The silence was oppressive, a suffocating blanket that smothered all sound. Time itself seemed to halt, freezing the scene into a surreal, impossible tableau. Akira's ragged breaths, the woman's outstretched claws—everything hung suspended in a moment of eerie stillness. For a heartbeat, Akira could hear nothing but the rhythmic pounding of his own heart, a soft yet insistent drumbeat echoing in his ears like the distant thrum of war drums. It was a fragile reminder that he was still alive, a thin thread of life clinging to existence amidst the crushing weight of defeat.
His mind churned with turmoil, the voices of regret and despair screaming louder than the searing pain that wracked his broken body.
"So this is the end for real?", he thought.
But then, from the deepest recesses of his soul, something stirred. A presence—cold, ancient, and overwhelming—rose like a leviathan from the abyss. It was as if the void itself had awakened, its voice resonating through the silence like honey laced with malice and disdain.
"Yo, brat," the voice echoed mockingly in Akira's mind. "I believe I've already mentioned it—the end doesn't exist as long as I'm around."
"Sleep for now."
Akira's consciousness slipped away like sand through his fingers. His vision blurred, and the presence within him surged forward, tossing aside his mortal will as though it were nothing more than a trivial annoyance.
Time snapped back into motion. The woman, her claws poised for the killing blow, froze mid-strike. Her crimson eyes widened in terror as an oppressive, suffocating aura descended upon her, crushing her like a mountain.
"HUH?!" she gasped, her voice trembling as if the air around her had turned to ice.
Akira's body remained eerily still, but the aura radiating from him told a different story—one of something ancient, something horrifying. The dungeon, once alive with the clamor of battle, now felt stifling, as if the very walls were buckling under the weight of an incomprehensible force.
White lightning crackled around Akira's form, bright and untamed, casting harsh, jagged shadows across the chamber. Each flash was a heartbeat of raw, unrestrained power that reverberated through the stone walls. His black hair shifted, strands turning silver as though kissed by moonlight, flowing unnaturally as if gravity itself had lost its claim on him.His eyes, once dark, now burned like twin stars—piercing white orbs that seemed to see through the very fabric of existence.
As the entity within Akira took full control of his body, a miracle unfolded—or so it seemed. Akira's severed hand, which had lain lifeless on the ground moments earlier, began to dissolve into radiant particles of light. Before Cha-Jong's disbelieving eyes, the particles floated upward, converging at the stump of Akira's arm. Slowly, almost ceremoniously, the light began to reshape itself, forming the structure of his hand from the inside out. Bones, sinew, and flesh materialized in perfect synchronicity, as if time itself had reversed. Within seconds, the hand was whole once more—unblemished, unscarred, and pulsing with life.
The scars that had marred Akira's body vanished one by one, erased as if by an invisible artist. It was as though the wounds, the pain, and the bloodshed had never occurred.
The entity tilted Akira's head slightly, examining the newly reconstituted hand with an air of indifference. It curled the fingers in and out, testing its handiwork with a detached curiosity.
The woman gasped audibly, her crimson eyes darting around the aura now surrounding Akira.Her confidence, already in tatters, crumbled further as she stumbled backward.Cha-Jong and the others could only stare, slack-jawed, as the scene unfolded before them.They felt as though they were witnessing the rebirth of something far beyond their comprehension.
Her voice, once dripping with venomous confidence, now wavered with disbelief.
"W-What… what is this? What are you?"
The presence within Akira stirred further, and a smirk curled upon his lips—not his own.The entity spoke through him, its voice rumbling like distant thunder, laced with cold malice.
"Yo, mosquito," it mocked. "I thought your kind had been erased from existence. A pity... it seems some rats survived the purge.
The woman's confidence shattered completely. Her knees buckled, and she sank into a crouch, as if her primal instincts screamed at her to flee. Her crimson eyes, once filled with predatory glee, now flickered with raw terror. Her mind raced, a storm of panic and disbelief.
"Who is he" she thought, her thoughts spiraling. "What is this level of power? His mana... I can't even feel it anymore. Is it because it's so far beyond even my comprehension that I can't measure it? Or is it something else entirely? What... what... WHAT IS HE?!" Her undead heart, which hadn't beaten in centuries, seemed to pound in her chest as if alive again. What lies inside that damn boy's soul that I couldn't notice? Damn it! DAMN IT!"
