Rain hammered the ruined streets like falling nails.
Sunny staggered through the alleyway, one hand pressed against his side. Blood slipped between his fingers, dark against his torn shirt. Every breath burned. The Watcher's attack had shattered his Aether pathways so badly that even gathering a spark of power felt like dragging broken glass through his veins.
Behind him, the city groaned.
Somewhere far back, buildings collapsed beneath distant roars.
Sunny leaned against a wall, coughing hard. Grey mist leaked from his skin in weak streams before fading again.
"Damn it…"
His vision blurred.
He had escaped… but barely.
The silver-haired boy walked beside him silently, hood pulled low over his pale face. Rain rolled down his sharp features as his silver eyes scanned the empty streets ahead.
"We need to move faster," the boy said quietly.
Sunny let out a dry laugh. "Really? I thought collapsing here sounded better."
"I'm serious."
The boy suddenly stopped.
Sunny noticed it too.
The rain ahead… wasn't falling normally.
It bent sideways.
As if something invisible stood in the middle of the road.
The silver-haired boy's expression darkened instantly.
"We're not alone."
A soft crunch echoed behind them.
Sunny spun around painfully—
A figure stood beneath a flickering streetlight.
Small.
Thin.
Wearing a dark cloak soaked by rain.
At first glance, Sunny thought it was another survivor.
Then the figure lifted their head.
Two glowing amber eyes stared back at them from beneath the hood.
Not human.
Sunny's body tensed immediately.
The silver-haired boy stepped forward. "Run."
The figure tilted their head slightly.
"…You can see me?" a soft voice asked.
Sunny froze.
That voice—
It was a girl.
The silver-haired boy narrowed his eyes but didn't lower his guard. "Who are you?"
For a moment, the girl said nothing.
Then—
The air around her distorted.
Black cracks spread across the wet pavement beneath her feet.
Sunny's exhausted eyes widened.
A demon.
But not like the others.
No madness.
No monstrous form.
No bloodlust pouring from her.
Just silence.
The girl looked at Sunny carefully, almost curiously.
"You're the one they're hunting," she whispered.
Before Sunny could answer—
A deafening howl tore through the city.
The ground trembled.
The girl's eyes suddenly widened in alarm.
"They found you already."
The silver-haired boy immediately grabbed Sunny's arm.
"We move. NOW."
But the girl stepped directly into their path.
"Wait," she said urgently. "If you go north, you'll die."
Sunny stared at her suspiciously despite the pain tearing through his body.
"And why should we trust a demon?"
For the first time, hesitation crossed her face.
Then quietly—
"My name is Layla."
The rain hadn't stopped.
Cold droplets slid through the shattered roof above, tapping softly against broken concrete and rusted pipes. The abandoned structure smelled of wet dust and blood.
Sunny could barely keep his eyes open.
Every breath scraped against his lungs like shards of glass. His Aether pathways still burned from being torn apart by the man in the black raincoat. Even now, faint silver cracks crawled across his skin whenever he moved too much.
The silver-haired boy adjusted Sunny's arm over his shoulder and glanced back cautiously.
"We need to move faster."
Sunny winced. "I'm trying…"
Ahead of them, the girl stood near the broken exit of the warehouse, her dark cloak fluttering in the storm wind. Pale blue eyes reflected the lightning outside.
Layla.
Even now, Sunny still didn't know who she was.
The silver-haired boy trusted her enough to follow.
That alone bothered him.
Sunny narrowed his eyes weakly.
"…Who are you?"
Layla looked over her shoulder.
"You ask that now?"
"I've never seen you before," Sunny muttered. "Not among the Watchers… not among the refugees… nowhere."
Silence.
Rainwater dripped from the ceiling between them.
Then Layla stepped closer.
Close enough for Sunny to notice the strange markings faintly glowing beneath her sleeve — ancient symbols pulsing with dull violet light.
Her gaze sharpened.
"You carry fractured Aether," she said quietly. "And yet you survived contact with him."
Sunny's body stiffened instantly.
"How do you know about that?"
Layla ignored the question.
Instead, her eyes studied him carefully… almost curiously.
"Tell me something first," she said. "Do you have a mother?"
The question hit him harder than expected.
Sunny's expression darkened immediately.
The air around him trembled faintly.
"How do you know about my mother?"
The silver-haired boy looked between them nervously.
"Layla…"
But Sunny was already forcing himself upright despite the agony tearing through his body.
His instincts screamed danger.
Nobody knew about his mother.
Nobody.
Not unless they had been watching him.
A pulse of broken Aether burst from his body violently—
—and pain exploded through his chest.
Sunny's vision blurred instantly.
His legs gave out.
"Idiot!" the silver-haired boy caught him before he slammed into the floor. "You're barely alive!"
Sunny tried to speak again, but blood suddenly spilled from the corner of his mouth.
The silver-haired boy cursed under his breath.
