The ritual circle had already been prepared.

  White chalk formed a perfect ring across the wooden floor. Strange symbols filled the gaps between the lines, ancient runes written in a language few people in the modern world could still read.

  Black candles surrounded the circle.

  Their flames flickered weakly, bending unnaturally as if pushed by an invisible wind.

  Red Hood stood quietly at the center.

  His breathing was calm, but the atmosphere inside the room felt heavy.

  Outside the circle, Grey paced restlessly.

  The dire wolf’s claws tapped against the wooden floor as he moved back and forth. His ears were lowered, and his tail moved stiffly.

  A low growl occasionally escaped his throat.

  Grey didn’t understand rituals.

  But he understood danger.

  And something here felt very wrong.

  Sough stood a few steps away, watching the preparations with his arms crossed. His expression was calm, though his sharp eyes carefully observed every movement inside the circle.

  Beside him stood Dans.

  Unlike Sough, Dans looked uncomfortable.

  He shifted his weight nervously.

  “Relax,” Dans muttered quietly. “It’s just a contract ritual, right?”

  Sough didn’t answer immediately.

  His eyes were still on Red Hood.

  “…It should be.”

  Inside the circle, Red Hood slowly exhaled.

  Then he began chanting.

  Ancient words flowed from his mouth.

  Low.

  Rhythmic.

  Old.

  The kind of language that sounded as if it belonged to something far older than human civilization.

  As the chant continued, the air inside the room grew heavier.

  The candle flames trembled violently.

  Grey suddenly froze.

  His head turned sharply toward the door.

  Then he let out a deep growl.

  Far away—

  Somewhere outside the city—

  A wolf howled.

  The sound was distant.

  Yet it echoed strangely in Red Hood’s ears.

  Inside the ritual circle, the chanting continued.

  But something felt strange.

  The words were correct.

  The formation was correct.

  Everything should have worked normally.

  Yet the air around him felt… distorted.

  Like the world itself had begun bending slightly.

  Then suddenly—

  All the candles went out.

  Darkness swallowed the room.

  Grey barked loudly.

  Red Hood stopped chanting and looked toward Sough.

  “Is this normal?” he asked.

  Sough stepped closer.

  “No.”

  His voice was calm.

  But his expression had become serious.

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  “This is not normal.”

  He crouched and lit one of the candles again.

  The flame returned.

  Weak.

  Unstable.

  For a moment everything looked normal again.

  Then Sough saw something.

  Red Hood’s shadow stretched across the floor.

  But it didn’t match his body.

  Red Hood was standing still.

  Yet the shadow… moved.

  Slowly.

  Like something inside it was shifting.

  Sough narrowed his eyes.

  Then he saw them.

  Inside the darkness of the shadow—

  Eyes opened.

  One.

  Then another.

  Then dozens.

  Then hundreds.

  Thousands of red eyes blinked inside the shadow.

  Watching him.

  Watching everyone.

  Sough’s breath stopped for half a second.

  Something was terribly wrong.

  Before he could react—

  Red Hood suddenly collapsed.

  Grey barked and ran forward immediately.

  But the moment Grey crossed the ritual circle—

  A violent force erupted outward.

  Grey was thrown across the room like a rag doll.

  His body slammed against the wall with a loud crash.

  Wood splintered.

  Dans stumbled backward.

  “What the hell was that?!”

  But the nightmare had already begun.

  Red Hood’s body twitched violently on the floor.

  A cracking sound echoed through the room.

  His back bent unnaturally.

  Then—

  Bone tore through flesh.

  A sharp spike burst from his spine.

  Blood splattered across the floor.

  Another bone pushed out beside it.

  Then another.

  And another.

  Soon dozens of jagged bones burst out from his back like twisted branches growing from a dying tree.

  Red Hood gasped.

  Pain exploded through his entire body.

  It felt as if every bone inside him was breaking apart and being rebuilt at the same time.

  His arms split open.

  Muscles tore apart.

  Then regenerated instantly—

  Only to tear again.

  His body convulsed violently.

  Something inside his chest moved.

  Not his heart.

  Something else.

  Something alive.

  Then the first eye appeared.

  It pushed through the skin of his shoulder.

  It blinked slowly.

  Another eye opened on his arm.

  Then another on his chest.

  More and more eyes appeared across his body, each one twitching and blinking independently.

  Red Hood could feel them.

  Every single one of them.

  Seeing.

  Watching.

  Thinking.

  Inside his mind—

  A voice whispered.

  Low.

  Ancient.

  Filled with endless fury.

  “You opened the door.”

  Red Hood clenched his teeth.

  His vision blurred.

  The pain was unbearable.

  “You called.”

  The voice echoed again.

  Something deep inside him stirred.

  Anger.

  Old.

