The battlefield was silent… except for the sound of fire crackling and stone crumbling.
Alan staggered forward, his body wrecked.
Blood dripped from a cut above his eye. His uniform was torn. His right arm shook violently as he held what was left of his blade — a jagged, cracked thing that had already failed him twice.
But he still moved.
The centaur boss towered at the other end of the chamber, its four ironclad hooves grinding against the Rift floor. Its skeletal upper half glowed with molten cracks, and the massive obsidian mace in its hand pulsed with dark aura.
Alan couldn't feel his legs. He couldn't feel much of anything.
But Reika and Levi were still alive.
That was enough.
He gritted his teeth.
"Just one shot."
His eyes burned.His lungs wheezed with every breath. But he ran.
He pushed off the ground and leapt with all the strength he had left, the broken blade held high.
The centaur boss moved instantly.
The mace swung.
CRACK.
The blow caught him in midair.
Time seemed to stop.
Then Alan's body slammed into the wall with brutal force. The stone cracked around him, dust rising like smoke.
He collapsed to the floor — coughing, broken, shaking.
Everything ached. He couldn't move. His blade was gone.
He forced his head up.
The centaur had turned. It was walking toward him, hooves pounding into the stone, dragging its weapon behind it.
Alan didn't even flinch.
He didn't have the strength to fight anymore.
But he smiled.
Even through the blood and the pain, he smiled.
"…At least I saved them…"
His head lowered.
"…Levi,Reika..i'll meet you guys on the other side…"
The centaur raised its weapon.
And then—
the Rift pulsed.
A light — soft and white — began to rise from Alan's body.
The centaur paused mid-step.
The light grew brighter.
A symbol flickered on Alan's Rift Band — unreadable, ancient, golden.
The boss let out a low growl and raised its mace again.
But before it could strike—
The light exploded.
Everything vanished in a flash of white.
End of Chapter