Power of Runes

What is that…..?

In front of him lay ten enormous corpses, each almost twice the size of Bloodshorme. Their bodies were mangled and lifeless, yet the remnants of their aura still clung to the air like smoke after a fire. There was no doubt… they were all Lord rank beasts.

But wasn't this the hunt assigned to Ash and Ray? Weren't they supposed to be the ones bringing down these Lords? Then why were they already lying here, slaughtered so cleanly? Who had killed them?

Ash had no answer.

Yet strangely, the corpses themselves were not the reason behind the chill crawling down his spine. Something far more dreadful had anchored his attention, something that overshadowed even the sight of ten dead Lords. Just above their piled remains, a thin fracture shimmered, as if reality itself had been split open.

A space crack…..

At a glance, it might have looked ordinary. After all, dungeons break had occurred in this area, and cracks in space were nothing unusual in such circumstances. But the longer Ash stared at it, the clearer it became that this was not normal.

No… the dungeon fuses with the world after it breaks. That's why every monster has to be killed one by one, even after a break...and the topography of the area also changes, which is quite hard to revert back...

Never before had he witnessed something like this.

Cracks could exist to form portals or lead to unknown dungeons, but they always concealed their destinations. What lay beyond was never shown. This one, however, bared its truth openly, as though another world had been connected directly with Akumia.

Beyond the crack, Ash could see a beautiful scenery, with vibrant grass and air, even a beautiful sunlight along with azure sky, it looked quite peaceful.

But....

What leaked out of it made his blood run cold. A will, an aura, a presence so overwhelming that even standing near it made his instincts flare with terror. His skin tingled, his muscles tightened, and his thoughts turned heavy. Whatever lay beyond that rift was not something he could face, not now, not ever.

Even Ray would be crushed in an instant.

It's a Semi Divine monster… or maybe even Divine…..

[A/N: Semi Divine - Ex rank, Divine - God rank]

Ash did not dare to move. Even the act of drawing breath felt like it might attract attention even though Absolute Concealment was active. The pressure bore down on him with unspoken words that rattled inside his chest.

Move and die. Breathe and die.

Shit Shit Shit Shit Shit Shit… what kind of cursed luck is this…..

The only thing keeping his fear from breaking him completely was the size of the rift. Barely larger than a newborn's head, it was far too small for anything to step through. But that only raised more terrifying questions. How had this tear appeared? What could cause such a crack? And more importantly, how had the existence on the other side killed ten Lords without even passing through?

There were no answers, only dread.

Then, as he forced himself to think, realization crept into his mind.

So the monster horde wasn't ordered to kill us… They were fleeing. The Lords must have been slaughtered first, and when the others felt that crushing aura, they lost all sense of reason. They ran in desperation, desperate to escape from this abomination behind the crack….. That's what caused the horde.

Since Ash had traveled the same path, he knew the truth even more clearly. The distance between this place and the location where Ray had been waiting was too great for the monsters to have heard the sound of his explosion at the start. Which meant the beasts had already been fleeing long before the blast. When the sound finally reached them, it had only added to their panic, pushing the tide in his direction.

His chest tightened as he slowly began to retreat, one cautious step at a time, his gaze locked firmly on the crack. He did not allow himself even the smallest sound. Every nerve in his body screamed that this was the greatest threat he had ever faced, and to treat it with anything less than absolute caution would mean death.

Only when he had gained enough distance did he dare to use teleportation. In an instant, his body flickered away, reappearing in a safer place. The moment he arrived, he collapsed heavily to the ground, realizing only then that he had been holding his breath the entire time. His lungs burned as he gulped in air, his tracksuit clung to him drenched in cold sweat, and every muscle trembled without pause.

Is that what a Divine being feels like…..?

He did not know. He did not even want to know.

But the question gnawed at his mind. Was the existence behind the crack truly Divine or Semi Divine? He believed so, because of how utterly powerless he had felt in its presence, yet another thought lingered. What if it wasn't a Divine being, but something else entirely? Perhaps a unique monster that specialized in soul attacks, one that crushed through pressure alone.

No… it was definitely at least Semi Divine.

He remembered the crushing weight of Monarchs and Saints, the suffocating pressure of Solareth, the terrifying majesty of Dragon Elders, and the overwhelming presence of human Saints. Yet compared to all of that, what he had just sensed now was not the aura of an SSS rank being.

It was something far beyond.

There was another detail that unsettled him even more. Normally, he could withstand the aura of an SSS rank powerhouse because of his primordial core, but this time… nothing of that sort had happened. His core did not react, his defenses did not rise. It was as if he had been stripped bare before an existence that acknowledged no resistance.

His breaths grew heavier, his chest rising and falling as his thoughts wavered and circled endlessly….. Now what should I do…..?

***

After thinking for a long while, Ash finally decided to retreat back to where Ray was. His task here had nothing to do with the presence lurking behind the crack. He only needed to kill the monsters, and that was exactly what he was going to do. The crack and whatever lay beyond it would be left for the Human Saints and the Whisperer to handle.

Damn the academy, they really sent me here to die...

Although he cursed the academy, deep down he knew this was not their fault. The crack must have formed because the space around the world had grown unstable, and with fifty dungeon breaks happening simultaneously on top of that, it was inevitable that something like this would tear open.

But aside from that reason, Ash felt something else gnawing at him….

Fear of death.

Ever since he had obtained the Rune of Death, he had been completely free from that fear. Yet now, just by sensing the mere presence of this being, that same cold terror returned to him. His heart was pounding furiously, not from courage, but from a deep instinct that whispered of danger.

It can kill me...

If something could truly kill him, perhaps he might find enlightenment from confronting life and death directly. But he was not reckless enough to throw himself into such madness.

As if I'll go now. Enlightenment can go to hell. I'll just practice normally...

Ash was not insane enough to chase after death. He was a petty man in many ways—if something did not concern him, then he would stay far away from it. Perhaps that made him a coward too.

Everyone becomes a coward before death. There is no shame in it. If danger can be avoided, then it should be avoided. Who would willingly seek death if there is nothing to gain from it… Give me a reason, a true motivation, and then I will fight that thing...

But perhaps he should not have thought that.

Because sometimes, words spoken even within one's heart have a way of turning into reality.

When Ash teleported back into the middle of the battlefield, the sight before him was brutal. The Alpha and Savage beasts had already been slaughtered, leaving only the Apex monsters behind.

Specifically, the Bloodshromes.

Looks like he already cleaned up the small fry...

Ash glanced at the countless corpses scattered across the ground, then turned his eyes toward Ray, who was locked in battle against the towering Bloodshromes.

He's just leaping around, trying to shatter the orbs on their heads… Though it looks like he's already taken down three of them...

A surge of competitiveness welled up within Ash, mixing with a sharp sting of anger. He was angry at how powerless he had felt in the face of that presence, and now he needed something to unleash that frustration on. These monsters were perfect for that.

Tightening his grip on Eclipse, Ash charged forward with everything he had...

And like a blazing comet, he crashed into one of the Apex beasts.

-BOOM!!!

****