The cathedral of bone and crystal pulsed with a malevolent heartbeat. Jagged spires stretched toward the blood-red sky, and a miasma of corrupted mana swirled like smoke over cracked stone. The ground beneath Raon's boots crumbled with each step, rejecting his presence—as if the land itself knew he was not welcome.
But he kept walking.
Across the clearing, Min Seo stood like a queen of death, flanked by two grotesque figures—mutated humans who had lost every trace of their former selves. One had razor-edged wings and a serpent-like lower body; the other was covered in obsidian scales, its arms elongated into sickle-blades.
"Raon," Min Seo said, her voice like wind over frost. "Turn back. You don't have to die here."
He stopped five meters away, his fists burning with blue fire. "You've changed," he said. "But I can still see you. The real you. The girl who gave me her lunch when I had nothing. Who said she'd always be by my side."
Min Seo's expression flickered—something soft, something broken—but it vanished just as fast.
"That girl is gone. She was weak. She believed in fairness and friendship in a world built on hunger and strength. The new me... doesn't make that mistake."
Raon took a slow breath. His HUD pinged a warning—Min Seo's energy signature was warping, spiking erratically. She was fighting something inside her. Or worse, had already lost.
"I'm not here to lecture you," Raon said. "I'm here to give you a chance."
"Chance?" she laughed, bitter and hollow. "You think this is a misunderstanding? No, Raon. I chose this. I evolved beyond the pathetic limitations the government forced on us. I unlocked a true system. One that doesn't put limits on power."
Her aura exploded outward—black and gold tendrils of energy tearing through the air. The two mutated guards shrieked and surged toward Raon.
[Warning: Incoming Hostiles – Mutation Index: 84%]
[Initiating Combat Protocols]
The first came in fast—serpent legs slithering with terrifying speed. It slashed horizontally with a blade-arm. Raon ducked, slid beneath its guard, and released a concentrated burst of Blue Flame from his palm. The creature screamed as fire consumed its torso.
The second guard flanked, roaring, bringing down both blades in a crushing overhead arc.
Raon parried with a flaming arm guard and struck with a reverse elbow, his enhanced muscle fibers crackling. A sonic boom echoed as the strike shattered the monster's face.
Two seconds. Two kills.
[+160 EP]
[EP Total: 760]
He looked at Min Seo. "You can stop this."
Min Seo didn't flinch. "No. But you can join me."
Raon froze.
Join her?
For a heartbeat, he saw it—what she saw. A world rebuilt by power. A new order rising from the ruins of weakness. No more bullies. No more governments choosing who lived or died. Just those strong enough to seize their future.
It was tempting.
But only for a second.
"I'm not like you," he said.
Her face hardened. "Then die like the rest."
She vanished.
[Warning: Instantaneous Movement Detected]
Raon spun—just in time to catch a blade of compressed energy inches from his throat. Min Seo had moved faster than any human he'd ever seen. Faster than most monsters.
Their blades—flame and void—clashed with a deafening shockwave.
The force blew apart the ground beneath them. Raon staggered, barely regaining balance before her knee crashed into his ribs.
[Damage Taken: -73 HP]
He rolled with the impact, summoned blue fire beneath his boots, and rocketed into the air.
"Flame Lance!" he shouted, forming a spear of roaring fire and hurling it downward.
Min Seo raised a black shield—her system constructing barriers from pure will. The lance struck and exploded, consuming the cathedral's steps in azure inferno.
From the smoke, she emerged—scarred but smiling.
"You've grown, Raon," she said. "It's beautiful."
And then she unleashed her true power.
A dark halo flared behind her. Golden veins of corrupted mana burst from her limbs. Wings of pure energy erupted from her back—half angel, half wraith.
Raon gasped. The system couldn't even calculate her level.
[Unknown Evolution Stage Detected – Possibility of Forbidden System: 86%]
[Engagement Classified: Catastrophic Tier]
She was beyond Level 100. Maybe 200.
"You're not the only one who can break limits," she whispered.
Raon's pulse spiked.
She dove at him again, and the battle turned mythic.
Blow after blow, they struck each other with earth-shattering force. Raon's flame tore through steel, stone, and darkness. Min Seo's void energy sliced space itself. The sky above split with their fury. The ground cratered into molten trenches.
But it wasn't just about strength.
It was memory.
Every strike Raon threw carried his guilt, his longing, his rage. Every time Min Seo blocked, it was with resentment, betrayal, and twisted love.
"Why didn't you save me!?" she screamed mid-strike.
Raon's heart cracked. "You never asked for saving!"
"I waited for you!" Her blade stabbed into his shoulder, piercing skin and bone.
He didn't scream.
He pulled her close, locked eyes with her golden ones, and whispered:
"I'm still here."
Then he released a point-blank Dragon Core Detonation.
The explosion threw them both apart. Raon landed hard, bleeding, his vision flashing red.
[Critical Condition – HP: 11%]
[Emergency Adrenaline Protocol Initiated]
Min Seo knelt in the rubble, one wing torn, her breathing ragged.
And in that moment… she looked human again.
Tears welled in her glowing eyes. "I didn't want this."
Raon crawled toward her. "Then stop. Let me help you."
She reached out—
—and screamed as her system activated forcibly.
[Overdrive Mode Engaged – Host Rejection Detected]
[WARNING: SYSTEM CORRUPTION 97%]
Dark tendrils erupted from her spine. Her face twisted in agony.
Raon screamed, lunging forward, grabbing her hand. "Fight it, Min Seo!"
"I—can't—" she gasped.
Then her eyes rolled back.
And the world broke.
She screamed, and energy exploded outward in all directions. The cathedral crumbled. The sky rained fire. A crater opened beneath them as mana storms shredded the atmosphere.
Raon shielded her body with his own as they plunged into the abyss.
Darkness took him.
He awoke hours later, buried beneath stone and ash.
[Status: Alive]
[HP: 3%]
[EP: 1,040]
[Level: 12]
Min Seo lay beside him, unconscious, her aura faint but stabilizing.
He lifted her gently.
"I got you," he whispered.
Back at The Tower, Raon stood before Ha-Joon, bloodied and burned.
"She's alive," he said. "And she's not lost yet."
Ha-Joon said nothing for a long moment.
Then: "You disobeyed orders."
"I made a choice."
Ha-Joon nodded slowly. "Then take responsibility for her. If she becomes a threat again…"
"I'll stop her."
"And if you fall with her?"
Raon looked him dead in the eye.
"Then I'll fall protecting what matters."