Somewhere far from the ruined spider nest, in a desolate stretch of Pandemonium's Outer Frontier, golden light cut through the crimson haze like a blade.
Alex Vanderbilt stood at the center of a shallow crater, his golden spear gleaming with pure Everlight energy. Around him, the remains of several abyssal hounds lay scattered — their dark, corrupted bodies still smoking where the light had burned through their flesh. The air reeked of scorched shadow and ozone.
Another pack of the creatures lunged from the twisted black trees.
Alex did not retreat.
He thrust his spear forward. A concentrated beam of golden light erupted from the tip—
FWSSSH!
—piercing straight through the lead hound's chest. The creature let out a distorted screech as the light energy rapidly purified its abyssal core.
KIIIIEEEE—!
Within seconds, its body crumbled into ash.
The remaining hounds hesitated.
Alex's light element was a natural ban against dark and abyssal creatures. Where other students struggled against the constant corrosion of Pandemonium's atmosphere, Alex's attacks carved through them with almost unfair efficiency. Every kill fed him experience at a rate far higher than normal.
Unlike Lucas, who had been forced to fight alone and carefully manage his limited resources, Alex had received double experience buffs from the moment he entered the trial — a silent privilege granted by the system due to his Mythic class affinity with purification.
He had already reached E-Rank.
Behind him, Ethan Cole stood with his pink hair slightly disheveled, a pair of dual short blades still dripping with dark blood. Three other first-year students — all of them carefully selected followers who had chosen to stick close to the Vanderbilt heir — formed a loose defensive line, watching the perimeter.
Ethan wiped his blades on a dead hound's fur and let out a short laugh.
"You're making this look too easy, Alex. At this rate, the rest of us are just here for decoration."
Alex spun his spear once, dispersing the residual light energy, and glanced back with a calm expression.
"Stay focused," he replied. "The deeper we go, the stronger the monsters become. And not every creature here is weak to light."
One of the followers — a quiet boy with a rare-grade shield — nodded quickly.
"Young Master is right. We've already gained more contribution points in the last two hours than most teams manage in a full day."
Alex's gaze drifted toward the distant crimson horizon. Even while fighting, a part of his mind could not help but worry about Chloe. Although he knew she was strong and possessed natural combat instincts, this place still made his stomach churn with unease.
Ethan, understanding his concern, tapped him on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, man. Chloe's no easy target. That girl's a badass."
Alex smiled softly and opened his system interface.
Name: Alex Vanderbilt
Class: Heir to the Everlight Throne (Mythic)
Rank: E
Level: 8
Secret Art: Legacy of the First Dawn (Layer I — Foundation of Dawn)
Just then, a deep, rumbling growl echoed through the surrounding forest.
GRRRROOOAAARR…
The entire team immediately formed a defensive line. Alex stepped forward, spear raised, as another pack of abyssal hounds emerged from the twisted trees. This time, however, something was different.
At the center of the pack walked a much larger hound.
Its body was nearly twice the size of the others, covered in jagged black plates that pulsed with dark energy. Crimson veins ran beneath its skin like living cracks, and its eyes burned with a lazy, arrogant intelligence. Unlike the frenzied lesser hounds, this one moved with deliberate calm, as if the battlefield itself was beneath its notice.
A D-Rank Abyssal Hound.
The moment its presence fully registered, the spirits of the three followers shattered. One of them took an involuntary step back. Another's hands began to tremble on his weapon. Even Ethan's expression tightened.
Fear — raw and instinctive — spread through the group like a cold wave.
Alex, however, did not flinch.
He whispered under his breath.
"[Crown of Quiet Light]."
A golden halo silently manifested above his head. Soft, radiant light spread outward in a gentle pulse, wrapping around every member of his team. The crushing weight of fear that had been pressing down on them was suddenly converted into steadying resolve. Their trembling lessened. Their stances firmed.
Alex's eyes turned molten gold.
The D-Rank hound growled lowly, expecting its aura of terror to break the humans in front of it. Instead, the fear it had released bounced back onto its own pack. The lesser hounds began to shiver and whimper, their earlier aggression dissolving into confusion and submission under the purifying light.
