For a single, suspended moment after the portal opened—nothing happened.
Then the world broke.
It began with a sound that didn't belong in the forest—a sharp, violent crack that split the air apart. Not thunder. Not an explosion. Something denser. Heavier. A sound that carried weight.
A sonic boom.
And then—
Water.
Not a stream.
Not a wave.
A force.
It burst from the portal like a weapon, compressed beyond anything natural, tearing into the goblin camp below with a velocity that defied understanding. The impact was instantaneous. Structures shattered. Bodies vanished. The ground itself seemed to collapse under the sheer pressure as the torrent slammed downward, carving into everything in its path.
There was no resistance.
No survival.
Only destruction.
The water didn't spread—it struck. Focused. Violent. Absolute.
And then, just as suddenly as it began—
It stopped.
The portal closed.
The force disappeared.
Leaving behind silence.
Arin and Kael stood at the cliff's edge, looking down at what remained.
Or rather—
What didn't.
The goblin camp was gone.
Completely.
Where hundreds of goblins had once gathered, where structures of bone and wood had stood, where chaos had lived—there was now only a massive crater carved deep into the earth. Its edges were jagged, broken, as if the land itself had been torn open.
And inside it—
Water.
Still.
Heavy.
Filling the void like a newly formed lake.
Except it wasn't clear.
It was red.
Dark.
Thick.
The remains of everything that had been crushed beneath that single second of force.
Kael didn't speak at first.
He couldn't.
His eyes moved slowly across the scene, trying—and failing—to process the scale of what he was seeing.
"…That's…" he started, but the words didn't come.
His gaze shifted toward Arin.
"…Where did you open the portal?"
Arin didn't answer immediately. His expression remained calm, but there was a faint exhaustion beneath it now, subtle but real.
Then he spoke.
"…At the bottom of the ocean."
Silence.
Kael stared at him.
And then—
It clicked.
The pressure.
The force.
The way everything had been crushed instead of blown away.
His expression changed slowly, realization settling in piece by piece.
"…You didn't bring water…" he said quietly.
"…You brought pressure."
Arin nodded faintly.
"…When I chose the ability, a map appeared," he explained, his voice steady despite the drain on his body. "The entire World of the Dead."
A pause.
"…I searched."
Kael didn't interrupt.
"…And I found it," Arin continued. "A sea so deep it didn't feel real. Vast enough to swallow everything."
His eyes narrowed slightly, recalling it.
"…The deeper it went, the darker it became."
Another pause.
"…At the bottom… there was nothing."
"Not even light."
Kael swallowed.
Arin's voice remained calm.
"…The pressure there… is beyond anything on the surface."
A brief silence followed.
"…So I opened the portal there."
Kael let out a slow breath, running a hand through his hair as he looked back at the crater.
"…That's insane."
There was no other word for it.
"…You basically dropped the ocean on them."
Arin didn't correct him.
Because it wasn't wrong.
Kael shook his head slightly, a faint laugh escaping him—not from humor, but disbelief.
"…Forget fighting," he muttered. "…Maybe you're already the strongest in this tower."
Arin shook his head immediately.
"…No."
Kael glanced at him. "…No?"
"The cast time is long," Arin said calmly. "Ten seconds is enough to die."
A pause.
"…The duration is one second."
Another.
"…And the cooldown…"
He didn't finish the sentence.
He didn't need to.
Kael understood.
"…Yeah," he said quietly.
It wasn't a weapon you could rely on in every fight.
It wasn't something you could use casually.
It was situational.
Limited.
Dangerous.
But still—
Kael looked back at the crater again.
"…Destruction-wise," he said slowly, "…you could wipe out an entire town."
Arin didn't respond.
Because that part—
Was true.
The wind moved again, carrying the faint scent of iron from the red water below. The forest, once filled with noise and movement, had gone completely still.
No goblins.
No sound.
Nothing remained.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then Kael exhaled.
"…Well."
A faint grin returned to his face, though there was something different about it now. Something sharper.
"…I guess that counts as progress."
Arin finally turned away from the cliff.
"…Not enough."
Kael blinked. "…Not enough?"
Arin's gaze shifted toward the deeper parts of the forest.
"…That was a camp."
A pause.
"…Not the end."
Silence followed.
Then Kael smiled.
"…Good."
He rested the greatsword on his shoulder again.
"…Because I'm just getting started."
Behind them, the crater remained.
Still.
Heavy.
A silent reminder of what they had just done.
And far below—
The red water didn't move.
As if even it understood—
That something far worse than death had just passed through this place.
Then—
A faint sound.
Soft.
Mechanical.
Cold.
Ding.
Both of them froze slightly.
The system.
A translucent screen flickered into existence in front of their eyes.
MISSION UPDATE
Fourth Mission – Complete
Fifth Mission – Goblin Kill Count: 581 / 1000
Sixth Mission – Hobgoblin Kill Count: 1 / 100
Silence followed.
Kael blinked once.
