The northern district was already burning.
Aren arrived with the Elite Class just as soldiers locked shields and formed barricades across the shattered streets. Fires crackled against frost-tipped rooftops. Mana alarms wailed over the chaos.
Demons crawled out of broken alleys — twisted, fanged, crawling on all fours like oversized shadows.
But none of that mattered.
Because the one at the center of the chaos wasn't like the rest.
A towering demon — humanoid, lean, with elongated limbs and jagged bone protrusions — stood calmly among the flames.
Its eyes glowed a deep violet.
The same color as the dragon beneath the city.
Kale stepped forward, fists glowing with golden aura.
"What the hell…? That thing's not Knight-class. What rank is it?"
Kane's face was grave.
"It's a Herald."
Gasps spread.
Heralds were demons touched by ancient mana — rare, unpredictable, far stronger than their normal rank suggested.
But this Herald…
was staring straight at Aren.
Aren felt the pressure immediately.
It wasn't demonic.
It wasn't human.
It was void.
The Herald tilted its head, then opened its mouth.
Its voice was warped, layered with two tones — one demonic, one something else entirely.
"Void-bearer…"
The entire battlefield froze.
Even the soldiers stopped breathing.
"…come."
Aren's heart pounded.
His fingers curled around the bowstring.
Something inside him responded.
A tug.
A pull.
Like invisible chains coiling around his ribs.
Kane grabbed his shoulder immediately.
"Aren. Do NOT move."
Aren didn't answer.
He couldn't.
His senses blurred — vision narrowing until all he could see was the Herald's violet gaze.
It stepped forward.
"Come… heir of the deep."
Kale snarled.
"Oh no you don't."
He charged, golden aura bursting.
Aren snapped out of the trance long enough to shout—
"Kale, stop—!"
But it was too late.
Kale punched the Herald with full S-rank force.
BOOOOM—
The Herald didn't budge.
Its head barely tilted.
Kale staggered back in shock.
"What—?!"
The Herald's arm blurred.
WHAM—
It struck Kale across the chest, sending him flying through a stone wall in an explosion of dust.
Aren's blood ran cold.
Kale was arrogant, reckless, frustrating—
But he was also durable.
And that strike nearly broke him.
Kane shouted to the soldiers:
"Hold formation! No one approaches it!"
Aren stepped forward.
He wasn't thinking.
He didn't have to.
The Herald's presence pulled at him like a tide.
Kane grabbed him again.
"No! That thing is calling you as bait. If you go near it, we lose you."
Aren's eyes locked with the Herald's.
And suddenly—
the world fell silent.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The battlefield vanished.
Aren stood in a void-space — the same mental realm where he met the dragon.
Floating stone.
Violet cracks.
Infinite darkness.
But this time, the dragon wasn't present.
Instead…
The Herald stood in front of him.
But its voice had changed.
It wasn't the Herald speaking.
It was something speaking through it.
"Heir… you hear the void."
Aren forced himself to speak.
"Why are you calling me? What do you want?"
The Herald's jaw unhinged disturbingly.
"To warn you."
Aren blinked.
Warn him?
The Herald's eyes flickered.
"The chains… weaken."
A vision flashed:
Massive violet chains cracking.
The dragon pulling against them.
Caverns collapsing.
Aren staggered.
"Why show me this?"
The Herald's voice became strained.
As if resisting something.
"Because the void king… seeks you.
And you must not… reach him."
Aren's breath caught.
"What?! Why—?"
The Herald spasmed.
Its body shook violently.
The voice distorted.
Dark mana surged around it.
"STOP—
YOU—
DO NOT—
WARN HIM—"
Another presence crushed into the space.
Heavy.
Ancient.
Predatory.
The dragon.
Its voice thundered through the void-space.
"Silence."
The Herald screamed—
a sound that fractured the void-space itself—
—and the vision shattered.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Aren snapped back to the burning street.
The Herald staggered, holding its head, shrieking in pain.
Then its violet eyes focused again — but this time, they were filled with terror.
It looked directly at Aren.
"RUN—"
Before it could finish—
Its body detonated in a burst of violent void energy.
BOOOOOOOOM—
A wave of purple flame swept across the battlefield.
Kane shielded Aren instantly, his barrier flaring.
Soldiers raised shields.
Students ducked for cover.
When the smoke cleared—
The Herald was gone.
Nothing left but scorched stone.
And Aren stood frozen, breath trembling.
Kane stared at him.
"…What did you see?"
Aren didn't answer.
He only heard the dragon's final whisper—
"Do not listen to lesser voices.
They envy you."
Aren clenched his fist.
The Herald tried to warn him.
The dragon silenced it.
And for the first time—
Aren wasn't sure who the real enemy was.