After a moment of stunned silence, she finally spoke, her voice trembling like a leaf in a storm.
"W-Who… who are you?" - She stammered.
The entity's laughter was a low, resonant rumble, carrying a weight of disdain that sent shivers through everyone in the chamber.Cha-Jong, still pinned by her earlier Blood Domination skill, managed to lift his head, his eyes wide with terror and awe.
"E.B… what… is this…?" he whispered in disbelief.
The entity ignored him, its focus locked entirely on the trembling women.It tilted Akira's head slightly, the glowing white eyes narrowing with cold amusement.
"Who am I?"it sneered."You don't get the luxury of knowing, mosquito. Just know this—you've been dancing on the wrong stage this time.But I guess that's a habit you fucking vampires can't seem to break."
The words struck the women like a physical blow, but they also reached Cha-Jong, who lay sprawled on the dungeon floor.His breath hitched as his mind raced to piece together what he'd just heard.
"V-Vampire?" he stammered, his voice trembling."Did… did he say vampire?"
His eyes darted to the woman, now visibly terrified. Her unnaturally pale skin, crimson eyes, and the overwhelming aura of dread that surrounded her suddenly clicked into place. Vampires were supposed to be myths, legends confined to the pages of ancient books and the whispers of scholars. But in those stories, they were monstrous rulers of darkness, creatures of unimaginable power.
Only one vampire had ever emerged on Earth since the appearance of dungeons, and its reign of terror was carved into history. It had taken five S-rank STARS to bring it down, and only three of them had survived the battle. The devastation it caused had left an entire city in ruins, a stark reminder of what even a single vampire could do if left unchecked.
Cha-Jong's voice trembled as he spoke, his disbelief turning into raw horror.
"You're telling me… that E.B—that boy—was fighting her… alone?!"
Mira, Lyra, and Garret stood in dumbfounded silence, their minds blank with incomprehension at what lay before their eyes.E.B—or whatever now wore his skin—stood at the center of the room, illuminated by an impossible level of mana and energy.
"That… that can't be E.B, right?" Cha-Jong muttered. "That level of mana… it's not possible for a human. It doesn't even have a fixed limit."
Mira, usually calm and composed, was visibly shaken. Her wide eyes betrayed her disbelief.
"His hand is back!" she exclaimed. "His scars… they're gone. Completely gone. I… I don't feel any of his usual aura I can't even feel his mana at all. It's like…" She swallowed hard. "It's like he's someone—or something—wholly different."
Garret, his expression a mix of wonder and terror, gestured to Akira. "This is impossible. It's beyond anything we can understand."
Mira shook her head, her voice barely above a whisper. "That is no longer E.B, Boss. That is something else entirely."
Lyra remained silent, her eyes fixed on Akira's transformed figure, her usual composure replaced by stunned silence.
The entity within Akira smirked, its voice dripping with mockery.
"Come on, trash. How long are you going to cower like that?"
The woman's fear momentarily gave way to rage. Centuries of survival and combat had honed her instincts to a razor's edge, and now they screamed at her to strike. Her body became a blur of motion, her claws shimmering with dark energy as she lunged at Akira's throat with deadly precision.
Yet the entity within Akira didn't flinch. Its scintillating white eyes never left hers, brimming with scornful amusement. As she closed in, his lips twisted into a faint smirk, and in that instant, her undead heart was gripped by an uncontrollable, primal fear.
"Desperate, are we?" the entity taunted. "How pitiful."
In a flash too quick for the eye to follow, Akira's hand shot out. There was no dramatic flourish, no warning—just a faint blur of motion. The vampire stiffened mid-air, her eyes wide with shock. Her momentum halted as if she had struck an invisible barrier.
"HUH?!" she gasped. "WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!"
Her vision blurred, and the world spun unnaturally. A surreal weightlessness overcame her as her head tumbled through the air, landing softly on the ground. Her face was frozen in a mask of disbelief.For a fleeting second, her crimson eyes reflected nothing but cold, blinding white , her body remained upright, swaying gently as if it hadn't registered its own death.
Then it crumpled lifelessly to the floor.
The chamber fell silent once more, the weight of what had just transpired settling over everyone like a shroud.The entity within Akira stood tall, its white eyes glowing with an otherworldly light, a harbinger of something far beyond their understanding.