"His pathways are collapsing."
Layla's calm expression finally cracked slightly.
She moved forward immediately and grabbed Sunny before he slipped completely unconscious.
For a brief second, Sunny could hear distant thunder.
Then darkness swallowed him whole.
The silver-haired boy adjusted Sunny onto his back while Layla supported his other side.
"We can still save him," she said quietly.
The boy looked at her sharply.
"You sound way too sure about that."
Layla stared at the unconscious Sunny as lightning illuminated the storm outside.
"…Because he's more important than he realizes."
( Meanwhile...)
(Six hours later )
The wind grew colder the farther south they traveled.
Dark clouds rolled slowly across the sky, swallowing the last traces of sunlight while jagged mountains stretched endlessly across the horizon like the teeth of some ancient beast.
Arthur Ravenheart stood at the edge of a cliff, his black shirt swaying in the violent wind as faint streams of purple Aether curled around his fingers.
Below him—
—the Black Continent border.
Even from five kilometers away, the place felt wrong.
The land beyond the border looked darker than the rest of the world itself, as if the sunlight refused to touch it completely. Massive black forests spread endlessly into the distance while colossal skeletal structures rose from the earth like ruined monuments from a forgotten age.
Kierran whistled softly behind him.
"Yeah… this place definitely wants us dead."
Lucas adjusted the bag hanging from his shoulder. "You say that about every place."
"Because every place does want us dead."
Tom ignored them both.
The older man stood silently beside Arthur, arms folded as his sharp eyes studied the distant border walls.
Or rather—
what remained of them.
The ancient barrier separating the Black Continent from the Central Lands had been shattered in multiple places. Some cracks stretched for kilometers, pulsing faintly with distorted Aether.
Arthur narrowed his eyes.
"So the reports were true…"
Tom nodded grimly.
"The seals are weakening faster than expected."
A heavy silence followed.
Arthur clenched his fist slowly.
Somewhere beyond those lands…
His mother was alive.
Alexi Ravenheart.
The woman who got swallowed up by the black rift during the collapse .
And now, according to the fragments of information they had gathered, she had last been seen near the Black Continent.
Not only that—
Layla's trail also led here.
And possibly…
Levi Ravenheart.
Arthur's father who went missing a few days before the collapse .
Just thinking about the name caused tension to spread through the group.
Kierran scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"You really think Levi's still alive?"
Arthur didn't answer immediately.
The wind intensified around them.
"I don't know," he admitted quietly. "But if there's even a chance…"
Tom suddenly stepped forward.
"Quiet."
Everyone froze instantly.
The old warrior's eyes narrowed toward the distant plains below.
Arthur felt it a second later.
Aether.
Weak.
Distorted.
But definitely there.
Lucas unsheathed one of his twin blades slowly.
"…Someone's coming."
Far below the cliffside, a lone figure staggered through the fog-covered wasteland toward them.
Wrapped in torn black clothing.
Covered in blood.
Arthur's eyes sharpened instantly.
"…That's not human."
The figure suddenly collapsed onto one knee.
Then the ground behind it erupted violently.
A massive skeletal arm burst from beneath the earth and grabbed the creature before dragging it screaming underground.
Silence.
Kierran stared blankly.
"…I officially hate this continent already."
Tom's expression darkened.
"That was only the outer region."
Arthur looked back toward the endless darkness ahead.
For some reason…
he felt like something deep within the Black Continent had already noticed them.
The deeper they traveled toward the border, the quieter the world became.
No birds.
No insects.
Even the wind itself seemed afraid to move through the dead plains surrounding the Black Continent.
Arthur walked at the front of the group now, his sharp emerald eyes scanning the terrain carefully while faint traces of purple Aether flowed around his arms.
Crunch.
A sound echoed nearby.
Everyone stopped instantly.
Lucas slowly reached for one of his blades.
Kierran frowned. "You guys heard that too, right?"
Crunch.
Closer this time.
Tom's gaze shifted toward a field of blackened trees ahead.
"…Stay alert."
The atmosphere changed.
Arthur felt it immediately.
Pressure.
Heavy.
Wrong.
Like something enormous was staring directly into his soul.
Then—
they saw it.
Standing between the dead trees was a humanoid creature nearly three meters tall.
Its body was unnaturally pale, covered in cracked black veins that pulsed with corrupted Aether. Long white hair hung over its face while six glowing blue eyes stared at them from beneath the shadows.
Six eyes.
Each one rotating independently.
Watching.
Calculating.
Smiling.
Kierran took a step back instinctively.
"…Nope."
The creature tilted its head sharply.
CRACK.
Its neck bent far beyond human limits.
Arthur's body tensed immediately.
"That thing's intelligent."
The monster suddenly spoke—
its voice sounding like multiple people whispering at once.
"Ravenheart…"
Arthur froze.
The six eyes locked directly onto him.
