The location wasn't random.
That much became clear the moment they arrived.
The teleportation circle dissolved beneath their feet, revealing a ruined coastal city—half-submerged, half-devoured by something that had clawed its way up from beneath the earth.
Towering skeletal remains of buildings leaned at unnatural angles, streets flooded with blackened seawater that shimmered with corrupted mana.
A broken sign, written in three languages, still clung to a concrete wall:
PORT OF SVALBARD — EVACUATION ZONE C
Seraphina inhaled sharply.
"…Northern Europe," she said. "This place was sealed two years ago."
Lucian frowned. "Sealed doesn't usually mean 'left to rot.'"
Ulfric's gaze hardened. "It does when governments don't want questions."
Siheon stepped forward, boots splashing lightly as he tested the ground. The air was heavy—not with pressure, but with residue. Something had fed here. Recently.
〈Celestial Ascension System: Residual authority detected.〉
[Demonic Sovereign System: Oooh. Someone sloppy passed through.]
"This is one of the anomalies Director Han flagged," Seraphina said, already moving.
"An unregistered dungeon collapse. Survivors reported 'angels made of rust' and shadows that screamed."
Lucian winced. "That's… poetic."
Seraphina ignored him.
She crouched, fingers brushing the water. Her eyes narrowed.
"This isn't dungeon mana," she said. "It's afterbirth. Whatever opened here didn't close cleanly."
Aegis shifted. "Meaning?"
"Meaning something escaped," she replied calmly.
The ground answered her.
Without warning, the seawater exploded upward.
A mass of distorted humanoid shapes surged out—twisted figures wrapped in corroded armor, faces fused into metal masks, wings jagged and incomplete.
Rust Angels.
Siheon tensed.
Seraphina moved first.
"Lucian—barrier left!" she snapped.
"Aegis—containment line!"
"Siheon—don't interfere unless I say so."
Siheon froze—not in hesitation, but surprise.
Seraphina was already sprinting.
Her silver hair whipped behind her as she drew her sword in one smooth motion.
The blade elongated mid-swing, runes igniting along its length as holy and investigative sigils overlapped.
The first Rust Angel lunged.
Seraphina met it head-on.
Steel rang—not clashed, judged.
Her sword cleaved through corrupted armor, purifying sigils detonating on impact. The creature shrieked as its form unraveled into ash and steam.
She didn't stop.
She pivoted, slid beneath a second strike, and drove her blade upward—pinning the creature mid-air before twisting her wrist and releasing a burst of compressed light.
It exploded.
Lucian stared. "Oh. She's scary."
Ulfric laughed. "Told you."
Another Rust Angel descended behind Seraphina.
Siheon moved instinctively—
"Don't," Seraphina barked without looking.
She slammed her sword into the ground.
A circular glyph erupted beneath her feet, chains of radiant energy snapping upward and binding the creature mid-motion. She flicked her fingers.
"Investigator's Verdict."
The chains tightened.
The Rust Angel collapsed inward, crushed by its own corrupted authority.
Silence followed—brief, stunned.
Seraphina exhaled slowly and wiped her blade clean on the creature's dissolving remains.
"That," she said, turning to Siheon, "is why I'm here."
Siheon met her gaze.
There was no doubt in his eyes.
"I see it now," he said quietly.
Something eased between them.
〈Demonic Sovereign System: Damn. She's efficient.〉
〈Celestial Ascension System: Combat proficiency acknowledged.〉
But the fight wasn't over.
The water churned violently.
A larger shape began to rise—twice the size of the others, its wings fully formed, chest carved with fractured halos.
Ulfric stepped forward. "That one's mine—"
"No," Seraphina said.
She sheathed her sword.
Everyone blinked.
She raised her left hand instead.
The air shimmered as a different set of sigils appeared—investigative seals, not combat ones.
"This isn't a monster," she said. "It's a remnant."
The creature froze mid-rise.
Seraphina's eyes explain sharpened.
"You were created as a gatekeeper," she said coldly. "Bound to a function that no longer exists."
The Rust Angel trembled.
Seraphina stepped closer, voice steady but not cruel.
"You don't need to keep bleeding the world."
She pressed her palm against its chest.
"Case closed."
Light flooded the creature—not violently, but gently.
The Rust Angel dissolved into harmless particles, the corrupted mana dispersing cleanly into the air.
The seawater stilled.
Silence returned.
Lucian let out a breath. "…Okay. I officially take back every joke."
Seraphina turned back to Siheon.
"You don't need to overshadow everyone," she said. "And I don't need saving."
Siheon nodded.
"Good," he replied. "Because I don't want to walk alone."
For a moment, the ruined city felt less heavy.
But far beneath them—
Something shifted.
〈Celestial Ascension System: Deep-source disturbance detected.〉
〈Demonic Sovereign System: Uh-oh. That wasn't the boss.〉
The ground cracked.
A pulse surged upward.
And from beneath the drowned streets, a presence awakened—older than the dungeon, older than the seal.
Seraphina tightened her grip on her sword.
"Now," she said, eyes blazing, "now you can help."
Siheon stepped forward.
His shadow deepened.
"Gladly."