Arin stood at the edge of the cliff, still as stone, his gaze fixed not on the chaos below but on something far beyond it. The goblin camp, once a shifting mass of noise and disorder, had already lost his attention. For him, the outcome there was decided the moment the plan began. What mattered now was execution.
Slowly, he raised his hand.
The air in front of him twisted.
It wasn't dramatic at first—just a subtle distortion, like heat bending light—but it grew steadily, pulling inward as if space itself were being forced to fold. A faint ripple spread outward, unnatural and quiet, and then a single point formed in the air. Small. Unstable. But real.
Kael felt it immediately. The shift. The wrongness.
"…How long?" he asked, his voice lower now, sharper.
Arin didn't look at him. "…Ten seconds."
He took a slow breath, steadying himself as the distortion widened. The faint outline of a circle began to take shape, its edges flickering, resisting, as though reality itself rejected what he was trying to create.
"…So protect me properly."
Kael didn't reply. He simply moved.
He stepped forward, placing himself slightly ahead, his greatsword resting against his shoulder as his eyes scanned everything—the forest, the shifting shadows, the distant movement of goblins still recovering from the earlier impact. Every sense sharpened. Every instinct alert.
Behind him, the portal continued to form.
The air thickened.
The pressure built.
Seconds stretched, each one heavier than the last.
Arin's breathing slowed—but deepened. Controlled, but strained. The distortion in front of him expanded further, its edges stabilizing inch by inch, carving out a circular tear in space that no longer looked like something that belonged in the world.
Kael swallowed slightly, then spoke again, unable to ignore the question any longer.
"…What happens after this?"
Arin's voice came quietly, without breaking focus.
"…This ability is called Space."
Kael frowned faintly. "…Yeah, I figured that."
"It allows me to open a portal," Arin continued, his tone calm despite the visible strain, "…anywhere in the World of the Dead."
A brief pause.
"…But only one."
Kael's grip tightened slightly. "…One?"
"…Once I choose the location, it becomes permanent."
That made Kael's expression shift.
"…That sounds—"
"…And I can only open it for one second."
Silence followed.
Kael blinked.
"…Bro…"
But the word trailed off before it could become anything more. Because the realization came faster than his voice.
Arin wasn't careless.
There was no way he would choose something this restrictive without understanding its potential.
Kael's gaze shifted toward the forming portal again, his mind racing through possibilities. One second. One location. Permanent.
"…Where did you open it?" he asked quietly.
This time, Arin's lips curved slightly.
"…Let me show you."
The portal stabilized.
Fully formed now, it stretched nearly ten meters wide, a massive circular tear hanging in the air. Its surface wasn't empty. It wasn't dark. It was something else entirely—depth without shape, presence without form. Something that felt… wrong to look at for too long.
Arin exhaled slowly. "…Ten meters is my limit for now."
His voice was quieter now.
"…It might grow."
Kael stared at it for a moment, then glanced toward the camp below, where goblins were still gathering at the center, drawn by the earlier destruction.
"…Yeah," he muttered. "…we're not staying here."
He pointed toward a higher section of the cliff behind them. "…We move back."
Arin didn't argue.
They retreated quickly, climbing to a safer distance, putting solid ground between themselves and whatever was about to happen. Even Arin didn't fully know what the result would be—and that alone was enough reason to be cautious.
Once they stopped—
Kael suddenly froze.
"…Wait."
Arin glanced at him briefly. "…What?"
Kael's expression shifted, something between excitement and realization. He opened his status window, his eyes scanning quickly until he found it.
"…The livestream."
Arin frowned faintly. "…Now?"
Kael smirked. "…If we're about to do something insane, we might as well get paid for it."
He tapped through the interface quickly, enabling the recording while adjusting the settings just enough to obscure their identities.
"…No faces," he muttered. "…No risks."
Somewhere beyond the Tower, beyond this broken world, unseen eyes would watch.
Or at least—
They would try to understand.
Kael closed the window and looked at Arin.
"…Ready."
Arin didn't hesitate.
He raised his hand slightly.
Then—
Snapped his fingers.
The portal opened.
For one second.
And in that single second—
Something passed through.
There was no flash. No visible eruption. No immediate destruction.
Just—
Stillness.
The forest went quiet.
The goblins below froze, their chaotic movement halting as if the world itself had paused. Even the wind seemed to disappear, leaving behind a silence so complete it felt unnatural.
A single moment.
Suspended.
Then—
It came.
Not as light.
Not as fire.
But as force.
A deep, crushing impact tore through the camp, not outward—but downward, as though something immense had pressed reality itself into the ground. The center collapsed instantly. Structures crumbled. Bodies vanished. The earth itself seemed to give way under something that could not be seen, only felt.
There was no resistance.
No struggle.
Only destruction.
The shockwave followed, rippling outward in a violent surge that bent trees, cracked stone, and sent dust and debris rising into the air like a storm.
Then—
Nothing.
Silence returned.
Complete.
Unbroken.
Kael stood there, unmoving, his mouth slightly open, his thoughts failing to catch up with what he had just witnessed.
"…What… the hell… was that…?"
Arin didn't answer.
For a moment, even he remained still, his eyes fixed on the place where the camp had once stood.
Because it was gone.
Not destroyed.
Erased.
Kael slowly turned his head toward him.
"…You opened that portal…"
A pause.
"…Where?"
Arin exhaled quietly.
His voice, when it came, was low.
"…Somewhere we should never go."
The words lingered in the silence that followed.
Heavy.
Because now they both understood.
That ability…
Was never meant to be used lightly.