'Shit, they noticed me faster than I expected,' Unknown thought, his mind racing as the blade of Alice's sword came crashing down toward him. His instincts kicked in, and with a swift, almost reflexive movement, he summoned Eclipse, the cursed sword, in his hand.
Clang!
The two blades collided with a sharp, resounding noise, the impact vibrating through the air. Unknown's arm trembled with the effort of parrying Alice's powerful strike, but he managed to deflect it just in time.
He was still feeling the aftereffects of using [Limit Break] earlier—his body was in a weakened state, drained from the massive surge of power he had unleashed.
But he'd been fortunate. The Earth Dragon's flesh had given him the sustenance he needed to replenish a fraction of his strength, enough to escape the close quarters he had been hiding in.
Even with his energy still waning, he had the upper hand for the moment. The overwhelming presence of Eclipse surged through him, sharpening his focus and fortifying his resolve. He wasn't going to let this interruption stop him—not now, not when he had come so far.
Channeling his mana, Unknown focused the energy deep within himself, his senses sharpened as his connection with Eclipse strengthened. A surge of power coursed through his veins, and with a single, forceful motion, he released the mana contained within his body.
A shockwave of raw energy rippled through the air, and the bloated, decaying flesh of the Earth Dragon—once his cover—exploded outward in a violent burst. Pieces of torn hide and entrails flew in every direction, the stench of rot and blood mingling in the air.
For a brief moment, the cavern seemed to hold its breath. Then, as the last remnants of the carcass fell to the ground, Unknown emerged from the chaos.
His figure was framed by the lingering smoke and the fading embers of his burst of energy. His body was still bruised and battered from the previous battles, but the adrenaline was already kicking in.
His eyes locked onto Alice as he stepped forward, his grip tightening around Eclipse, the cursed blade now humming with a malicious energy of its own.
He was ready–ready to fight.
Yet, something weird caught him.
As Unknown stood poised for the strike, ready to engage in battle with Alice, something within him shifted.
It was subtle at first—a slight tension in his chest, a tightening of his muscles, as if his body recognized something deeper. His focus wavered for just a split second, and his eyes—those cold, calculating eyes—flickered over Alice once more.
Her appearance—the golden hair, the sharpness of her sapphire eyes, the graceful way she held her sword—triggered a faint, almost imperceptible stirring within him.
A distant memory, buried in the recesses of his mind, rose to the surface like a half-remembered dream.
Something about her seemed familiar, though he couldn't place it. His hand faltered for a brief moment as his mind scrambled to recall the fragments of a past he couldn't quite reach.
Was it her gaze? Her stance? Or the way she stood—facing him without fear, a warrior's resolve in her every movement.
No, it was her voice, it was… nostalgic.
A wave of confusion and nostalgia washed over him as Alice's voice echoed in the cavern, cutting through the tension of their standoff. It was a soft but unwavering tone, one that seemed to speak directly to something buried deep within him.
Her words, the way she held herself, even the way she spoke... it triggered something faint, something from a past he couldn't quite recall.
'Sakura?'
The name shot through his mind like a sudden, sharp jolt. It felt... important. Yet foreign. The kind of name that seemed both familiar and utterly out of reach, as if it belonged to a time, a person, or a life he no longer remembered.
His pulse quickened, his grip on Eclipse tightening, not from the impending battle, but from the flood of emotions threatening to overwhelm him.
Sakura. The name echoed again in his head. It sounded like a memory, a fragment, something long-forgotten, and yet it called to him with an urgency he couldn't ignore.
Was it someone he had known? Someone important? His mind raced to piece the fragments together, but they slipped away like grains of sand through his fingers.
For a fleeting moment, it felt as if the walls around him—the cold, calculated killer he had become—were crumbling, revealing a vulnerability he had spent years suppressing. The icy mask he had worn for so long faltered.
He blinked, shaking his head, trying to clear the haze clouding his thoughts. But no matter how hard he tried, the name Sakura clung to him.
"Focus," he muttered under his breath, his heart hammering in his chest. "This isn't the time for this..."
His eyes returned to Alice, who stood before him, her grip on her sword tight and unwavering, her glare burning with intense murderous intent.
Every muscle in her body was coiled, ready to strike at any moment. Yet, despite the fury radiating from her, she didn't attack immediately. There was something different about her stance, a hesitation, as if she were holding herself back.
Alice's gaze didn't waver from him, her lips pressed together in a thin line. She wanted to speak, to reason with him—at least that was what her silence suggested.
"Tch, I don't want to get involved with you guys," Unknown muttered under his breath, his voice low and rough, his tone dripping with frustration. "Let's get things straight—what do you want?"
His words were sharp, cutting through the air with an almost dismissive edge, as if he had no desire to even entertain this conversation. He didn't want to be involved with these people, didn't want to deal with whatever mess they were dragging him into.
"My demand is simple. Surrender and hand over the sword." Alice's voice was steady but filled with a quiet urgency, her eyes narrowing as she took a half-step forward, her blade held in front of her as if to emphasize her words.
"...An unreasonable demand." Unknown clicked his tongue, his lips curling into a wry sneer. "Do you really think anyone would accept it?"
Alice's expression hardened, but there was a hint of something beneath her anger—frustration, desperation. "I know it's unreasonable," she replied, her voice softer now, almost regretful. "But what else can I do!?"
She knew the odds. She had seen the devastation he could cause. To face someone who could annihilate the entire spider nest with ease, someone who could wipe out their entire team without breaking a sweat—it was a terror she couldn't ignore.
