Kalner stood still, eyes narrowed with quiet awe. "You kids… you're monsters. But the kind the world needs."
He turned toward the flickering candlelight, eyes reflecting the glow.
"A world without light in the darkest night… that's chaos. So we don't wait for hope we become it. Tonight, we ignite that fire."
Alex nodded, firm and unwavering. "Tonight, we move. Remember just knock them out. Break bones if you must. But no killing. We're better than them."
Before he could step away, Ruby grabbed his arm, dragging him toward the bed.
"Sit. And strip the crap off your chest," she ordered.
Alex blinked, raising an eyebrow. "Hey! Are you an idiot?"
Whack.
She smacked him on the head without mercy. "Don't you dare call me 'Princess' again."
He rubbed his head, muttering, "Okay, okay…" before slowly peeling off his shirt.
A gasp escaped her lips.
A thick bandage stretched across his chest, soaked with faded blood and the raw imprint of recent battle. He winced as the cool air hit his skin.
Ruby pulled out a glass vial from his infinity pouch a shimmering blue elixir and gently unwrapped the cloth, revealing the angry gash beneath.
"You idiot," she whispered, voice trembling. "Why didn't you tell me it was this bad?"
He remained silent as she cleaned the wound with shaking hands. The elixir hissed when it touched the cut. Ruby flinched harder than Alex did, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.
"Can we stop?" she whispered. "Please… I don't need revenge. I just want you alive."
She wrapped his chest again with a fresh white cloth, her fingers soft, movements trembling.
"I'm begging you, Alex… stop hurting yourself for people who don't even know you exist."
Alex looked down at her at the pain in her eyes and still managed a small laugh.
"There are so many out there… searching for someone to stand tall when everything else falls. Someone to show them a path a light."
He reached out and gently touched her cheeks , his voice like fire beneath calm water.
"If I can be that light, even once… I'll burn for it."
Alex left her and lay down on the bed, closing his eyes.
Darcy slept beside Alex.
"What happened? Why can't you heal Alex?" Grandz asked.
Ruby said, "No. He is not like us! Only those with star constitution can heal like his grandfather Persious! He trained, and it was not his first time! And yet… he was still worried!"
Kalner came over and said, "It's okay! Nothing will happen to him!"
As the light faded away, night began. Alex woke from bed, washing his face.
He walked out and saw Ruby and Grandz looking at the map.
Alex created ruin on Grandz's body, turning it into gold with his blood.
Kalner came wearing his vest armor with a blue cape. At once, a blue blade formed with his aura.
"I am the great commander of the Alpha generation! Terri Devious Kalner!"
Alex laughed and said, "Remember! When I start fighting seriously, please go away from here."
They set off to the knight's hall, flying high in the sky, staring down at it. Ruby disappeared in an instant.
Slowly, fog began surrounding all the places.
Alex laughed. "Remember our plan! Now, start fighting!"
They leapt into the smoke.
Three shadows sliced through the fog, knocking out every knight in their path. Then boom gone.
The fog vanished. In its place stood three massive labyrinths, oozing with killing intent.
But just as the pressure grew, Rebecca soared in, riding Leo, cloaked in a powerful, radiant aura.
"Go! Leave these bastards to me!" he shouted.
A gust of wind swept through. Ruby's face was revealed in the swirl.
"Princess Ruby?! Why are you rebelling after vanishing from the Kingdom? How did you survive?!"
Ruby laughed, wild and fearless.
"So, you were part of this too, huh?"
The enemies scoffed.
"Of course! Just three little ring mazes? You dare stand against us?"
The air twisted. A violent wind surged.
The mages attacked hurling fire and earth magic in deadly waves. Ruby countered, dancing with elemental power, bending the very earth and flames.
Beside her, Leo lunged like a comet, tearing into the mazes with explosive speed and firepower.
Meanwhile, Grandz and Kalner laid waste to the knights in their way crushing, disarming, breaking bones. Alex slipped deeper inside.
Every aura knight who challenged him fell beneath his relentless strikes. He fought like a demon brutal, focused cracking limbs, snapping joints.
Then, the giant door loomed ahead.
He pushed it open… only to face two aura masters, standing sentinel before the inner gate.
He tensed. Ready to charge.
But a blinding light flared behind him Grandz.
"Run, Master Alex! Don't hold back, not for a second!" he roared.
White aura flared along Alex's blade, surging to its edge. One swing a titanic arc of energy blasted the door apart, shocking the masters into silence.
He rushed through.
Six elite knights came charging in.
"I know I screwed up," Alex growled. "Let's end this fast."
He drew his sword. It blazed brilliant white, laced with crackling lightning.
The first knight fell with a single stroke lightning crawling over his body, seizing him with electric terror.
Alex unleashed Battle Spirit Technique his speed exploded. His footwork blurred. He became a phantom of white lightning.
Each clash left enemies paralyzed, flesh torn open by deep, surgical cuts marked by fear.