Alex leveled his spear at the large beast, his voice calm and cold.
"You chose the wrong opponent, puppy."
The D-Rank Abyssal Hound's lazy arrogance vanished the moment the words left Alex's mouth.
Its crimson eyes narrowed. A deep, guttural growl rolled from its throat as dark energy exploded outward from its body.
BOOOOM!
The ground beneath its paws cracked, and the lesser hounds that had been shivering moments earlier suddenly snapped back into aggressive postures, driven by their leader's will.
Alex did not wait.
He stepped forward, golden light surging along the length of his spear. Even though he had only reached the first layer of the Vanderbilt family's most protected secret art — Legacy of the First Dawn — the foundation it provided was already far beyond what most first-years could achieve.
[Perfect Foundation]
His posture remained flawless. Every movement was efficient, every step balanced. Stamina consumption dropped, and his reaction speed sharpened.
"Ethan, take the left. The rest of you, hold the rear. Don't let the small ones flank us."
"On it!"
Ethan shot forward without hesitation, dual blades flashing as he intercepted two lesser hounds that tried to circle around.
CLANG! SHING!
The three followers tightened their formation.
The D-Rank hound moved first.
Despite its size, it was terrifyingly fast. It closed the distance in a single explosive leap, jaws wide open and lined with jagged black teeth that dripped with corrosive abyssal saliva.
Alex's eyes remained calm.
[First Step]
His footwork exploded with perfect precision. Rather than simply dodging faster, he shifted his entire body into the optimal position. The hound's fangs snapped shut on empty air—
SNAP!
—missing his shoulder by a hair's breadth.
Alex's spear flashed upward in a clean, controlled arc.
FWSSH—!
A concentrated slash of pure Everlight energy carved across the beast's side. The light burned through the black plating with a sharp sizzling sound—
SSSSZZZ!
—forcing a pained snarl from the hound. Dark blood sprayed across the cracked ground, smoking where it touched the purified earth.
The beast barely flinched.
It spun with surprising agility and slammed its heavy tail toward Alex. He raised his spear and activated another technique from the first layer.
[Iron Horizon]
Instead of meeting the full force head-on, Alex redirected the impact with minimal effort. The crushing power of the tail was guided past his body, the force sliding off his spear like water.
THUD!
He still slid several meters backward from the residual momentum, but he remained unharmed.
Stronger than I expected, Alex thought, steadying his stance with perfect balance.
The D-Rank hound did not give him time to recover. It charged again, this time releasing a concentrated burst of dark energy from its mouth — a compressed beam of pure abyssal force.
FWWOOOOM!
Alex's eyes narrowed.
"[Everlight Barrier]."
A translucent golden shield bloomed in front of him just as the dark beam struck. The two opposing forces collided with a heavy—
BOOOOM!
Cracks spread across the barrier, but it held long enough for Alex to leap to the side.
He closed the distance once more, his movements remaining clean and efficient.
Thrust. Redirect. Pierce.
Each strike was precise. He did not waste strength. Instead of trying to overpower the beast, he used [Flow Break] — a sharp, disrupting strike aimed not at causing maximum damage, but at interrupting the hound's rhythm. Every time the creature tried to build momentum, Alex's spear cut into the flow of its movements, forcing it to reset.
Behind him, Ethan was cutting through the lesser hounds with sharp, efficient movements.
SHING! CLANG! THUD!
One of the followers had already gone down on one knee from a glancing wound, but the golden halo from [Crown of Quiet Light] kept the group's morale from collapsing completely.
The D-Rank hound roared in fury.
GRRAAAOOOARR!
Its body suddenly swelled as it forced more abyssal energy into its limbs. The black plates along its back shifted and sharpened into jagged spikes. With a violent stomp, it released a shockwave of dark energy that forced Alex to jump back.
BOOM!
Ethan was thrown off his feet. One of the followers cried out as the wave slammed into him.
Alex's expression hardened.
