The gates of the city loomed ahead under the rising sun, its golden light casting long shadows across the stone path. The trio—Alter, Lira, and Kaela—walked side by side, the wind trailing behind them like the end of a fading tale. The city watch saluted them out of habit, as many recognized the insignia of high-ranked adventurers, and even more were drawn by the presence of the one cloaked in divine presence.
The moment they entered the Adventurer's Guild hall, Alter turned to the girls.
"Go ahead," he said gently. "I'll wait here."
Kaela and Lira nodded and made their way to the front desk to file their mission report. The interior of the guild was lively, buzzing with chatter, clinking armor, and the scent of metal and ale. Alter took a seat at one of the wooden benches, arms crossed. His presence drew occasional glances from other adventurers—but the sheer weight of his aura kept them from approaching.
Lira and Kaela returned a short while later, holding their mission receipts.
"No monster encounters, so no materials to sell," Kaela said with a shrug. "Still, a decent reward."
Alter raised a brow. "Then let's go eat. My treat."
—
The tavern was crowded, as usual, but Alter's quiet influence earned them a table to themselves in a matter of seconds. Platters of roast, fried vegetables, fruit glazes, and hot stew filled the table quickly. Lira poured spiced cider while Kaela dug in like she hadn't eaten in days.
The mood was light—until Kaela pulled out her pouch and blinked into it.
"…I'm almost broke," she muttered.
Lira looked equally dismayed as she checked her coin count. "We didn't pick up any extra quests, and we've mostly been eating off Alter's hunting spoils while traveling."
Alter blinked. "You don't… have money left?"
The girls looked up, embarrassed. Kaela rubbed the back of her neck. "I mean, I had some savings before, but with new equipment, travel costs, and repairs… yeah."
Alter stared, dumbfounded for a moment. He had spent so long in dungeon after dungeon, his perspective of wealth had changed entirely. Between rare loot, system bonuses, monster drops, and treasure chests—he had amassed millions in gold.
"Here," he said, pulling up his storage menu. A glowing scroll-like interface appeared between them, and with a tap, two bags of gold materialized onto the table with a heavy thud.
[You have transferred 1,000,000 Gold to: Lira]
[You have transferred 1,000,000 Gold to: Kaela]
The tavern quieted. Heads turned.
Kaela's eyes gleamed like coins. "Wh-what—!?"
Lira blinked, mouth slightly open. "Alter… this is a lot…"
He smiled faintly. "It's just gold. I've earned more than I could ever spend just from dungeon runs."
Kaela leaned forward, hands clasped like a prayer. "So, this is what it's like to have a sugar god…"
"Kaela!" Lira barked, blushing fiercely.
Alter only laughed, shaking his head. "I just didn't consider your finances. You've followed me without asking for anything. This is long overdue."
The conversation shifted as they ate.
Eventually, Kaela—cheeks still stuffed—asked, "Have you thought about… settling somewhere?"
"Like buying a home," Lira added. "A real base. We could even form a proper expedition team. You're famous enough. People would flock to join."
Alter paused, considering. He glanced between the two of them. Then nodded slowly.
"…Yeah. We've been moving constantly. It'd be good to have a place to return to. But not here."
"Not this city?" Lira asked.
"No. Somewhere better. A capital city. Or another kingdom entirely. A location where we can build and expand, not just hide."
Kaela gave a sly smile. "Ambitious. I like it."
"But not yet," Alter said. "I have unfinished business here."
Both girls leaned in.
"The Whispering Vault," Alter said. "The last dungeon in this region I haven't cleared. Once I finish it, I'll focus on supplying the guilds here and in Newvale with high-quality materials. They can use them to craft better gear for the next generation of adventurers."
Lira's expression softened. "You really want to give back, huh?"
Alter nodded. "I've taken plenty from these dungeons. It's only right to return something. And if we're forming a team, we'll need strong allies. That means elevating everyone."
Kaela held up her mug. "To the future then."
Lira raised hers too. "To our home."
Alter lifted his own cup, smiling as their mugs clinked together.
"To the Whispering Vault. And everything that comes after."
The soft orange rays of morning filtered through the window, casting golden lines across the wooden walls of the inn room. Alter stirred first.
Warmth lingered against his side—Lira, curled beside him, a peaceful smile on her lips. Her long hair cascaded across the pillow, and her breathing was steady, undisturbed by the rising day. Alter turned slowly, brushing a lock of hair from her face. He leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.
She murmured something in her sleep, shifting slightly, but didn't wake.
With practiced silence, Alter rose from the bed. His divine-enhanced physique made even his simplest movement feel weightless. He donned plain traveling clothes, dark tunic and breeches, no armor—just a simple belt with a satchel for essentials. His swords remained stored in his Still World, ready to be summoned at will.
