The first Shade lunged.
Kai sidestepped, smoother than before. His blade flicked up—not just meeting the attack, but slipping through its motion, like slicing across water. A diagonal arc of glowing heat seared across the Shade's chest.
It reeled back—screeching.
The second came in—a blur of claws.
But Kai felt it. The shift in pressure. The drop in sound. The flicker of murderous intent. He moved a heartbeat before it struck. He turned and stepped inside the attack. He drove his katana upward with a precise, burning cut across the torso.
Two strikes. Two clean hits.
A grin spread across his bloodied face.
"…This time…" he whispered, flames spiraling up his katana like a hungry spirit.
"…I'll be the one protecting Belle."
From behind, Belle watched—eyes wide, lips parted. But not in shock. Not in fear.
In awe.
"…There he is," she breathed.
The Shades let out a metallic roar, contorting in pain—but also rage. Their bodies shifted again, claws fusing into something thicker. Heavier. Like cleavers.
And Kai—he charged. His body blurred forward like a comet. The ground cracked beneath his feet. A trail of fire exploded in his wake.
The two forces collided—fire and shadow—claw and katana.
The cavern rumbled—a deep, bone-vibrating groan that rolled across the stone walls like the breath of a sleeping giant.
Faint embers swirled through the air, casting glimmers across the jagged stone floor. Belle's aura still shimmered faintly behind Kai, her silver eyes reflecting the fire ahead. The very air was thick—tense with anticipation, charged with unseen power.
Before them, the Shades reformed—fractured silhouettes of corrupted metal and writhing shadows. Their bodies glitched, twitching, as if trying to adapt to Kai's newfound rhythm.
Their claws extended, jagged and warped like blades drawn from the void. Their eyes, twin dots of seething crimson, burned brighter than ever.
And yet—Kai stood tall. Battered. Bleeding. But no longer broken.
His body trembled, knees threatening to give out. But the flame wrapped around his katana flickered steadily—held not by magic alone, but by sheer will. A will that refused to be extinguished.
Around his body, a faint red aura shimmered—barely more than a flicker, but alive. Unstable. But real.
"…C'mon," he whispered, exhaling steam from his lips. "Let's finish this for real."
One heartbeat. Two.
Then they moved.
The Shades surged in from opposite angles—one a blur of black lightning, the other a spinning mass of claws and hatred.
But this time, Kai didn't flinch.
He exploded forward in a burst of speed, his red aura flaring faintly. The cavern ignited with heat. He ducked beneath the first slash, embers swirling behind him like comet trails, and slammed his blade upward in a fiery arc.
CLANG—SSSKRRT!
A gash tore through the first Shade's torso. Sparks and glitched particles burst from its core.
The second lunged.
But Kai twisted mid-air, the world slowing around him, his body moving with unnatural clarity. He saw it—the subtle twitch before the swipe. The buildup of corrupted energy.
And he struck.
"RAAAAAAH!!"
His katana screamed with flame as it met the Shade's claws, the impact sending a shockwave rippling through the cavern, cracking stone and shattering debris. His aura surged—unstable, flaring wildly—and for one blinding moment, it was as though a sun had ignited in the dark.
The Shades shrieked—a mechanical distortion, angry and desperate.
Kai landed hard, rolling through the scorched dirt, only to rise again in a seamless motion.
"…I'm not the same guy you fought a few minutes ago," he growled.
His eyes burned with fire. With resolve.
Above, a crimson cyclone began to form around his katana—wild and barely contained. His aura flickered erratically, like a storm about to break.
Belle watched, eyes widened.
"…He's drawing more power than his body can handle."
Still, she didn't stop him. Because in his flame—she saw it.
Conviction.
The first Shade charged again, faster now, twitching and glitching as if rewriting its own code mid-attack.
Kai didn't back down. Instead—he stepped into the strike.
