The silence after the explosion wasn’t peaceful.
It was wrong.
The plaza looked like someone had tried to redraw reality with lightning. Stone was glassed. Air shimmered with unstable mana. Every breath smelled faintly of ozone and charcoal.
Rina stood in the middle of it all—
—or rather, she wobbled, barely upright, rapier sunk into the ground to hold herself up.
Her team gathered behind her. “Gathered” being generous—Dael was crawling, Kira was limping, Merrin was praying to three different gods despite not being religious, and Slyeph whispered, “I should’ve stayed in bed.”
Dael swallowed hard.
“…We should be dead.”
Rina nodded shakily. “Yes.”
Kira leaned against a broken pillar. “Never… never felt pressure like that. Not even from an SSS raid.”
Merrin muttered, “My ancestors felt that. I felt that my ancestors' ancestors felt that.”
No one laughed.
Because no one could.
Then—
pad pad pad
A small silhouette waddled out from behind a smoking crater.
It wore soot like a cloak.
Tiny paw prints trailed through dust.
Little lightning sparks popped off its fur.
Rai.
Rina’s eyes widened.
Dael’s jaw hit the floor so hard it could’ve been classified as a seismic event.
Kira took a step back.
“No. No. That is NOT the thing that nearly killed us. No.”
Rai sat, chest puffed with heroic pride.
One ear flicked. His tail wagged.
A pebble fell off his head.
Dael shakily pointed a broken mana tablet at him.
[Analyzing…]
[Mana Signature: MATCH — Gorvath the Titan]
[Condition: PERFECT]
[Threat Level: ERROR — CANNOT COMPUTE]
The entire tablet burst into sparks.
Dael screamed and threw it behind him.
“So your teacher can resurrect dead SSS titans now!?” he shrieked.
Rina froze.
Because she honestly didn’t know if that was wrong.
Or if it was right.
Or which answer was more terrifying.
Sirens wailed as armored ARES squads poured into the broken plaza.
The soldiers took one look at Rai.
Rai narrowed his puppy eyes.
Lightning crackled along his back in a low, warning rumble.
Twenty rifles lowered.
Three soldiers fainted.
One tried to run and tripped over his captain.
The commander approached, sweating through his uniform.
“M-Miss Everhart… WHAT… WHAT is that creature?!”
Rina straightened her shoulders, forcing dignity into her trembling bones.
“A summoning.”
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Her entire team stared at her.
Even Rai stared at her.
But no one corrected the lie.
“No further questions,” Rina added.
“No ma’am!” the commander squeaked and retreated immediately.
ARES decided they saw nothing.
For their own safety.
Back inside the dungeon lobby, the team sat in a loose, exhausted, mostly-traumatized circle.
Dael finally found his voice.
Emphasis on finally.
“Okay. FACTS.” He held up trembling fingers.
“One: Gorvath died.”
“Two: Gorvath is here.”
“Three: Gorvath TALKS.”
“Four: Gorvath OBEYS TEACHER.”
“Five: Teacher is— he’s— I don’t know what he is!”
Kira rubbed her forehead. “We’re done for. Do you understand? Once you meet someone like your teacher, you can’t go back to normal monsters.”
Merrin nodded violently. “I saw my life flash before my eyes. I also saw a life that wasn’t mine. And I think I met that life’s wife. I don’t know what’s going on anymore.”
Slyeph muttered, “I should’ve skipped work today.”
Rina stared down at her hands.
Hands that still shook.
Hands that held barely a sliver of lightning alongside a being who wielded entire storms like threads of cloth.
“I don’t know what he is,” she whispered.
“But I will reach him. I don’t care how long it takes.”
Her team exchanged looks.
Terrified looks.
But also…
Hopeful ones.
Because if she could chase a walking impossibility—
Maybe they could chase her.
Rai hopped onto Rina’s lap.
All four hunters flinched.
Dael whispered, “Why is a titan sitting like a house pet—”
Rai licked Rina’s cheek.
Kira fainted completely.
Merrin made a noise that was not human.
Rina stiffened, face turning five shades of red.
“You fought well,” Rai said calmly. “For a human who barely understands lightning.”
Rina almost screamed.
Dael choked.
“He compliments!? HE… TALKS… KINDLY!?”
Rai side-eyed Dael.
“You. Nerd. Your mana stinks.”
Dael fell backward in spiritual defeat.
Outside the dungeon, the world was chaotic.
News drones circled.
Social media exploded.
“Lightning explosion spotted!”
“Did Rina Everhart fight a natural disaster?”
“Was it an alien?”
“Why is ARES shaking like wet cats?”
Rina ignored it all.
She didn’t care about the public right now.
Only one question terrified her:
How do I face Teacher after this?
In her penthouse bathroom, Rina washed the soot off her hands.
When she touched her rapier, she felt it shake with her.
She stared at her reflection.
“…If that was his dog…
What in the world are you, Teacher?”
Her heart raced.
Not in fear.
In pursuit.
She wanted to reach him.
She wanted to understand him.
She wanted to stand beside him.
She wanted…
She didn’t know yet.
But the wanting was undeniable.
“I’ll climb,” she whispered.
“I’ll climb even if it kills me.”
While Rina had her moment, another storm was brewing.
Azhareth sat in his dim apartment, eating quietly.
He didn’t react when Rai pawed the door open and strutted in proudly.
He did react when the neighbor door slammed open.
Mira spotted Rai.
Covered in:
? Char
? Dust
? Monster bits
? A single burnt shoe
“OH MY HEAVENS—WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS BABY!?”
Azhareth looked up.
Rai froze.
Mira stormed over like an avenging maternal deity.
She scooped Rai up.
Rai let out a noise that sounded dangerously close to a squeak.
“What did Raine do to you!?” she scolded.
“I fought a lightning lord,” Rai protested in behemoth tongue.
She did not care.
“You POOR THING! You look like a burnt chicken nugget!”
Rai whimpered.
Azhareth hid a smirk behind his cola.
Mira carried Rai toward her apartment.
“You’re getting a bath!”
Rai screamed internally.
Azhareth took a sip.
“Could’ve been worse.”
SPLASH.
“STAY STILL—STOP CLIMBING THE WALL—RAINE, COME HELP—NO, DON’T LAUGH!”
Azhareth didn’t move.
He kept drinking cola.
Rai’s shriek echoed through the night.
Azhareth raised his can in salute.
“…Stay strong.”
