The ceiling split with a roar of grinding stone and magic backlash. Light — real sunlight — spilled through the cracks above as the dungeon, layer by layer, unraveled into ruin.
Fenrir didn't wait.
He leapt toward the sky like he belonged in it.
Chunks of floating rubble spiraled past them, glowing faintly from residual dungeon energy. Debris twisted downward in slow arcs, catching the rising wind as the seal between realms fully broke.
Seojin squinted against the light, one arm up to shield his face. Cold air blasted past them as they soared higher. He could see scaffolding far below now — a clearing filled with broken ground, magi-steel pylons, and blinking hazard lights.
"There are people down there," Seojin muttered, eyes widening.
Fenrir didn't respond. His body tensed.
And then he spoke, voice low and resonant.
"Learned this one from the frost giants. Arrogant things. But they knew how to survive a fall."
A glowing rune flared beneath them — pale silver, spiraling in shape, almost organic in the way it curved and laced itself in midair.
Veil of the Moonbind.
A translucent sphere snapped around them like a bubble forged from moonlight and snow, cool to the touch and barely visible. It wrapped them completely just as they broke through the dungeon's outermost threshold.
They began to fall.
Not a gentle drift.
A straight drop.
"Hold tight," Fenrir growled, muscles coiling beneath Seojin's legs.
They smashed into a chunk of descending stone the size of a truck. It cracked on impact but held. Then Fenrir launched off it again, bounding from one falling slab to the next, kicking debris aside like stepping stones through the sky.
The city came into view below them — the construction site surrounded by containment barriers and warning signs. People were yelling. Sirens were wailing. Blue cloaks flared in the wind.
And standing directly below, at the epicenter of it all, were five figures.
They hit.
The rubble crashed first, exploding into a wave of dust and pulverized earth. The protective veil flashed, absorbing the worst of the shock, but the landing still rocked Seojin's bones. He hit the ground shoulder-first and rolled once before catching himself.
His vision swam for a moment.
Then cleared.
Fenrir stood in front of him — smaller now. Compact. Still wolfish, still terrible in presence, but no longer towering. He looked sleek, dangerous, coiled.
His eyes burned low.
He growled.
A warning.
They weren't alone.
Five figures had already surrounded the crater, weapons drawn, eyes locked on Seojin and the beast beside him.
"Easy," Seojin coughed out, pushing himself up. "They're not enemies."
Fenrir's growl didn't stop, but he stayed where he was.
The dust began to settle.
And then Seojin saw them.
His breath caught.
"Wait… wait, you're—"
He took a half step forward, eyes wide, disbelief coating every word.
"You're the Five."
No one responded.
But they didn't deny it either.
He started listing them without thinking.
"Baek Woon... Blade Saint Baek Woon... you're him. The Hollow Fortress cutter. You stopped the rift at Mount Eunwol on your own."
Baek Woon stood at the front of the group. Quiet. His gray hair was tied neatly back, one hand resting on the hilt of a black blade with a fractured guard. He didn't look surprised. Just calculating. The kind of man who measured people by their strength.
"Breaker Juno," Seojin said, pointing next. "You're the one who collapsed the Iron Wastes Gate with your bare hands."
Juno raised his hand in a half-salute. Goggles on his head. Oversized gauntlets glowing faintly. His headphones buzzed with low synth.
"He knows his history," Juno muttered, grinning slightly. "Cute."
Orbit Seo Rami floated behind him, expression unreadable. The three metallic orbs spinning around him hummed quietly, one tilting downward in response to Seojin's gaze.
"Ghostwalker Hae Rin," Seojin said, almost whispering now. "And Fang Yiha..."
Hae Rin didn't speak. Her mask tilted slightly. The polearm across her back shimmered briefly with cloaked mana.
Yiha just stared.
"You're the ones from the First Rift. The defense of Seoul. You were... you were legends in the training curriculum. We literally had a quiz about your formations last semester."
More silence.
Then Baek Woon finally spoke.
"You're a student?"
Seojin coughed and looked down at himself. His school uniform was torn. Scuffed. Blood along one arm. No badge. No gear.
"Technically," he said.
Juno walked closer. He tilted his head, appraising Fenrir.
"Your beast?"
Seojin nodded.
"Looks small for a rift-clearer."
"He wasn't earlier."
Fang Yiha folded her arms.
"That wasn't a normal dungeon. That rift was unregistered. Fluctuation spikes were all over the charts. High instability, unknown floor count. We were prepping a sweep team."
Orbit's voice was calm. "And it closed. Fully. In under fifteen minutes."
Baek Woon narrowed his eyes.
"You were in it?"
"Yeah," Seojin said. "I fell in. Kind of."
The group exchanged glances.
"You fell in."
"Before the gate stabilized," Seojin added.
"You solo-cleared a dungeon before it finished forming," Fang Yiha said flatly.
"I mean... technically Fenrir did."
Juno whistled. "You named it?"
"Kind of named itself."
Orbit tapped one of his orbs. A projection of Seojin's face flickered into existence midair, overlaid with digital scan lines.
"Name?"
"Han Seojin."
The orb beeped. A second passed.
"No registered bond," Orbit said.
Another pause.
"No registered combat license. No awakened traits. No applied guild or rank."
"So," Yiha said, stepping forward, "you're telling us a regular kid fell into an unstable rift, bonded with a wolf named after that legendary beast of myth, didn't die, and then walked out like it was gym class."
Seojin rubbed the back of his neck.
"I mean... yeah."
"That doesn't make sense," Hae Rin said. First words. Her voice was low, soft, but not unkind. Just precise.
Baek Woon looked at Fenrir. Still watching. Still growling. The energy coming off him was hard to read. Low, but dense. Ancient.
"He's hiding something," he said.
"Or shielding," Orbit added. "Some kind of compression."
"We need to take you in," Baek Woon said finally. "HQ will want full scans. We'll debrief. Run diagnostics. Test compatibility."
Seojin stiffened.
"I'm not in trouble, right?"
"Not yet."
Juno gave him a thumbs up. "You might even get a sponsor."
Seojin looked away. Thought of home. The empty fridge. His sister watching TV without the volume. His mom's overnight shift.
They wouldn't even know he was gone.
And maybe that was okay.
"I'll go," he said.
Fang snorted.
"You don't have a choice, kid."
Seojin looked down at Fenrir.
The wolf was staring at the Five. Still low to the ground. Still ready.
"We going?" he asked.
Fenrir's growl eased, then he heard a voice in his head say.
"Only because I'm curious."
And with that, the legends turned, leading the boy and his beast into the unknown.