His katana clashed with its claw, and he spun, redirecting the force. His blade danced, every movement flowing like fire in the wind. He struck low—then high—then flipped over its head in a somersault and slashed downward.
"CRIMSON FANG: HELLFIRE!"
The explosion of flame ripped across the battlefield, engulfing the Shade in a spiral of red-hot fury. Its form began to fracture—glitches tearing across its body like glass under pressure.
It let out a strangled, warped scream.
BOOM!
It detonated in a shockwave of dark static and ash.
One remained.
The stronger one. The alpha.
Its mask-like face cracked open to reveal a cluster of shifting red lenses, each spinning and refocusing like a camera adjusting its target.
And its new target—was Kai.
Kai gasped, staggering. His aura sputtered. He was nearly out.
The last Shade rushed forward, faster than any previous strike. Kai's body moved on instinct—but it wasn't enough. The Shade feinted, dipped low, and slashed his ribs clean open.
"GAAAH—!"
Blood sprayed across the cavern floor.
He flew backward, slammed into a wall, and dropped to one knee—barely breathing.
"D-Dammit…"
His vision blurred. He couldn't move. Couldn't even lift his blade.
The Shade closed in.
Belle took a step forward—but froze. Her aura still recovering. One wrong move, and she'd collapse. She clenched her fist, teeth grinding.
"Kai—!"
His fingers twitched. Memories flashed.
Training. Arguments. Laughter. The first time Belle called him hopeless. The first time she smiled at him. Every reckless mistake. Every time she pulled him back from the brink.
And now… he could feel it. That flicker again.
His will. Buried deep within his burning mana.
"I'm not done."
His aura erupted. A pillar of red flame shot upward, twisting into the shape of a dragon's maw. His katana ignited, pulsing with unstable energy.
"NO ONE—gets past me!"
His feet dug into the ground. His body screamed in protest. But he moved anyway.
One final time.
He shot forward—faster than before.
The Shade attacked—but Kai anticipated it. He didn't see the move. He felt it.
Aura burned from his soul like wildfire unleashed. His blade crackled—no longer just with magic, but with his very spirit.
"CRIMSON FANG: SEVERING SKY!"
His katana cut upward in a single, perfect arc.
SLAAAAAAASH—!!
Time froze.
The Shade staggered. Its form glitched violently. Eyes flickering.
Then—it shattered. Disintegrated into black mist.
Silence returned to the cavern. The only sound was Kai's panting breath.
His knees buckled. He dropped his katana—flame extinguishing with a hiss—and collapsed to one knee.
Footsteps echoed softly behind him.
Belle approached, her jacket swaying gently. Her silver eyes locked onto him—proud, unreadable, warm.
"Well…" She knelt beside him, her voice soft but teasing.
"You did it."
Kai blinked at her, dazed. "I… did?"
"You brought out your aura. Even if it was just dumb luck."
"H-Hey… that's not fair," he muttered.
Belle smiled faintly. "You won on your own. That counts for something."
She paused. Then added, quieter:
"…And your resolve. It was real. I saw that. That's what made the difference."
Kai looked away, face turning red beneath the dirt and blood.
Belle stood, stretching with a slight wince. "Also—just so you know… I never thought of you as a deadweight."
His eyes widened. "You… didn't?"
She turned and gave him a little smirk.
"Nope."
Then—
"I always thought of you more like a puppy."
Kai blinked.
"…What… A puppy?!"
"Y'know, energetic, kind of a mess, always running into danger without thinking—needs to be rescued every five minutes."
"H-Hey!! That's slander!"
She chuckled.
Kai groaned, dragging himself to his feet. "And here I was thinking I looked cool for once."
Belle tilted her head. "You did sound cool for a second."
"Oh?"
"…Until you said, 'This time I'll be the one protecting Belle!'" she mimicked in a low, dramatic voice.
Kai's soul visibly left his body.
"I—okay, I take it back. I regret everything."
She laughed.