Then again.
"…Five hundred… eighty-one?"
He let out a low whistle, looking back at the crater.
"…Yeah… that'll do it."
His grin returned slowly, but there was disbelief mixed into it now.
"…We wiped out half a thousand goblins in one move."
A pause.
"…That's insane."
Arin's expression didn't change, but his eyes narrowed slightly as he processed the numbers.
"…Not all of them," he said calmly.
Kael glanced at him. "…What?"
Arin looked back toward the forest beyond the destroyed camp.
"…Some weren't there."
A pause.
"…Scouts. Hunters. Patrol units."
Kael's grin faded just slightly.
"…So there are survivors."
"…Yes."
Silence settled again.
Then Kael exhaled, adjusting his grip on the greatsword.
"…Good."
Arin glanced at him.
Kael's expression sharpened, something darker settling behind his usual grin.
"…Because if they survived…"
A pause.
"…they'll come back."
Arin didn't deny it.
Because that was how this world worked.
Survival wasn't just about killing.
It was about what came after.
The system screen flickered once more—
Then disappeared.
Leaving only the forest.
The crater.
And the path ahead.
They didn't stay.
Not after that.
The forest behind them felt… wrong now. Empty in a way that wasn't natural, as if something essential had been torn out of it. No movement. No sound. Even the creatures that had once filled it seemed to have vanished, leaving behind only the aftermath of destruction.
Arin moved first, turning away from the cliff without a word.
Kael followed.
Neither of them looked back again.
The journey to the town was quieter than before. Not because there was nothing to say—but because there was too much. The weight of what they had done lingered between them, unspoken but understood. Their steps were steady, their pace controlled, but their awareness had changed.
They weren't just surviving anymore.
They were becoming something else.
Time passed without notice as they moved through the thinning forest, the twisted trees slowly giving way to open terrain. The air felt lighter the closer they got to the town, as if the invisible pressure of the wild was loosening its grip.
Then—
They saw it.
The walls.
Tall. Dark. Unmoving.
And above it—
The barrier.
A faint white dome shimmered in the distance, steady and untouched, separating order from everything that existed beyond it.
Kael let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "…Never thought I'd be this happy to see walls."
Arin didn't respond, but his pace didn't slow.
As they approached the gate, the guards were already watching them. Alert. Still. Their eyes tracked every movement, sharp with the kind of experience that didn't trust easily.
One of them stepped forward as they came within range.
"…You're back."
Kael smirked slightly. "…Yeah. Miss us?"
The guard didn't react to the tone. His gaze moved over them instead—checking for injuries, weapons, anything out of place. Then, just briefly, his eyes narrowed.
"…You went east."
It wasn't a question.
Arin nodded once. "…Yes."
A pause.
The guard glanced past them, toward the distant forest. For a moment, something flickered in his expression. Not fear.
But recognition.
"…It's quiet tonight," he muttered.
Kael chuckled under his breath. "…Yeah… we noticed that too."
The guard looked back at them.
Longer this time.
Then—
He stepped aside.
"…Get inside."
They didn't hesitate.
Crossing the barrier felt the same as before—but different at the same time. The pressure outside vanished instantly, replaced by something calmer, more controlled. The distant tension faded, leaving behind the steady rhythm of the town.
Kael stretched slightly as they stepped through. "…Man… this place feels better every time."
Arin glanced back once.
The barrier shimmered behind them, unchanged.
But beyond it—
Something had changed.
Then he turned away.
Inside, the town was alive as always. Torches burned along the streets, casting steady light over stone paths and wooden structures. People moved in groups, talking in low voices, trading, planning. It looked normal.
But it wasn't.
Because as Arin and Kael walked in—
The atmosphere shifted.
Subtly.
Eyes followed them.
More than before.
Not just curiosity.
Attention.
Kael noticed it first. "…Okay… why does it feel like everyone's looking at us?"
Arin's gaze moved across the crowd, calm but sharp. "…Because they are."
A pause.
"…Something changed."
Kael frowned slightly. "…We didn't exactly announce what we did."
"No," Arin said quietly.
"…But something like that…"
His eyes flickered briefly toward the distant barrier.
"…doesn't go unnoticed."
Kael's grin returned, slower this time. "…You mean that little ocean drop?"
Arin didn't answer.
Because they both knew—
It hadn't been small.
They moved deeper into the town, toward the familiar streets near the plaza. The noise returned gradually, conversations blending into a low hum, but the feeling remained.
Awareness.
Recognition.
Not of who they were—
But of what they might be.
Kael rolled his shoulders slightly. "…So what now? Rest? Eat? Or go straight back to planning our next mass destruction?"
Arin walked a few steps ahead before answering.
"…First—we recover."
A pause.
"…Then we prepare."
Kael smirked. "…For the next mission?"
Arin's voice was calm.
"…For everything after that."
Silence followed.
Because now—
They weren't just climbing.
They were being watched.
And this time—
It wasn't just the system.