"You're here for the same reason I am."
Given my suspicions, it made sense to assume he knew what would happen here.
"Yeah. I am," he replied.
But his tone had shifted. None of the earlier irony, no trace of mockery.
We exchanged no more words after that. Just moved in silence.
The clearing soon emerged ahead, wrapped in dense trees and warm afternoon light filtering through leaves. We stopped atop a rise—just high enough for a clear view.
Down there, Sven was hunched over, shoulders slumped and face shadowed.
Chae Nayun stood before him, her hands in pockets, her expression unreadable.
Maybe guilt, maybe reluctance to hurt him, or just relief.
"...Besides, I like guys stronger than me."
Boom...
Not an actual sound, but it detonated like dynamite in Sven's chest.
The boy didn't move an inch.
Chae Nayun turned her back. Took a few steps.
"Sorry about that," she said. "But we gotta go. It's time."
That was my cue. I started running downhill.
The 'Aether thief', meanwhile, skirted the clearing's edge, weaving through trees.
Suddenly, Sven raised his head.
"Then... I'll just get stronger than you..."
Nayun paused, turning back with a frown. About to speak—maybe end it clean.
But she never got the chance.
From Sven's body, limbs stretched like organic blades, pulsing veins snaking along the tentacles.
They lunged straight for her.
"Tch!"
I raised my arm. Shaped the stigma into a shield.
Golden light flared before Nayun.
The tentacles slammed down—ground exploding under the impact. Dirt geysered everywhere.
I buckled under the force, cold sweat dripping, the stigma burning through my forearm like fire to the bone.
Sven stood motionless in the dust, dazed or lost.
His body started to slowly warp into a grotesque mass of... whatever that was.
"Kim Hajin?!" Nayun gasped behind me.
She was sprawled on the ground, half-buried in soil.
"Hngh—!"
A tentacle found the barrier's flaw and coiled around my ankle.
I was yanked backward, the shield cracking behind me.
"AGH!"
Chae Nayun sprang up in one leap.
Despite the chaos and confusion, she seemed to understand what she had to do.
"Let him go, you bastard!" she roared.
Her hands flew toward her bow.
But before she could nock an arrow—another presence dropped in.
And the idiot smirked as he raised his spear.
_______
I activated [Blood Mark] the instant I closed in—the sigil blazing crimson on Sven's shoulder.
My stats surged.
[Defying the Impossible] was live too.
So, I cut.
My spear met a tentacle mid-air—and split it clean.
I drove the tip deeper, twisted, then retreated as a grotesque hiss escaped the severed flesh.
The remaining limbs faltered, writhing like lost compass needles.
It was enough.
Kim Hajin broke free, crashing sideways as I charged.
"This is for her love..." Sven whispered. "For her love. For her love. For her... love..."
His desires had curdled. Nothing left but a rotten, hysterical mantra.
Three pure mana projectiles fired almost simultaneously behind me.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Kim Hajin was back in the fray.
The pistol he wielded—a Desert Eagle etched with arcane circuitry—was, in my opinion, peak style.
Every shot struck true: shoulder, flank, collarbone.
Impact explosions rocked Sven's mutated form, flesh shuddering in spasms.
An opening.
Chae Nayun played her part. Three arrows in rapid succession.
The last buried itself deep in Sven's chest—right where his heart should've been.
He didn't fall. Didn't even stagger.
The arrows vibrated in his flesh, smothered by oily shadows weeping from his skin. And the chest arrow... was spat out with a wet thlop.
"This makes zero fucking sense," I scowled.
Sven was strong—a Djinn, after all.
But not this much.
Concentrated fire like that should've killed him—
No time to think.
I lunged. Speartip scraping dirt.
A controlled spin, shaft whipping air, deflecting a bone-whip from my flank.
Closed the gap. Drove the curved blade into Sven's left shoulder joint.
Felt ligaments snap.
He didn't scream. Just laughed.
"I'm nobody's clown, you fucking asshole!"
I released the spear, dropped low—felt wind shear as two limbs scissored overhead.
Rolled sideways, yanked the weapon back with a kick to its haft, pivoted for space.
Behind me: Hajin's suppressed gunshots. Left: the twang of Nayun's bowstring.
I was their spearpoint—and, ironically, their shield.
A quick parry, an upward spin, blade sliding between two deformed ribs.
With every second, Sven shed more of his... Sven-ness... becoming a tangled knot of meat and organs.
Reset my stance. Shoulder-checked him, jammed the spear's butt under his jaw, forced his head up—then spun low, severing his left hamstring.
Nothing stopped the bastard.