He turned away, red-faced. "Y'know what, next time you fight the Shades, I'll be the one hiding behind a rock."
"You'd still end up charging in anyway," she said casually.
"…True."
They stood there for a moment—scorched cavern, ashes of the Shades fading into sparks around them. The battle was over. But something had changed.
Kai had taken his first step toward something greater.
And Belle… smiled quietly.
Because maybe—just maybe—she wouldn't always have to carry the burden alone.
Kai glanced at her. Her profile was calm, but something about it felt… off.
That's when it hit him. Her words. "My world was different, is it?"
He blinked slowly, heart catching in his throat. The question formed before he even realized he was speaking.
"…Back there. You said… your world was different."
Belle didn't answer at first. The silence stretched. Too long. It was unintentional.
Kai turned to her more directly now, brows slightly furrowed. "What did you mean by that?"
Belle inhaled sharply—but quietly. Like a breath she didn't mean to take. A moment of hesitation that betrayed more than she wanted.
Her eyes met his. Not sharply. Not with deflection.
But with something softer. Vulnerable.
"…I meant exactly what I said." She looked away for just a heartbeat, her voice almost too calm, as if rehearsed.
"I'm not from this world."
The words fell like stones into water.
Kai froze. His breath caught.
"…What?"
"I mean it," she said, more softly this time. "Not this continent. Not another kingdom. I mean not from this world at all."
Kai's lips parted, but no sound came out. His mind scrambled to form logic where none existed.
"You're saying… like, another realm?" he asked, still uncertain. "Another continent across the sea? Another dimension? Or…?"
Belle gave him a ghost of a smile—tired, knowing. "I'm saying I'm not from Eldoria."
The name of their world. Spoken aloud like it was a foreign word on her tongue.
"I'm from a place that doesn't have magic. No monsters. No miasma. A world of cities, lights, machines… and rules." Her voice trembled just faintly, barely perceptible. "A world where dungeons like this exist only in video games and manga."
Kai stared at her like she was speaking another language. Which, in a way, she was.
"I don't… I don't get it," he muttered. "You're saying you're—what? From another dimension?"
Belle's gaze didn't waver. "That's one way to put it."
Kai's jaw clenched. He wanted to ask more—demand answers. But something in her expression told him this wasn't easy for her. That she'd kept this locked away for a reason.
And for a moment, just a moment, all the pieces he hadn't understood before began to click into place.
Her unfamiliar tactics in battle. Her strange terminology. Her knowledge of things she shouldn't know. And that look in her eyes—the one that sometimes stared too far into the distance.
"…You've been carrying this the whole time?" he asked, voice quieter now.
Belle nodded. "I didn't think it was necessary to let someone know, plus I didn't really understand why I'm here yet."
Kai's hands clenched at his sides.
"Oh, and I think Garrick might already be suspicious about this."
"Wait… Garrick?" his brow frowned. "Our guildmaster? How did he—"
CRRRRRRRRACK!
The cavern trembled.
A sharp, violent quake suddenly ripped through the ground beneath them.
Belle's head whipped around. "What—"
BOOOOM!
A deafening rupture echoed as the ground began to shatter. Cracks spiderwebbed across the floor like lightning strikes, glowing faintly red from deep below.
The walls groaned. Dust rained from the ceiling.
"Kai—!" Belle shouted.
"I see it!" he yelled back, grabbing her wrist without thinking.
The platform beneath them split apart like breaking glass. Then—the floor gave way.
They dropped—falling into an abyss of darkness and unknown.
Chunks of rock and debris tumbled around them like meteorites. The wind howled. The light above vanished as they fell deeper and deeper.
Belle twisted mid-air, holding Kai close, her eyes glowing faintly—concentrating, calculating.
"We're not done yet," she said under her breath, just before a blinding red light burst from below them.
Something was waiting at the bottom.
Something corrupted. And dangerous.
End of Chapter 66