The silver light slowly faded.
Silence returned to the cavern.
The prison’s chains no longer trembled.
The crimson corruption that had seeped through the cracks retreated deep into the abyss.
For the first time since entering the underground prison…
I could breathe normally.
The Origin Core appeared before me.
Emergency Seal Successfully Stabilized
Prison Integrity: 81%
First Origin Key: Active
Synchronization: 35%
Notice: Guardian Aegis-17 has re-established partial connection.
A familiar deep voice echoed softly through the chamber.
“Well done…
Heir.”
The Guardian.
Though I couldn’t see him, his voice carried through the restored sanctuary.
“You chose with your own judgment.”
“You did not obey blindly.”
“You questioned.”
“And then…
you decided.”
I frowned.
“So there wasn’t a correct answer?”
“There never was.”
“The Origin does not seek servants.”
“It seeks guardians.”
Those words settled heavily in my mind.
Back on Earth, I had always searched for the “right” answer.
The perfect choice.
This world seemed different.
Sometimes…
There wasn’t a perfect choice.
Only the one you could live with.
A pulse of light erupted from the restored seal.
One of the floating runes detached itself from the chains and drifted toward me.
It entered the mark on the back of my hand.
A cool sensation spread through my arm.
Seal Rune Acquired
Effect: Corruption Resistance +10%
Spiritual Perception Enhanced
Almost immediately, my senses sharpened.
I could feel the spiritual currents beneath the mountain.
The life within the forest.
Even…
The violent clash of spiritual energy coming from Ashwood.
My heart skipped.
The battle wasn’t over.
It had become worse.
Without another word, I sprinted toward the exit.
The hidden passage opened before me as though the sanctuary itself were helping me return.
The moment I crossed the barrier—
A deafening explosion echoed through the forest.
Smoke rose above the treetops.
“No…”
I pushed my exhausted body even faster.
Ashwood came into view.
My breath caught.
The eastern wall had completely collapsed.
Several cottages were reduced to burning rubble.
The central square had become a battlefield.
Hunters and villagers fought side by side.
Even people who had never held weapons before now defended their homes with farming tools and wooden clubs.
No one had surrendered.
Hunter Bran was bleeding from a deep wound across his shoulder.
Still…
He laughed while swinging his axe.
“You’ll need more than that!”
Hunter Ellis had only three arrows remaining.
Every shot found its mark.
Hunter Daren stood in front of Grandma Mira and several children, refusing to give an inch despite his trembling legs.
Elder Rowan’s robes were stained with blood.
Yet his staff continued to unleash precise strikes against every wolf that approached.
Then I found Hunter Milo.
My smile disappeared.
He was kneeling.
One hand pressed against a wound in his side.
Three Crystal Wolves circled him slowly.
Waiting.
“MILO!”
Without thinking, I threw my spear.
It spun through the air.
THUNK!
The spear pierced one wolf’s skull.
Before the other two could react, I reached them.
My enhanced Spiritual Perception guided every movement.
I stepped inside the first wolf’s attack.
Elbow.
Thrust.
Kick.
The beast stumbled.
Hunter Milo finished it with one final sweep of his spear.
The last wolf hesitated.
Only for a heartbeat.
Long enough.
I drove my spear into the crimson crystal beneath its neck.
The wolf dissolved into black mist.
Milo smiled weakly.
“Took you long enough.”
I offered him my shoulder.
“Can you still stand?”
He grunted.
“I’ll complain later.”
Together, we turned toward the battlefield.
Then…
Everything became quiet.
The Corrupted Alpha had moved.
It now stood only thirty meters from the center of the village.
No hunters remained between it and the civilians.
Its crimson eyes settled on my right hand.
The mark of the Legacy Key glowed beneath my sleeve.
The Alpha spoke, its voice carrying across the burning village.
“You sealed…
the Prison.”
It wasn’t a question.
It already knew.
Dark energy exploded around its body.
The black crystals covering its fur expanded, forming jagged armor across its shoulders and forearms.
Its spiritual pressure doubled.
Even the remaining Crystal Wolves instinctively backed away.
The Origin Core flashed urgently.
Warning
Corrupted Alpha Evolution Initiated
Threat Level Updated: Critical
Victory Probability: 9.6%
The Alpha slowly smiled.
This time…
It looked almost human.
“You…”
“…have delayed…”
“…the inevitable.”
It lowered its massive body into a fighting stance.
“I shall…”
“…take the Key…”
“…myself.”
The ground cracked beneath its feet.
Then—
It disappeared.
Not by magic.
By sheer speed.
Its target…
Was me.
The Corrupted Alpha vanished.
A deafening crack split the air.
My newly enhanced Spiritual Perception screamed.
Left!
I threw myself sideways.
A massive claw tore through the spot where I had been standing, gouging a deep trench into the ground.
The force of the impact sent dirt and shattered stone flying in every direction.
I rolled to my feet, gripping my spear.
Too fast…
Even with Spiritual Perception, I had barely avoided the first strike.
The Origin Core reacted immediately.
Combat Analysis Active.
Enemy Speed exceeds Host by 243%.
Recommendation: Do not engage alone.
“I wasn’t planning to.”
Before the Alpha could attack again—
Hunter Milo stepped beside me.
Then Bran.
Ellis.
Daren.