"You carry his blood."
A violent pulse of corrupted Aether exploded outward.
BOOOOM!
The ground beneath them shattered instantly.
Lucas leapt backward while Tom slammed his fist into the earth, creating a defensive barrier of compressed Aether just as black energy tore through the area.
The creature vanished.
Arthur's eyes widened.
Fast—
Too fast.
A hand suddenly grabbed his face and hurled him through multiple trees before he could react.
BOOM!
Arthur crashed violently into the ground, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.
"Arthur!" Kierran shouted.
The monster appeared above Arthur instantly, six glowing eyes narrowing with fascination.
"So weak…"
Its voice glitched unnaturally.
"And yet… your Aether resembles his."
Arthur's pupils shrank.
His?
Before he could ask—
the creature's fist descended.
Arthur released a burst of Black Aether at the last second.
BOOOOM!
The collision ripped apart the surrounding forest.
Shockwaves blasted outward violently while cracks spread beneath them.
Arthur skidded backward, breathing heavily.
His arms trembled from the impact.
The monster smiled wider.
Its six eyes suddenly began glowing brighter.
Then Arthur realized something horrifying.
Each eye was tracking something different.
One followed his breathing.
Another tracked his heartbeat.
Another watched the flow of Aether through his body.
It was analyzing him completely.
Tom appeared beside Arthur instantly.
"Do not let it study you for too long."
Arthur wiped blood from his mouth.
"…What is this thing?"
Tom's expression darkened.
"A corrupted Seer."
The monster laughed softly.
And for a split second—
all six eyes turned into glowing crosses.
"I remember Levi Ravenheart."
Arthur's breathing became uneven.
The moment the creature spoke his father's name, something inside him shifted violently.
Levi Ravenheart.
The name echoed endlessly in his mind.
The six-eyed creature noticed immediately.
Its twisted smile widened.
"Ah…"
One of its glowing eyes narrowed.
"There it is."
Tom stepped forward instantly, placing himself between Arthur and the monster.
"Arthur," he said calmly, "don't listen to it."
But the creature continued speaking.
Its voice no longer sounded monstrous.
Now it sounded almost human.
Mocking.
Gentle.
"You want to know why Levi disappeared, don't you?"
Arthur clenched his fists.
Purple Aether flickered wildly around him.
Kierran noticed immediately. "Arthur—"
"He abandoned you."
The pressure in the air spiked violently.
Lucas cursed under his breath as the surrounding ground began cracking from Arthur's unstable Aether output.
The six-eyed creature tilted its head.
"Your mother chased after him." Its smile widened further. "And now look where it brought her."
"Shut up," Arthur growled.
But the monster kept talking.
"You think you're saving them…"
Its six eyes glowed brighter.
"…but what if they never wanted to be found?"
BOOOOM!
Arthur's Aether exploded outward uncontrollably.
The cliffside shattered beneath his feet.
Tom moved immediately.
A massive wave of golden Aether burst from his body and slammed into Arthur's aura, suppressing the violent surge before it could spiral further.
"Enough."
For the first time—
Tom sounded angry.
The older warrior slowly removed the cloth wrapped around his right arm.
Ancient markings glowed beneath his skin like burning gold.
The monster's smile faded slightly.
"Oh?"
Tom didn't look back at Arthur.
"Kierran. Lucas."
His voice became cold.
"Take Arthur away from here."
Arthur snapped out of his haze instantly. "What?!"
"You're emotionally compromised," Tom said bluntly. "And that thing knows it."
The creature laughed softly.
"He's right."
Its six eyes focused on Arthur again.
"You're easy to break."
Arthur stepped forward angrily, but Tom released a pulse of pressure powerful enough to stop him in place.
For the first time since they met him—
Tom's full presence emerged.
The air itself grew heavy.
Even Kierran looked stunned.
"…Old man…"
Golden Aether wrapped around Tom's body like flowing fire while the ground beneath him slowly melted from the pressure alone.
The six-eyed creature finally stopped smiling.
Tom rolled his shoulder once.
"You wanted Levi Ravenheart?"
The markings on his arm brightened.
"Then deal with someone who survived fighting beside him."
The monster vanished instantly.
BOOOOM!
Tom blocked the attack with one arm.
The impact split the earth for hundreds of meters.
Shockwaves tore through the dead forest while black trees collapsed around them.
Arthur's eyes widened.
Fast.
Too fast to follow completely.
The creature unleashed a storm of attacks from every direction, moving like a distorted blur—
—but Tom blocked every single strike.
Calmly.
Precisely.
Like he had done this countless times before.
The six-eyed monster suddenly appeared behind him and aimed for his spine—
Tom grabbed its face mid-attack.
CRAAACK.
The creature's skull dented under his grip.
Its six eyes widened slightly for the first time.
Tom's gaze turned ice cold.
"You talk too much."
Then he slammed the creature through three mountains.