Downstairs, the inn had just started to wake. A familiar, cheerful voice greeted him before he even reached the counter.
"Well, well. You again," said the waitress from before—short, sprightly, and ever teasing. "You don't stay out of the spotlight for long, do you?"
Alter offered a small smile. "Just passing through. Can I get a meal for two? Something light."
"Oh, breakfast for the lady, I see." She leaned across the counter with a mischievous grin. "Still going strong, are we?"
He didn't take the bait. "Just the food, please."
Laughing, she handed over two trays not long after—eggs, roasted potatoes, fruit slices, and warm buttered bread with a side of spice tea.
Alter nodded in thanks and returned upstairs.
Lira was still asleep, the blankets half-pulled around her. He placed the tray gently on the nearby table, letting the aroma of food subtly drift toward the bed.
From his pouch, he pulled a small notepad and scribbled a short message:
"Be right back. Don't wait. Eat while it's warm. —Alter"
He folded the note, placing it upright beside the tray where Lira would easily find it.
Then, with one last glance at her resting form, he stepped back and activated his Teleportation Marker—one keyed precisely to the entrance of the Whispering Vault.
A circle of light shimmered beneath his feet, runes spiraling around him in intricate patterns. The air pulsed once.
And then—he vanished in a flash of azure.
The soft scent of spice tea reached her first—warm, herbal, gently sweet. Lira stirred beneath the blankets, blinking her eyes open as sunlight danced lazily through the room's curtains. For a moment, she lingered in the warmth left behind beside her. Her fingers grazed the sheets, where the weight of another body had once been.
"...Alter?" she murmured sleepily, sitting up.
The room was quiet.
Then her eyes fell to the small table—and the tray of food, still steaming with warmth. Beside it, a folded note in familiar handwriting.
She picked it up.
"Be right back. Don't wait. Eat while it's warm. —Alter"
Her lips curved into a smile, fingers tracing over his name. "Still slipping off without a word, huh?"
She pulled the tray closer and sat cross-legged on the bed, nibbling at the bread and sipping the tea slowly. Her body was sore in the best of ways, and the memory of last night painted heat across her cheeks. She smiled to herself and whispered under her breath, "Don't keep me waiting long…"
Chapter: The Whispering Vault – Reentry
In the blink of light and sound, Alter reappeared.
Frost-kissed trees surrounded the massive stone archway marking the entrance to the Whispering Vault—a dungeon shrouded in age and secrecy, known for one thing: insanity.
The stories told of shifting memories, voices that echoed your deepest fears, and beasts born from your forgotten sins. A place where even the strongest adventurers had come out broken… if they came out at all.
The wind howled across the crag, cutting between jagged rocks and ancient moss-covered statues. Snow swirled from the sky like feathers falling in slow motion.
Alter stepped forward, now alone, the warm memory of Lira still fresh in his mind.
As he crossed the threshold into the vault's boundary, the air shifted.
The very temperature around him plunged—not in degrees, but in sensation. Cold that bypassed flesh and seeped into memory. The world distorted, shadows dancing from corners that hadn't been there before.
[System Prompt — Dungeon Challenge Activated: Whispering Vault (Extreme Mode)]
Warning: This dungeon contains spatial anomalies, soul-layer illusions, and time fractures. Proceed with caution.
Objective: Discover the source of the Whispering and silence it permanently.
Bonus Objectives: Unknown
Difficulty Rating: ███████ (???)
Alter narrowed his eyes.
The moment he placed his foot fully past the rune threshold, his Teleportation Marker was forcefully disabled.
[Notice: Dimensional Anchors active — Escape prohibited until objective completed.]
He drew in a steady breath, eyes glowing with tranquil galaxies. His footsteps echoed louder than they should have as he moved deeper inside, the darkness closing behind him like a door.
Alter's boots crunched against the crystalline dust scattered across the warped stone floor, his silhouette wreathed in celestial glow from his awakened form. Astral Requiem pulsed faintly on his back like a sleeping god—waiting. The air was heavy, dense with paradox and echo. Not just mana—but time, compressed and folded into the vault like layers of ice over a bottomless lake.
A faint hum whispered through the walls, and again Alter stepped into a corridor.
The moment he passed the arched threshold, the hallway shimmered.
Stone bent like liquid. The ceiling looped into the floor.
And in a blink—he was back at the entrance.
Alter exhaled through his nose, unamused.
"…So, it really is fractured."
The strange architecture of the Whispering Vault wasn't just a trick of design—it was alive with broken time and inverted space. He reached out, brushing a wall as it rippled like a pond's surface. A pulse passed into his arm—his Creator Authority briefly resonated, struggling to find an anchor.
"Seraphina," he called inward.
Silence.
That alone confirmed how unstable this dungeon truly was.
