A few hours ago...
The shack was filled with the intense smell of rotten flesh and iron. Blood mixed with hair covered everything—the walls, the ground, and even the ceiling.
In the middle of the shack stood three crosses, each with a book placed below, drawn over a magic circle.
"What happened here?" Elias stared at the crosses, then shifted his gaze to a man in his thirties.
He wore a long cloak with a white shirt underneath and black pants. His hair was black, his features rough.
His name was Detective Kim. Elias had met him a few months ago while investigating a case related to a flaw in the System. They had been working together ever since.
"I wouldn't have called you if I already knew. Whatever happened here—this wasn't the work of a monster or a human. It's something far more sinister." The detective lit a cigarette and took a drag. "Any ideas?"
Elias scanned the room, checking the furniture. He found something on the table: dried-up herbs and strange materials from rifts, scattered.
A rift isn't just a tear through space that is connected to other worlds. It is more than that. Once you enter a Rift, you'll be able to collect the surrounding resources.
"Any connection between the victims?" Elias asked, observing the hair mixed with flesh.
"All were females, aged sixteen to eighteen. Autopsy shows their blood was completely drained, but strangely, their bodies are brimming with magic."
"Witches?"
"No, just normal mages."
Elias pinched his chin in thought. "Any similar cases in the past? Mages turning up dead like this?"
"No. This is the first," Kim shook his head. "What do you think happened here?"
"A psychopath killed them for a ritual."
"Rituals?" Kim frowned. "A heretic did this?" Years in the field had shown Kim many horrors. A heretic sacrificing humans wasn't new.
"Perhaps," Elias replied emotionlessly. Kim was about to speak when Elias interrupted, "Do you believe in Outer Gods?"
Kim frowned. Elias continued patiently, "They're creatures beyond comprehension. All-powerful and all-knowing."
"All-powerful," Kim scoffed, almost mocking. "And yet they do nothing about the suffering in the world." His eyes flickered with grief. "More importantly, what's this heretic trying to do? Summon his god?"
"A ritual this small wouldn't be enough to summon Them." Elias turned and looked Kim in the eye. "Do you despise gods, Detective Kim?"
"What makes you say that?"
"Would you give sugar to an ant colony you found?" Elias replied, avoiding the question.
Kim thought for a moment, then answered, "So we're like ants to Them?"
Outer Gods saw humans as ants. Would humans care about a plague in an ant colony, or a war between them?
Elias didn't respond and returned his attention to the scene. "Do you know where these students were from?"
The detective remained silent, his thoughts unreadable.
"Kim. Detective Kim!" Elias called out.
"Ah—yes. Sorry. What were we saying?"
"I need to know where they studied."
"Higashiyama High School, Sakuragaoka High School, and Shinsei Tokyo High School."
Elias closed his eyes, visualizing the map. He noticed the schools were close to one another—each one about seven to ten kilometers from the crime scene.
"What's the time interval between each disappearance?" Elias opened his eyes, frowning as something caught his attention: a small crater.
"One every three days."
"When was the last one?" Elias inspected the crater, gently picking up a tiny patch of skin with his fingertips. His brows furrowed as he analyzed it. He then calculated the force and velocity that had created the crater.
"Three days ago, counting today," Kim said, a flash of realization in his eyes.
"Which means someone's about to go missing today. But from which school—and who?" Kim stroked his chin.
Elias didn't respond. He had already calculated the force and direction of the impact. He walked slowly around the shack, eyes scanning the ground, searching.
Then he stopped and crouched.
He found a tiny piece of flesh stuck between the floorboards. It flickered—glitching in and out of reality.
"Leave that to me," Elias said flatly.
***
Midnight
Elias leapt over the school fence, hands tucked into the pocket of his black hoodie. Hanging from his back was a white mask—featureless, with no holes for eyes or a nose. A precaution in case he had to reveal himself to someone.
He landed silently and walked through the campus.
On the third floor, the moonlight streamed through the windows.
"Maybe he already changed positions," Elias muttered to himself, having found no sign of the suspect.
Then he stopped.
A giant canine stood in the hallway, its body glitching unnaturally. It was eating a security guard. Blood pooled around it. A stiff arm lay nearby. The air was thick with the scent of iron.
"A beast?" Elias paused, running possibilities through his mind. None made sense given the current data—
Unless…
The heretic is a summoner. He must be nearby.
He decided not to engage. Killing this one would just make another appear.
But he halted again—an intense killing intent pierced through him. The beast had finished its meal. Elias was next.
He pulled out [Beginner's Sword] and moved at incredible speed. With a swift strike, he decapitated the beast. Its head bounced across the floor.
He dismissed his weapon—it vanished into motes of light and returned to his inventory. Elias watched, expressionless.
Then the beast's head floated back to its neck like it was magnetized. The body stood once more, eyes gleaming with madness.
Elias silently drew his sword again, assuming a stance—
[Humans have summoned you.]
He felt an immense force trying to pull him—but it faded almost instantly. As if the summoning force knew Elias neither accepted nor rejected it.
How did they know the incantation? he wondered.
At the same moment, the beast charged.
Elias parried, leapt, then swung his sword downward—sending a translucent arc through the air. The beast dodged and retaliated with a beam of high-density magic. Elias couldn't dodge in time. He blocked the blast, soaring through the ceiling and crashing onto the rooftop.
***
Back to the present
"Why are we running?" Rakina asked calmly, confused.
"Because that guy is bad news! Didn't you see his eyes?" Shun replied quickly.
"He didn't have any reason to hurt us. He killed that beast—I think he's trustworthy," Rakina answered.
Shun stopped and let go of her hand. "If you want to go back to him, then go."
Rakina didn't hesitate. She turned—and froze. The same beast from the rooftop was waiting on the stairway. But now, there were more of them.
Shun noticed too and ran down the stairs—only to stop again. More beasts waited below.
"What now?" he asked.
Rakina descended slowly, trying not to provoke the creatures, and rejoined him.
"What else? We fight." She began casting a spell, but before she could finish, she felt a jolt in her hand.
Shun had grabbed it. Without a word, he pulled her away. She followed silently, curious what he had planned.
As they ran, the beasts gave chase—so fast they left afterimages behind.
But when they turned a corner, they found another pack blocking their path.
"Witch… Witch…"
"Blood… Blood…"
The voices echoed directly into their minds, not their ears.
"Are they trying to talk?" Shun wondered aloud.
"I'm not sure those eyes scream friendly," Rakina replied, shaking her head slightly.
The beasts stared hungrily, madness in their gaze, ready to pounce.
Makes sense, Shun thought. His expression turned from anxious to determined. He looked around—and found an idea.
He raised his fist. A yellow light enveloped it. Then he punched the floor with full force. Cracks spread out like a web, rapidly widening.
The floor crumbled. The beasts were caught off-guard and fell.
Surprisingly, Shun and Rakina didn't.
Rakina had reacted in time—she conjured a platform of ice beneath them. She turned to Shun.
"Give me a heads-up next time."
Shun gave her a thumbs-up. "Alright."
She nodded slightly, then turned toward the window, falling deep into thought.
Then, as if an idea had struck her, she smashed the glass with her elbow and leapt out.