The moment the notification flickered across his vision—
[Tier Advancement Complete: Congratulations on reaching Tier 3]
—everything stopped.
Kairo's breath hitched. His pulse vanished. The cavern, the dust, the collapsing rocks—all of it peeled away like thin paper, curling into darkness. A cold blue glow swallowed his senses whole.
And once again… he was in that place.
A sea of nothingness.
Endless. Weightless. Soundless.
Kairo floated for a heartbeat before instinct forced words out of him.
("This again… I've been here. So another vision, huh?")
Only—this time felt different.
His body shifted. His limbs weren't frozen. His hands weren't numb. He blinked in confusion and slowly—hesitantly—moved his fingers.
They obeyed.
"What…?" Kairo whispered. "I can move? That's new."
He tried to straighten himself. His feet touched something solid, even though the world looked like an empty ocean of blue light. He pushed up—
And he stood.
Kairo's breath caught. "This is strange…"
The memories returned.
The first time—drowning, sinking until that angelic figure reached him.
The second—floating helplessly, unable to control even a single twitch.
But now…
He lifted his hand, staring at it as if it belonged to someone else.
"I can move freely… Why?"
The nothingness around him stretched infinitely, a horizon with no end, no sky, no walls. Just the blue void, shimmering like water yet feeling like air.
Kairo took a cautious step forward—
Something held him back.
A pressure. Invisible. Cold. Heavy.
Before he could react, a voice—distant, unplaceable, echoing from everywhere and nowhere—whispered:
"Not yet."
Kairo froze. His spine went rigid.
"Who said that?!" he shouted, whipping his head around.
But before he could demand more, the ground—or whatever he was standing on—shuddered. The blue sea rippled.
Then it began to swallow him.
"What—!?"
Kairo struggled, kicking, pushing, clawing at the air, but nothing worked. The void pulled him downward like a whirlpool.
The blue glow surged.
His vision cracked apart—
And everything went dark.
Wind howled. Heat pulsed. Shadows twisted like living things.
Kairo's eyes snapped open.
His breath caught in his throat. "What… was that? Was someone watching me?"
But the question died on his tongue.
Because the world before him was wrong. Immense. Terrifying. Beautiful.
A sea of flames devoured a never-ending forest, turning towering trees into pillars of burning light. Above the inferno, the sky was frozen over, coated in sheets of pale frost that cracked and rained down arrows of ice like falling stars.
And beneath that frozen sky, the earth itself trembled.
Two titanic forces clashed across the land—each step shaking mountains, each blow echoing like thunder.
On one side, dragons of silver, their scales shining like molten moonlight.
On the other, giants of crimson, whose every movement shook the ground.
And leading them…
Indra, the sliver. Ruler of the dragons.
Rudra, the Crimson. Emperor of the giants.
Names spoken in ancient myths. Names of calamity.
They fought without hesitation, without mercy, locked in a fury older than memory itself.
But even they looked small before the thing towering over everything.
The World Tree.
A colossal trunk that pierced the heavens. Branches so vast they formed clouds. Roots thicker than castles, weaving through the earth like divine serpents. Its bark glowed with the color of dawn, its leaves shimmering with all the mana of creation.
Kairo could barely breathe.
"The… World Tree," he whispered. "Claymond talked about this. Is this… the war that destroyed it?"
More questions piled in his mind, but then movement pulled his gaze downward.
Across the forest floor, humanoid figures ran—fleeing the battlefield, scrambling over burning roots and shattered stone. They looked human, but…
Kairo froze.
"Their ears… longer? Are they… elves?"
Before he could process it, something else caught his eyes—those who didn't run.
High on the massive roots of the World Tree, dozens of elves stayed behind. Their bows shimmering with mana. Their faces pale but determined.
"Why aren't they running…?" Kairo whispered helplessly. "You'll die…!"
But he was only a witness.
Then—light.
From the roots burst forth spirits. Beings of glowing green, yellow, red—each shaped differently, each radiating pure elemental essence. They formed ranks beside the elves, raising shimmering barriers of mana and hurling arcs of elemental force toward the battling titans.
For a moment, Kairo felt hope.
They stood together, trying—desperately—to defend their sacred home.
But it didn't last.
A single shockwave tore across the battlefield—power so immense the air itself screamed.
The barriers shattered.
The spirits' lights flickered out.
A violent burst of power slammed into the World Tree, and the world itself recoiled. A wave of fire and frost erupted outward in the same breath, racing across the roots and trunk with impossible speed. Flames roared upward, incinerating bark, roots, and leaves in a single blazing sweep—yet even as they burned, the same surface froze, locking the charcoal remains in crystal ice. Fire devoured; frost preserved. The two forces crawled upward together, entwined like opposing serpents. Within moments, the colossal World Tree stood engulfed—half burning, half frozen—its ancient body cracking under the weight of both flaming destruction and frozen preservation.
Indra and Rudra had stepped forward.
And the true war began.
