The swamp was finally quiet.
Not the fake silence it had before — not the kind that felt like something was watching.
Real silence.
The fog had thinned. The water no longer pulsed. The trees stood still, no longer dripping black sap like wounds that refused to heal.
Goram Swamp was dead.
Or at least… emptier.
Hiko lay on his back in the mud, staring at the grey sky above. His chest rose and fell unevenly, every breath scraping his lungs.
Goru sat a few meters away, leaning against a broken tree trunk, blood slowly dripping from his side into the water.
Neither of them spoke.
They were too tired to even think.
Minutes passed.
Then the mech moved.
Heavy metal footsteps echoed through the shallow water as Yogan's unit approached them. The red core light flickered faintly, less stable than before.
"…You both exceeded expected survival parameters," Yogan said.
Hiko laughed weakly. "That's a weird way to say we almost died."
Goru exhaled slowly. "Grade 0 missions shouldn't exist for students."
"They normally don't," Yogan replied. "Elite Class preparation does not follow normal standards."
Hiko forced himself to sit up, his shoulder still burning with phantom pain from where the shadow had cut him.
"So… we passed?"
Yogan paused.
"…Yes."
For a moment, neither Hiko nor Goru felt relief.
Only exhaustion.
The three of them began walking back toward the edge of the swamp.
Step by step.
The air felt lighter now. The pressure was gone. Even the cursed flame in Hiko's hands had finally settled into a faint, stable heat.
Then—
The temperature dropped.
Not gradually.
Instantly.
Hiko felt it first.
The cursed flame inside him recoiled violently, spiraling inward like it was being threatened by something far worse than the shadow beast.
Goru's dimensional senses warped.
Space felt… scorched.
Burned.
Yogan's mech stopped.
The red core flared brighter.
"…We are not alone."
A sound echoed through the swamp.
Not footsteps.
Not breathing.
Crackling.
Like fire burning in empty air.
Then the fog ahead of them ignited.
Not with light.
With darkness.
Black flames bloomed in the air itself, floating like inverted stars — each one rotating slowly, compressing heat so dense it warped the atmosphere.
Hiko's eyes widened.
"That's… not normal fire."
From within the flames, a figure stepped forward.
A man.
Young. Calm. Tall.
He wore a simple dark shirt, black baggy pants, and faint traces of gold embedded into his clothing like molten veins. His hands were in his pockets. His expression was relaxed.
Too relaxed.
Black flames floated around him like obedient spirits.
Each one pulsed with lethal pressure.
Yogan's mech shifted into combat stance instantly.
"…Identify yourself."
The man tilted his head slightly.
"Shinjaku Ryukasei."
The name hit the air like a curse.
Hiko felt the devil in his mind go silent.
Not interested.
Alert.
Shinjaku looked around at the ruined swamp.
Then at the empty space where the shadow beast had been.
"…So it's true," he said softly. "It's gone."
His gaze slowly lifted.
Locked onto Yogan.
"You're the one responsible."
Yogan's voice remained flat.
"I have eliminated multiple hostile entities in this region. Clarify."
Shinjaku smiled.
Not friendly.
Not insane.
Cold.
"My brother hunted here."
The black flames around him intensified.
"Darkusei Ryukasei."
The name carried weight.
Hiko felt it instinctively.
This wasn't just revenge talk.
This was personal.
"You killed him," Shinjaku said calmly. "So I'll kill you."
The black flames moved.
And the world exploded.
Hundreds of black fire bullets formed in midair, compressing into needle-thin projectiles of pure annihilation.
They fired simultaneously.
Not at Hiko.
Not at Goru.
At Yogan.
The mech was hit by over fifty black flame rounds in less than a second.
Each one pierced straight through reinforced armor like paper.
Metal vaporized.
Internal systems ignited.
The mech was blasted backward, skidding across the swamp and carving a trench over a kilometer long.
Yogan's core light flickered violently.
"…Confirmed hostile threat."
Shinjaku stepped forward.
Black flames continued to spawn around him endlessly.
"Black Flame doesn't burn matter," he said casually. "It burns existence."