"Why won't you fucking die...?"
Gaping wounds. Visible injuries. Deep gashes. Rivers of dark blood.
He should've been dead.
"I love you! I love you! I love you!"
Words gushed from the abomination's misshapen mouth like a demented liturgy.
More limbs sprouted. Eyes blinked open across his skin. Bones cracked where bones shouldn't be.
Then... he changed.
Flesh dissolved. Skin tore—only to reorganize into something even more monstrous.
Obsidian carapace encased his torso. His spine split, birthing jagged bone-wings. Arms hardened into spiked thorns.
And his face...
...wasn't human anymore.
I recoiled on instinct, spear snapping guard.
"Luxxion."
[This is undoubtedly Seed-related.] it replied instantly. [Whoever bears it is fueling this. It's not just the demon power Sven contracted.]
I sighed, spinning the blade in my grip.
"The Seed can do this?"
[Based on database records, yes. Depends on the Seed's grade and its bearer.]
"Fantastic."
Now it was personal.
I whirled the spear overhead and hurled it like a javelin—but before impact, used the momentum to leap behind it, landing with a sideways thrust into Sven's flank.
He pivoted last-second. A tentacle whipped toward my face.
I ducked. The blade sailed overhead, shearing a tree in half.
Used the dodge's inertia to spin, smashing the spear's haft into the aberration's "knees."
A hail of light-attribute bullets peppered an eye on Sven's cheek.
The creature only roared, deafening, and fired three limbs toward Hajin.
"Hajin, left!" I shouted.
He dove sideways—but a tentacle still grazed his shoulder.
I charged again. Thrust the spear between the thorns covering Sven's chest.
One. Two. Three rapid jabs.
The last ricocheted like striking steel. The fucker was hardening again.
The Blood Mark flared once more before vanishing.
Shit.
I took a few steps back and looked towards the others.
A tentacle slammed down toward Nayun.
She raised her bow—
The sound of splintering wood froze time for a heartbeat.
"Chae Nayun!" Hajin yelled, lunging in front of her with a poorly made mana shield.
The tentacle hit him full-force.
He flew, body spinning mid-air before crashing sideways. Didn't move.
I froze for half a second.
All Sven needed.
Tentacles coiled around me, slamming me into the ground with brutal force. Pain exploded in my ribs.
Tried rising—crushing weight pinned me.
"You son of a…"
Chae Nayun's voice was low, dripping pure rage.
Her shattered bow lay discarded. She stared at it for one breath.
Then opened her palm.
Mana.
Emerald-green mana, pulsing like a living jewel, condensed above her hand. Air spiraled violently into that point—only the hum of raw power filled the clearing.
My eyes widened.
The sheer volume was insane.
Light took shape. Extended. Solidified.
A massive sword of pure mana emerged, veins of gold lightning coursing its blade.
Nayun raised it.
Face streaked with sweat and blood. Eyes feral.
Sven—or what he'd become—hesitated.
Maybe a shred of reason remained.
But then he snarled. Limbs sprouted anew. Bones cracked. Ready to strike.
"Go to hell," Nayun declared.
She cut.
The sword's light tore through air like a shooting star. The energy detonation birthed a shockwave that swept the clearing.
Trees splintered. Shadows vanished. The sky—for one blinding instant—flared emerald.
Sven's body was cloven.
Not exploded. Not pierced.
Cleaved.
From skull to sternum—one clean stroke.
The creature that was once a Cube student slumped—still mouthing a voiceless "I love you"—before toppling sideways, carapace cracking and crumbling like wet clay.
The forest seemed to mourn.
Only Nayun's ragged breaths filled the void.
She stood frozen, the mana-sword still shimmering in her grip for seconds before dissolving into motes of light.
Then stared at her hand—the one that forged the blade.
Fingers trembling. Palm still vibrating.
"What…?" she whispered to herself, gaze locked on her shaking fingers, uncomprehending.
Then looked up at Kim Hajin. At me.
Her brow furrowed briefly.
Kim Hajin approached with a dazed smirk, wiping blood from his lip.
"Whoa... what was that? A lightsaber?"
She blinked slowly.
Drenched in sweat, face ashen.
"I... have no idea," she breathed, voice thready. "It just... happened."
Her focus wavered.
Eyes fluttering shut and open.
"You two…" she managed, glancing between us. "Are you two okay?"
Hajin gave a curt nod.
"In one piece."
"Alive," I added, swiping grime from my face, hefting my spear.
She huffed a weak laugh. The ghost of a smile.
"Really? That's... a relief…"
And before either could react—
Her knees buckled as she blacked out.