— SYSTEM MESSAGE —
[Objective: Kill the Demon Dragon Sage]
[Difficulty: Rank C]
[Quest begins in: 2:00]
The glowing screen hovered mercilessly before Ethan's eyes.
Two minutes.
His pulse thundered in his ears. He knew this was it, the point of no return.
The Demon Dragon Sage stood calmly atop the palace roof, wings folded like a monarch's cloak, its gaze fixed directly on him.
No matter how fast we run… it will catch us,
Ethan realized.
And the timer, that damned timer kept ticking.
Ethan clenched his fists. He could act, he could end this, but not here. Not in front of the king, the nobles, the guards. If his Executioner class was exposed now, he wouldn't just be hunted by demons, he'd be hunted by humans too.
Act weak. Act afraid. Survive.( Ethan thought to himself)
The palace erupted into chaos.
"Get the Princess out—NOW!" King Cazer roared.
The advisor seized Mia's arm, pulling her toward a concealed passage. Guards surrounded her instantly, shields raised, faces pale with terror.
"Move! Protect the royal bloodline!" someone shouted.
The Queen was dragged away next, the King following under heavy escort.
"This way, my lord!" the commander barked. "Rivington, you're coming with us. You will guard His Majesty."
Rivington spun around, panic written across his face.
"But, what about Ethan?!" he shouted. "He needs protection too! He's just a boy!"
The commander's eyes hardened.
"Are you defying a royal order?" his steel rang as spears lowered.
"Move. Now."
Rivington's jaw clenched, his hands trembled at his sides. Every instinct screamed at him to stay, but against royal command, he was powerless.
He turned back just once. "Reinhard!" he shouted over the chaos. "Please, protect the boy!" Then, softer, broken...
"Forgive me, Ethan."
And he was gone.
The massive doors slammed shut.
Ethan stood in the center of the ruined hall, alone with only Reinhard beside him.
"So…" Reinhard muttered, gazing upward as shadow crept across the ceiling. "The king abandons his people first. How… predictable."
Ethan didn't answer, his eyes were locked on the glowing screen before him.
— SYSTEM MESSAGE —
[Objective: Kill the Demon Dragon Sage]
[Difficulty: Rank C]
[Quest begins in: 1:01]
One minute!!
The Demon Dragon Sage stepped off its dragon. The beast roared and ascended back into the storm-filled sky, leaving its master standing effortlessly on the palace roof. Stone cracked beneath its feet as it descended, each step deliberate… unhurried. It looked down at Ethan and smiled, it's face filled with pleasure.
The Demon Dragon Sage didn't bother with doors.
Its flaming sword came crashing down from above, cleaving through marble and enchanted steel alike. The palace ceiling split open with a deafening crack, molten stone raining down as fire poured through the wound like blood from a severed vein.
The Sage descended through the smoke, boots touching the floor with terrifying ease.
Behind it, Gondolin was dying.
Ten demon dragons circled the city like vultures, their flames ripping through towers, markets, and homes. Streets vanished under firestorms. Bells rang wildly before being swallowed by screams. The sky burned red.
Ethan stood frozen, calculation.
And beside him… Reinhard, of all people.
Ethan's instincts screamed danger. Reinhard wasn't just powerful, he was unpredictable. Half demon. Immortal. A man erased from history. A man feared even by kings.
I can't let my guard down around him.
As if reading that exact thought, Reinhard's hand came to rest on Ethan's shoulder. The touch was light.
Ethan stiffened instantly.
Every muscle in his body locked as he turned his head slowly, eyes meeting Reinhard's.
"I know about your hybrid class, Ethan," Reinhard said quietly.
"The Executioner."
The world tilted, Ethan's thoughts shattered like glass.
How did you—?
His mouth opened, but no sound came out. His heart slammed against his ribs as a cold wave rushed down his spine.
No one knew, not even Rivington.
"This is your battle," Reinhard continued, eyes never leaving the Demon Dragon Sage. "Not mine."
Ethan swallowed hard. "H-how do you—"
"Relax," Reinhard cut in calmly. "I possess a high-tier perception skill. I can glimpse fragments of past lives… and truths tied to the soul."
Then, with a faint, humorless smile...
"That includes the weight you're carrying."
The realization hit Ethan like a hammer.
That's it. That was how Anita knew his name. How she looked at him and said his name and village before he even spoke.
How she recoiled at the mention of Reinhard. She saw me, she saw the Executioner.
His fists tightened.
"So she knows…" Ethan murmured. "Great Mage Anita… she knows what I am."
"Ethan, hurry!" Reinhard barked, his voice slicing through the chaos. "We're out of time, this monster is already upon us!"
Ethan didn't answer right away.
His eyes were fixed on the burning figure of the Demon Dragon Sage as it strode forward, each step cracking the palace floor, flames licking the air around its body. The heat alone was suffocating.
Right on it, Ethan thought, and then acted. His will slammed into the System.
"Summon the Executioner board," he said aloud.
DING!
— SYSTEM MESSAGE —
[Emergency Option Detected]
[Executioner Mode Available]
[Percentage of Power Enhanced: 1.01%]
— SYSTEM WARNING —
[User Consent Required]
[Cost: None]
"Activate it. Now," Ethan said, his voice sharp, final. The world responded.
