The corridors leading toward the Queen's chamber felt wrong long before the three of them reached the doors.
Kael walked ahead in silence, his steps sharper than usual, his senses stretched like wire. Norphis and Clauiy stayed close behind, exchanging uneasy glances every time the air shifted. What should have been dense with purity was now hollow—eerily hollow.
A faint pulse buzzed from the communication stone tucked against Kael's ear. Boris's voice stuttered through, strained with confusion. "Sir… the purity inside the Queen's room—it's gone. All of it. I'm detecting only one signature now, but… it isn't purity or any divine classification. It's… unholy. Extremely dense. I'm trying to—"
The line crackled, then fell silent. Kael slowed, his expression darkening in a way neither of his students had ever witnessed."Unholy energy…" he murmured. "Interesting." Norphis leaned in from behind, breath unsteady. "Sir… is that the same energy you mentioned in that long story? The one we all tried to forget?"
Kael's tone softened, but his eyes remained distant. "Yes. The same." A pause. "But the possibilities don't make sense here. Demons, devils, corrupt divines—they possess corrupted purity, not this. Unholy energy is… rarer." His steps quickened. "And the fact that it's here means hurry."
Clauiy picked up her pace, nearly stumbling as she matched him. "Master—what does that mean? What are you thinking?" Kael didn't answer immediately. His jaw tightened, his gaze flicking toward the dark ahead. "I'll explain later. Right now, saving Kresor takes priority. And after that, we leave this realm. Quickly."
Norphis and Clauiy exchanged a startled look. They had never seen Kael tense, but now every movement carried urgency—fear, even. Inside Kael's thoughts, the silence was far louder.
Impossible. A manifestation…? No. The ritual can't start on its own. Scolrious shouldn't have been able to anchor anything here. Someone else must be involved. The pact—my pact—cannot fail. Not now. Not here.
His thoughts spiraled faster as the chamber doors finally came into view… and then froze. The corridor leading to the Queen's throne room was a massacre. The torches lining the walls flickered weakly, struggling to illuminate what remained of the ant demons. Dozens—no, hundreds—lay shredded across the stone floors. Bodies were cleaved clean through; limbs dangled from torn tendons; pools of blood soaked into the ancient tiles, turning them slick and black.
Some heads still twitched faintly, mandibles clacking in instinctive death reflexes. Others were crushed so violently the chitin shells had folded inward like rotted wood. The walls bore deep, jagged slashes. Whole sections of the stone corridor were carved out, as though something feral had clawed through them searching for escape. The stench was overwhelming—iron, rot, and something darker. Something cold.
Norphis swallowed hard. "This… isn't normal killing." Clauiy's voice trembled. "It looks like… like someone hunted them." Kael didn't respond. He simply stepped over a bisected corpse and moved forward, pushing the chamber door open. The moment the gate groaned open, darkness spilled out. Not the natural absence of light—this darkness felt alive, carrying weight and intent. And in the center of that suffocating gloom—stood a figure.
Shadow-coated armor clung to his body like a living second skin, fragments of darkness shifting faintly around the joints. His white hair fell in uneven strands, some still damp with blood. His eyes—glowing white—cut through the dark like twin blades. In his hand was a Divine Slayer blade—obsidian-dark, edges rippling faintly with corrupted divinity, as if hungry.
The figure stood atop the Queen's severed lower half, its massive form split neatly through the torso. The rest of the room was a graveyard of butchered demons—piled, sprawled, shattered. Walls were cratered. Pillars cracked. Pools of blood lapped against the throne steps.
Nothing in the chamber still breathed. Kael stepped forward and exhaled slowly, voice steady. "Kresor… if you can hear me, it's Kael. I came to bring you back." The figure didn't answer. Instead— —he lunged.
Clauiy gasped. Kael raised an arm in reflex, energy pulsing—but the strike never reached him. Because Kresor wasn't aiming at him. Something blurred near Clauiy—a severed ant-demon limb, its claw still twitching as if guided by instinct alone. Kresor's blade cut through it before anyone even registered the movement. Just a whisper of sound, and the limb fell in two lifeless pieces at Clauiy's feet.
Norphis stared, unable to process the speed. "I didn't… even see him move." Kresor stepped back, mask shifting. Slowly, he lifted a hand and pressed it against the mask's edges. The shell split open with a faint crack. Underneath was a pale, cold expression—eyes hollow, unfocused. He looked at Kael. Then Clauiy. Then the corpses. "Who are you?" he asked, voice low and devoid of warmth. "And who is Kresor?"
