1,870,000 credits. Next Mission Available: Dungeon "The Eye of Silence" — Rank B-. Accept?
Kikoshin looked at his teammates.
Samune grinned.
Kiara nodded.
He pressed ACCEPT.
________________________________________
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