A shadow burst from his back, not cast by light, but born from him. It writhed like a living thing before wrapping around his body, layer by layer, forming the Executioner's cloak. Darkness swallowed his frame as his aura erupted outward, slamming into the palace walls like a tidal wave.
The air screamed.
Pillars cracked, banners were torn from their mounts. Even the Demon Dragon Sage took a half-step back, its grin faltering for the briefest moment.
Reinhard laughed softly, eyes glowing with fascination.
"So this is it…" he murmured. "The hybrid class spoken of only in erased scriptures."
He inhaled slowly, almost reverently.
"I am honored to witness this after a century."
The shadows finished their work.
A black blade materialized in Ethan's hand, its edge swallowing light, its presence heavy and absolute.
Ethan's face was now hidden beneath the Rage Mask, its surface smooth and merciless, carved with faint crimson lines that pulsed in time with his heartbeat. His expression was unreadable, but the killing intent pouring from him was unmistakable.
For a fleeting moment, memories surged. Burning homes, screams, his mother's final words and his father standing alone against impossible odds.
"Mom… Dad…" Ethan whispered as the mask sealed into place.
The palace shook again, this time, not from the dragon's flames, but from him.
— SYSTEM WARNING —
[Executioner Mode: Activated]
[Weapon: Black Blade, Fangpiercer]
[Rage Mask: Activated]
[Mana Compression: Complete]
Ethan stood at the center of the ruined hall, scarlet light bleeding from beneath his hood. The air bent around him, mana compressed so tightly it screamed. His grip tightened around the Black Blade, veins crawling up his arm like living shadows.
The Demon Sage grinned, it said nothing. Instead, it tapped its fingers against the shattered floor. Cracks spread outward, and from them, demons erupted. Dozens. Blades clutched in clawed hands. Others drew bows of bone and shadow, arrows already nocked, all aimed at a single man.
Ethan didn't move. Behind him, amid the chaos, Reinhard stepped forward, and knelt. He bowed deeply, eyes closed, one hand across his chest.
"My master… welcome back," Reinhard said, voice reverent. "I have waited centuries to present myself. A hybrid human… to a hybrid class bearer."
"…Master?" Ethan echoed, stunned.
There was no time.
"Reinhard," Ethan snapped, turning sharply. "Keep them busy. I'll be back."
Ethan sprinted down the escape route Mia and the advisor had taken earlier, his footsteps pounding against the narrow stone passage. Each step echoed loudly, the sound rebounding off the walls like a drumbeat counting down to something inevitable.
"As you wish, my master," he said, absolute submission in his tone. "I swear my loyalty."
Then he rose and turned. His aura detonated. The ground shattered beneath his feet as arcane power flooded the hall. Reinhard smiled faintly at the Demon Sage.
"Now then," he said calmly, "let us fight."
Ethan ran, through smoke-filled corridors, through falling debris, through screams and fire.
One reason was just...
One truth he needed the king to see—
That demons could speak, could think and not just only to deceive like men.
As he drew closer, a faint, broken cry leaked through the ruined halls, echoing off the cracked walls like a dying whisper. Ethan slowed, every step tightening the knot in his chest as he followed the sound, until he saw its source, and the breath was torn from his lungs in silent shock.
His mouth trembled beneath the Rage Mask as the scene burned into his eyes—the advisor sworn to protect her driving his blade into the Princess once… then again, each strike tearing something irreparable out of Ethan's soul.
He pulled back, slick with her blood, an evil grin carving itself across his face as if her pain were nothing more than a private victory.
"Help… me…"
Her voice was barely more than a breath, thin and broken as it echoed weakly down the ruined corridor. Blood soaked through her clothes, warm and relentless, pooling beneath her as her strength bled away with it. Her legs refused to move, her body no longer obeying her will. All she could do was lie there—helpless, fading—staring at the ceiling as the world slowly slipped beyond her reach.
"No one is coming to save you, Princess," the advisor whispered, his voice slick with malice. A cruel smile twisted his lips as he leaned closer. "All that's left now is to finish this… and take your eyes to the Cult of Hades." His gaze burned with fanatic obsession. "Through them, our dream will finally be realized."
He seized Mia and hurled her against the wall, the impact knocking the breath from her lungs. Without hesitation, he lifted a jagged stone—large enough to crush her face completely—and raised it high above her.
But before it could fall, a sharp whistle cut through the air.
Crack!
A dagger slammed into the stone, shattering it into fragments that rained across the floor.
The advisor staggered back, eyes wild as he spun toward the shadows.
"Who's there?" he barked, fury lacing his voice. "Show yourself, now, or I'll kill her!"
From the shadows, Ethan stepped forward, each movement deliberate and slow. Rage radiated from him, coiling around his body like a living thing. His hands clenched the black blade so tightly it seemed it might snap, and though the rage mask concealed his features, the crimson glow of his eyes burned from within, endless and unyielding.
"Who… who are you?" the advisor stammered, his hands shaking uncontrollably as Ethan's dark aura crushed down on him.
Ethan's voice emerged cold and final.
"Call me the Black Blade..... "
he raised his weapon slightly, crimson light flaring,
"..... the last thing you will ever see."