Chapter 3: The Witness: Sera Song
[An Unlikely Observer]
Sera Song was an anomaly in the harsh, tiered ecosystem of Yeonhwa Academy. Where others were defined by their Hunter Rank, Sera was defined by her potential. She was technically unawakened, having never demonstrated a measurable mana signature, yet the Guilds had designated her potential as S-Rank—the highest possible—purely based on the transcendent quality of her life force. She was a beacon of potential Light and Healing, and thus, untouchable.
She stopped at the mouth of the alley, her eyes scanning the scene with the sharp, intelligent focus of a natural Hunter. She saw Minho and Jisoo scrambling away—shaking, panicked, and covered in dust, signs of fear, not injury. She ignored them, her attention drawn instead to the figure standing alone by the sealed Gate: Rudraunsh Kurozan.
The E-Rank outcast. The school's pathetic punching bag.
She took in his posture: rigid, exhausted, but carrying a new, terrifying stillness. She saw the disturbed, dark dust on the ground where the bones had vanished, and she smelled the metallic, ozone scent of raw, dark mana that lingered in the air.
Sera's heart hammered, not from fear, but from a profound intellectual shock. This was not the aftermath of a normal beating. This was the residue of forbidden power.
"Rudraunsh," she called out, stepping lightly over the scattered gravel. Her voice was steady, betraying none of the chaos she felt. "What happened here? Minho looks like he saw a ghost."
Rudraunsh slowly turned to face her. The weariness of his mana drain was obvious; his shoulders slumped slightly, and the unnatural blue flickers had vanished from his eyes. He looked, once again, like the pathetic E-Rank student.
Almost.
"Nothing happened, Song," he replied, deliberately using her surname to maintain distance. "Just a misunderstanding. I tripped."
Sera took another step closer, her focus absolute. She wasn't looking at his face; she was looking at the small, dark stain on the pavement near his foot—the residual mana imprint of the Undying Authority. Her knowledge of magic, gleaned from countless ancient texts and Guild reports, was vast, even without her personal awakening.
"I know what Necromancy smells like, Rudraunsh. It smells like iron and decay," she stated calmly. "What you used… that was different. It smells like death that refuses to be forgotten."
Rudraunsh clenched his fists. The fatigue was making him slow. He had to assume she had witnessed the entire, terrifying performance. Lying was useless.
"If you saw something, report it to your Guild," he said, forcing the words out. "It changes nothing."
"It changes everything," Sera countered, her expression softening from scrutiny to deep curiosity. "You are an E-Rank Necromancer. You should only be able to summon a single, flimsy skeleton that lasts for maybe a minute. Yet, you just used what looked like a continuous repair field on two summons, effortlessly shattering a C-Rank Brawler's confidence without suffering a single scratch. Tell me, Rudraunsh Kurozan, how did an E-Rank gain the power of a Catastrophe?"
[The Alliance of Outcasts]
Rudraunsh knew that line of questioning was the most dangerous thing she could ask. A 'Catastrophe' was the designation for a Gate event that risked wiping out an entire region—a threat so large that only the highest-ranked Hunters were sent to deal with it. To have that power contained within a single person was unheard of, and highly illegal.
"You're hallucinating," Rudraunsh dismissed, trying to walk past her.
Sera moved with surprising speed, blocking his path. She placed her hand against the wall, leaning in until they were standing in dangerously close proximity.
"I am the S-Rank Potential who has spent five years reading every banned text on Dark Magic, hoping to understand the true nature of mana," she hissed, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "You think I'm afraid of your pathetic bullies? I'm afraid of the Stellar Halo Guild finding you before I can."
That name—Stellar Halo—forced Rudraunsh to stop. They were the dominant power in Seoul, a guild founded on the principles of light, rigid hierarchy, and absolute control. They would incinerate a Necromancer like him without a second thought, regardless of his intentions.
"Why would you care?" Rudraunsh asked, suspicion heavy in his tone.
Sera pushed off the wall and stepped back, crossing her arms. Her demeanor shifted to one of cold, calculated business.
"Because you are also an outcast, Rudraunsh. The Stellar Halo views me as a commodity—a potential vessel for their Light magic dominance. They don't see me; they see a future S-Rank asset," she explained, a flicker of resentment in her eyes. "But you? You are not a commodity. You are an Extinction Level Event waiting to happen, and they will want to erase you."
She pulled a small, pristine data chip from her uniform pocket.
"I have resources, data, and a network that can give you advance warning of any Guild action. I can provide the materials you'll need to master… whatever that power is. I can be your eyes in the Light," Sera offered, holding out the chip. "In exchange, I need two things: Information about your power, and Protection when the inevitable happens and my potential finally awakens. The Light Hunters will not tolerate my independence. I need a shadow, and you are the ultimate darkness."
It was not a plea for friendship or romance. It was a cold, perfectly rational offer of mutual survival between two people destined to be hated by the establishment. She wasn't worshipping his terror; she was worshipping his necessity.
[The First Worshipper]
Rudraunsh stared at the data chip. His old self—the cautious, fearful boy—would have instantly rejected the dangerous entanglement. But the core of the Immortal Dao was urging him forward, demanding action, demanding power.
This girl was offering him a lifeline, a window into the world that would soon try to execute him.
He analyzed her with the calculating detachment of a general reviewing enemy reports. She was intelligent, resourceful, and desperate for freedom. Her S-Rank Light Potential was the perfect camouflage for his Catastrophic Darkness. They were the ultimate yin and yang, a pairing that would drive the established Hunters insane.
He took the chip, his fingers brushing hers for a brief, electric second.
"The power is called Undying Authority," Rudraunsh confirmed, his eyes hardening. "It doesn't just reanimate; it makes its servants immune to meaningful damage unless struck by an equivalent, continuous source of destruction. They are immortal, but their maintenance drains me completely right now."
Sera's eyes widened further, realizing the full, terrifying implication: he hadn't won by force, but by a principle of magic no one understood.
"A continuous repair field… Undying Authority," she repeated, committing the name to memory. "Perfect. We have a name for the power and a threat level. I will start tracking the Stellar Halo's dark magic task force."
She pulled a cheap, burner phone from her backpack. "This will be our only line of communication. Do not use your student ID phone. Do not trust anyone else."
Rudraunsh nodded, placing the data chip and the phone into his jacket pocket. The exhaustion was setting in hard. He needed rest, and he needed mana recovery. He needed to understand the limits of his new, catastrophic self.
"The deal is set, Sera Song," Rudraunsh said, using her first name—a small acknowledgement of the monumental risk they were both taking. "I will protect you from the Light when it turns on you. You will shield me from the world that hunts the darkness."
He finally turned and walked out of the alley, leaving the remnants of his old, pathetic life behind him. The E-Rank Outcast had just formed an alliance with the S-Rank Potential.
The Stellar Halo had no idea the danger they were in.