The world narrowed to a single heartbeat.
Kresor's boots slapped against the uneven ground as he sprinted through the shadow-choked tunnel, lungs burning, the ghostly "exit light" glowing faintly ahead like a promise of survival. Behind him, the cavern trembled with the gluttonous snarls of the demons. Something massive shifted in the dark—chitin scraping stone, mandibles grinding.
Then a screech ripped through the air. The demon lunged. Kresor felt the gust of its charge before he even turned. Instinct screamed at him to fight. His hands twitched toward the helmet—toward Seren's voice that still echoed in his memory.
"If you have faith… you can do anything. Your purity will respond to your belief. Trust it." He shut his eyes. For a fraction of a breath, the world went silent. And in that breath… something ancient stirred. The helmet on his head pulsed—once, like a heartbeat answering his own. A cold shiver rippled across his skull. And then the metal came alive.
WHUM.
A sudden pressure burst outward. Light flickered—shifting, shimmering, bending as though reality itself was exhaling. A barrier. No—a shield of purity, blooming outward like an invisible dome. The demon crashed into it at full speed.
CRACK.
The impact sent a shockwave splitting down the tunnel. Dust rained from the ceilings. The worker-ant demon recoiled violently, its armored torso slamming into the stone wall, mandibles snapping in confusion. Dizzy, legs trembling, it chittered in pain.
Kresor stumbled backward, staring. He hadn't moved. He hadn't raised a hand. The helmet acted on its own—no, not on its own. On his faith. "It worked…" But the moment of awe died quickly. A low, bone-shaking hum vibrated through the ground. The demon steadied itself and opened its maw. Then it roared.
No—it screamed a signal, a deep, resonant call that bounced across the entire nest like a war trumpet. The earth trembled. The air thickened. Kresor's blood froze. Because from every crack, every hole, every unseen tunnel… they answered the call.
The worker-demon ants—Catena 4 creatures with armored bodies, blistered flesh, and purity-corrupted eyes—flooded the corridor. Their spindly legs clicked like rain on a coffin. Their mandibles shimmered with venomous purity. Ten. Twenty. Dozens.
All charging straight at him. "Not again—no, no—" The nearest leaped. His helmet erupted once more— FWUM! —repelling the demon mid-air, tossing it aside like a sack of sand.
Kresor didn't wait. He ran. Every instinct screamed escape. Boots thundering, chest burning, he sprinted toward the light at the end of the tunnel—toward freedom, toward hope, toward anything that wasn't this living nightmare.
The demons scrambled behind him, their claws skittering over stone, their screeches filling the cavern with maddened hunger. Two hurled themselves at him from the walls; the helmet barrier deflected them with invisible slams of force. But the swarm didn't stop.
Kresor burst into the open space, panting— and skidded to a halt. This… wasn't an exit. The "light" was leaking from cracks of a massive, half-broken gate carved into the very stone of the ruin. Towering. Ancient. Scratched by centuries of claws and purity erosion. On its surface, roughly etched, were two words:
"THE DEAD DIVINE." His stomach dropped. Standing before the gate were two colossal soldier guards—ant demons far larger than the workers. Their armor plates were thicker, darker; their eyes glowed a deeper, more intelligent crimson. And they were staring at him. For one frozen heartbeat, none of them moved.
Then one soldier demon took a long, thunderous step forward. Kresor whispered, "No…" The monster lunged— and the scene shattered—
The ruin stretched like a sunken cathedral around them—twisting pillars, ancient tunnels, and air thick with the metallic scent of decay.
The first worker-demon ant crawled into view, mandibles clacking. Then another. Then several more. They swarmed forward. Clauiy's hand gripped her dagger hilt; Norphis snapped on his hand-gear with a metallic click.
But before either could move— Kael raised one hand lightly. "Wait." His voice was calm. Too calm. Then he glanced at Norphis with a quiet, almost gentle tone: "Hold my coat and hat. Just for a minute." Norphis froze. The commander's coat.The commander's hat.
For Norphis—Kael's biggest fan, the man who practically worshipped him—it was like being handed a crown. He accepted them with trembling hands. "C-Commander Kael gave me his own coat… and hat…" He almost cried.
Meanwhile, Kael turned back to the demons approaching. He stepped forward casually, shoulders loose, expression unreadably bored. "All of you," he said, voice carrying like a blade across the cavern, "come together and attack me. If you have the courage." The worker ants screeched. They attacked. Kael did not move at first. He let the first strike pass an inch from his cheek—turning his head lazily as if dodging a slow breeze.
Another claw slashed at his spine. He leaned forward, hands in pockets. Another lunged directly at his chest. He stepped aside with lazy detachment, muttering: "You creatures are unbelievably boring." His words were knives dipped in mockery.
