The explosion tore through the forest like a tidal wave, throwing dust and light into the evening air.
Kaelen didn't hesitate. He broke into a sprint, his boots pounding hard against the earth, his breath a steady rhythm underneath the echoing crash that rolled from the manor's direction. The explosion had been a physical weight, a blow that signaled the end of the patrol's peace. Even then, before the dirt settled, his instincts told him exactly where it came from.
"Kaelen!" Jil called after him, his voice iron-hard, already barking orders to the four guards who scrambled to follow. "keep up. No one lags behind!"
By the time they closed the distance, the dusk light shimmered faintly across the manor's grounds. What used to be peaceful grounds now looked like the aftermath of a siege. Trees had been uprooted and hurled across the path. Chunks of stones, pillars and ornamented masonry from the manor, all lay scattered far beyond their original places, suggesting the blast's raw force.
Even Jil slowed for half a beat. Not out of fear, but because he'd seen enough battlefields to know when something was far worse than expected.
Kaelen didn't slow at all.
When they finally reached the manor's edge, the air smelled of burnt air and blood. The sight waiting for them halted the four guards behind Jil.
A headless torso still wearing a guard's uniform. Workers crumpled in unnatural angles. Bodies. Scattered and shredded. Limbs separated from torsos. People they'd seen just hours ago.
Jil's face stayed flat, unreadable, but his hands clenched briefly before he regained composure.
"Check for survivors," he ordered quietly.
The guards obeyed, though the tremor in their steps betrayed them. Kaelen pressed on, his jaw tight.
A sound broke through the silence ahead, deep, rhythmic bangs that rolled across the ruined grounds.
At first they sounded like thunder, but there was pattern and power behind it. It was epetitive, deliberate, almost like two giants exchanging blows.
Jil froze mid-step.
"That's Mel."
Kaelen glanced at him. "Mel?"
But he didn't stop. The sound only drove him faster, and after a brief hesitation, Jil followed.
...
They reached the high ridge overlooking the wreck of the manor grounds. The destruction was almost surreal.
Whole portions of earth had been reshaped into craters and trenches. The trees that still stood had been snapped clean halfway up their trunks, others reduced to splinters.
Kaelen stopped abruptly.
Jil noticed and slowed beside him. "Something wrong?"
Kaelen shook his head, eyes narrowing. "No."
They moved forward until the view opened completely and Kaelen finally saw what the thunder had been.
Down below, two figures clashed amid the chaos.
One, the beast, its tall slender body, its lines burning in streaks of blue and pink light that pulsed like veins of molten energy, giving a strange neon illumination.
The other, Mel, her entire form wrapped in that familiar silver blaze that danced like liquid fire, her movements were detailed and effortless.
The beast swung at her, its claws slicing arcs that blurred the air. Mel bent low, countering with a fist that cracked against the creature's joint.
Bam.
Dust rippled, and shockwaves lifted fragments of stone into the air. To anyone watching from afar, it might've looked like she struck lightly. But the sound said otherwise.
Each time her fist landed, the ground trembled.
Kaelen's vision flickered with system warnings.
[Warning: Immense Aether Pressure Detected.]
[Warning: External Energy Intoxication.]
He didn't need them to tell him that. The moment he stepped into the battle's radius, his knees felt heavier, as though gravity itself had chosen to remind him of his size. Between those two, he was an insect.
[-5 H.P]
[H.P: 450/455]
He exhaled, tightening his focus. He'd felt pressure like this before—back with Serene. He knew what to do.
[Aether Manipulation Lv.4]
[-10 A.E.]
[A.E.: 620/630]
Blue light rippled out from his skin, wrapping him in a thin, steady shell of liquid light until it coated his body. The suffocating weight eased slightly, the constant pulse against his skull died down.
Jil's eyes flicked toward him once, then back to the fight.
Kaelen watched, and for a fleeting moment, disbelief gave way to admiration. He'd fought Mel before and she'd been ruthless, yes, but nowhere near this. Now, seeing her fight without restraint, he realized how much she'd held back. No wonder the system had assigned him that "survival quest." Against this… he wouldn't have stood a chance.
[-5 A.E.]
[A.E.: 615/630]
He clenched his fist, the frustration rising from somewhere deep. "She's not just using brute force," he murmured. "She's directing every hit perfectly—timing, movement, everything."