Even Elder Rowan limped forward, leaning on his wooden staff.
The Alpha’s crimson eyes narrowed.
“So…”
“…all of you…”
“…wish to die together.”
Hunter Bran rested his axe on his shoulder and grinned through bloodied teeth.
“We’ve survived your ugly face this long.”
“May as well keep going.”
Several hunters laughed.
Even in the middle of a battlefield.
The Alpha didn’t understand.
It thought strength came from power alone.
It couldn’t understand what Ashwood had.
People willing to stand together.
“Kael.”
Elder Rowan spoke without taking his eyes off the Alpha.
“You said it has a weakness.”
“The crystal beneath its throat.”
I nodded.
“But it’s protected.”
“Then we create an opening.”
Rowan raised his staff.
“No one fights this creature alone.”
Every hunter tightened their grip on their weapon.
For the first time…
They weren’t fighting as individuals.
They were fighting as one.
The Alpha charged.
Hunter Ellis loosed two arrows.
The Alpha deflected both with a single swipe.
Exactly as Bran expected.
The giant hunter roared and attacked from the left.
His axe slammed into the Alpha’s shoulder.
CLANG!
The creature barely moved.
But it turned.
That single moment was enough.
Hunter Daren darted in from the right, driving his spear toward the Alpha’s leg.
The beast shifted again.
Milo appeared behind it like a shadow.
His spear flashed toward the crimson crystal.
The Alpha twisted at the last second.
The spear scraped across the crystal.
Another crack spread through its surface.
The Alpha roared in genuine pain.
“It works!”
Milo shouted.
“Again!”
Dark energy exploded outward.
The shockwave hurled every hunter backward.
I barely managed to keep my footing.
The Alpha stood breathing heavily.
The cracks in the crystal glowed with unstable crimson light.
It was injured.
But so were we.
The Origin Core flashed.
Weak Point Integrity: 42%.
One decisive strike required.
One strike.
That was all.
The problem was reaching it.
The Alpha had stopped underestimating us.
Grandma Mira’s voice echoed across the battlefield.
“Kael!”
I turned.
She stood beside the village well, supporting several wounded villagers.
Her eyes met mine.
She wasn’t afraid.
She simply smiled.
The same gentle smile she had worn since the day I woke up in her cottage.
“No matter what happens…”
“…come home.”
The words struck something deep inside me.
Home.
In my first life, I had lost everything in a single moment.
In this one…
I had been given another chance.
Not by fate.
By the people of Ashwood.
I wasn’t fighting because the Origin Core told me to.
I wasn’t fighting because I was the Heir.
I was fighting because this village had become my family.
A warm golden light spread from the mark on the back of my hand.
The Legacy Key resonated.
Not with the sanctuary.
With me.
Guardian’s Resolve Resonance Achieved.
Synchronization: 40%.
New Technique Unlocked
Origin Step (Beginner).
Information flooded into my mind.
A movement technique.
Not faster through strength.
Faster through precise control of spiritual energy.
There was no time to practice.
I had to trust it.
The Alpha lunged.
I exhaled.
One step.
The world blurred.
Instead of retreating…
I appeared beside its shoulder.
The Alpha’s eyes widened for the first time.
Impossible.
Before it could react—
“Milo!”
He understood instantly.
He thrust his spear with every ounce of strength he had left.
The Alpha turned to block.
Exactly as planned.
“Bran!”
The massive hunter roared, bringing his axe crashing down.
The Alpha caught it.
Now.
“Daren!”
His spear struck the Alpha’s wounded leg.
The giant beast stumbled.
The opening lasted less than a heartbeat.
Enough.
I concentrated every fragment of spiritual energy into my spear.
The Origin Core synchronized with the Legacy Key.
Silver light raced along the wooden shaft.
I drove the spear forward.
Straight into the fractured crimson crystal.
CRACK!
Silence.
Then—
The crystal shattered.
A blinding explosion of silver and crimson energy engulfed the battlefield.
The Alpha let out a roar so filled with rage and despair that the surrounding forest trembled.
Black crystal armor crumbled from its body.
Dark mist poured from countless fractures.
It staggered backward.
Its crimson eyes slowly dimmed.
Instead of hatred…
There was relief.
The Alpha looked directly at me.
Its voice was no longer monstrous.
It sounded…
tired.
“Thank…”
“…you…”
The words barely escaped its lips.
Then its enormous body dissolved into countless motes of black light that drifted into the evening sky.
Every remaining Crystal Wolf froze.
Without their leader…
The crimson glow left their eyes.
One by one, they collapsed, their bodies turning to gray crystal before crumbling into dust.
The battle…
Was finally over.
Silence spread across Ashwood.
No cheers.
No celebration.
Only exhausted breathing.
Burning homes.
Wounded hunters.
Families embracing one another.
We had survived.
But not without cost.
I looked at the fading crimson light on the horizon.
Deep within my chest, the Origin Core displayed one final message.
Main Story Arc Complete
Ashwood Village Defended
Synchronization: 40%
Volume I Progress: 35%
New Main Objective: Journey to Riverstone City
I looked around the village that had become my home.
Some buildings could be rebuilt.
Some wounds would heal.
Others…
Would leave scars that lasted a lifetime.
And I understood something.
This victory wasn’t the end of my journey.
It was the reason I had to continue it.