Drawing Astral Requiem, he advanced again—this time dragging the tip of the blade along the stone, infusing it with a faint azure trail of creator-infused mana. It burned like a comet's path, leaving a mark only someone like him could recognize.
He turned the next corridor.
Twelve shadowy figures drifted from ruptured spatial rifts—thin, elongate limbs and eyes like shattered mirrors.
They let out a static-laced wail that clawed into the air.
[Enemy Identified: Voidsplit Ghasts – x12]
—Aberration-Type: Phase Shifting / Temporal Echo
—Threat Level: Mythic
—Weaknesses: Holy Magic, Creator Anchors
Alter didn't hesitate. His body flickered once—Astral Requiem hummed with quiet, dreadful power.
Dimensional Slash.
One ghast was split from collarbone to hip, collapsing without a scream. The others blinked away—flickering through parallel dimensions like moths vanishing in shadow.
"Annoying."
He stomped once.
Temporal Anchor – Activated.
A silver rune circle unfurled beneath him like a blooming flower. The air snapped back into place—binding the enemies to this moment in time. Their escape routes sealed.
Then he moved.
Starfall Sword Style: First Movement.
One swipe. Two. Six. Twelve.
The ghasts fell before they could even reform their intent to dodge, melting like wax into the ruptured space they came from.
He didn't stop to admire it.
The hall bent again.
Another loop.
But this time, he left a creator-fused seal behind. The loop didn't trigger.
"Progress."
A few turns later, the air changed. Frigid wind. Static in the ether.
A horn echoed.
And the beast emerged.
[Mid-Boss: Chrono-Stag, the Riftwalker]
—Beast-Type: Temporal Entity
—Abilities: Blinkstep, Reverse Pulse, Multi-Time Rend
—Status: Territory Bound
The stag burst from a silver tear in the wall, its hooves not touching the ground. Each movement triggered reflections of itself, like shadows one second behind. Its antlers were laced with constellations—actual star trails orbiting the bone.
Alter charged forward, slicing upward with a glowing arc. The Chrono-Stag blinked behind him, time-walking through his movement.
Blinkstrike.
Its horn clipped his side—tearing not just flesh but reversing the last five seconds of his physical state. Blood sprayed across the wall.
Alter grunted and flipped backwards. Astral Requiem pulsed. He activated his transformation—golden tattoos igniting down his arms, the blue luster on his skin intensifying. His eyes flared—galaxies swirling in the irises.
"Let's test this power."
Dual Execution: Sky Piercer + Dimensional Rend.
He vanished. Reappeared behind the beast. The slash passed through all layers of space at once.
The Chrono-Stag let out a sharp cry—its antlers fractured mid-turn. Before it could trigger another reversal—
Divine Skill: Lightburst Laceration.
A single vertical cut. Impossibly thin.
The stag froze, shuddered—then split clean down the middle before dissolving into golden fractals.
System Prompt:
Mid-Boss Defeated: Chrono-Stag, the Riftwalker
Experience Gained.
Divine Trait Acquired: Temporal Flow Mastery
+2 Creator Authority
Inventory Updated: Rift Antler (Divine Material)
Alter turned from the fading stardust and exhaled once more.
Three more corridors. Another mid-boss. This one, a creature that split itself between three timelines simultaneously. But Alter now understood the rules—and how to bend them. Astral Requiem struck its cores in all dimensions at once.
Dead.
The last mid-boss was a silence wraith that stole sound itself. It died to a blade he didn't need to speak to command.
By the time Alter reached the next chamber, the looping had ceased. A clean pathway now extended before him—a long corridor gilded with symbols of entropy, time, and the Creator's Eye.
He pressed on.
Toward the final secret of the Whispering Vault.
The chamber trembled beneath Alter's boots as the arcane wind howled from every crack in the crystalline walls. Shards of time and fractured space spun through the air like glass blades, distorting vision, sound, and mana. Before him, the final guardian of the Whispering Vault towered—a wraithlike entity wrapped in robes of shifting dimensions, its face hidden behind a mirrored mask that reflected hundreds of expressions at once.
Each eye on the mask blinked independently. Every movement the creature made caused the walls to warp and echo seconds before the action actually occurred. It was like battling across a broken timeline.
Alter tightened his grip on his divine blade—Astral Requiem. The weapon shimmered with the hue of galaxies, its azure runes thrumming in harmony with the mana storms around them.
His breathing was steady. Controlled.
The monster moved again, but this time it split into four phantoms, each emerging from a different direction. In a blink, they attacked—all angles at once. Alter's instincts kicked in.
Flash Step!
He vanished, appearing just outside the arc of the attack. With a sweeping horizontal strike, he cleaved through one phantom—only for the image to ripple and reform.
Tch… illusions anchored in time threads, he thought, narrowing his glowing galaxy-blue eyes.
