Chapter 44: Exit From Hell
The instant Soo-ah drank the Royal Blood, the battlefield was transformed, neither gently nor violently, but unmistakably changed.
The ruined castle simply stopped.
The air froze, heavy and suffocating, as if the dungeon paused to watch what would happen next. The trembling beneath the floor faded. Even the cursed energy in the air hung still, motionless and bloodstained.
It did not feel like a victory, but more like a judgment.
Aken knelt beside her, one hand gently cradling the back of her neck. His other hand hovered near her face, as if afraid that even a touch too firm might shatter the delicate thread tethering her to life.
For a few terrible seconds—
Nothing happened; no breath, no movement, no pulse.
Soo-ah's body felt cold against his arms, frighteningly light and still.
Aken's jaw tightened.
"Not like this. Please, not like this."
But just then—
Her chest jerked violently.
A gasp tore from her lungs as her body convulsed hard enough to almost slip from his grip. Aken caught her immediately, eyes widening as a deep crimson glow flickered beneath her skin.
At first, it was faint. Then it began spreading like the Covid 19 virus.
Thin veins of red light pulsed beneath her arms, her neck, her closed eyelids, moving in slow waves like blood trying to return to the shape of her body.
Aken's fingers tightened around her shoulder.
"It's working..." he whispered.
But even he didn't fully believe it.
The wounds on her body began to close. Torn flesh slowly knitted together. Bruises faded. Cuts sealed one by one as if something inside her rejected death itself.
The blood beneath her dried quickly.
The temperature around them shifted unexpectedly. First, it grew cold, then unexpectedly warmed, only to become unbearably cold once more.
Aken felt blood energy twisting unnaturally around her body, unstable yet ancient. It had traces of something that should never have existed inside a human.
Then her fingers twitched. Aken leaned in closer quickly.
"Soo-ah?"
Her eyes fluttered open, revealing a terrifying truth—those weren't her eyes. Gazing back at him was deep crimson, old and predatory, as if stolen from some ancient predator lurking in the shadows.
Empty in a way human eyes should never be.
Aken was instantly frozen in place.
It lasted less than a second. But in those seconds, something inside him understood a rather harsh truth:
Whatever dragged her back had looked into the abyss before returning.
The crimson hue faded suddenly, and her eyes returned to normal. In that moment, her body collapsed forward, as if exhausted by the ordeal.
Aken caught her before she hit the ground.
"Soo-ah!"
No reply. Only an unconscious, breathing against his shoulder.
Future Aken clicked his tongue in his mind.
"She's so weak; her body is already struggling this much just to handle the blood."
Aken immediately looked annoyed.
"Don't talk about her like that."
A small chuckle echoed back at him.
"You're still attached. I wonder how you'll be in the future."
Aken ignored him completely.
Jae-Min staggered over to them, each step wobbly. His face looked pale beneath all the blood on his skin, and he was gasping for breath. His partially fixed arm was trembling by his side, like it wasn't really sure if it was actually his.
"Is Soo-ah..." He swallowed hard. "Is she alive?" Jae-Min asked.
Aken glanced at Soo-ah for a moment before nodding slowly.
"She's breathing. That's all I know for now."
It wasn't exactly reassurance, but it was enough to make a difference.
Jae-Min let out a shaky breath that almost sounded painful. His shoulders lowered slightly, exhaustion finally breaking through now that the fighting was over.
For a while, none of them spoke. The castle groaned around them.
With the Vampire Prince absent, the dungeon started to unravel. Cracks snaked along the walls like veins bursting to the surface. A deep crimson glow flickered erratically, pulsing unevenly. The ground quivered faintly beneath their feet, as if the very earth was trembling with impending collapse.
The place was dying.
Aken carefully adjusted Soo-ah against him before lifting her onto his back. She felt lighter than expected. And that frightened him even more.
Her arms hung weakly around his shoulders, her head resting against his back, and pale strands of hair brushed against his neck. If not for the faint warmth of her breathing, she could have seemed dead.
His chest tightened at the thought of it.
Ahead of them, the space seemed to warp and bend, like the fabric of the matter was stretching and twisting.
The exit.
Aken stared at it without a word. Behind him layed everything they had lost.
The battle, the screams, the people.
For a brief moment, he almost turned around. Almost looking back one last time. But still... he couldn't.
"…Let's go," he said quietly.
Jae-Min nodded once. And together, all three of them left the gates of hell.
The moment they stepped through the rift, the world changed.
The refreshing air hit Aken's lungs with such sudden force that it felt like it could kill him.
The suffocating pressure vanished, replaced by the cool breeze of the outside world—real air, with a real sky.
The usual sounds of distant cars and rustling wind suddenly felt almost surreal after everything they'd been through.
Aken staggered a bit. Not from injury, but from absence.
The dungeon's weight had pressed against him for so long that existing without it felt weird.
Behind them, the gate trembled once. Then finally sealed shut with a dull pulse of light.
Gone, just like that.
Union personnel patiently waited beyond the barrier, anticipation evident in their stance.
Dozens of them, all lined up; medics, players, officials. All of them prepared for survivors, but not for this.
The moment Aken came walking over with Soo-ah on his back, while Jae-Min stumbled along beside him, covered in blood, everything within that area suddenly went quiet.
Conversations halted abruptly, as if they were cut off. Several people froze mid-step, caught in the moment of hesitation. Others stared openly at their state, their faces reflecting shock and confusion.