  Violent.

  Uncontrollable.

  “Do you remember why you made the contract?”

  Dans backed away in horror.

  “What the hell is that thing?!”

  His legs refused to move.

  Fear had frozen him in place.

  Even Sough felt cold sweat forming on his back.

  This was no failed ritual.

  This was something far worse.

  “Sough! What do we do?!” Dans shouted.

  Sough didn’t hesitate.

  “Run.”

  Dans blinked.

  “What?”

  “Run. Now.”

  “I’ll hold it back.”

  Before Dans could answer—

  A mass of bone wrapped in twitching flesh shot toward him like a spear.

  Sough moved instantly.

  He shoved Dans aside.

  The attack pierced into Sough’s left shoulder.

  Bone tore through armor and flesh.

  Blood splattered across the floor.

  Dans rushed toward him in panic.

  “Guild Master! Are you okay?!”

  Sough grabbed the bone spike and ripped it out of his shoulder with a grunt.

  Blood ran down his arm.

  “It’s just a scratch.”

  His eyes never left the creature rising inside the circle.

  “Right now we have a bigger problem.”

  Another bone spear shot toward them.

  They barely dodged.

  Tables shattered.

  Wood exploded.

  The creature inside the circle slowly rose.

  Red Hood’s body twisted grotesquely as the bones continued growing.

  The countless eyes across his skin blinked rapidly.

  Then the creature opened its mouth.

  A distorted roar shook the room.

  At that moment—

  Something moved near the door.

  Grey.

  The dire wolf was crawling across the floor.

  One of his legs dragged behind him.

  His body trembled from pain.

  But he kept moving.

  In his mouth—

  A chain.

  Attached to the end of it was a sickle-shaped blade.

  Sough’s eyes widened slightly.

  “That weapon…”

  Grey crawled closer.

  Closer.

  His breathing was heavy.

  But he didn’t stop.

  Finally he reached them and dropped the chain.

  Sough grabbed it immediately.

  The creature lunged again.

  Bones lashed through the air.

  Sough stepped forward.

  Then he swung the chained sickle with all his strength.

  The blade struck the creature’s chest.

  For a moment—

  Nothing happened.

  Then every eye across the creature’s body burst at the same time.

  The bones froze.

  The twisted flesh collapsed.

  Thick black smoke poured from the body.

  Then everything began to crumble.

  Bones shattered.

  Flesh turned to ash.

  The monstrous growth disintegrated completely.

  Only Red Hood’s unconscious body remained.

  Silence filled the room.

  Sough approached slowly.

  Red Hood looked normal again.

  But something caught his attention.

  Along Red Hood’s back—

  From the base of his spine to the back of his neck—

  Strange carvings had appeared beneath the skin.

  Ancient symbols traced the line of his bones.

  Old.

  Older than anything Sough had ever seen.

  He frowned slightly.

  “…What exactly are you?”

  When Red Hood woke up again, he was lying in an unfamiliar room.

  Soft sunlight entered through a nearby window.

  His body felt heavy.

  Every muscle ached.

  As if something inside him had been torn apart and rebuilt again.

  Sough sat in a chair nearby.

  “You’re awake.”

  Red Hood slowly sat up.

  “Where am I?”

  “For now, you’ll stay here,” Sough said calmly.

  “Until you find a place of your own.”

  Red Hood rubbed his head.

  “What happened…?”

  Then his eyes widened.

  “Where’s Grey?”

  “He’s at a veterinarian,” Sough replied.

  “He’ll survive.”

  Relief washed over Red Hood’s face.

  After talking for a while, a small crystal device on Sough’s belt began glowing.

  He sighed.

  “Looks like Rose is calling me.”

  Before leaving, he tossed something toward Red Hood.

  “Take this.”

  Red Hood caught it.

  A metal dog tag.

  The emblem of a guild was engraved on the surface.

  Below it—

  His name.

  Red Hood stared at it silently.

  He had officially joined the guild.

  Exhaustion slowly returned.

  His vision faded.

  He fell asleep.

  Darkness.

  Cold metal tightened around his body.

  Chains.

  Red Hood looked down.

  Countless chains wrapped around him.

  The smell of blood filled the air.

  Something moved in the darkness ahead.

  A shape slowly emerged.

  Huge.

  Ancient.

  Its silhouette twisted until it resembled a massive wolf.

  Two burning red eyes opened.

  A deep voice echoed from every direction.

  “Do you regret it?”

  The chains tightened.

  Red Hood slowly raised his head.

  His voice was calm.

  “No.”

  The creature remained silent for a moment.

  Then it spoke again.

  “Good.”

  The red eyes burned brighter.

  “Because there is no turning back.”

  The chains tightened further.

  And somewhere in the darkness—

  A wolf began to howl.