From the corner of his eye, Ronald glimpsed a blur approaching at terrifying speed.
His heart lurched, and he immediately activated a short teleportation technique, vanishing from his position and reappearing more than fifty meters away.
Meanwhile, the monk pivoted away from Ralph and executed a swift kick that forced the captain backward. Without wasting a heartbeat, he raised his staff and roared, "Dragon's Rage!"
Flames spiraled around the staff as ether condensed violently at its tip. With a thrust into empty air, the swirling fire shaped itself into a dragon, its blazing form coiling and roaring before it shot forward toward Prince Kaelan.
Although the monk had the chance to strike Ralph mid-air, he chose instead to target the prince fifteen meters away, clearly intending to disrupt the group's core.
The dragon-shaped inferno streaked across the clearing.
The hooded figure had reached Lucian and stood protectively before him, yet he did not move to intercept the attack. The injured knight shouted desperately, "Your Highness, careful!"
"Dear..."
Sienna grabbed Arceus and pulled him away from the blast radius just as the fiery dragon neared its target.
Prince Kaelan smirked faintly.
"What a desperate, foolish attack," he muttered as he sidestepped with apparent ease, letting the dragon pass by his original position.
However, the dragon collided with a thick tree behind him.
The resulting explosion was devastating.
The blast wave tore through the clearing, uprooting smaller trees and hurling debris outward. Prince Kaelan and the nearby knight were thrown violently across the ground. Smoke and embers filled the air.
Meanwhile, due to Sienna's timely movement, she and Arceus narrowly avoided the explosion's edge, though both stumbled. The hooded figure shielded Lucian with his own body, absorbing part of the shockwave and suffering minor bruises along his arms.
"Your Highness!" Ralph shouted in alarm as he regained his footing and rushed toward the prince.
Prince Kaelan coughed harshly, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth as he struggled upright.
"I am… fine," he forced out between breaths. "I underestimated the blast power."
His back was scorched and bleeding beneath his torn robes.
Ralph quickly moved to assess the fallen knight, who lay unconscious but breathing faintly.
Prince Kaelan's gaze swept the clearing. Relief flickered across his face when he confirmed his friends were safe. His expression then hardened as he scanned the forest beyond the smoke.
"Where are those damned bastards?" he growled, fury replacing his earlier composure.
Meanwhile, far away in Sector-6 of Bloodhill Forest, another drama unfolded beneath the moon.
A massive gray wolf led a pack of black wolves through the trees, their paws pounding against the earth with relentless rhythm.
Woof.
At the front of their pursuit ran a heavily armored man clad in gold-graded equipment, ether swirling frantically around his body.
It was Jareth, the five-star adventurer whose luck had recently been drained by Kiara.
Behind him, the gray wolf's eyes burned with predatory hunger. Unlike the rest of the pack, this beast had reached the six-star realm.
Jareth's breath came ragged and desperate as he ran without direction, his only thought focused on survival.
"I just need to reach the barrier," he told himself frantically. "Sector-7's boundary separates the higher beasts. If I cross it, I live."
He sprinted southward blindly, ignoring terrain and fatigue alike.
The wolves howled behind him, and the distance between hunter and hunted grew thinner with every heartbeat.
"Finally…"
After running without pause for nearly three hours, Jareth felt his lungs burn like molten iron inside his chest. His legs trembled from overexertion, and he had already sacrificed a portion of his life force to maintain his speed.
Just as despair began clawing at his mind, a faint blue glow emerged ahead through the darkness of Sector-6.
It was the barrier.
The shimmering curtain of energy that separated Sector-6 from Sector-7 stood like a silent guardian, humming faintly beneath the moonlight. Relief surged through him like a second wind.
"I'm going to make it," he muttered hoarsely, forcing more ether into his limbs despite the cost.
Behind him, the massive gray wolf narrowed its eyes as it also caught sight of the barrier. Its powerful paws dug into the earth, accelerating with terrifying momentum.