From the vault's ceiling, spectral runes flared to life. A gravitational pull distorted the area, forcing Alter back down as if space itself were trying to bind him in place.
The boss raised both arms. Dozens of clocks formed overhead—each one ticking at a different rhythm. Then, they shattered. The fragments rained down in waves of chronomantic energy.
Alter raised his hand and shouted:
"Divine Ward: Temporal Aegis!"
A radiant barrier bloomed around him, golden arcane tattoos flaring across his skin. The time magic collided with his shield—bending, crackling, resisting—but ultimately dispersing into harmless sparks.
Still, the boss was unrelenting. It raised its mirrored mask and whispered in a tongue older than the gods themselves. Suddenly, the environment changed.
The entire vault dissolved into a void.
There was no floor, no ceiling—just floating fragments of space. Planets spun in slow motion across the distance. Alter was alone with the creature… or so it seemed.
Behind him, a thousand mirrored versions of himself appeared—each with slight distortions. Some wore older armor. Others wielded different weapons. Some had no eyes.
Then the voice came—his own voice—from one of the reflections:
"What if you had failed?"
Another:
"What if you became the Demon God?"
And another:
"What if Seraphina had never helped you?"
Alter growled lowly. "A trick of the mind. Psychological warfare…"
He extended his hand.
"Astral Collapse."
The divine blade shimmered—and then space behind him cracked. A burst of celestial force ripped across the distorted phantoms, deleting dozens of fake timelines in one stroke. The void quaked.
But the boss stood unharmed. Its mask had changed—it now bore Alter's face, glowing with the same galaxy-lit eyes.
Then it spoke.
"If you wish to become a god… you must first slay yourself."
Suddenly, it lunged forward, perfectly mimicking his Dimensional Slash technique. Alter raised Astral Requiem, clashing with his own power—but this wasn't a reflection.
This was a trial of identity. Of soul.
And in that moment… he smiled.
"Then I'll show you… why I'm me."
He vanished into a burst of starlight.
Teleport Marker: Loop Chain Active.
He appeared above the boss.
Starfall Sword Style: Celestial Downpour!
His blade multiplied—dozens of spectral strikes rained down like comets. The boss was forced into a defensive stance, its mirrored body fracturing with each impact. Its mask cracked.
But just as Alter was about to deliver the final strike—
System Prompt — ALERT
"Warning: Temporal Reversal Detected."
"Boss Initiating Time Loop: Rewind State 45 Seconds."
Reality rewound. Alter felt his body yanked back—his strikes undone.
The boss healed, mask restored. Time itself had turned against him.
Alter landed with a heavy breath, sweat forming on his brow.
"…So that's your cheat card," he muttered.
But in his eyes—the resolve burned brighter than ever.
"Let's see if time can stop a god in the making."
The clockwork whine of the Temporal Reversal echoed again through the hollow void. Time cracked and stuttered, the world resetting in violent flashes—back 45 seconds, again and again.
But each time the Vault Guardian rewound existence, it failed to realize—
The damage was already done.
Alter surged forward with Astral Requiem clenched tightly in his hands, his face locked in perfect focus. Every breath, every motion, every strike became relentless precision. His body blurred, sword arcs warping into ribbons of starlight.
One slash.
Two.
Three.
A dozen.
A hundred.
Thousands.
His feet moved on divine instinct. Each slash landed with god-like force, leaving permanent wounds—small distortions in the Guardian's frame that the time reversal couldn't erase.
The system had failed to comprehend it—Alter's Creator Authority now surpassed the boundaries of the dungeon's time law. His strikes were imprinted into the law of existence, too fundamental to rewind.
And so, the fight spiraled into something transcendental.
He didn't stop.
Couldn't stop.
System Prompt – Passive State Engaged:
[Creator's Surge – Law-Persistent Damage Enabled.]
Damage dealt is now engraved within reality.
Time-based restoration negated.
The Vault Guardian recoiled after each rewind, stumbling harder, breaking further. The mirrored mask began to shatter—first along the jawline, then through the eyes, until fractures webbed across its surface like shattered glass holding back a tide.
Hours passed.
Then a day.
Then two.
But Alter never slowed. He didn't need food, rest, or pause. His divine body, enhanced by the evolution, sustained him far beyond mortal limits. And the Guardian—
—was running out of time.
The Temporal Reversal flickered again.
Rewind failed. Memory node corrupted.
It tried to step back—but its foot collapsed into itself.
Tried to speak—but no sound escaped the warped fractures in its chest.
Tried to raise a hand—but the joint was severed by a lingering echo of a previous slash.
It couldn't even die properly.
Alter raised Astral Requiem high, its azure glow pulsing in rhythm with his beating heart. The shattered vault, filled with fragments of time and reality, bent toward the blade.
One final cut.
"Starbreaker."
A single, descending arc.
The sword passed through the Guardian's torso like light through shadow.