Silence swallowed the entire chamber. Clauiy shot forward, grabbing his shoulder before she could stop herself. "Kresor, it's me—Clauiy. Look at me. You know me. You trained with me. My brother Seren—remember?" His gaze flicked down to her hand. His blade rose. Norphis moved first—rushing in, fist slamming into Kresor's side with a force that cracked stone. Kresor skidded across the floor but landed on his feet effortlessly.
There was no pain on his face. No confusion. No anger. He simply walked toward the Queen's throne and sat—slowly—like he was claiming it. Norphis slid into a stance. "He wants a fight." Kael raised a hand. "Stand down." His voice was calm, but his eyes were sharp. "I know what this is." He stepped toward Kresor.
The air tightened. Even the shadows seemed to pause. Kael's tone dropped into something deeper—something meant not for ears, but for whatever entity hid behind Kresor's eyes. "Kresor," he said, "your power is not your master. You are." For a moment, nothing shifted. Then the armor rippled. Shadows faltered. A sound—like cracking stone and distant whispers—filled the air as the armor peeled back.
One word left Kresor's lips, faint but decisive: "AMPHOSIS." The suit dissolved. And the thing inside loosened its hold. The armor dissolved like smoke peeling away from flesh—slow, reluctant, as if something inside resisted being stripped back. Shadows crawled across Kresor's skin, coiling around him in thin tendrils before shattering into dust. When the last fragment fell, the chamber suddenly felt larger, lighter… and far more dangerous.
Kresor stood bare from the transformation, chest rising and falling with slow, controlled breaths. His eyes, no longer glowing white, now held a muted, far colder clarity—like a blade that had only just been sheathed but was still vibrating from the killing. That was when Kael felt it. A whisper. Not spoken aloud—not meant for anyone but Kresor. But the presence behind the thought was ancient, measured, patient like a predator sharpening its fangs.
Scolrious. Kresor's head tilted slightly, as if responding to a voice only he could hear.
"Don't tell them about me. Tell them only what you must—about your power. Nothing about the pact. Nothing about our deal. Not yet." Kresor didn't answer aloud. But he nodded—barely. A quiet acceptance. A quiet surrender. When his gaze lifted again, Kael recognized it instantly. Something had woken inside Kresor. Something irreversible. Kael stepped forward, stopping a few feet away. His eyes scanned Kresor's body like a worried parent inspecting a wounded child, but his voice remained steady, unshaken.
Before he could speak, Kresor beat him to it. "Why did you come so late?" His tone cut like a cold blade. "You wanted me to die, didn't you?" Norphis stiffened. Clauiy's breath hitched.Kael exhaled, long and calm, like someone who expected the knife yet still braced for pain. "No, Kresor. We came here for you. There were complications—" "Pathetic," Kresor murmured. "A lie. You said you would protect me. Every time. Yet you came when the body count was finished."
Clauiy stepped forward, voice cracking. "Why are you acting like this? You look… different. What happened to you?" He didn't respond. Didn't even look at her. Kresor cast a glance around the ruined chamber as if bored. "We should leave. This ruin won't stand much longer."
And right on cue— The walls groaned. Dust rained from the ceiling. Deep cracks tore through the floor, spreading like veins. The entire corridor trembled under their feet. Norphis didn't wait. "Move!" The three bolted toward the exit, Kresor walking behind at an unhurried pace—steps silent, almost predatory. The ruin continued shuddering violently, chunks of debris falling around them as they sprinted.
Kael grabbed both their wrists and tore open a teleport channel. In a single wrench of space, they blinked out of the collapsing ruin— —and reappeared outside the examination structure near the forested area. The first thing Kael did was grab Kresor's shoulders and start inspecting him vigorously like a frantic mother hen checking for injuries. Kresor slapped his hands away, expression tightening. "Stop. I'm fine. Don't pretend to care."
Norphis's eyebrows shot up. Even Clauiy stepped back, as if the words were daggers. Kael paused, staring at the boy—not the words, but the energy behind them. Something in Kresor's aura had changed. It pulsed dark, cold, sharp in a way purity shouldn't. Like something had hollowed him out and filled the space with ice. Kael forced a small nod. "If you're fine, then I'm relieved. I just needed to confirm." Kresor scoffed and looked away. Kael's eyes dimmed—not in disappointment, but in recognition. He'd seen this before. He'd felt this in other worlds, other realities.
Avatar resonance. Scolrious's influence was settling inside him. Norphis and Clauiy didn't understand. But Kael understood too well. He straightened and stepped back. "Very well. My job here is done. I came for Kresor, and I've ensured his survival." The tone was final—firm, instructed, like he was reporting back to fate itself.
