The twin sun loomed above like a twin hammer of light, and the Drazan Expanse stretched endlessly in every direction, golden, broken, cursed. Ethan's steps were uneven. His body screamed with each movement. Every muscle burned from the fight against the twin serpents, and the crimson cuts across his ribs throbbed like open mouths, bleeding faintly.
And on his back, Velina. Unconscious, her head leaned into the crook of his neck. Her breath was shallow, faint. Her wounds though not fatal drained her, her ribs cracked from the brutal slam she'd taken.
"Stay with me," Ethan murmured.
He didn't know if she heard. He just had to keep walking.
---
[WRATH: 100/35 – OVERSURGE ACTIVE]
[STAMINA: CRITICAL]
[MENTAL STRAIN: SEVERE – HALLUCINATIONS POSSIBLE]
[WARNING: SUSTAINED WRATH SURGE MAY DAMAGE INTERNAL STABILITY OF ABYSSAL SEAL]
[-5OBLIVION]
Ethan ignored the pings. The system could complain all it wanted. He wasn't stopping.
Not now. Not ever. His hands tightened around Velina's thighs where he held her up, adjusting her weight across his shoulders. Every drop of blood that oozed from his reopened wounds seemed to evaporate into the sand instantly. He wasn't even sure how long he'd been walking.
Minutes. Hours. A day(Drazan Expanse day I mean). All he knew was that every step felt like war.
[TIME REMAINING: 10HOURS 30MINUTES 58SECONDS]
---
After a long walk, The dunes shifted again.
Low snarls. Chittering. A new pack.
Ethan's blurred vision snapped into clarity as six Desert Runners—hyena-shaped beasts with elongated spines and crusty black fur emerged from behind a broken sand dune.
[WRATH CHARGE DETECTED]
[CLASS I TARTARUS BEASTS – ×6]
[NAME: DESERT RUNNERS]
Class I. Not a threat normally. But now? He gritted his teeth. Ethan slowly set Velina down behind a jagged stone shard, placing her gently. Then, he stood. Blade in hand. Chest heaving. His Anthic Sword gleamed faintly under the golden rays, crimson runes pulsing like veins.
[WRATH: 100/35]
[SKILL: ABYSSAL CLAWS – READY]
[WRATH COST: 20]
[DURATION: 90s | COOLDOWN: 180s]
"ABYSSAL CLAWS"
[ABYSSAL CLAWS ACTIVATED]
[WRATH EXPENDED: 20]
[WRATH: 80/35]
Ethan's hands morphed again, Claws erupted from Ethan's fingers, long, jagged, smoking with dark energy. He didn't roar. He didn't hesitate. He dashed forward.
The first Runner pounced, Ethan slashed in an arc, claws tearing its throat apart. The second lunged. He ducked, drove his elbow up into its jaw, then plunged his claws into its stomach. Another came from behind. He spun, caught it mid-air, and used its momentum to hurl it into two more. The last barked, an alpha. Larger. Scar running down its side. Ethan growled, low and savage.
He charged. The alpha dodged, circled, snapped. Ethan feinted left, then lunged, claws stabbing through the beast's eye and out the back of its skull. Black ichor splattered the sand.
[TARTARUS BEASTS DEFEATED - CLASS I x6]
[+20EXP GAINED]
[WRATH +5]
[CURRENT EXP: 498/500]
[WRATH: 85/35]
Ethan dropped to one knee. Breath ragged. Arms shaking. Time elapsed, Abyssal Claws deactivated. His arms morphed back to normal and smoked as the dark energy dissipated.
[WRATH: 80/35 – OVERSURGE REDUCING]
[SYSTEM NOTICE: CONTINUE AS SUCH]
He returned to Velina. She stirred slightly at his touch. "Ethan…?"
"I'm here."
She blinked at him, her face pale. "You're bleeding."
"Not important."
She managed a weak smile. "You're stubborn."
He carefully lifted her again, feeling the weight like iron. And moved on.
---
[TIME REMAINING: 7HOURS 12MINUTES 30SECONDS]
Hours passed. Maybe more. The sun had begun to fall behind the dunes, casting long shadows like fingers. Ethan's thoughts were fading. He heard voices, some real, some imagined.
*Licia's voice…*
*"You promised me you'd come home, Ethan."*
"I'm trying…" he murmured aloud. Then something growled. Again?
Three more beasts. Sand Scarabs this time. Carapace hard as bone, mandibles gnashing, bulbous black eyes shining with hunger.
[SKILL: ABYSSAL CLAWS – READY]
[SKILL: ABYSSAL LUNGE – READY]
[WARNING: HOST STATE CRITICAL, HOST BODY WON'T SUPPORT THE AFTERMATH USING SKILL]
Ethan's eyes Widened. He was stubborn, but had no choice. No claws. No lunge. Only the blade. And a will made of iron.
He drew the Anthic Sword. It pulsed in his grip, red runes glowing softly. The first Scarab charged. Ethan ducked, let it rush by, and sliced cleanly through its back. The runes burned brighter. The second came. He sidestepped, brought the blade down across its head. A hard clang, then a split, the sword cut through where normal steel would've bounced.
The third was cautious. So was Ethan.
He breathed. Waited. It lunged. Ethan braced, then pivoted, slashing upward. The beast's head flew.
[TARTARUS BEASTS DEFEATED – CLASS I x3]
[+10EXP GAINED]
[+5WRATH EARNED]
[WRATH: 85/35]
[LEVEL UP!: LVL5>LV6]
[CURRENT EXP: 8/600]
He didn't fall this time. He just stood there. Soaked in sweat. Eyes blazing. He lifted Velina again. And walked.
-------
**At the Academy – Observation Chamber**
"Again," said one Knight. "He's still moving. That's the third ambush he's survived… alone."
"He hasn't eaten. His rage is off the charts. And yet… he doesn't stop."
The eldest Knight stared at the projection of Ethan's figure, dragging himself forward beneath a burning sky. "This is more than survival," he said. "This is something darker. Something ancient."
The others fell quiet.
"What is that sword?... It's just a plain sword but looks different" one asked.
"I haven't seen nothing like it," another whispered. "But he wields it like a part of his soul."
The elder didn't respond. His lingered on the sword. It cut through the defense of the Crimson fanged Serpent. He was a nobody but his sword was something different, though plain, it had something and only a noble would own such a blade.
---
**Back in the Drazan Expanse**
The night finally arrived.
Ethan made it to the shelter of a dried-out canyon, its stone walls curving like ribs around him. The wind here was gentler. The sand didn't hiss. He laid Velina down on a bed of packed sand. Covered her with the last of his cloak.
She reached for his hand.
"Why… do you keep going?"
Ethan looked at her.
Eyes like steel.
"Because I have to."
"Even if it kills you?"
He glanced at his arms.
The Leviathan mark glowed faintly, burning more
"Especially if it kills me."
[WRATH: 82/35 – SLOWLY STABILIZING]
[SYSTEM NOTICE: STABILITY RESTORING. TEMPORARY RESISTANCE TO HALLUCINATION INCREASED.]
He leaned back against the wall. His vision blurred. His ears rang.
But he didn't sleep. He just listened to the wind, to the silence, to the fire that still smoldered within him.
And somewhere far ahead… A pulse. The beacon. He would reach it. Even if he had to crawl through a desert of bones.