Time—space—everything stopped.
The vault shattered in an explosion of light and glass, fracturing like a divine mirror splitting under cosmic strain. Time screams echoed across the eternity and were silenced just as quickly.
Then—stillness.
System Prompt – Boss Defeated!
Dungeon: Whispering Vault – Cleared
Victory Achieved: Total Overwrite
Time Fracture Resolved: Stabilizing dimensional law…
Processing Rewards...
[Rewards Acquired]:
Divine Core: Whispering Heart
Temporal Silk (x4)
Fragment of Chronos (x1)
System Upgrade: Chrono-Resilience unlocked
Authority +0.7% → New Total: 4.9%
New Trait Unlocked:
Temporal Immunity (Passive): Immune to time-based status effects, stasis fields, and rewinds.
Skill Evolution Tree Expanded: Time-Breaking Techniques unlocked.
Alter stood amidst the ruins of the Vault's final chamber. His chest rose and fell once.
Twice.
Then he exhaled deeply and lowered his sword. The stars in his eyes dimmed to a quiet glow, the battle finally over.
A voice flickered in his mind—soft, familiar.
Seraphina: "I watched it all… even I couldn't believe it. You rewrote the flow of time through brute will."
He didn't answer right away. Instead, he closed his eyes and whispered, "I needed to prove it."
"To who?" Seraphina asked gently.
He opened his eyes, the faint shimmer of stars pulsing behind his pupils.
"…To myself."
The quiet thrum of magic dissipated from the room as Alter finished his teleportation from the Whispering Vault. The stone beneath his feet shifted into warm wooden floors. The scent of wildflowers and the subtle hum of city life seeped in through the half-cracked window. The inn's lantern burned low, casting soft orange light over the room.
Lira sat curled on the bed, her long hair unbound and cascading over her shoulders like velvet strands. She had been waiting for him—no, worrying—and the second Alter appeared, her eyes lit with a flood of emotions: relief, anger, love.
"You're back," she whispered, voice tight.
Alter stepped forward. "Yes. I'm sorry… I didn't mean to vanish like that. Time moved differently inside the Vault. Days passed before I realized it."
Lira's lips trembled. She stood up and crossed the room in three swift strides. "You left a note. Be right back—and you were gone for three days!" Her hands pressed against his chest. "You scared me, Alter."
"I didn't mean to," he said softly. "But I had to finish it. The Vault… it distorts time. But I came back to you the moment I could."
She looked into his swirling azure eyes—those galaxies behind his gaze. "You always say that... and I always believe you," she whispered, voice catching.
Then, as if tension gave way to gravity, she pulled him into a kiss—soft, then deep. Her arms wrapped around his neck, fingers tangled in his hair. Alter responded without hesitation, lifting her effortlessly and carrying her back to the bed as their lips remained locked.
The world fell away.
Clothes slipped from skin in hurried movements. Soft gasps and whispered names filled the space inside the soundproof barrier he cast—Lira's moans now unafraid of disturbing Kaela in the next room.
Alter's hands caressed every curve, every inch of her. The passion between them was no longer new or fleeting—it was theirs. A language of touches and breathless laughter, of connection built from shared danger and trust.
"Don't leave me behind," Lira murmured into his ear, her legs tightening around his waist.
"Never," Alter promised, his voice hoarse, reverent. "I'll take you with me, wherever I go."
They moved in sync, as if their hearts and bodies danced to the same rhythm. Pleasure and magic fused in the air—spells of warmth, of healing, of devotion that no scroll could inscribe. And when it ended, Lira lay on his chest, her fingers drawing invisible runes over the golden arcane tattoos etched into his skin.
"Your heartbeat's stronger than before," she whispered.
Alter smiled, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek. "So is yours."
They lay together in the silence that only trust could build. Outside, the city dreamed. Inside, so did they.
Alter rose early, careful not to wake her. He kissed her forehead once more before stepping downstairs for breakfast. But this time, it wasn't guilt that weighed him down.
It was devotion.
And the sense that something was changing.
Together, they were becoming something more.
The scent of baked bread drifted up from the inn's kitchen as the city stirred to life. Sunlight poured through the windows, casting gold across the worn wooden floors.
Alter descended the stairs with Lira close beside him, her arm subtly brushing against his with every step. Her cheeks still held a faint pink flush, though her expression was composed—content, even. Alter, meanwhile, wore his usual calm exterior, though there was a relaxed softness in his eyes that hadn't been there before.
They reached the inn's common area to find adventurers already gathering for early missions, the din of chatter mixing with clinking mugs and the rustle of parchment. Yet eyes drifted toward the pair—some in awe, others whispering quietly.
Alter ignored them.
Lira did too.
They moved with quiet purpose.
