[Flash back, 30 minutes ago]
The restaurant hummed with the low chatter of nobles and the gentle clinking of silverware.
Across from me, Olivia sipped her tea, eyes lost in thought. The golden afternoon sun spilled across her face, softening the faint lines of exhaustion beneath her eyes.
We had been talking about Rein. The old man. The "invincible one."
"He'll be fine," I had said with a casual smirk. "It's not like anyone can actually kill that fossil."
I remember the way Olivia smiled, small and wistful.
"I hope you're right…"
Then—
[Ding!]
A familiar tone echoed in my head like a slap across the face.
[Emergency Quest Received]
Rein Shroud's life force will deplete completely in 30 minutes.
[Reward]: You have chosen your path as a hero. A hero does not ask for reward.
[Penalty]: Rein Shroud will die.
The world seemed to tilt.
My hand froze around the cup.
"Eva," I called silently, "why is his life force depleting?! Where is he? How can I find him?"
[You must figure it out yourself. You are more than capable.]
[Or… use your Authority. You have Creation Points.]
Authority...
The last time I used it, Eva warned me: careless use can cause ripples in fate—some irreversible.
I clenched my jaw.
No. Not yet.
If I'm fast enough… I won't need it.
"Olivia," I said aloud, rising suddenly, "head back to the church. Rein might be in danger. I need to check something."
She blinked, startled. "What—?"
"No time."
I was gone before she could ask again.
Outside, the sun had dipped low. My cloak billowed behind me as I summoned over a hundred clones—each cloaked in [Stealth], vanishing into the wind like specters.
I spread them across the capital and its outskirts, scanning, sensing… nothing.
I, myself, rushed toward the southern edge—the Royal Forest.
Even with [Mana Domain], there was no trace. No aura. Nothing.
Twenty minutes passed.
Still… nothing.
I gritted my teeth.
Enough.
My hand reached for the threads of fate as I prepared to invoke Authority of Creation—
But then—
The world... hummed.
A pulse, like a heartbeat across the sky. The air shimmered as if bowing to something pure, something ancient.
I activated my Azure Divine Eyes.
My vision snapped into clarity a hundred times sharper. Every mana particle danced in the air like threads of light.
And then I saw it.
A faint golden beam—like the breath of the heavens—falling from a fracture in the sky, disappearing into a blackened rift beyond all perception.
My chest tightened.
"Rein…?"
The resonance was faint, but familiar. Not the same, yet kindred.
I followed it. Deeper into the forest.
As I neared the point of descent—
The golden light vanished.
And something else surfaced.
A pressure.
A hatred.
Raw. Ancient. Endless.
But it wasn't from the forest.
It was from within me.
My Azure Flame pulsed, violently—writhing like a beast chained too long.
It demanded to be let out.
Before I could even react—
The flame erupted into my palm and moved on its own.
A piercing beam of azure light screamed across the trees—
—And then the air split open.
A crack.
Then fire.
Pure, divine, furious fire poured into the world, devouring the fabric of the realm like a starved predator.
I didn't enter that black realm.
But my flame did.
It tore through it—burning serpents, shattering illusions, roaring into the face of that monstrous Eye.
I watched from a hundred kilometers away as the sky warped—before my perception screamed at me—
Danger. Death. Now.
I teleported out just before the explosion.
When I returned…
The forest had become a crater. A charred, empty silence.
And there—at the center—
Rein.
Lying bloodied, unmoving… but alive.
Next to him, for a brief second—
A robed figure.
His face obscured.
He turned. Looked at me.
Then vanished.
Gone.
I didn't chase him.
I just stepped forward, grabbed Rein's battered body—
—and opened a portal straight to the church.
------
The world on the other side of the portal shimmered like glass—so calm it made my blood itch.
I stepped through, dragging the weight of a legend half-breathing in my arms.
Rein Shroud.
A man who once stood unshaken before demons… now barely holding together.
The marble floor of the Church Sanctuary greeted us with its usual self-righteous stillness. Clerics in white robes, mages mid-prayer, even a few templars by the walls—everyone froze.
I didn't wait for them to catch up.
"Get the Pope. And Olivia. Now!" I barked.
The moment my voice cut the air, chaos bloomed.
Footsteps. Cries. Magic flaring.
My arms were burning, but I didn't let go. Rein's blood had soaked through my sleeve. His mana was leaking. Not like a cracked dam—but like someone had pulled the core out of his soul and left him hollow.
He was still breathing, but it was getting fainter.
"Don't you dare die now, old man…" I muttered.
And then—
Light.
A blinding gold shimmer pulsed at the far end of the hall. Pope Erandel descended like a beacon of divinity, staff already glowing, face calm—but stern.
But Olivia?
She wasn't calm.
The moment she saw Rein lying limp in my arms—
"No… NO! Rein!"
She ran—no, sprinted—across the marble like the world was ending. Her voice cracked. Her hands trembled. Her eyes… broke a little the moment she saw him up close.
I laid Rein down gently on the sanctum platform.
Olivia dropped to her knees beside him, grabbing his hand like it would vanish if she let go.
"Wh—What happened to him?!" she turned to me, voice shaking, tears forming. "Who did this?!"
Her gaze stabbed into me, not out of blame, but desperation.
She wanted answers.
She wanted someone to blame.
I looked away briefly, tightening my jaw.
"…Someone who shouldn't be breathing anymore," I muttered. "You can ask him. When he wakes up."
"But this—this is—" she choked, voice catching in her throat. "His mana flow is in shambles, his bones… he's—he's—"
"Alive," I said flatly. "But not for long if you keep standing there."
She flinched. Then nodded.
She wiped her tears and moved around the altar with trembling precision.
Pope Erandel stepped in beside her, calm as ever.
"We'll heal him. Start the chant. Follow my tempo."
Olivia took a shaky breath and nodded again, even though her hands still trembled.
"Hold it together, Saintess," I thought. "You've done worse under pressure."
Together, they formed a circle of light—gold and emerald swirling in rhythm. Magic laced through the air. The temperature shifted.
I stepped back, standing guard as their spellwork began to take shape.
Rein's body twitched—light entering where death tried to creep in.
Veins pulsed with mana.
Bones shifted back into place with audible cracks.
Torn muscle, ruptured circuits… they began to mend.
Still, the effect of that dark flame hadn't vanished completely.
I could feel it inside him—like a parasite refusing to let go.
Olivia whispered something softly—just under her breath.
"You said you'd always watch over me… So now let me do the same…"
I watched the light dance over them, flooding the cathedral in holy warmth.
And for the first time in my life.....I was nervous not for a beauty but an old man.
Sigh... Too much for being a hero.
If I had not known about this beforehand, not only Olivia but Rein would have also died.
But he'll be fine now.
Now, let's just deal with that robed man and go home.
—[To Be Continued]—