Ray shouted after the giant crow. Behind him, the battlefield was still in chaos—the centipede's user buying time against the professors. Nobody noticed that Ray's group was being targeted.
But Ray no longer cared about anything else. He leapt straight toward the demonic Panta Bag after Aria, even knowing it was a trap.
"I'm not leaving you, Aria! I promised!" The wind whipped through his chestnut hair as his body was pulled into the bag's suction mid-air.
Grab!
"You idiot, Ray! What the hell are you trying to do!? Don't go in there!" Jason had managed to catch hold of Ray's leg, fighting against the pull. The countless eyes on the crimson bag rolled furiously, glaring at them both as it strained to drag Ray in.
Ray twisted back, shouting, "Let go, Jason! I have to save Aria!"
"You moron! That's the cursed Panta Demon Bag! Anyone sucked inside never comes out! Don't you get it!?" Jason yelled back, one foot already lifting from the ground.
Karua and Kana rushed in from behind, wrapping their arms around Jason to anchor him. All three struggled together, dragging Ray back, resisting the pull like it was a black hole.
"I don't care what it is! I won't let her feel alone ever again! I'll bring her back myself! What about you guys—are you just gonna abandon a friend!?" Ray's voice cracked with fury as he kicked wildly.
Jason was frustrated. He knew exactly how dangerous that bag was. Even gold-rank adventurers never returned from inside—what chance did a bunch of kids have?
And yet… Ray's words struck something deep inside him. Jason remembered all the times Aria had helped him—during exams, covering for his failures, letting him copy homework so he could keep practicing music. She might be cold and aloof, but she had never turned her back on him. Without her, he probably would have been expelled already.
And now Ray was saying he would abandon her? No—if there was no Aria, there'd be no homework to copy. He'd flunk every subject for sure. No way he was leaving her behind.
"Fine, damn it! We'll save her! You're so damn annoying!" Jason finally growled, clicking his tongue.
Karua and Kana, too, could never abandon Aria. She was their benefactor—the one who spoke up to lessen their punishment, sparing them from a future of being hunted by both family and cult. For the siblings, she had literally saved their lives.
"Well said, Ray. Heh… count me in," Karua muttered, nodding to his sister. Kana smiled faintly and nodded back. She had already decided to follow her brother anywhere.
And so the four of them, together, leapt into the demon bag's pull.
The lawn they had been standing on fell silent, empty.
The giant crow seized the Panta Bag in its talons and soared toward the moon, leaving behind only the charred corpse of the centipede's user, burned to ash by Vitsani's blue fire. He had died fulfilling his suicide mission.
The crow carried the bag high, flying past the academy unnoticed.
Ray couldn't see anything—only darkness. His head spun as if the world itself were whirling. Then, suddenly, he plummeted out of a crimson sky, crashing hard into a blistering desert.
Thud!
His face sank into the sand. Luckily, he wasn't badly injured. Groaning, Ray pushed himself up, brushing grains of sand from his face and clothes.
He steadied himself and looked around. Stretching in every direction was nothing but desert, endless and barren.
"What the hell is this place!?" Even knowing he was inside the demon bag, the vastness shocked him. This space was far larger than any storage bag he had ever seen.
Endless desert, blazing under an artificial sun, sky blood-red and ominous. The emptiness gnawed at his chest.
He scanned the horizon, but none of his friends were in sight. They must have been scattered in different directions when they fell.
Cupping his hands, Ray shouted, "Ariaaaa! Where are you!? I'm here to save you!"
Only silence answered back.
"Jason! Karua! Kana! Anybody! Can you hear me!?" Still nothing. Not even an echo.
A strange unease prickled through his body. The sand trembled—something was moving beneath. Rippling lines spread outward, like snakes slithering under the surface. Many of them. Too many.
The vibrations multiplied, circling him on the dune. Ray turned round and round, heart racing.
Then the ground erupted.
Dozens—hundreds—of monstrous worms burst out, gaping maws snapping toward him.
[Detected: 125 Devil Desertworms]
Species: Devil Desertworm
Level: 30
HP: 5,000 / MP: 4,000
Element: Neutral
Rarity: B-Rank
Notes: Voracious monsters that consume anything—living or not. Sensitive to sound, they ambush travelers beneath the sand.
Skills: Bite, Swallow, Digest, Burrow, Dive
"Too many! Way too many!" Ray's rabbit-eared form cried out, dodging as the worms lunged.
He ducked, twisted, countered—kicking one in the neck, punching another in the side, springboarding off their bodies as they tried to swallow him whole. Dozens of snapping jaws surged up at once, but he flipped and struck with flawless precision, never hit once—his Gheed form's danger sense at level 99 guiding him.
The swarm merged together, forming a colossal worm, hundreds of mouths opening to devour him whole.
Ray shifted to Phoenix form, wings blazing, and unleashed torrents of fire.
Fwoooosh!
The inferno scorched the desert, burning through the horde. Worms writhed, screeched, and fell in smoldering heaps.
BOOM!
The ground shook as their charred bodies littered the sand.
"Disgusting…" Ray muttered, wincing at the carnage.
[Ray leveled up to 16!]
[Ray leveled up to 17!]
[Ray leveled up to 18!]
[Ray leveled up to 19!]
"Whoa… that many levels at once?" He blinked at the status messages, realizing this hellish place was crawling with monsters. More than any dungeon he'd seen.
But then worry hit him. The others won't stand a chance against swarms like this without Gheed's abilities. Anxiety gnawed at his chest. He had to find them quickly.
Just as he prepared to move, a massive shadow loomed over him.
Wings. Enormous wings.
[Detected: Black Garuda – Level 50]
Species: Garuda
Level: 50
HP: 7,000 / MP: 3,000
Element: Neutral, Wind
Rarity: A-Rank
Notes: A giant predatory bird. Its talons can tear prey apart, its wings summon storms, sharper than any blade.
Skills: Feather Storm, Tempest Dance, Wind Claw, Acidic Gale
Ray craned his neck up, face pale.
"Oh, come on! I just wanna find my friends! Get out of the way, birdy! Shoo! Caw caw caw!" He flailed his arms, squawking nonsense in "bird language."
Of course, it didn't work.
He just hoped, desperately, that his friends were still safe.