Jil said nothing, eyes fixed on the two lights below, his hands clasped behind his back with the tension of a man doing his best not to interfere.
Kaelen activated another scan.
[-5 A.E]
[A.E.: 610/630]
[ERROR: Target Exceeds Current Scan Capability.]
"Jil," Kaelen called. "Do you know what that thing is?"
Jil didn't answer at once.
"Jil!"
The old man exhaled softly. "Judging by its pattern and markings… I can't say for sure. But it looks similar to the void variants."
"Void variants?" Kaelen frowned. "You mean variants of the void beasts?"
"Yes," Jil said curtly. "They're still part of the same origin. That one... It looks like one of the higher strains."
Kaelen absorbed the words, mentally cataloging the name even as the implication slipped beyond him. "What about something called a Void-Billi? Heard of it?"
Jil gave a brief glance his way. "No. But if it's real, it's likely among the void types."
Kaelen grimaced and brought up his system again, scrolling through the compendium in the information section. The labels were blurry, names, ranks, old classifications, none matched what he needed.
Everything above E-rank was locked. His shop was still Level 2.
Useless.
"Can she kill it?" he asked finally.
"I don't know," Jil admitted.
Kaelen turned back to the battle, just in time to see Mel drive her hand into the beast's flank. The creature staggered. For a moment, victory seemed close.
Then the lines along its body brightened, pulsing even stronger than before.
Kaelen's eyes widened. "It's absorbing the hits."
Jil snapped his gaze toward him.
"Every hit she lands, it catches some kind of residual. Not just endurance." His tone hardened. "It's converting her attacks into power. She's making it stronger."
Jil watched silently for a long moment. Then, almost to himself, he said, "She knows."
"She knows?" Kaelen turned sharply. "Then why hasn't she changed her attack?"
Jil's silence stretched long enough that Kaelen almost repeated the question. Then the old man spoke again, his voice low.
"Kaelen, have you ever come across abilities that can manipulate the laws of the world themselves?"
Kaelen blinked. "Yes… I've seen a few."
"Then you understand what that means," Jil said, his eyes still fixed ahead. "Mel's ability, Quiet Law—it's one of them. It allows her to alter or reject certain natural orders. In short, she's suppressing that creature, holding back some part of its power."
Kaelen's brows furrowed. "Suppressing the laws? Like… rewriting reality?"
"Partially. She can reject conditions she doesn't want to exist. But that kind of ability has strict limits. It can't hold forever. To compensating with the lack of offensive power, she's using raw force."
Kaelen exhaled, eyes fixed on her, realization dawning upon him.
"A unique ability."
Both said it at the same time.
Jil's head turned, giving him a brief, unreadable look, then faced forward again.
...
Kaelen pulled up his interface, scanning the flickering digits.
[HP: 455/455]
[A.E.: 600/630]
The steady drain continued, five points gone every cycle from maintaining his Aether shell, but he didn't care. He turned toward Jil.
"We have to help her."
Jil's response was instant. "You'll only get in the way."
Kaelen stayed silent. Then, without another word, he pushed forward a step.
Jil caught his arm with surprising strength. "Don't."
Kaelen met his gaze.
"You don't understand," Jil said, his voice hard as stone. "That thing's an A-rank at the very least, and being a variant, possibly higher. You'll die before you even touch it."
"Probably," Kaelen said evenly. Then his mouth quirked into something caught between defiance and resolve. "But if we don't help, and Mel loses—then that thing gets loose. It'll rip through everyone in this tier before help arrives." He took a step closer, lowering his tone. "And I'm not missing that reward."
Jil frowned. "Reward?"
Kaelen didn't explain. He tore his arm free, blue light pouring from his skin as he summoned more aether.
Jil watched him go for a moment, the quiet tension in his face finally easing into something resigned. "Reckless brat," he muttered under his breath, and his own Aether began to rise, swirling around him in threads of smoky blue.
...
Mel drove another strike into the beast's ribs, but this time, the creature reacted faster. It caught her arm with a violent snap, dragging her in and swiping downward with its clawed hand.
The slash tore through the air and connected.
The impact was deafening. Her knees buckled under the force, dropping her into the crater that spread beneath her feet. The ground cracked, fissuring outward.
The beast raised its hand high for another strike.