The battle between Indra and Rudra shook the very bones of the world. Each clash of fist, claw, and wing tore apart entire stretches of land, yet neither of their bodies bore so much as a scratch. Indra lunged with razor-edged claws, silver wings beating like thunder. Rudra countered with a grin, arms locking against Indra's strike, the shockwave ripping open the sky above them.
They mocked each other even as they fought like living calamities.
"Rudra," Indra snarled, pushing him back with a violent flap of his wings, "I thought you worshipped the World Tree. Why attack it now?"
Rudra shrugged, ducking under Indra's sweeping tail. "You know, I figured it was time I stepped up for myself." His eyes narrowed mischievously. "But you—since when do you come down to fight personally? Too old to smite me from the sky, huh?"
Indra's jaw tightened. "You insolent moron! I don't need height to annihilate you!"
A beam of silver breath roared from his mouth, but Rudra laughed and slipped aside effortlessly.
"You'll have to do better than that, old friend."
"Do not call me that," Indra roared. "You are my mortal enemy, Rudra!"
They clashed again—until something slithered from the shadows beneath them.
Neither of them noticed until it lunged.
A colossal serpentine dragon wrapped itself around Indra in a single motion, tightening with crushing force. Rudra froze mid-strike, startled, while Indra struggled violently, wings beating against the air.
"Vritra…?" Indra's voice cracked with disbelief. "What are you doing?!"
Vritra's voice was a cold hiss. "Something I should have done long ago."
Indra managed to tear free, slamming Vritra against the ground. Fury burned in his eyes.
"Betraying me? A Dragon Lord—one I trusted—and this is what you give me?!"
Vritra only smiled, his long body coiling confidently. "I've served you since the moment I opened my eyes. And what have you done? You've let the pride of our kind rot!" He pointed his tail at Rudra. "All you care about is fighting this fool for eternity. Dragons deserve more. And you… you cannot lead us to our true destiny."
Rudra laughed loudly. "You can't even control your own people anymore, Indra!"
"Silence!" Indra barked.
He glared at Vritra. "Then tell me—who is worthy of leading the dragons?"
Vritra's eyes glowed with ambition. "Me. I will lead us to our destiny."
But deep inside, it was never about destiny. It was about the throne.
He lunged—
And from the World Tree, a radiant trident streaked downward like judgment itself.
It struck Vritra before he could react. A burst of divine force tore through him, leaving only silence and a shattered remnant of what had been a Dragon Lord.
Indra and Rudra could only stare.
The world had just shifted.
Rudra and Indra froze. The battlefield—once shaking under their roars—went silent as both stared at what little remained of Vritra. A smear of blood. A shattered face. Nothing more.
Indra's voice cracked, disbelief choking him.
"W-What… sort of being could do that?"
Rudra didn't answer at first. His chest rose and fell, sweat glinting on his crimson skin. Then he exhaled shakily.
"Ohh lord… here he comes."
Indra turned to him sharply. The pride, fury, and arrogance that always defined him had been stripped away, leaving behind something unfamiliar—coution.
"Rudra… what are you afraid of?"
Rudra only smiled, but it wasn't mocking. It was the smile of someone who knew a truth too heavy to speak.
"Fear? This is not fear, old friend. This is acknowledgment. Something beyond us… something you should fear as well."
He looked upward. Indra followed his gaze.
The trident that had obliterated Vritra began to tremble violently—then launched upward, streaking back toward the top of the World Tree like a summoned hound.
Rudra raised his hand, pointing.
"This is a fragment of God… the guardian of the World Tree."
And then the sky cracked.
Three colossal eyes opened above the tree—black pupils burning with red light.
Rudra declared, voice trembling:
"The King of Spirits!'
Kairo had been watching the vision like a distant observer—but when those three colossal eyes opened above the World Tree, something primal tightened around his heart.
A fear unlike anything he had felt—not even during Indra and Rudra's world-breaking clash—crept up his spine.
Those eyes…
They weren't just looking at the world.
They were looking at him.
Even though he wasn't truly there.
Even though this was only a vision.
He felt it.
They knew he existed.
Kairo tried to step back—but before he could take another breath, everything snapped to black.
—
His eyes shot open. He was outside the cave, the cold night air hitting his face. Theo had an arm wrapped around him, dragging him forward through the forest ruins.
Ahead, Flint struggled to walk, his wounded arm slung over Lilian's shoulder. She was shaking under the weight of him.
"Lilian, again, you don't have to—" Flint muttered.
"It's fine," she insisted, forcing a smile. "I can at least do this much."
Kairo groaned softly, and Theo immediately looked down at him in relief.
"You're awake! Thank god…"
Flint and Lilian turned too, both smiling.
"What happened…?" Kairo muttered.
Theo answered, "The whole cave was collapsing. You suddenly fainted, so we grabbed you and ran."
Kairo exhaled shakily—then smiled.
"Good job… all three of you."
They smiled back, tired but proud.
Kairo pushed himself upright.
With a breath of finality, he announced:
"The hunt… is over."
To be continued.....