He spun his spear once, gathering Everlight energy at the tip. Even limited to the first layer of the Legacy, his fundamentals were solid enough to create an opening.
He waited.
The moment the hound lunged again, Alex stepped in with perfect timing—
[First Step]
—and drove his spear straight into the exposed joint beneath its front leg where the abyssal plating was weakest.
CRACK—!
Golden light exploded from the wound.
FWAAAAASH!
The purifying energy rapidly ate into the beast's core. The D-Rank hound let out a long, agonized howl as its body convulsed.
HOOOOOWWWWLLL—!
Dark energy leaked from the cracks in its armor before the light finally burned through.
When the glow faded, the massive hound collapsed to the ground with a heavy—
THUD.
Its crimson eyes flickered once… then went dark.
Silence fell over the battlefield.
Alex stood still for a moment, breathing steadily. His posture remained perfect even after the intense exchange. The residual golden light around him slowly dimmed.
Ethan pushed himself up, brushing dirt from his clothes, and let out a low whistle.
"Damn… no matter how many times I witness it, your family's arts are still ridiculous."
Alex glanced at the fallen D-Rank hound, then at his team. The followers were injured but alive. The golden halo above his head gradually faded.
A soft chime echoed in his mind as a large surge of experience settled into his body.
He had won — using only the foundation of the Legacy of the First Dawn.
But the deeper regions of Pandemonium still awaited.
Far from both Alex's battlefield and in a denser, darker stretch of Pandemonium's Outer Frontier, another scene was unfolding beneath the crimson sky.
Chloe Bennett's body hung limply between two massive werewolves. Thick black ropes bit into her wrists and ankles, leaving angry red marks against her pale skin. A rough cloth gag filled her mouth, muffling every sound she tried to make. Her once-elegant combat uniform hung in tatters, torn open in several places and revealing soft, unmarked skin now streaked with dirt and shallow scratches. Her long brown hair clung to her flushed cheeks in messy strands.
The werewolves dragged her forward without care, their clawed hands digging into the soft flesh of her arms hard enough to leave bruises. Behind them walked a hunched, repulsive figure — a Dark Witch with sickly gray skin stretched tight over sharp bones, tangled black hair that looked more like dried weeds, and an ugly, twisted smile that pulled her dark-painted lips into a grotesque crescent.
In the witch's wrinkled hand, a small bone vial continuously released a thin, curling stream of greenish smoke.
She stepped closer to Chloe and forced the smoke toward her face.
"Keke… breathe it in, little human."
Chloe tried to turn her head away, but one of the werewolves roughly gripped her chin and held her still. The greenish smoke poured into her nostrils against her will.
Almost immediately, an unnatural heat began spreading through her body. Her cheeks flushed a deep, feverish red. A strange, unwanted ache started to build low in her abdomen, then sank lower — pulsing between her thighs with every forced breath. Her legs trembled as the foreign sensation crawled deeper into her core, awakening a humiliating, growing wetness she could not control.
The Dark Witch's ugly smile widened, revealing blackened teeth.
"Keke… perfect. Your body is already reacting so sweetly. You will make an excellent maiden to give birth… a strong human child for our ritual."
Chloe's eyes widened in horror and humiliation. She struggled weakly against the ropes, but the drug was already dulling her resistance and twisting her own body against her. Tears of frustration welled at the corners of her eyes as the unwanted heat continued to spread, making her inner thighs press together involuntarily.
The werewolves growled in low, amused tones and continued dragging her deeper into the twisted forest. The Dark Witch followed closely, still releasing more of the greenish smoke over Chloe's face, watching with greedy satisfaction as the girl's body betrayed her further.
None of them noticed the small, shadowy figure watching from a distance.
Hidden within a patch of deeper darkness, a dark Imp — Lucas's first summon — observed everything in complete silence. Its silver eyes glowed faintly as it recorded every detail of the scene: the witch, the werewolves, the greenish smoke, and the bound, flushing form of Chloe Bennett.
After a few more seconds, the Imp melted back into the shadows without a sound.
The information was already on its way to its master.
**
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