A bolt of energy, a lance with no physical body that distorted the air around it like space warping, streaked through the air and slammed into the beast's shoulder. It wasn't enough to pierce it, but the kinetic force was enough to knock the creature off balance, forcing it to stumble back.
It staggered, its blow missing Mel entirely.
Mel broke away, using the brief gap to roll and spring back. She moved several meters away, her boots digging into the dirt as she landed, her silver flames flickering low but steady.
Her head turned, honing in on the direction of the lance.
Kaelen stood there, still engulfed in light, his breathing was calm but his eyes was glinting with focus.
"Let's deal with the beast," he said simply.
...
The group split at the eastern barricade, their boots thudding softly against the damp ground. Jay, Lira, and Penelope went east, while the remaining three teams veered toward the other cardinal paths to secure evacuations. The air trembled faintly around them, the dome's barrier shimmered above like rippling glass, bending what little of the evening light seeping through.
They'd done it. The workers were out. The maids too. But the uneasy silence told them the night wasn't close to being over.
A guard stepped from behind clusters of trees, his weapon drawn, desperation glinting in his eyes. "Lady Penelope, let us aid you! We can hold the beast off—"
"No." Penelope's voice cracked like a whip. "You'll only feed it more bodies."
The guard hesitated, his jaw tightened, but her eyes left no room for protest. He swallowed hard and retreated out the barrier.
Jay glanced sidelong at her. "They mean well."
"They mean to die," Penelope muttered. "D and C ranks against that thing? Even with a few Bs, that's suicide."
Lira frowned. "So only Mel can fight it."
"Mel," Penelope said slowly, "and maybe Jil. Perhaps some of the old guards… but if that creature's beyond A rank, even they'll struggle."
They emerged from a valley, where moonlight spilled faintly across the cobblestones. Penelope's hair caught the light, her expression unreadable.
Jay finally spoke, with a careful tone."Wouldn't it be better to just… ask your family for help? You could fix this before it all burns down. You could rise again, right? Better than letting everything fall."
The question made Lira halt sharply. "Jay—don't. You know exactly what happens if her family interferes." Her voice was sharp, cutting through the silence. "She loses everything she's built. That question shouldn't even be asked."
But Penelope lifted a hand, her tone was calm. "No, Lira. She asked the right thing."
Jay blinked, surprised.
Penelope's gaze drifted toward the glow manor direction. "The creature Mel's facing isn't just some wild beast. We do know my family… planted it. Their way of pulling my leash, of stripping away the properties Evander entrusted to me. If I ask for their help, if I yield... even once, my part of the deal is over. Everything collapses anyway."
She stopped walking, her hand curling into a fist. "And I won't leave Mel behind. Not while I can still stand beside her."
Lira exhaled hard, rubbing her temple. "Couldn't we just shut it in the dome?"
She fell silent halfway through her own thought, her eyes widening slightly. "…No. Never mind. If it breaks through before you find a way to stop it, we'll be cleaning up more than rubble."
Penelope said nothing, lost again in her thoughts.
Jay nudged her shoulder lightly. "Then we'll help. Lira and I."
Lira spun toward her. "What? I never agreed to fight something ranked A—or worse."
Jay laughed and slipped an arm around her waist, pulling her close. "Oh, come on. You're not the type to watch someone suffer and walk away."
"It's not helping if we die doing it, Jay. That's just stupid."
"Really?" Jay grinned. "Sounds exactly like something Kaelen would say before running in headfirst. And since we're heading back toward the manor to find him anyway, we may as well lend a hand."
Lira groaned, running a hand through her hair. "You'll talk us into death one day."
Jay's grin widened. "Maybe. But Kaelen will probably walk us into it first. Judging by how you speak of him."
That earned a quiet, unwilling chuckle from Lira, who finally sighed. "Fine. I'm in."
Penelope's eyes softened as she looked at them both. "Thank you. Truly."
They broke into a run toward the manor's direction, the dome humming faintly overhead. Wind tugged their hair as Penelope spoke between breaths, explaining what she knew about the beast, its movements, its aura, the attacks it used.
Halfway across the field, Lira called out, "Penelope, I don't have my weapon!"
Penelope's lips curved into the faintest smile. "Don't worry. We'll make a quick detour at the dome's armory. You'll get all you need there."
Jay whistled in excitement. "Now that's what I like to hear."
The dome overhead flickered again, a faint pulse of light against darkness, like the world itself was holding its breath.