"Status Window"
[Name:] Deon
[Species:] Human
[Rank:] F
[Experience Points:] 99 / 100
[Strength:] 16
[Agility:] 11
[Mana:] 10
[Endurance:] 11
[State:] Normal (tired)
[Intelligence:] 30
[Luck:] 10
[Aura:] 12
[Attributes:] Neutral (None)
[Stat Points:] 230
[Skill Tree: Innate Skill]
1 - [Enhanced Senses (50%):] C
[Title:]
[Profession / Class:] Mage
---
In a secret room, three figures were talking when a fourth person emerged from the shadows and approached them respectfully.
"Ladies and gentlemen, an E-rank gate has just opened near the central area of the forest. But due to unstable mana density in that region, the gate that was supposed to be rank E has shifted to rank D."
"What's the problem? Can't you close a rank D gate?" asked a silver-haired man from the trio.
"The issue is that before we could intervene, there had already been an intrusion into the gate. And after investigation, it appears that your son and the lady's daughter entered together," continued the man who had just stepped out of the shadows.
"Alexia inside a gate, that's not very surprising. I was wondering why your son didn't show up at the library today. So, he was in a gate with Alexia, huh…" said a woman wearing a golden monocle.
"Déon, what the hell are you doing in a rank D gate," thought the silver-haired man, glancing at the third member of the trio, who seemed to be his subordinate.
"Boss, what do we do? Do we try to force it open…?" asked the third member of the trio.
"We might have the means to forcibly break the gate. But if we do…"
"Don't worry, they'll get out. I entrusted Alexia with a numbered artifact for this kind of situation," the lady with the golden monocle finally interjected, trying to reassure everyone.
"Alexia, huh… And if—"
"That won't happen. She's not that kind of person," replied the lady, anticipating the silver-haired man's thoughts.
"Send a few men to keep watch on the gate from a distance," he finally ordered the messenger, who disappeared as suddenly as he had arrived.
Nox remained silent for a moment, then spoke while clenching his fists.
"Tilda will kill me if anything happens to Déon."
A heavy silence settled in the secret room.
---
Inside the gate, the fight against the leader of the demonic wolf pack had only just begun. Despite his blade being coated in aura, Déon struggled to injure the creature—its skin was unbelievably tough.
"Alexia, change of plan—go for its eyes. I have an idea."
After summoning Ifrit, Alexia had imbued her sword with flames. Yet even with her fire, she could barely harm the creature. Hearing Déon's suggestion, she didn't hesitate for a second. From then on, every strike she made targeted the wolf's eyes.
Her relentless pressure was so intense that the wolf instinctively began shielding its eyes. After a while, none of her attacks were landing anymore, and at some point, Déon had stopped supporting her in the assault. Still, he had told her he had a plan, so she knew she had to buy him time.
Focused entirely on protecting its eyes, the wolf failed to notice Déon's disappearance—mainly thanks to Alexia's continued aggression.
Fwish
Boom
An explosion rang out, and the wolf, which had given them so much trouble, trembled for a moment before collapsing to the ground. An arrow had lodged itself in its rear before detonating.
"Hehehe, you may have tough skin, but your ass wasn't that tough."
Judging the creature to be somewhat intelligent, Déon had tricked it into thinking its only weak spot was its eyes, making it lower its guard. This was only possible because it had assumed they couldn't harm its skin.
Despite his aura, Déon wasn't a threat to the wolf—only Alexia was, as she had managed to cause it slight injury.
Using this fact, Déon had withdrawn from the battle, letting Alexia hold its attention. His trick was simple: after blending into the surroundings, he combined the first and second movements of his archer technique. The result was impressive.
"Shadow Arrow + Kamikaze," he murmured, falling to his knees as the last drop of aura left his body.
Alexia, stunned by Déon's power and ingenuity, snapped out of her daze when she saw him collapse.
"Déon, are you okay?" she asked, a hint of worry in her voice.
"Yeah. Is it over? Is it dead?"
"No one could survive that. The return stone should appear any moment now."
As she answered, demonic energy began gathering around the wolf. Turning around, they realized with dread that they hadn't managed to kill it after all.
The demonic wolf had just undergone a transformation. On its head was a horn resembling a unicorn's—except pitch black. It howled, but this time it wasn't to drive them mad—it was to resurrect them.
Shadows began rising from the corpses of the previously slain wolves. Déon stared without flinching—he was at his limit, physically and mentally. Today, he had survived an Hydra, then a salamander, and now he was trapped in an impossible gate.
"It's like the world is trying to kill me. There's no way someone can be this unlucky," he muttered, eyes empty. For the first time, he tasted despair.
Seeing Déon lose all hope, Alexia felt a pang of guilt—after all, she had dragged him into this.
"I told you we'd make it out. Do you trust me so little?"
"…," Déon didn't reply immediately. He just looked into Alexia's eyes for a moment before speaking again.
"Can you help me up? Let's try playing hide-and-seek with this wolf in the forest."
After his suggestion, Alexia helped him, and together they fled deeper into the woods. The demonic wolf leader didn't wait either—after finishing summoning his subordinates' shadows, he led them in pursuit.
Déon didn't know what to think about Alexia, but one thing was certain—he was ashamed of showing weakness in front of her. He thought she claimed she could get them out just to comfort him. But seeing her fight so hard rekindled his determination. He wasn't in great shape, but if he thought carefully, he could surely find a way.
"Do you still have enough mana?" Déon asked.
"Yes, I have a large mana reserve. Uh…" Alexia wanted to say something but held back.
"At this rate, he'll catch us. I just got an idea."
"An idea?" Alexia asked curiously.
"Yes—let's split up. Together, he has a better chance of catching us, and in my state, I won't be much help in close combat," he said, coughing. "Hehe, I'm not going to die—I really do have a plan," he added, seeing Alexia's face change.
At first, Alexia didn't want to tell Déon, but given the situation, she had no choice. She couldn't bear to leave him alone, especially like this—she could only disobey her mentor.
Alexia removed a transparent necklace with runes from her neck, looked straight at Déon, and said: "Look, this is a numbered S-rank artifact. It could get us out of here, but we'll have to pay a price."
The S-rank artifact Alexia showed Déon allowed its owner to teleport and used mana as fuel. The process was simple: designate a pre-recorded location, infuse mana into it, and the magic would activate.
The problem was that this artifact was mana-hungry—and if teleporting across dimensions, in case of insufficient mana, it would draw from the user's life force instead. In other words, it would steal their lifespan.
"Hmmm, that's an interesting artifact you have there. But I don't like the idea of having my life force sucked out. I bet it drains based on the number of people, right?" he said with a smile.
"Yes, something like that. Why are you smiling? The problem is, with the two of us, I don't really know…"
"Calm down, Alexia. Didn't I tell you? I have a plan."
The demonic wolf pack was no longer far from them. Déon glanced behind before explaining his plan to Alexia.
"If my plan doesn't work, we'll use your artifact as a last resort. So, are you in?"
"You're crazy, you know that?"
"Yes, I know."
For the first time in a long while, Alexia smiled.