‘No matter what happens, he must survive.’
He would never let someone die in front of him because of a Gate.
The shock from the unexpected scene lasted only a moment. The moment Raven grasped the situation, he launched forward without a second thought.
That twisted vow, now a chain, pressed down on his already straining legs and whipped them to move faster.
It was a desperate resolve—too intense for someone he had never spoken to, someone he didn’t even know.
‘…That damned guilt.’
From the realm of the dead, severed from the surface, the guardian spirit rose and looked at Raven with worried eyes.
‘It’s not like he wanted to open the Gate of his own will.’
He feared Raven would get hurt again. The image of his head being torn off still haunted him. And now, seeing him throw himself forward once more made his chest—already tight—feel like it was collapsing again. If he had a living heart, it surely would have stopped.
He wanted to stop him, to warn him that he was being reckless, but he knew—even if he did—Raven wouldn’t listen.
‘…The world broke him.’
The worry he couldn’t soothe turned into rage, and that rage, without a proper outlet, went searching for someone to blame in the past.
A soul frozen in time for centuries burned with resentment, trapped in old memories.
‘Poor creature.’
The abandoned child had watched the world tear him apart with tongues and feathers turned into razor blades. If that was his first memory of the world, how could he have kept his sanity?
A guardian spirit cannot interfere with the mind of the one they protect. No matter how much he spoke beside him, what mattered was whether Raven wanted to listen. That’s why, back then, he couldn’t stop it. He’d explained it over and over: it wasn’t his fault, it was the situation, he had no choice…
But sadly, even Raven wasn’t on Raven’s side.
In the end, the spirit’s thoughts returned to him. Letting go of old grief and memories, he braced himself, ready to act at any moment.
His calm, focused dark green eyes closely followed Raven’s every move.
Meanwhile, Raven clenched his teeth.
‘Too far.’
Even at full speed, he wasn’t sure he’d make it before the boy died.
Maybe—if he was lucky—he could just barely reach him in time… but that wasn’t enough. He didn’t want to reach him, he wanted to save him.
‘Just a little more. Just a little faster…’
He knew he was overreacting. But he couldn’t stop himself.
Over time, humanity had learned to deal with Gates. But that didn’t mean past tragedies were erased—or that misfortune didn’t still happen today.
Even without that twisted vow, the one who had opened the first Gate couldn’t help but feel sympathy for its victims.
And now, thinking no one would be there, he’d let several monsters slip out of the portal carelessly. That only made things worse.
Besides…
‘He’s screaming with every part of his body that he wants to live…’
How could he turn away?
The boy stumbled, tumbling across the ground, dragging himself in desperation to survive. That image burned into Raven’s mind.
It was like blinding sunlight… or the infinite darkness that devours everything.
Whatever it was, he couldn’t look away. That’s why he couldn’t give up. If you’re a human—an adult—then saving a child who’s fighting that hard to live should be natural.
‘I can’t stop the monster, and I can’t get him out.’
There wasn’t even time to brace for defense.
So…
‘……’
Maybe the guardian spirit saw that strange light in Raven’s eyes, because a message of deep concern came down immediately.
No—more than concern—it was nearly a scream of desperation.
[The guardian spirit ??? screams: don’t use your body to stop it!]
“…Sorry in advance.”
I’m going to try something else… but I doubt I’ll have time to come up with an alternative.
The message wasn’t calm—it was a cry, a desperate plea. But Raven didn’t care in the slightest.
“You must’ve forgotten since it’s been so long, but I told you, didn’t I?”
It was just a child. And his body couldn’t heal on its own anymore—so anyone would expect him to pull back and give up. But he remembered clearly saying it once.
“‘Everyone who died because of the Gates, and everyone who will live with them on the surface… they’re my responsibility.’”
[……The guardian spirit ??? recalls the words you said before you disappeared: ‘Let the world fall apart, I don’t care…’]
“I said that in a moment of madness!”
Anyway.
“Why are you so worried?”
Morte wasn’t even around right now.
“It’s not like you can’t move, right?”
Raven gave a faint smile. His feet had already left the ground, his body soaring forward to shield the boy with his arms.
“If danger comes, I know you’ll protect me.”
Surely, the moment you saw me at risk, you stood up, ready.
Right, hyung?
With one hand, he pulled out a dagger, and with the other, shoved the boy away. The force sent his own body floating backward—straight into the monster’s jaws.
Raven twisted his torso midair. The sudden motion caused a searing pain in his back and legs like they might snap, but with his body trapped from the chest to the knees inside the creature’s mouth, he didn’t have the luxury of worrying.
He couldn’t let himself be reduced to bones inside the monster—he had to act. Gritting his teeth, he used the momentum of the twist to slash the beast’s upper palate from the inside.
Somewhere near his waist, he vaguely heard a disturbing crack.
“KRAAAAH!”
The creature shrieked in agony and staggered back.
But then—
BOOM!
A larger monster stomped down on the first and opened its mouth, ready to devour its new target.
…This is the best I can do.
Trapped, Raven looked up into the looming darkness, and murmured softly as if voicing a thought. His voice, tinged with bitterness, floated gently, a faint ironic smile on his lips.
So don’t hesitate…
“Help me.”