Hiko felt the pressure hit him like a wall.
This man wasn't Grade 0.
He was beyond.
Yogan fired back.
The mech's arm unfolded, releasing a massive energy cannon blast that tore through the swamp.
Shinjaku raised a hand.
A single black flame bullet intercepted it.
The explosion erased half the beam.
The remaining force struck Shinjaku directly.
Smoke filled the area.
Silence.
Then—
Shinjaku walked out of the smoke.
Unharmed.
Not a scratch.
Hiko whispered, "That's impossible…"
Goru clenched his fists.
"…He nullified a Semi Master's attack."
Shinjaku looked at them.
Finally noticed them.
Two students.
Bloodied.
Exhausted.
He smiled faintly.
"You survived Goram's shadow?"
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Interesting."
Then he vanished.
Not teleported.
He simply appeared in front of Hiko.
Hiko barely reacted in time.
Black flames formed into a spear inches from his face.
Yogan moved instantly.
The mech slammed its arm down between them, taking the hit.
The black flame spear pierced straight through the mech's forearm, melting metal like wax.
Yogan countered with a point-blank blast.
Shinjaku crossed his arms.
Black flames formed a barrier.
The explosion erased everything within a 500-meter radius.
Trees vanished.
Water evaporated.
The swamp floor cracked open.
When the smoke cleared…
Both were still standing.
But damaged.
Yogan's mech had lost an entire arm.
Shinjaku's shirt was torn.
Blood dripped from his mouth.
"…You're strong," Shinjaku admitted.
Yogan's voice was distorted.
"…You exceed threat estimations."
The fight escalated.
Black flame bullets rained from the sky.
Yogan countered with heavy artillery, missiles, and energy blasts.
Every clash erased chunks of the swamp.
Kilometers at a time.
The ground collapsed.
The horizon burned black.
Hiko and Goru couldn't just watch.
They moved.
Hiko launched spiral cursed flames into the battlefield, targeting Shinjaku's black flames — not to overpower, but to distort their trajectories.
Goru folded space locally, redirecting several black flame bullets away from Yogan at the last second.
It wasn't enough to win.
But it kept Yogan alive.
Shinjaku noticed.
His eyes flickered with interest.
"So you're involved too."
He fired a volley directly at them.
Hiko reacted.
Spiral flames erupted into a rotating shield.
Goru slashed space thinly, bending the bullets' path just enough.
Three still hit.
One grazed Goru's leg.
Another burned through Hiko's side.
The pain was instant.
Not burning.
Erasing.
Like parts of them were removed from reality.
Yogan roared — actual emotion for the first time.
The mech's core overloaded.
A massive energy surge detonated point-blank.
The explosion wiped out everything within a 3km radius.
The swamp was gone.
Reduced to a massive crater of steaming, cracked earth.
When the dust settled…
Yogan's mech stood barely functional.
Half destroyed.
Systems sparking.
Shinjaku stood across from him.
Kneeling.
Blood pouring from his chest.
One arm missing.
Black flames unstable.
He laughed weakly.
"…So that's your limit."
He looked up at Yogan.
Then at Hiko.
Then at Goru.
His eyes burned with something darker than anger.
"You killed my brother, Darkusei Ryukasei…"
Black flames gathered around his remaining hand.
"…and I will have my revenge."
Then he vanished.
Not retreating.
Not escaping.
Simply removed himself from the battlefield.
Silence returned.
Real silence.
Yogan's mech collapsed to one knee.
Core flickering dangerously.
"…Mission concluded."
Hiko collapsed.
Goru dropped beside him.
Both barely conscious.
The swamp was no more.
Only a scar remained.
And somewhere in the world…
A man with black flames had marked their existence.
Later that night, at the edge of the crater, Yogan stood outside his damaged mech.
Metal parts scattered around him.
He began repairing it manually.
Quietly.
Methodically.
No emotion.
But his voice was low.
"…Shinjaku Ryukasei is now classified as a Calamity Level hostile."
A pause.
"…And the Elite Class evaluation just became far more dangerous."
Far away, in the darkness—
Black flames burned again.
And Shinjaku smiled.