The distance between predator and prey shrank rapidly, leaves and dirt scattering in its wake.
When only ten meters remained between Jareth and safety, the gray wolf opened its jaws wide. Natural energy gathered in its mouth, crackling violently as it condensed into a sphere of lightning.
Jareth felt the surge of killing intent at his back.
He did not turn.
Instead, he leaped forward with everything he had left.
The lightning sphere shot from the wolf's maw like a comet, streaking toward his spine at the exact moment his body crossed the blue threshold. He tumbled through the barrier and crashed onto the ground beyond it, rolling across the dirt in a daze.
The lightning ball struck the barrier.
It vanished instantly, absorbed and nullified by the boundary's law.
Woof!
The gray wolf barked in frustration, its glowing eyes locked on the exhausted man lying just beyond its reach. After several seconds of low growling, it turned away reluctantly and disappeared back into the forest, unwilling to challenge the barrier's power.
Jareth lay on his back, staring up at the dark sky as laughter bubbled uncontrollably from his throat.
"Finally… I'm alive. Hahaha…"
He pushed himself upright and staggered forward along the dim path beyond the barrier, still trembling with adrenaline.
Then he froze.
A row of shallow caves lined the rocky hillside before him. From within the shadows, several towering figures stepped forward.
Orcs.
At least seven of them stood at the entrances, their greenish skin glistening faintly under moonlight, heavy wooden clubs resting against their shoulders. Their yellow eyes fixed on him with unmistakable interest.
"Not again—"
His scream echoed miserably across the night.
*
Twelve hours earlier, in the Imperial City.
After purchasing new equipment from the Everlasting store, Jareth and his two teammates headed toward the Guild District.
The district bustled with activity as banners of various guilds fluttered proudly above stone buildings, from the grand headquarters of the Swordmasters Guild to modest structures housing small ten-member groups like Castle Rover.
His teammates were beaming with pride, adjusting their newly purchased gold-graded armor and admiring the polished sheen of their upgraded weapons.
It was not until they realized they had entered a different street than usual that their smiles began to falter.
They stopped before a two-story building with bold letters engraved above the entrance.
Hell Sky.
The name alone conjured a familiar figure in both of their minds.
They shivered involuntarily.
"Captain… we are not going for another joint mission with Hell Sky, are we?" one subordinate asked cautiously.
"There is nothing to worry about," Jareth replied confidently, though his eyes betrayed a hint of calculation as he stepped inside.
The guild hall buzzed with activity. Adventurers crowded around a quest board mounted on the wall, debating assignments and negotiating rewards.
A cheerful, well-endowed woman in fitted leather armor turned toward them with a radiant smile.
"Jareth, here!" she called brightly, waving her hand.
The two subordinates halted immediately, their expressions paling.
"Miss Sapphire…"
Only a few days earlier, they had nearly lost their lives during a mission alongside her team while confronting a six-star beast. Though their captain had rewarded them generously afterward, they still considered her a walking calamity.
They exchanged glances filled with shared dread.
"Captain, I just remembered I must take my grandfather to Healer Zaius," one said hurriedly.
"My stomach suddenly feels unwell," the other added weakly.
Before either could retreat, Jareth draped his arms around their shoulders and gripped firmly. "Don't you dare. You are coming with me."
Sapphire approached briskly, holding a freshly posted mission sheet.
"You arrived at the perfect time," she said excitedly. "I was about to accept another quest, but now that you are here, this one is ours."
Both subordinates mentally wept.
Jareth accepted the sheet and read.
Mission: Retrieve the corpse of a six-star Gray Werewolf. The heart must remain intact.
Rank: AA
Requirements: At least ten five-star spirit warriors. One six-star spirit warrior can replace three five-star warriors.
Reward: 80,000 gold coins, 8 High-grade Ether Crystals.
"AA…" one subordinate whispered, imaginary tears streaming down his face.