Waiting outside the inn was Kaela, arms crossed, leaned against the frame of a lamppost. Her bow rested on her back, but she smirked the moment she saw them approach. "Took your sweet time," she teased, narrowing one eye. "Or should I say, times?"
Lira blushed instantly. "Shut up, Kaela…"
Alter raised a brow. "We're here now. Let's go."
Kaela chuckled and fell in step beside them, still grinning. "Brokk's probably waiting in the forge already. I told him we'd bring some interesting materials this time."
Alter nodded. "He'll see more than interesting."
They walked through Veltharn 's winding cobbled streets, the people parting naturally for them—some recognizing the famed "Lone Wolf," though now most simply knew him by the name Alter. Even so, his reputation walked ahead of him like a second shadow.
Lira glanced at him once more, her hand brushing his.
Kaela looked between them and smiled softly, more to herself than anyone else.
It was a quiet moment. A peaceful one.
But behind Alter's eyes burned new knowledge—fragments of time-warped memory, divine whispers from the Whispering Vault, and the resolve to keep going. His journey wasn't over.
Not yet.
The sound of steel echoed faintly through the forge as Alter stepped through the doors of Brokk's workshop, Lira and Kaela just behind him. Brokk looked up from his anvil, his expression weary, dark circles under his eyes.
"Alter... girls," he greeted with a half-hearted smile. "Sorry I don't have much to show. I tried—tried to forge something divine. But I failed. Again."
Alter said nothing at first. Instead, he stepped forward and unsheathed Astral Requiem. The light from the forge dimmed in the blade's presence, as if the sword pulled in the very essence of mana around it. Brokk's eyes widened in awe.
"By the Gods..." the blacksmith whispered, staring at the weapon.
"I want to show you something," Alter said simply. "Watch closely."
He moved to the forge, his hands already summoning ethereal tongs, chisels, and a glowing crucible from his Still World. He set divine-grade ores into the crucible and began to forge—not with mundane technique, but using his Creator Authority.
Each hammer strike rang with resonance beyond mortal comprehension. Symbols of lawbreaking runes floated around him, merging into the alloy. Reality itself bent subtly with each motion. Lira and Kaela stood near the wall, awe-struck by the forging dance. Brokk, transfixed, began to see the structure behind the power. His eyes welled with tears as sparks danced across his fingers.
System Prompt — New Skill Acquired: [Celestial Forgemind]
System Prompt — New Trait Unlocked: [Divine Pattern Insight]
Brokk fell to one knee. "I… I understand now. Alter... thank you. You've given me the key. I think—I think I can really do it now. Forge my own divine weapon."
Alter gave a rare smile and nodded. "Then keep forging. Push past your limits."
They parted ways soon after.
The Hollow Spire was quiet behind them now, its towering silhouette fading against the overcast sky. After their hard-won victory against Aetherion, the expedition team moved with lighter steps—conversations filled with excitement and renewed camaraderie as they made their descent toward Veltharn.
Alter walked at the front, the Divine armor adorning his frame letting off a soft hum with each step. Though his helm remained on, his presence was unmistakable—every footfall carried authority, every turn of his head a command in itself.
Behind him, Lira and Kaela walked side by side. Lira, radiant in her Mythic crimson mage robes, carried herself with subtle grace, though her eyes often lingered on Alter's back. Kaela, Stormpiercer casually slung across her shoulder, was more animated—laughing and retelling parts of the boss battle with exaggerated flair.
Further behind, the rest of the expedition team followed, fatigued but satisfied. That was, until a few of the younger male adventurers—new recruits, emboldened by the high of victory—drifted too close to the two women.
One of them, a scout with a sly grin, leaned in toward Kaela.
"So, uh… once we get back to the city—maybe we grab a drink? Just the two of us?"
Kaela raised a brow. "You mean the three of us? My bow doesn't like being left out."
He chuckled nervously.
Another adventurer nudged closer to Lira, his tone falsely modest. "You're the strongest mage I've seen in years. I'd love to… get to know your casting style better."
Lira's smile faltered.
That was when it happened.
The air around Alter stilled.
Then exploded with an oppressive murderous intent.
A tidal wave of aura—thick, cold, and suffocating—poured from him like a collapsing storm. The snow around him froze solid. The sky above flickered with a faint shimmer, as if space itself recoiled from his fury.
The ground trembled.
The men dropped to their knees instantly, spasming violently, their bodies convulsing from the sheer force pressing down on them. Eyes wide, mouths foaming—they gasped for breath that wouldn't come.
Even those not involved staggered back, clutching their heads.
Lira stepped forward, reaching toward Alter without hesitation.
"Alter," she whispered, calm but firm. "I'm yours. You don't need to prove it."
He didn't speak, but the energy slowly began to ebb. The air warmed. The pressure lifted.
Alter turned his gaze away, fists clenched at his sides, and continued walking forward without a word.
