[ RAY LEON (RAYON KRATER)]
I slashed through the necks of the remaining three demons.
Their heads dropped mid-air, lifeless, long before their bodies could react. But I wasn't victorious without cost. The earlier hit from the wind vortex had taken its toll on me. My vision blurred with every movement, and pain flared across my body like wildfire. I was barely standing.
The only reason I was still breathing… was because I didn't give them time to react. I had no choice—if I hadn't finished them swiftly, I wouldn't have lasted another round.
Every twitch of my muscles sent a jolt through my limbs. My body trembled, straining under its limits. I could feel it, the weakness that I hate the most. This body of mine… it was still incomplete, still unformed. Not yet strong enough to withstand that kind of impact. The vortex blast had slammed me into the earth like a meteor. If not for the armor, I was certain half my bones would have been shattered on the spot.
But somehow, I stood. I fought. And I survived.
As the last demon fell, I slowly turned my head.
Krent stood there, frozen. His eyes locked onto me with something between shock and disbelief, watching my every step like he wasn't sure whether to call me a savior… or a beast.
I smirked weakly and began walking toward him. My steps were heavy and unsteady, but I forced them forward.
Then, with a breath, I deactivated Cytric Body.
The world shifted. My enhanced senses dulled instantly, back to human level. My strength dropped, and the pressure around me dissipated. My snow-white hair began fading, strand by strand, returning to its original brown, glimmering under the fading light like night swallowing day.
I raised my right hand, channeling mana into the glowing crimson mark etched into my palm. In response, the armor that had shielded my body, layer by layer, began to unravel like smoke in the wind. Each piece shimmered and dissolved into light before being absorbed into the mark, vanishing completely.
The moment the last trace disappeared, I felt my legs give out.
The pain I had pushed through finally caught up with me.
I stumbled and dropped beside Krent, falling to one knee, then collapsing fully to the ground, panting heavily.
"…I made it," I whispered, more to myself than anyone.
And though my body screamed in agony, I couldn't help but let out a tired, satisfied smile.
….
….
I opened my eyes slowly, blinking against the fading sunlight that filtered through the cracks of the ruined structure. My entire body ached, every breath a reminder of the chaos I had just endured, but I was alive.
Beside me, Krent sat quietly, his severed arm now tightly wrapped in cloth. When he noticed I was awake, he turned his head, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
"Oh, you're awake," he said, relief barely hidden in his voice.
I nodded, still lying flat on the cracked ground. "What happened?"
"You collapsed right after reaching me," he said, his tone calm as if I hadn't just fought off four demons and two S-rank beasts moments ago. "You were completely out cold."
With a grunt, I pushed myself upright, leaning heavily on the remains of a broken wooden beam. My back came to rest against the splintered debris of what once had been someone's home.
"How's your injury?" I asked, nodding toward his bandaged stump.
"It's holding up," he said with a shrug. "Bleeding stopped. Still hurts like hell, though."
I gave a slight nod, then I took some raw meat which I kept. I bit into it without hesitation, letting the coarse, mana-rich flesh feed my body's healing process. Then I tossed another chunk to him.
"Here. Eat. You'll need strength."
He caught it with a slight grimace but said nothing, quietly chewing as I rose to my feet. My muscles flexed with renewed vigor. The soreness was still there, but the pain had dulled considerably; my body had already recovered.
"I'm heading into the forest," I said flatly. "I'll be back soon. You can either stay here or leave if you want."
Krent raised an eyebrow. "You're going back in there? Seriously?"
I smirked. "I've still got a quest to finish, which is to kill eight Meler-class beasts."
He blinked in disbelief. "After everything you've just been through, you're still thinking about completing the quest?"
"I don't plan on leaving anything half-finished," I said, wiping dried blood from the corner of my mouth. "Besides… my recovery rate isn't exactly normal."
He stared at me in silence, his expression unreadable.
I thought, "Thanks to the goddess's power… I bounce back faster than anyone."
I didn't wait for a response. My eyes turned toward the treeline where the sun barely touched the mossy floor. The dense forest loomed ahead like a wall of shadow and mystery.
Without another word, I stepped into the forest.
The deeper I walked, the quieter it became. Not a single , not even the rustle of small beasts. Just silence… eerie, thick, and still. The kind that made even the wind hesitate.
After an hour of trekking through the underbrush, I finally found them.