The demons grew frenzied—humiliated by his insults. They roared and fired purity-tainted energy blasts. Kael sighed. The blasts wavered mid-air… and faded before touching him, erased by the sheer pressure of his purity aura. "Alright," he murmured. "Playtime over." Norphis swallowed. Clauiy froze.
Kael raised his right hand. One index finger lifted. His voice dropped into a low command: "Purity Conjugate." The air bent. "Herocious Nerf." A small orb—no bigger than a raindrop—materialized at his fingertip. And yet the pressure of it was monstrous. Clauiy staggered backward, legs trembling. Norphis couldn't breathe. The entire ruin dimmed. Clauiy's eyes widened, heart pounding: "This… is this the power of a real Guardian?" The orb shivered once—then detonated. Not outward—but inward. A silent collapse, like a tiny star imploding. A gravitational pull of pure annihilation.
Every demon in the chamber— Every worker ant charging forward— Every purity-corrupted creature— was swallowed in an instant. Sucked into the pinpoint of devouring light. And then— PHWIP. The orb vanished. Along with everything it consumed. Silence. A dead, unnatural stillness. Kael exhaled as if he had merely swatted bugs.
"We're done here," he said calmly. "Let's move." Norphis sprinted to his side, returning the coat and hat like sacred relics. "Commander! That was—your fighting style—how do you even train—what was that technique—?!" Kael adjusted his coat with a proud smirk. "I only win because I know I'm the strongest one here."
He said it casually. As if it were simple fact. Norphis nearly fainted in admiration. Clauiy caught up, whispering under her breath: "How is he this obsessed with Kael…?" The trio moved deeper into the ruin. Their footsteps echoed. The light dimmed. Then Boris's voice—calm, teacher-like, emerging through Kael's communicator—broke the silence:
"Sir Kael… Kresor's purity energy is near you. But… something else surrounds him. A much higher purity energy." Kael narrowed his eyes. "Guard demons of the queen." Norphis blinked."Guard demons?" Kael nodded, walking.
"These Zoldicus Demons born from a single queen. If her Catena is 2 or 3, she births two classes:
• Worker Ants — Catena 4 or 5Repair the colony, tend the queen, gather food.
• Soldier Ants — Catena 4 to 3Protect the queen above all else."
Clauiy listened intently. Norphis looked terrified. Kael continued: "Their purity cores are linked to the queen. If she dies, their cores collapse." Norphis gulped. "So… if we kill the queen, all of them die?" Kael shrugged. "Easier said than done. She's Catena 2. Even if you two merge purity, you can't win." Norphis hesitated. "Can… you defeat her?" Kael smirked like a man explaining the obvious. "Of course I can." Norphis sparkled with admiration. Clauiy rolled her eyes. They continued on— until Kael suddenly stopped. A massive gate loomed before them. Old. Cracked. Carved with runes. Behind it…
A pulsing glow. Kael placed a hand on it— The doors groaned open— And they stepped into an enormous chamber. A sea of eggs. Huge. Pale. Veined. Pulsating with faint purity. Stretching endlessly across a massive cavern like a nursery of nightmares. Clauiy whispered, horrified: "This… is the queen's cradle." Kael's eyes narrowed. "Kresor is close."
The scene tilts away from the falling trio, and the world dissolves into quiet machinery. Deep inside the academy, the control room flickers with dim violet light. Endless panels hum like trapped insects. Monitors pulse with coded runes.
Principal Halucius sits alone at the center — rigid, unmoving, a man shaped from winter and iron. His fingers drum lightly on the armrest, the rhythm too controlled to be impatient… too quiet to be calm. Before him, a figure kneels. A shadow wearing the shape of a man — bones thin, posture unnaturally still. Darkness clings to him like a second skin, swallowing his edges. Even the light refuses to touch him.
Halucius speaks without raising his voice. "I summoned you to execute a plan." A nearby screen flares to life, illuminating Kresor's face. Young. Unaware. Marked. Halucius' gaze never wavers as he issues the order: "You will take him down. Dead or alive — he must be brought to me. You'll enter the realm disguised as a candidate. After Kael saves him from the Zoldicus demons and leaves the realm… your path will open. That is when you act."
He pauses, letting the weight of the words settle. "No one must know of this assignment. I will manage the rest. Your only task is simple: deliver the boy to me." The assassin tilts his head — a slow, unnatural movement, like a predator studying its prey. A smile cuts across his face, thin and crooked, too wide to be human. His voice is a rasping whisper: "Of course, Sir… It would be my honor. I will perform with sincerity… and delight."
Halucius dismisses him with a flick of his fingers. "Go." The assassin dissolves into the shadows, slipping out of the room without a sound. Silence returns. Only the hum of machines remains. Then Halucius exhales — a low, bitter laugh escaping his throat. "Kael… you've derailed my plans for far too long." His smile sharpens, cold as a blade. "But not this time.…"
The lights dim around him as his laughter echoes through the room — quiet, poisonous, triumphant.