The silence that followed was profound.
Then came the laughter—from the female adventurers.
One of them, a beastkin rogue, barked, "Serves you idiots right. You just hit on the woman of a man wearing divine armor? Are you suicidal or just dumb?"
Another chuckled, "He didn't even touch them. Just looked at 'em and they collapsed."
"Gods," a third muttered, "I think my panties almost evaporated just watching that."
The teasing continued for a moment, but was quickly cut off by Harkon, the team leader.
His face was grim.
"No more flirting. No more jokes. No more idiocy," he said firmly. "We're heading back. We walk clean and quiet the rest of the way."
Everyone nodded.
Lira, her expression unreadable, fell back into step beside Alter. Her hand brushed against his armored gauntlet, fingers curling over his gently.
"Next time," she said, voice quiet enough for only him to hear, "let me handle it before you blow a hole through the snow with your killing intent."
He exhaled, some of the tension leaving his shoulders.
"…Next time," he agreed.
The group marched onward—more respectful now, more aware.
They had seen what true power looked like.
And they were walking behind it.
During their return, the clearing was a battlefield of futility.
Weapons were scattered, spells had fizzled, and silence had overtaken the adventurers—each staring at the jiggling mass of translucent horror that had devoured every attempt to kill it.
"None of our attacks work…" Kaela muttered, gripping her bow. Her Mythic arrows lay harmlessly on the ground behind the slime, as if they had simply passed through mist.
"Even mana detonations didn't disrupt it," Lira said with growing dread. She had tried three spell variations in a row, and none had even made the creature ripple.
Alter stepped forward.
[ANALYZE – Skill Activated]
Target: ??? – "Unbound Replication Slime"
Rank: N/A
Threat Class: ???
Negates all physical and magical damage
Self-replicates upon core fracture
Rapid duplication cycle: 18 seconds
Mucus dissolves inorganic matter including Mythic-Grade materials
Harmless to organic and living matter
Classification: Origin Unknown – Outside System Jurisdiction
Alter's breath caught.
His fingers tightened around Astral Requiem, the divine sword humming with sealed power.
Then a thought—a vision—flashed through his mind like lightning across a night sky:
—Lira, standing vulnerable as her elegant Mythic robe melted away into steaming threads—
—her armor and staff dissolving—
—men turning their eyes, hungry, leering—
—her frightened gaze reaching toward him—
No.
Alter's pulse surged.
His aura flared with a suddenness that cracked the ground beneath his feet. A pressure unlike anything the team had felt before rushed outward like a tidal wave.
The slime froze in place. So did the expedition team.
He snapped.
"I'll erase you."
The celestial light in his eyes burned to life. The swirling blue galaxies in his pupils twisted violently. He dismissed his armor in a shimmer of white-blue light, standing in simple clothes, completely unarmed—unthreatening.
He walked forward—directly into the slime's mass.
"ALTER!!" Lira shouted, but Kaela held her back.
"Wait… look," Kaela whispered.
The slime curled around Alter's body—but didn't burn. It crawled over his tunic, through his hair, across his skin. But left him untouched.
"...It doesn't recognize him as a threat," Lira whispered.
"Because he's not armed."
But Alter was far more dangerous now than any weapon could represent.
[CREATOR AUTHORITY – 4.2%]
"Seraphina," he said calmly in his mind. "Grant me override."
"Override channel open. Awaiting law-breaking directive."
He raised one hand. The slime cores began to quiver.
"By my name… I command the unnatural to submit."
[Override Command: Bind + Absorb – Initiated]
The cores screamed—shrill, unnatural tones that echoed through dimensions beyond this one. The slime convulsed, collapsed, twisted—
—and was devoured into a swirling runic sphere in Alter's palm.
The divine light pulsed once.
[System Override Successful]
"Unbound Replication Slime – Absorbed"
New Passive Skill Gained: [Lawbreaker Mucus]
—All equipped weapons immune to all forms of material corrosion
—Unique Effect: Immunity to armor decay and artifact breakdown
The forest was still again.
The male adventurers collapsed to their knees in awe. Lira exhaled—her hand trembling.
Kaela was grinning but pale. "That... was insane."
Alter re-equipped his armor with a burst of celestial light.
He turned to the group, gaze calm but unreadable. "This isn't something we discuss again."
They nodded. No one questioned it.
Lira approached him slowly. "You… imagined me…"
Alter blinked. "Sorry."
She smiled faintly. "Don't be. You acted the way I hoped you would."
She slipped her hand into his. And for a moment, that touch—warm and real—was enough to melt the tension.
"Let's go back," he said.
The slime was gone.
But the memory of what could have been lingered in Alter's chest—further strengthening his resolve to never let anyone take what he loved again.