Meler beasts, ten of them, grazing near a shallow stream. Their appearances matched the sketch from the quest sheet perfectly: thick, jagged fur that bristled like iron needles, tusks jutting from their lower jaws like ivory blades, and a muscular build that spoke of brute power.
Each of them had both tusks intact. Untouched, untamed.
I summoned my sword from the storage mark on my hand, the weapon humming faintly as it emerged.
No plan, no hesitation.
I charged.
The Meler beasts noticed me instantly. With thunderous roars, they rushed forward at full speed. Their movements were aggressive and fast, just as the reports said, but to me, they were painfully slow.
I infused aura into my blade, a sharp buzz of power surrounding the steel, and coated my body with mana for added defense. Then I activated lightning magic, electricity dancing across my limbs, amplifying my speed beyond natural limits.
One by one, their heads fell, clean, precise strikes. My blade sliced through them as effortlessly as a hot knife through butter. The battle was over in less than thirty seconds.
Ten Meler-class beasts, reduced to corpses in under a minute.
I exhaled slowly and muttered, "Well… that was boring. They were too weak."
With a slight shrug, I stored their bodies inside the storage mark etched into my palm.
Then, without a backward glance, I turned and headed back.
…
…
By the time I returned, night had already fallen.
The air had grown colder, and a quiet stillness settled over the shattered ruins. A small fire crackled nearby, its soft orange glow casting flickering shadows across broken stones and shattered wood.
Krent was still there, waiting.
He'd lit the fire to keep the cold at bay. His lone figure looked smaller now, hunched over and silent, his eyes distant as if staring through the flames into a world long gone.
As I approached, his head turned.
"You're back," he said, his voice hollow but steady. "Where are the beasts?"
I sat down across from him and stretched my arms near the warmth. "Stored in my storage mark."
He blinked. "What? But… that's impossible. Storage marks have limits. They can only hold small things, maybe ten swords at most."
I gave him a slight smirk. "Yeah, I know. Mine's… different. Special."
He let out a breathless laugh, shaking his head. "At this point, I don't think I can be surprised anymore."
Silence fell between us, the fire crackling as if trying to fill the void.
I watched him as he stared into the flames, and finally, I asked, "So… what are you going to do now?"
His shoulders slumped. The strength in his posture faded like smoke in the wind. Then he spoke, softly, like he was confessing to the night itself.
"Nothing. Just… going to become strong enough to protect innocent people. I'll be an adventurer again… even if I have to start from the bottom."
His voice trembled.
Then the tears came.
They slid silently down his cheeks at first, and then he broke. He cried openly, loud, unrestrained sobs that shattered the brave front he'd been clinging to. It wasn't weakness. It was grief. Raw, unfiltered, soul-deep grief.
"If only… if only I'd been stronger back then," he choked out. "I could've saved her. I would've saved her. The world is so damn cruel…"
His hands clenched into fists, trembling in fury and pain.
"Is there even anything left for me to live for?" he asked, his voice rising with the firelight. "When you killed those beasts, I felt… relief. But also guilt. Because it wasn't me. I should've been the one to end them. I should've avenged her. I couldn't even handle one of them… I lost my arm. I came here thinking I was ready, but I wasn't. I wasn't anything."
I didn't say a word.
I couldn't.
I just sat there, staring into the flames as his cries filled the silence. He didn't need answers, he needed to let it out.
And I let him.
Eventually, his voice broke into a whisper. "Tell me… what should I do now? What reason do I have to keep going? I thought killing them would be enough. That it would bring peace. But I'm here, crying like a damned child."
Then he stopped.
His eyes widened slightly as something resurfaced, an echo from the past.
"…Yeah," he murmured, his voice distant now. "I remember her last words."
His eyes glistened, staring at the fire, but seeing someone else.
"'Just become strong enough to protect those around you after I die. Don't cry; be strong. Don't let anyone else die who will become precious to you in the future. I'll be watching you from above. I love you, dear… even after I die.'"
His words broke apart at the end, barely held together by breath.
"And then… she was gone."
He wiped his face, exhaling slowly.
"She gave me a reason to live… even while she was dying. I can't let that go to waste."
The fire crackled louder as the wind picked up.
We didn't speak after that. He laid down beside the fire, and I did the same, resting on the cool earth beneath the open sky. The stars above blinked like silent witnesses to a wounded world trying to mend itself.
That night, no more words were needed. Only sleep.