[……The guardian spirit ??? answers your call.]
And then—
Slash.
The monster was cleaved in two.
***
The runaway slave fell into despair.
“What kind of sin had he committed in a past life for the heavens to be this cruel to him?”
Pursuers weren’t enough—now monsters? What kind of absurd misfortune was this? Dan rolled across the ground to avoid the monster’s stomping foot and clenched his teeth tightly.
“And I barely managed to escape from the slave trader…”
Nothing seemed to go right.
He was already suffering enough, but bad luck clung to him like a shadow. Rage and helplessness surged through him—but only for a moment. Dan opened his bloodshot eyes and dragged himself forward.
He was desperate, yes, but he hadn’t given up.
He had to live.
Not because he wanted to, but because he had to survive… at least for the only family he had left in this world.
[You run. I don’t know about me, but this is your second escape attempt. If they catch you this time, you’re really going to die.]
“……”
[Last time, they caught you because you tried to take me with you… you can’t do that twice. It was already enough that you got in the way once.]
“…I’ll come back with help.”
[Don’t. It’s time you became independent. You’re old enough, aren’t you?]
“Wait for me, please.”
Because his sister would be waiting for him.
The image of his sister, bleeding and on the verge of death after the pursuers’ attack, came to mind. Her resigned gaze, as if she had already given up on living, and the voice with which she pushed him away… it all overlapped in his memory. That’s why Dan squeezed his eyes shut even tighter and fought to survive.
He knew she wouldn’t accept him coming back, so he had fled without hearing her response. He couldn’t let that be the last image she had of him: his back turning away in disobedience.
…He couldn’t let his sister die, frozen in endless waiting.
“What do I have to do to survive?”
He couldn’t even cry out for help. He had lost his voice as punishment after failing his first escape attempt.
And without the ability to call for help, the only thing left to him was to survive on his own.
“Can I do it?” he thought, but his mind immediately corrected him: “No, I must do it.”
That’s why Dan fought with everything he had, to the very end, to stay alive.
And perhaps, moved by his determination, the heavens took a step back… because a miracle happened.
He saw a shadow—or so he thought. He assumed it belonged to the monster about to finish him off, but he felt a presence. Someone pushed him aside.
Because of that, his barely-standing body fell to the ground again, but he couldn’t bring himself to be angry.
A stranger was leaping straight into the monster’s jaws… in his place.
“What…? Why?”
The man seemed to throw himself willingly into death, but far from giving up, he twisted his body and slashed the monster’s upper palate from the inside. The creature staggered back in pain, and for a moment, there seemed to be hope… but it vanished just as quickly.
A larger monster stomped on the first and appeared with its jaws wide open, aiming directly for him.
The man’s body was now falling helplessly toward those razor-sharp fangs, like a black petal drifting through the air.
Just as Dan widened his eyes, horrified at the scene unfolding, he heard a soft voice.
“Help me.”
A plea without context.
A cry with no apparent recipient.
Dan blinked, confused.
…He was the one who had stepped between the monster and the stranger, so why was he asking for help? No—before that, who was he even asking?
Before he could find answers, something happened.
[……The guardian spirit ??? answers your call.]
Although he only caught a glimpse in the urgency of the moment, the bright green eyes of the stranger suddenly went dim, like a candle being snuffed out.
At the same time, a red line traced itself from the monster’s crown down to its tail.
Slash!
The monster was cleaved in two, and blood gushed out in torrents.
But neither of them was stained.
“[…Even after death, I’ll still protect you.]”
Someone had transported them elsewhere.
Dan couldn’t hide his astonishment.
“…He appeared out of nowhere. How did he do that?”
The wind swept through the black hair of the young man.
With a strong build and imposing height, he swung his sword and split another monster. Then he slowly turned his head.
His deep green eyes, unreadable and still, focused on Dan.
It only lasted a second, but that gaze pierced through him. Then, the same eyes that had looked just moments ago like those of the reckless man who had thrown himself at the monster… turned toward him, incredibly gentle.
The shift in emotion was so stark anyone could’ve noticed.
“Yeah… like I’d ever let you stay in danger.”
That low, affectionate voice snapped his stunned mind back to clarity.
When he focused again on the man, he noticed something he hadn’t before. Something so obvious, he couldn’t understand how he’d missed it…
“…Stitches?”
There was a line of stitching encircling his entire neck.
As if his head had been reattached to his body…
“Now that I think about it… they have the same eyes.”
The eyes of the newly arrived man and the stranger who had spoken to him were the same. Not similar—identical, as if they belonged to the same being.
And just when the eyes of the first man lost their color and turned dull gray, this other one had appeared…
His thoughts spiraled until he reached the unavoidable conclusion: that man wasn’t human… or at the very least, he wasn’t alive.
“Shh.”
Raven blocked Dan’s view, noticing the rigid direction of his gaze.
He likely knew what had paralyzed the boy: the stitched neck of the guardian spirit. Silently, Raven gestured for him not to mention it and, just in case, placed the boy between himself and the young man.
Now that the guardian spirit had taken on physical form, Raven had to return the borrowed sight. The world turned dark for him again, but it didn’t matter.
After all… the guardian spirit would protect him.