"KAGENO!"
The name left my throat raw as I struggled to bridge the gap between us. He was heaving, his chest rattling with the shallow, desperate breaths of a man standing on the precipice of the abyss. My body screamed in protest as I tried to crawl across the jagged glasses of stone.
Beside me, Kael who could barely able to hold his own head up, extended a trembling hand. He didn't speak, but the earth answered. The metallic shrapnel scattered across the crater floor liquefied, forming a flat, magnetic plate beneath me. With a sharp tug of his mana, he slid me across the ground like a sled, bringing me to Kageno's side.
I immediately pressed two fingers to his neck. His pulse was a frantic, irregular drumbeat... then it began to slow. My heart plummeted.
"No... no, no! I'm not losing a teammate here. Not after this!"
Kageno let out a wet, raspy chuckle. "Hah... haha... I'll be... fine... you idiot." Blood bubbled at the corner of his mouth, staining his teeth crimson.
"Shut up. You're in worse shape than I am, and that's saying something," I snapped, my calm facade finally cracking under the weight of genuine panic.
"So... you can be this worried," he whispered, his eyes unfocusing. "Despite that... annoying... poker face."
Sinata, Ria, and Kael gathered around us, their shadows long in the settling dust.
"Oliver, stretch your hand and check the... pouch," Kageno groaned. "The Aethralis serum. In the... ampoule."
I fumbled with his tactical belt, my fingers slick with grime until I felt the cool glass of the vial. Just as I prepared to administer it, a shadow fell over me. I looked up to see Sinata. Her gaze was sharp—a silent, protective glare that said, 'Let someone with steady hands handle this.'
"Let me do that." I
"O-okay," I murmured, handing it over.
With surgical precision, Sinata tilted his head back and poured the glowing essence into his mouth. The effect was near-instant. The Aethralis Serum which was a high-grade alchemical brew, ignited his mana circuits. His heartbeat stabilized into a rhythmic thrum, and the deepest gashes on his torso began to knit together, leaving behind faint white scars.
Kageno sat up with a grunt, rotating his shoulders until they popped.
"Much better."
THWACK!
Ria smacked him right on his tattooed shoulder, her eyes shimmering with frustrated relief. "Yeah, yeah! Don't act cool! You're a Tier-1, remember? Don't go around taking hits like a human shield when your body is still human!"
Kageno merely scoffed, though he didn't pull away. "I heard you. And... thanks, Sinata."
Sinata's face instantly flushed a deep scarlet. It was a rare sight that the ice queen of the squad who was devoid of all poise and grace was melting because the resident shadow-assassin had actually shown gratitude to no one other than her.
I stood up and smiled with relief, the tension finally leaving my spine. Kageno rose beside me, shoving his hands into his pockets. He turned to look at the horizon, where the sun was beginning to dip behind the jagged peaks.
"Mission cleared," he said, a genuine, rare smile ghosting across his lips. "Nice calls... Team leader Oliver."
The wind brushed past us, caught in his textured two-block hair, sending the dark fringe dancing over his eyes. I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the title sink in. Back in my old world, I was a ghost. A genius background character everyone ignored. Here, in the dirt and the blood, I was being seen. I was being followed.
'Maybe this timeline wasn't such a mistake,' I thought.
I reached into my tattered pack and tossed him a sleeveless black vest. "Cover up. You're scaring the locals with those tattoos."
Sinata and Ria's eyes lingered on his lean, battle-hardened build for a second too long.
Both quickly turned away, their cheeks faintly red.
I smiled. "Let's go home. We have a report to give."
-----
The Elite Headquarters was a thrumming hive of power. Even as twilight approached, the air was thick with the scent of ozone and the rhythmic clunck-hiss of training automatons. Elite squads moved through the stone corridors with the quiet arrogance of lions.
Then, the massive iron gates which was heavy enough to require a team of mages to move, slowly groaned open.
The noise drew eyes. Dozens of them.
I stepped through the threshold first. My black combat coat was shredded, stained with the soot of black flames and the dust of a dead god, but my posture was unbreakable. Beside me, Kageno walked with the lethargic grace of a predator, his aura heavy enough to make the air feel cold.
His spiral tattoos faintly pulsed beneath the vest fabric, and despite the dried blood on his shoulder, his gaze remained as cold and sharp as ever.
Behind us, came Sinata, her katana resting at her side with the easy grace of a seasoned warrior. Ria walked next to her, one arm rested on her waist. And finally Kael, carried something massive over his shoulder. For a moment, the courtyard noise continued.Then someone noticed.
"…Wait."
One of the elites froze mid-swing during a training match.
Another warrior turned his head slowly.
And then their eyes fell on what Kael was carrying. The courtyard fell silent.
Over Kael's shoulder rested the enormous broken blade of the Varakhan Dreadlord.
The monstrous sword was still scorched black from infernal flames, its jagged edges cracked from the devastating battle that had shattered it. Even broken, it radiated a faint oppressive aura.
And tied behind them with reinforced chains dragged the massive hardened bark core of the Tree Demon, its twisted wood still stained with dried mana.
Shock spread through the courtyard like wildfire.
"…No way…"
"…Is that…?"
"…That's the Varakhan commander's weapon…"
A group of elites stepped closer, their eyes wide.
"That raid was the Enchanted Wilderness operation… wasn't it?"
"…They cleared it?"
"All five of them came back? Impossible."
The disbelief was palpable. That region wasn't just dangerous. It was notorious for wiping out entire elite squads. Yet standing before them were the five operatives who had gone there. Alive and all of them.
A few elites stared in silent awe. Others looked at the broken sword again, then back at us.
Respect quietly settled over the courtyard like a heavy cloak.
One of the younger elites whispered under his breath,
"…They actually killed the Dreadlord."
The murmuring continued as the five walked through the hall as if nothing extraordinary had happened. Respect, thick and undeniable, settled over the room. I felt the gaze of a Tier-7 Elite. The man, Gaema, who had mocked us before the mission, stood frozen, sweat beading on his forehead as he stared at the broken sword. The realization hit him like a physical blow. He couldn't have survived a minute against the monster we had just defeated. Kageno gave him a dark smirk as he walked past him.
A familiar voice suddenly echoed from the steps leading to the command hall.
"Well, well... look who decided to stay among the living."
Sherach Leon was leaning against a pillar near the command hall, his long black coat swaying in the evening breeze. He looked as carefree as ever, arms tucked behind his head, but as we drew closer, I saw his eyes.
For a split second, the mask of the lazy captain slipped. I saw the raw, agonizing relief of a man who had expected to write five death notices.
"Honestly," Sherach chuckled, walking down the steps. "You took your time. I was halfway through the paperwork for your funerals."
"Typical," Ria huffed. "Look who's here. If it isn't our carefree captain who pretends not to care about our welfare."
Sherach's grin widened as he looked at us then at the broken sword, the scars, and the new fire in our eyes. He clapped his hands together, the sound echoing through the hushed courtyard.
"Well then!" he said brightly, his cheerful tone returning in full force. "Looks like the Enchanted Wilderness problem is officially solved."
His eyes flicked to the shattered Dreadlord blade.
"…And judging by the souvenirs you brought, I'd say the enemy didn't exactly walk away from that fight."
He stepped aside, gesturing toward the massive command doors behind him.
"Come on, team. Let's go inside. And how about we visit the Vanguard academy later to celebrate you guys first cleared mission."
His grin sharpened. He gestured toward the massive command doors.
"Come on, team. Let's get you patched up properly. The others are going to lose their minds when they see this."
As we walked past the rows of stunned Elites, I didn't look back. We had walked into a death zone and dragged victory out by its throat.