The return to Veltharn was a mixture of weariness and subdued celebration. The expedition team had survived the Hollow Spire, faced off against a Cataclysm-class construct, and even a monster beyond understanding. But the real reason for their survival walked just behind them, clad in divine armor with an unreadable expression beneath his helmet.
Alter didn't speak much on the journey back, but his presence alone gave the team peace of mind. The few who had tried testing their luck with flirtation early on remained quiet now—still remembering the aftermath.
Once they returned to the city, the team went straight to the guild hall. They filed their report, presented documentation of the cleared dungeon, and sold off unneeded materials to the procurement desk. The atmosphere buzzed with low voices and clinking coins.
Alter, meanwhile, made his way up the stairs, his footsteps measured and silent. His armor didn't clank—it whispered with divine elegance. He stopped before the door to the Guild Master's office and entered without knocking.
"...So you've returned." Garron leaned forward at his desk. The veteran guild master raised a brow. "What happened in there?"
Alter took off his helmet and placed it on the desk. His expression was calm but resolute. "The dungeon's cleared. The team performed well… and I held back. But that slime—" he paused, "—that was something else."
"I heard rumors already," Garron muttered. "Some of the team looked like they'd aged five years."
"I came to talk about something else."
He leaned back in the chair, exhaling quietly. "I've decided. I won't be staying in Veltharn for long."
Garron blinked. "Leaving?"
"Yes. I plan to relocate—to a capital city or another kingdom entirely." Alter's eyes narrowed. "But before I go… I want to contribute. A month. That's what I'm giving. I'll gather materials—rare ones—and stockpile them for the guild's advancement."
Garron remained silent for a moment, then leaned back with a resigned sigh. "I should've known. Men like you never stay in one place. But still… you've done more for this city than I could've asked." He opened a drawer and pulled out a blank scroll. "When you leave, I'll write you a letter of introduction. And I'll send word to every major guild branch, letting them know who you are."
Alter nodded. "Thank you."
He stood, placing the helmet back under his arm. With a faint nod, he turned and walked out of the office.
The moment he reached the base of the stairs, shouting and raised voices caught his attention. A large crowd had gathered near the mission board. At the center of it—members of the expedition team locked in a heated argument with a group of loud, well-armed adventurers.
"You don't know what you're messing with!" one of the team members growled. "Back off, or you'll be praying you never walked in this hall."
"You talk big for someone hiding behind a woman," a brute sneered, nodding toward the team's blonde mage.
Alter's eyes narrowed. He stepped closer, pausing beside a bystander.
"What's going on?" he asked.
Without even glancing his way, the woman replied, "Some idiots tried hitting on the girls from the team. Especially the blonde one." She rolled her eyes. "Classic adventurer drama. Someone's gonna get decked—"
BOOM!
A wave of pressure exploded through the hall.
The air turned heavy. The wooden beams creaked. Men dropped to their knees—some falling face-first into the floor, twitching under the immense weight of an unseen force.
Alter stood at the edge of the gathering, his divine aura flaring with quiet fury.
The male adventurers writhed, gasping for breath.
Garron burst from his office. "What the hell is goi—" He stopped mid-step, his eyes widening as he stared down at the scene below.
A blur of red robes surged from the crowd. "ALTER!"
Lira tackled into him—arms wrapped tightly around his neck. He stumbled slightly, face muffled as it was buried against her chest.
...The pressure vanished.
The adventurers sucked in desperate gulps of air, collapsing in heaps. Some even cried. One had clearly lost control of his bladder.
"W-Was that his woman?!"
"D-Don't look! He'll kill you if you even glance again!"
Up above, Garron shook his head and muttered, "Gods preserve us."
Lira beamed, still holding onto Alter like a lifeline. "You came back. I was getting worried…"
Alter pulled back slightly to look up at her from the awkward position. "I told you I'd return."
Kaela wandered in from the mission board with a smirk. "Wow. Didn't think our reunion would turn into a bloodbath. And Alter? That was some show."
She laughed, flicking one of the unconscious men's ears as she passed.
"Think they learned their lesson?" she added.
"Let's go," Lira whispered, still flushed but smiling.
Alter nodded, placed a hand on Kaela's shoulder, and—
[Teleportation Marker – Activated]
All three vanished in a blink of divine light. Lira still clung to him like a victorious lover. Kaela snorted halfway through the teleport, shaking her head.
The guild hall fell into stunned silence.
One of the bystanders whispered, "Did that really just happen?"
Garron clapped his hands loudly. "Alright! Enough gawking! Someone clean up the piss!"
As chaos resumed below, Kaela was seen moments later laughing uncontrollably outside the guild hall. "The mighty Alter… saved by boobs! We're doomed."
Back in their lodging, Alter gently set Lira back down on the floor.
Her cheeks glowed with warmth.
"You didn't hesitate," she whispered.
"I never will," Alter replied.