The two-headed direwolf lunged.
Its massive frame blurred forward, claws tearing through the stone floor as if it were mud. Kaien twisted aside at the last possible second, the wind pressure alone ripping through his clothes and sending him skidding across the hall.
"Fast—!" he hissed.
Before he could stabilize, the second head snapped toward him, jaws wide, fangs dripping with dark saliva. Kaien planted his foot, twisted his waist, and brought his blade up in a desperate arc.
CLANG—!
The impact rattled his arms numb.
The direwolf recoiled only slightly before its body surged again, muscles swelling grotesquely as its Berserker skill activated. Its aura exploded outward, crushing down on Kaien like a collapsing mountain.
His knees bent involuntarily.
"So that's Bloodlust…" Kaien muttered through gritted teeth.
The beast didn't give him time to think.
Claws. Fangs. Crushing weight.
Kaien was forced entirely on the defensive, relying on footwork drilled into him by Master Kael Tharion. Each dodge shaved his stamina thinner. Each blocked strike sent pain screaming up his arms.
One mistake.
That was all it would take.
Focus.
Kaien's breathing slowed.
He waited.
The direwolf lunged again—both heads striking at once.
Now.
Kaien stepped inside the attack, twisting past the snapping jaws, his blade flashing upward in a precise, merciless strike.
SHRK—!
One head fell.
The direwolf howled, the sound shaking the entire hall. Its remaining head thrashed wildly, madness overtaking reason.
Kaien didn't hesitate.
He drove his sword straight through its skull.
The beast collapsed.
Silence followed.
Kaien staggered backward, barely staying upright.
"…That nearly ended me," he breathed.
The direwolf dissolved into dark fragments, leaving behind spoils that Kaien mechanically collected, his body still shaking from the aftermath.
That was when he felt it.
A pressure.
Not wild.
Not feral.
Controlled.
Ancient.
Kaien turned slowly.
The next chamber stood open.
Empty.
Too empty.
He stepped inside—and felt it erupt.
The air itself bent.
Kaien's breath caught in his throat as a vast presence surged from the direction of the main hall, rolling through the castle like a silent storm. The lanterns lining the corridor flickered violently before extinguishing one by one.
His instincts screamed.
This isn't a monster.
Kaien moved forward anyway.
Each step felt heavier than the last. His exhaustion weighed him down, yet something deeper—something stubborn—pushed him onward.
The corridor opened into the main hall.
A throne stood at its center.
And upon it sat a figure that should not exist in a raid portal.
The being rose slowly.
Dark armor clung to its frame, etched with ancient runes that pulsed faintly. A hollow mask concealed its face—featureless, empty, devouring light itself. From its shoulders flowed a deep red cloak, dragging along the floor like spilled blood.
The hall trembled.
Kaien's appraisal device activated instinctively.
Then—
CRACK—!
The crystal shattered.
Fragments fell uselessly to the floor.
Before it died completely, a single line burned itself into Kaien's vision:
Designation: Demon King
Rank: ???
Level: ???
All Attributes: ???
Kaien's legs trembled violently.
His heart pounded so hard it felt like it would burst.
Demon… King…?
This wasn't a boss.
This wasn't even a calamity-tier being.
This was something that ruled calamities.
Every instinct in his body screamed for him to turn and run.
Yet—
His feet wouldn't move.
And somewhere deep inside him, another presence stirred.
Not fear.
Not reason.
Defiance.
If I run now…
I will never forgive myself.
The Demon King stepped down from the throne.
Each step echoed like a hammer striking Kaien's chest.
"You are far from where you belong," the being said.
Its voice wasn't loud.
It didn't need to be.
The sound carried weight—absolute, unchallenged.
Kaien forced his shaking hands to tighten around his sword.
"I didn't come here seeking you," he said, voice unsteady but unbroken. "But I won't kneel."
The Demon King tilted its masked head slightly.
"…Interesting."
The pressure intensified.
Kaien dropped to one knee as the floor cracked beneath him.
"You carry exhaustion in your flesh," the being continued calmly. "And yet your will refuses to break."
Kaien gritted his teeth and pushed himself upright.
"Try me."
The Demon King moved.
Kaien never saw it.
One moment it stood meters away—
The next, its presence was everywhere.
Kaien raised his sword on pure instinct.
BOOM—!
The impact sent him flying.
His body smashed into the far wall, stone exploding outward as pain tore through every nerve. He coughed blood, barely managing to stay conscious.
So fast…
The Demon King didn't pursue immediately.
"You are weak," it said. "But weakness alone does not explain you."
Kaien staggered to his feet.
His vision blurred.
Still, he charged.
Steel flashed.
Lightning danced along his blade as he poured everything into a single strike.
The Demon King caught it.
Two fingers.
The energy dispersed like smoke.
Kaien's pupils shrank.
Then came the counter.
A single, casual strike.
Kaien's body was launched across the hall again, skidding across the floor and leaving a trail of blood behind him.
He couldn't stand this time.
His limbs refused to respond.
I'm going to die.
The Demon King approached.
Slow. Unhurried.
"This is not your end," it said—not as mercy, but as fact. "It is simply… not yet."
The pressure suddenly lifted.
The Demon king lifted Kaien's small body up into the air with one hand gripping his small neck tightly." Weak. Why did you choose to come all the way here when you're this weak?" ..."I despise fools that walk up to dig their own grave" he added. And he continued to choke Kaien's neck as if trying to break it and so it happened Kaien's neck sounded as if it had cracked.
With this, the demon king let go of his neck making his small body fall on the ground with a thud. "Meet you in hell" so the demon king said and he turned away vanishing into the thin air. "So this is my end" he said faintly in his mind." Mom, dad, Jay , Alora I'm sorry I couldn't fulfill my promise to get stronger" and so his consciousness swept into a total darkness.