But the deeper he fought, the more his body began to falter. His right shoulder popped out of place.
He didn't flinch.
He reset the joint mid-step and kept walking deeper into the fire.
Hell yes, Abhi now we're in the belly of the beast.
Alex unleashed the Battle Spirit Technique.
His speed exploded. Footwork blurred into ghostly flickers of lightning.
He became a phantom white lightning cloaked in death.
Each strike paralyzed.
Each blade cut deep.
Each foe left trembling in fear.
But the longer he fought, the more his body screamed.
His right shoulder popped from its socket
He didn't even flinch.
He snapped it back into place mid-step.
And kept moving deeper… into fire.
He crossed the next door.
Slow steps. Eyes locked on a lone knight ahead.
A massive, roaring aura blade came crashing down on him
The impact threw up smoke and dust.
But from the haze, a dazzling white sword sliced through crackling with lightning.
In an instant, Alex appeared before the knight
One brutal aura-charged kick shattered the man's chestplate and bones beneath.
He didn't pause.
He threw the next door open.
"Stop getting in my way!"
The final chamber.
Knights sat upon thrones like kings of death silent, still, soulless.
Their empty gazes pinned Alex with inhuman menace.
"Hell… Lords."
"Their presence alone… it's a warning. I'll have to use that aura…"
But Alex didn't flinch.
He stood tall like none of it mattered.
Behind him, Darcy his loyal beast grew massive, lifting Alex into the air.
"Darcy! Remember the training no matter what, don't let the aura touch you!"
Darcy nodded. Then
BOOM.
The throne knights vanished in a blink.
They attacked Alex, not with technique… but pure will.
Their aura formed monstrous shapes blades, beasts, storms.
Every strike screamed danger. Every clash cracked the air.
Alex dodged, weaved, retaliated like there was no tomorrow.
Blood spilled. Cuts bloomed.
He pushed on
Finally managing to strike their hearts, breaking through their aura defenses one by one.
He stood… barely.
Broken ribs. Shallow breaths. Blood streaming down his face.
He staggered toward the next door
Fell to the floor with a thunderous slam.
But just beside the royal vault, something glinted in the dark…
An underground tunnel entrance.
Alex dragged himself toward it.
Pulled out the elixir. Drove the syringe straight into his chest
"AARRRGHHH!"
He screamed as golden fire erupted from within, burning through his jacket, lighting his veins.
"Huff… huff… damn fight…"
"Another hellish battle…"
"And I just know… there's one more surprise waiting for me."
Revealing his crushed, broken armor, Alex stood in silence. Red marks of internal damage bloomed across his chest, and deep gashes bled down his arms.
He didn't stop.
Tearing strips of cloth, he bound his wounds tight. His hands trembled not from pain, but fury.
From his pouch, he pulled out the handmade armor rough, scorched, but still intact and strapped it to his chest. Over it, he threw on his jacket, tattered but familiar.
Then, with a piece of meat in hand, he summoned a flash of lightning searing it with a hiss.
He sat with Darcy, eating in silence as they flew through the tunnel.
What they saw on the other side wasn't freedom. It was rot.
A massive underground city, hidden beneath the capital's edge its borders pulsing with corruption. Darcy shrank small, slipping into Alex's pocket as he surveyed the place.
People swarmed below beastkin, elves, humans all under cruel shackles. Magic-infused ruins glowed along the ceiling, masking the city from detection. It stank of secrets.
Slave merchants shouted prices. Women stood in cages naked, trembling. Rich men in masks stared at them like meat on hooks.
Alex clenched his fist on his sword. His rage boiled.
But he swallowed it down. For now.
He approached a guard, grinning like a devil.
"Hey. I've got valuable info about Princess Rebecca and the boy with her," he said, voice low and cold. "And I want slaves. Two hundred thousand gold. For… personal things."
The guard squinted at him. "You looking to die?"
Alex smirked and poured gold coins from his infinite pouch, spilling them like a waterfall at the man's feet.
"Still think I'm joking?" he whispered.
The guard's eyes widened. "P-please, sir. Follow me!"
They walked deeper through markets of torture and ruin. Blood spilled on the stones. Laughter echoed from behind iron bars.
Then Alex saw it.
A place darker than the rest. Blood-stained pillars. Corpses hung by golden chains. Carvings of twisted beasts glowed faintly.
"The Temple of Darkness," the guard said. "Where they pray to what no god dares see."
A towering door loomed.
As it opened scent, light, and lust hit him in waves. Dark blue flames flickered from old lamps.
In the center, on a silken bed, a naked woman pale as snow moved atop a man. As she saw Alex, she didn't cover herself. She smiled.
"Well now… you look good, kid. Wanna join? You can do anything with a body like that."
Alex lowered his head, hood shadowing his eyes.
"Sorry. I'm here for slaves," he said, voice flat as iron.