The ranking board trembled.
Lines of light flickered across the massive projection crystals stationed outside the dungeon, numbers recalculating as if struggling to keep up with something that should not have happened.
Then the change settled.
Zael — Rank 15
For a heartbeat, no one spoke.
Then the viewing halls exploded.
"…Who?"
"Zael? Wasn't he somewhere in the middle earlier?"
"That jump—look at the point gain!"
A log expanded beside his name.
[Zael — +2,300 points]
[Current Rank: 15]
An elderly examiner slowly straightened in his chair.
"That point value… that wasn't a normal rare elite."
A younger instructor frowned.
"A second-class evolution rare elite would give that much. But at this stage? At night?"
Someone else muttered,
"That's not bravery. That's madness."
Yet the name did not move.
Rank fifteen.
Fixed.
---
In the noble viewing chamber, the atmosphere turned heavy.
Crystal goblets froze midair.
"Rank fifteen?" a noble repeated, incredulous.
Selvig's expression darkened the instant he saw the list.
"That's impossible," he said coldly. "He wasn't even in the top thirty."
A woman beside him narrowed her eyes.
"Then he was hiding."
Selvig's jaw tightened.
So you were never weak…
Another noble scoffed.
"Or he just got lucky."
Selvig didn't answer. His fingers dug into the armrest.
Lucky or not…
The name Zael had just become inconvenient.
---
In a private projection chamber far from the crowd, Zane stood alone.
His eyes rested on the ranking list.
Zael — Rank 15
For a moment, he smiled.
"So… you finally showed it."
There was no mockery in his voice. Only quiet satisfaction.
The main body was displaying what he could truly do.
Not hiding behind mediocrity.
Not walking the middle road.
Zane understood what that meant better than anyone.
Zael had created him for a purpose.
To stand in the light.
To attract attention.
To become the obvious threat.
While the real body stayed behind the curtain.
Yet now…
The curtain had shifted.
The smile slowly faded.
"…That jump was too loud."
A second-class evolution rare elite.
At night.
At his current level.
Zael wasn't reckless.
If he had done that, it meant he'd been cornered.
Zane's fingers tightened slightly.
What forced you to move like that?
He exhaled.
"Idiot… that was supposed to be my job."
The one to shine.
The one to be watched.
The one to take the heat.
Not him.
Not the real one.
"…Don't get yourself killed."
---
Back inside the dungeon.
A floating ranking panel shimmered faintly between twisted trees and shattered stone.
Lily stared at it.
"…Rank fifteen."
Her voice was barely louder than the wind.
Zael lay slumped against a broken trunk, his eyes closed, chest rising slowly.
"I didn't think it'd jump that much either," he muttered.
She didn't look away from the panel.
"…That thing was never meant to be fought alone."
He gave a weak laugh.
"Guess we didn't get the memo."
Her gaze finally shifted to him.
His clothes were torn.
Blood had dried along his jawline.
Yet his expression was strangely calm.
"…You're reckless," she said.
Zael cracked one eye open.
"Still breathing, though."
She didn't answer.
Instead, she clenched her fists slightly.
"…You shook the entire province."
---
Elsewhere in the dungeon, far from them.
A group of battle-hungry awakeners burst into wild laughter.
"Did you see that rank jump?!"
"From nowhere to fifteen!"
"I don't care who he is—find him!"
One of them grinned savagely.
"I want to see what kind of monster he is."
---
In a mist-filled ravine, a silver-eyed girl paused mid-step.
"…Zael?"
She checked the rankings again.
Rank fifteen.
"…So you climbed after all."
Space rippled faintly around her.
And she vanished.
---
Back in the ruined forest clearing, Lily finally spoke again.
"…If you keep killing things like that, you'll reach the top ten."
Zael leaned his head back against the tree.
"Sounds troublesome."
She looked at him.
"…You don't act like someone who just broke into the top fifteen."
He smiled faintly.
"Fame's heavy. I prefer traveling light."
Above them, the dungeon sky shimmered with pale blue light.
The trial did not stop.
Night did not end.
And as Zael's name continued to glow on the rankings, new eyes—human and otherwise—began to turn in his direction.
-----
A pale, artificial dawn filtered through the dungeon canopy, washing the ruined clearing in dull silver light. Mist clung to broken branches and scorched earth, carrying the metallic scent of last night's battle.
Zael woke first.
He flexed his fingers.
No pain.
No stiffness.
No tearing along his ribs.
Both healing factors—his own and Zane's mirrored one—had finished their work while he slept. The strain from Ascendant Echo had vanished completely, leaving only a faint phantom ache that meant nothing.
Fully healed… already.
That was the problem.
He rolled onto his side and let out a long, exaggerated groan.
"Ugh… I think my lungs are still negotiating their survival."
A soft scrape of metal answered him.
Lily was a few steps away, crouched near a fallen log, wiping dark blood from her spearhead with a strip of cloth. Several small beast corpses lay farther back in the trees—cleanly killed.
"…You slept like the dead," she said without turning.
"Jealous," Zael muttered weakly.
She straightened and glanced at him.
"…I went hunting while you were out."
He cracked one eye open.
"Did you win?"
"…They were stray packs. Nothing special."
A translucent panel shimmered into view between them.
[Lily — Rank 2 | Points: 18,960]
[Zael — Rank 17 | Points: 6,950]
Zael relaxed.
Good.
Her points had gone up.
His rank had dropped..
Lily stared at the panel, then at him.
"… you're losing your ranking."
Zael coughed. "I contributed spiritually."
She didn't smile.
"…You were coughing blood last night."
"Stress," he said. "Internal screaming."
Her gaze lingered on him.
No fresh blood.
No open wounds.
Only torn clothes and dried stains.
"…You heal fast."
"Bad constitution," he replied immediately. "I bruise on the inside."
She didn't look convinced, but she turned away and shouldered her pack.
"…We move slow today."
Zael sagged in relief.
"Doctor's orders?"
"Common sense."
They set out along a narrow path between twisted trunks. Lily walked ahead, spear ready, senses stretched wide. Zael followed with a deliberate limp, one hand pressed to his side as if holding in something vital.
Inside, his muscles coiled with unused power.
No kills today.
No point spikes.
No noise.
Not after what last night had done to the board.
Except today was the final day and only today would the real hunting begin. This time it was less about hunting beasts but more about hunting each other.
Distant roars rolled through the forest—deep, territorial calls. Strong beasts were waking.
And so were the contestants.
A shadow crossed high above the canopy as someone sprinted through an upper layer.
Lily slowed. "…Movement."
Zael nodded weakly. "Hunters."
The ranking panel pulsed again.
Lily stayed at Rank 2.
Zael stayed at 6,950 points.
Eyes would be on her.
Not him.
Except those who came specifically for him.
Perfect.
He let his step falter and leaned briefly against a tree.
"…We can rest if you need," Lily said.
He shook his head.
"I'll slow you down."
"…You already are."
He smiled faintly.
"That's my role."
They moved on—one predator sharpening her lead, the other hiding his claws.
The third day had begun.
And this time, Zael intended to pass through it without shaking the sky.