The Vice President was the first to approach. His composed expression cracked almost immediately.
His eyes shifted from Jae-Min's visibly distressed state to Soo-ah's unconscious form draped over Aken's back, then finally settled on Aken himself, noting the tiredness in his posture.
And then stopped. Something about Aken's eyes made him hesitate.
"…Where are the others?" he asked.
Aken met his unwavering gaze without blinking, his eyes steady and penetrating as if searching for something hidden.
"They're dead."
No hesitation. No emotion. Just straight-up truth.
The words settled heavily across the platform. One of the medics immediately lowered her head, while another player cursed quietly under his breath.
Nobody needed the specifics to know what had happened.
The Vice President exhaled slowly.
"…You cleared the gate?"
"Yes, we did."
Another silence stretched between them, thick with unspoken thoughts. Then the Vice President nodded once, a subtle gesture signaling agreement and understanding.
"…I understand." His voice lowered slightly. "We need the medical team here."
Immediately, everything moved at once, as if a switch had been flipped, causing everyone in the environment to shift and rearrange simultaneously.
Medics hurried over carefully, lifting Soo-ah off Aken's back and onto a stretcher. Even unconscious, the faint flicker of crimson energy under her skin made a few of them look uneasy.
Jae-Min nearly collapsed when they tried to support him. The adrenaline keeping him upright had finally begun to fade.
Aken stood motionless, his gaze fixated ahead as they moved efficiently around him, the soft sound of footsteps and tools softly clinking filling the still air.
Someone attempted to guide him toward seeking medical treatment for his worsening condition. However, he brushed past them without responding, his expression guarded and dismissive.
Inside his mind, Future Aken's voice returned quietly.
"Not bad little me."
Aken's eyes narrowed slightly.
"That's all you have to say?"
A low laugh echoed back.
"For now. One day, you'll understand how it feels to lose everything."
Then he went silent, his presence fading into a distant, almost imperceptible shadow. Not gone entirely, but retreating into an internal realm of observation. His gaze remained fixed, unwavering, as he watched silently, patiently waiting for the moment to act or reveal himself once more.
---
Hours later, after the emergency had died down and things had settled into a steady flow, Aken was by himself at the edge of the Union's outer platform.
The city stretched endlessly beneath him, glowing with a beautiful light, completely unaware of what had happened below its surface.
Cars darted through glowing streets, their headlights slicing through the night. In the distance, laughter echoed from distant buildings, adding warmth to the cool urban glow. Neon signs flickered and shimmered against the skyline, painting a vibrant picture of city life. The world behind it all kept moving forward.
Aken rested both hands against the railing and stared at it in silence.
"We lost people in that dungeon."
Miokuo remained quiet at his side. Not even the weapon's spirit had anything to say.
"But we came back alive," Aken continued softly.
The words didn't carry a sense of victory, only heaviness remained. Because survival was never pure or easy in a dungeon, even everywhere in fact.
It always demanded a price. And tonight, that price felt almost unbearable to bear.
Aken closed his eyes briefly. Jin Wong's words echoing in his mind.
Don't let her carry it alone.
A sharp sensation squeezed his chest.
He hadn't even had time to grieve properly. Everything was moving too fast—fighting, surviving, decisions, consequences. The moment one nightmare ended, another immediately took its place.
Soo-ah's crimson glow crossed his minds memory.
Sharp and unyielding. Their ancient, almost otherworldly hue seemed to carry centuries of untold stories. A hunger he could not explain lurked behind that gaze, primal and consuming. Yet, beneath their captivating allure, there was something fundamentally wrong—a subtle, unsettling darkness that haunted that glance.
Aken exhaled slowly, the breath steady and deliberate as he relaxed his tense shoulders
"What do I do now?"
No answer came. For once, even Future Aken stayed silent.
Just then, footsteps approached from behind him.
Jae-Min.
Fresh bandages wrapped around his body. His restored arm was still stiff as he stopped beside Aken and leaned against the railing with a tired groan.
For a moment, neither Jae-Min nor the Aken spoke, their minds occupied with unspoken thoughts. Then Jae-Min let out a long, reflective sigh, breaking the silence.
"We did what we could."
Aken stared ahead at the city lights.
"No," he said quietly. "We survived. That's the difference."
Jae-Min didn't argue, fully understanding the situation. After a brief pause, he cast a quick glance to the side
"But you still saved her."
Aken's expression darkened slightly.
"…Maybe."
That answer made Jae-Min pause.
"Do you think there's something's wrong?"
Aken stayed silent for a few seconds too long.
"…I don't know yet."
And somehow that felt even worse.
The wind passed quietly between them. Below, the city continued living in complete ignorance of how close it had come to disaster.
Finally, Aken straightened slightly.
"…Next time," he said quietly, "we finish it before it gets that far."
Jae-Min snorted weakly.
"…Yeah. Preferably with fewer missing limbs."
A subtle breath of amusement escaped Aken, almost a laugh.
"Yeah. So try harder next time."
It wasn't much, but it helped, just a little.
The crushing weight inside his chest eased enough for him to breathe again. It wasn't gone, never gone, but it felt lighter.
Just for now.
Far below the city lights, unseen by either of them, something within Soo-ah's unconscious body moved quietly.
A small pulse; slow, ancient, and awaiting its return.
END OF CHAPTER 44