The weight of the lives of her comrades pressed on her shoulders, and Alice refused to lose anyone else. Not after all they had already sacrificed.
Unknown fell silent, his gaze flickering to the side, his thoughts hidden behind an unreadable mask. His mind raced, torn between the practicality of rejecting her request and something deeper, something that tugged at the back of his mind. A sense of nostalgia? Regret? He wasn't sure.
Finally, after a long, pregnant pause, he sighed deeply, the sound heavy with resignation. It was as if he had already made up his mind. But instead of responding with words, his actions spoke louder than anything he could say.
With a fluid motion, he raised his hand and whispered the command to activate his ability. [Full Concealment].
In an instant, the atmosphere around him shifted. The very air seemed to thicken, the shadows deepening around his form as he vanished from her sight.
His presence, once so menacing, faded into nothingness. The world around Alice seemed to hold its breath, the sound of her own heartbeat pounding in her ears as she blinked, searching the empty space where he had stood.
Her pulse quickened. She knew this move. She had faced opponents skilled in concealment before, but something about this felt different. She had barely seen him move, but now he was gone, blending into the shadows like a wraith.
Alice clenched her teeth, her grip on her sword tightening. Her sharp eyes darted around, trying to catch any trace of him, any movement in the air. Her breath came in shallow gasps, her instincts screaming at her to act, but she held her ground.
"Where did you go?" she muttered under her breath, her voice low but still edged with the sharpness of frustration. Her eyes narrowed.
"Coward. Show yourself!"
But there was nothing. No sign of him, no sound of movement—just the oppressive silence that seemed to fill the air.
Then, just as she began to doubt her senses, she felt it. The slightest shift in the atmosphere behind her—a whisper of motion, a disturbance in the air.
Whipping around, her sword flashed forward, cutting through the air in a perfect arc, but it met nothing. No enemy, no form. Only emptiness.
Her heart skipped a beat as she spun back around, every muscle in her body tensed. He's still here. Her instincts screamed it to her. He was close, too close.
She could feel him, a presence lurking just out of sight. His magic, his energy—it was like a shadow she couldn't quite pin down, but it was there, just beneath the surface.
Focused and determined, Alice's mind raced as she calculated her next move. Focus, Alice. He's going to escape if you don't act now. Don't lose your chance. The thought pulsed through her mind like a drumbeat, pushing her forward.
She drew a deep breath, channeling every ounce of her magical energy into her eyes. Her vision sharpened, every movement in the dungeon becoming crystal clear.
The air around her seemed to buzz with tension as her senses heightened, her heartbeat syncing with the flow of magic that coursed through her. In that brief, crucial moment, she saw him.
There! The subtle shift in the air—he was there, just beyond her reach. She could sense his presence as though it were a tangible force. Her muscles tensed, and without hesitation, Alice swung her sword in a cross-shaped arc, aiming for the space where she had seen him.
"[Binding Cross]!"
The slash cut through the air with incredible speed, but just as quickly, Unknown's dark blade appeared, intercepting the blow with a powerful deflection.
He managed to stop the strike, but Alice could see the effort it took. She pressed on, determined to catch him, but Unknown was already reacting.
With a swift motion, Unknown summoned his signature weapon, Eclipse, using the dark blade to redirect Alice's strike and leaping into action. With one hand, he swung Eclipse up toward the ceiling of the cavern.
The blade caught hold of the ropes hanging from above, and in a fluid motion, he swung himself up, using the momentum to escape his position.
The sound of his movement, swift and practiced, triggered an immediate response from Alice's team.
"Sylvie, Robert, destroy the ceiling and stop him!" Alice barked, urgency in her voice.
Without a second's hesitation, Sylvie and Robert raised their staffs, their eyes flashing with the intent to neutralize the threat. The air crackled with energy as Sylvie called upon the force of lightning, while Robert summoned his vampiric magic to unleash a devastating spell.
"Thunder Spear, fire!"
"Lord of Blood, release! [Blood Spike]!"
The combined forces of their attacks hurtled toward the ceiling, smashing it apart with a resounding explosion of debris. Stone fragments rained down as the cavern groaned, and Unknown, caught mid-swing, was pulled back to the ground, crashing into the rubble.
Alice immediately closed the gap, her footsteps echoing in the tense silence as she rushed to meet him, her sword raised high. "You're not escaping this time."
"Hmph, such a hassle." Unknown's voice was filled with annoyance, as if he were already fatigued by the pursuit. He barely had time to react as Alice's blade, lightning-quick, cut through the air toward him.
He raised his dark blade to block the strike, the force pushing him back several steps. The clash of metal rang through the cavern, but Unknown had barely managed to regain his balance.
His exhaustion was evident; the toll of his earlier battle with the Earth Dragon, combined with the power of his Limit Break, had drained him significantly.
Now, surrounded and outnumbered, Unknown was at a disadvantage. There was no time to form a counterstrategy. He gritted his teeth, his usual cold detachment replaced by a hint of frustration. He could feel the weight of the situation bearing down on him.
"Didn't you say you didn't want to fight?" Unknown taunted, there was sarcasm in his tone.
"Plans changed. We're going to use force to capture you right here." Alice's voice was steady, determined. Her resolve had hardened, and she wasn't about to let him slip away again.
"...Tch." Unknown clicked his tongue in irritation, his gaze flashing with impatience. Then, with a fluid motion, he drew his massive sword from his back, the heavy blade gleaming with deadly intent. Wielding it with both hands, he took a step forward, ready to face the team head-on.
It was clear that he wasn't going to make this easy. Neither would Alice and her team.
The battle had only just begun.