Clauiy opened her mouth to speak, but Kael turned away, cape sweeping behind him. "Take care of him," he said quietly. "Both of you." He walked toward the shimmering portal forming behind him—a gateway only he could access. He paused before entering. Without turning, he added,
"Your paths will change from here. Be ready." And with that, he vanished into the portal, the energy seam collapsing behind him like water closing over a stone. The scene shifted back to the trio—now alone in the exam realm. Norphis ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Clauiy… what happened to him? That wasn't Kresor. At least not the Kresor we know." Clauiy glared. "Shut up, Norphis. He survived. That's all I care about."
Norphis raised his hands defensively. "I'm just saying what we're both thinking. Look at him. He's colder. His aura feels… wrong."
Clauiy clenched her jaw but didn't argue further. Kresor stood a few steps away, staring at the horizon with a kind of distant calculation—as though weighing threats only he could see. A deep metallic hum echoed across the realm. A system announcement boomed overhead.
"One hour remaining.""Candidates must reach a minimum of 1000 points to exit through the portal.""Current score: 700."
Norphis stared at their status window, eyes widening. "We're at seven hundred? We need three hundred points more in just an hour!" He turned sharply. "Okay—roles. I'll attack. Clauiy will defend. Kresor, you'll be the—" "I'll be the attacker," Kresor cut in, voice steady and emotionless. Both of them froze.
Even the wind seemed to pause. Norphis blinked. "…You? Attack? You?" Clauiy whispered, "This… isn't our Kresor. Our Kresor was timid. Afraid. Hesitant." Norphis nodded slowly. "Now look at him. He feels… stronger. Darker. His purity energy… it's mutated. It's—" He swallowed. "It's colder than mine." Kresor didn't wait for them to process it.
He began walking. "Move. We're behind. Three hundred points is nothing." The other two exchanged another stunned look. Then followed.
The Hunt Begins The forest region erupted with movement as the trio emerged into it, shadows dancing between the trees. Dozens of demonic creatures lurked—horns glinting, eyes burning in the thick dark. Norphis cracked his knuckles. "Alright—let's start with—" But he didn't finish.
A massive four-armed demon stomped out of the underbrush—a hulking brute with obsidian flesh, tusks curling upward, and molten lines pulsing across its limbs. It let out a guttural roar—shaking leaves from branches. Norphis stepped forward. "I got this one—"
Kresor walked past him. "Move." Before either teammate could protest, the demon lunged. Kresor vanished. Not teleported. Not dashed.
He simply disappeared from sight. A shadow flickered beneath the demon. Then another. Then three. The four-armed monster spun violently, slashing at the air—but its arm fell off before the claw reached its target. Blood gushed. Kresor appeared behind it, blade in hand, stance relaxed. The demon roared and charged, swinging its remaining arms in a frenzy. Kresor didn't step back. He moved forward —straight into the storm of blows.
Clauiy gasped. "He's insane—!" But the blows never hit. Kresor glided between strikes like smoke slipping around steel. Each movement was minimal—coldly efficient—almost inhuman in its simplicity. Then he tilted his wrist. A single, ruthless arc of his blade cut upward—and the demon's torso split open like a butchered carcass.
The beast fell with a wet thud. Silence swallowed the forest. The purity points on the screen jumped. +160 Points Norphis stared at Kresor, jaw slack. "He… he wasn't like this before." Clauiy whispered, "No… he wasn't." Kresor sheathed his blade without looking at the corpse. "We move." And they did.
The Points Race For the next forty minutes, the trio tore through the forest—though "trio" was generous. Kresor was the blade. The storm. The executioner.
Every demon that appeared fell before Norphis could even wind up a punch. Clauiy's shields barely had time to form. Kresor's new abilities manifested like instincts—shadows bursting from his feet, slashes creating shockwaves, movements too sharp to comprehend. The point counter surged.
When the number finally hit 1000, a shimmering golden portal ignited in the center of the clearing, spiraling open. Norphis collapsed backward, panting. "We made it… If Kresor wasn't here, we'd never reach this in time." He forced a grin. "Thanks, man. Really."
Kresor didn't respond. His gaze had already drifted away—toward the horizon. Toward a figure standing in silence. A silhouette with two blades strapped across his back. The assassin. The President's executioner. Hiluas. Kresor's heart froze in his chest. Hiluas lifted his head, and a slow, wicked smile carved itself across his face.
His voice carried effortlessly through the wind.
"Say hello to death, Kresor."
He drew both blades in a single motion, steps silent, aura suffocating.
"I'm Death. Straight up.""And I've come for you—and only you."
The world went still.