The tension in the air was almost suffocating.
The Abyssal Knight stood before the altar, unmoving, its massive runeblade resting against the cold stone floor. Its armor, darkened by time and battle, bore the scars of untold wars. And yet, there was no hostility in its posture.
It merely watched.
Jin-Woo tightened his grip on his shield, shifting his stance. "Is it just going to stand there?"
Han-Sol exhaled through his nose. "Maybe it's some kind of ritual boss. We attack, and it wakes up."
Mirae's brow furrowed. She had cleared dozens of high-level gates before, but none had ever felt like this. Dungeons followed patterns, rules. And yet, this one felt different.
But there was no time for doubt. They had a mission to complete.
"Positions," she ordered.
---
The squad moved into formation.
Tanks took the front, shields raised. Swordsmen positioned themselves behind them, weapons drawn. Mages readied spells at the rear. Scouts silently slipped into the chamber's shadows, seeking weak points.
Kael stood at the back, watching.
There was something off about the Knight's stillness.
Its posture was too relaxed.
It wasn't waiting.
It was studying.
Mirae gave the signal.
"Go."
Jin-Woo and Min-Seok charged first, their shields pulsing with mana reinforcement. The Abyssal Knight tilted its head slightly, watching their approach.
Min-Seok's sword swung for its side. Jin-Woo's shield slammed forward, aiming to break its stance.
The Abyssal Knight moved.
It angled its blade at the last moment, deflecting Min-Seok's strike away from its body while stepping just enough to the side that Jin-Woo's shield barely clipped it.
Not a dodge. Not a block.
A redirection.
---
Kael's eyes narrowed slightly.
That was not the movement of a monster.
That was the movement of a swordsman.
Han-Sol and the other Swordsmen pressed in, blades flashing.
The Abyssal Knight parried each strike, its motions minimal—fluid and precise.
Every attack was either deflected or narrowly avoided, its body shifting just enough to prevent a clean hit.
But it was moving back.
It was allowing itself to be pushed.
The team's confidence grew.
"We're forcing it into a corner!" Han-Sol called.
Mirae exhaled sharply. "Keep the pressure on!"
---
Eun-Ji and the Mages unleashed their spells.
Flames and lightning crashed into the Abyssal Knight, engulfing it in magical destruction.
The explosion shook the room. Smoke and embers filled the air.
Jin-Woo grinned. "We got it."
Then—a shadow moved inside the smoke.
The flames flickered away.
The Abyssal Knight stepped forward.
Unburned. Unshaken.
It had merely walked through the fire.
Yet, it still did not attack.
It merely kept giving ground, dodging, deflecting, allowing them to control the battle.
Kael exhaled slowly.
"They are not winning," he murmured.
Jin-Woo and Min-Seok went in again, following up on the Mages' barrage. The Abyssal Knight moved defensively, positioning itself as if being pressured.
Ji-Hwan, one of the Scouts, dashed behind it, aiming for an exposed joint. If he could land a clean hit—
The Abyssal Knight sidestepped at the last moment.
Ji-Hwan's dagger sliced empty air.
Before he could react, a gauntleted fist slammed into his ribs, sending him skidding across the floor.
Not a killing blow.
A measured response.
Kael took a step forward.
"Enough," he said.
A Hunter blocked his path. "Backliners stay back."
Kael did not even glance at him. "If you value your life, move."
Mirae barely spared him a glance. "We're handling this."
Kael met her gaze, expression unreadable.
"You are not."
Mirae gritted her teeth. The Abyssal Knight was being pushed back.
It was cornered.
Its movements were slowing.
This was it.
"Final push!" she shouted.
Then—
The Abyssal Knight stopped moving.
Its head tilted slightly.
The atmosphere in the chamber shifted.
Kael inhaled sharply.
'There it is.'
The runes on the altar flared.
Mirae barely registered the pulse of magic before golden chains erupted from the ground, wrapping around Kael in an instant.
His sword hand moved, but he was already too late.
A heartbeat later—he vanished.
Mirae barely had time to process what happened before she felt it.
The weight in the air. The change in presence.
The Abyssal Knight was no longer allowing itself to be pushed.
Its stance shifted.
Its killing intent unleashed.
And then—
It charged.
.
.
Time froze.
Kael had vanished.
The golden chains that had erupted from the altar still crackled faintly with residual energy, a haunting afterimage of what had just transpired.
And in the span of that single, stolen moment—everything changed.
The Abyssal Knight, once passive, patient, allowing itself to be driven back, now stood tall, its burning gaze locked onto them.
Its stance had shifted.
Its blade, once resting in controlled defense, was now raised for war.
The chamber felt smaller. The air heavier.
And then—
The slaughter began.
---
A single step forward.
That was all it took for the first death to occur.
Min-Seok, still gripping his sword, barely had time to react before the Abyssal Knight moved.
It was not a dash. Not a lunge.
It was an execution.
A single, fluid step, cutting the distance between them in an instant.
Min-Seok saw a flash of silver.
Then—nothing.
A deep, wet gurgle escaped his throat.
He looked down.
The Abyssal Knight's sword was buried deep into his chest.
A perfect thrust.
No wasted movement. No theatrics.
Just cold, calculated murder.
Min-Seok's body twitched violently, blood bubbling from his lips. He tried to move, tried to force his limbs to respond.
But the sword was twisting.
The Abyssal Knight's wrist turned ever so slightly, just enough to tear through organs, sever tendons, break his body from the inside.
Min-Seok never screamed.
His voice was stolen by the sheer precision of the kill.
The blade withdrew.
His body collapsed.
Blood spilled onto the cold stone floor.
The Abyssal Knight did not even look at him.
It had already moved on.
Jin-Woo roared in fury, his shield rising as he charged forward.
"BASTARD—!"
The Abyssal Knight turned toward him.
Jin-Woo swung his shield, mana surging through his arms, reinforcing his strike. The force behind it was enough to crush through reinforced dungeon steel.
It never connected.
The Abyssal Knight caught the shield with one hand.
Not dodging. Not blocking.
It simply caught it.
A heartbeat passed.
Then it pulled.
Jin-Woo's body lurched forward, off-balance.
The Abyssal Knight's sword rose in a smooth arc—not a wild slash, but a masterful cut.
And Jin-Woo's arm was severed at the shoulder.
A spray of blood painted the floor, his severed limb tumbling to the ground with a sickening thud.
The scream that tore from his throat was raw, animalistic, primal agony.
He fell to his knees, clutching the bleeding stump where his arm once was, his vision swimming.
The Abyssal Knight did not even slow down.
---
The Mages cast their spells.
Eun-Ji's eyes were wide with horror, but she forced herself to act.
"FIRE NOW!" she screamed.
A blazing inferno erupted from her staff, followed by a surging bolt of lightning from another Mage.
The two attacks collided midair, merging into a massive explosive surge of destruction, aimed directly at the Abyssal Knight.
The chamber shook with the force.
And then—
The Abyssal Knight stepped through the flames.
The fire barely scorched its armor.
It moved faster than they could comprehend, appearing before the first Mage.
No warning. No sound.
Just a flash of steel.
The Mage's head rolled across the floor.
His body stood there for a second, before collapsing, blood pooling beneath him.
Screams erupted.
The squad was breaking.
Ji-Hwan barely dodged a killing blow, throwing himself backward, his breathing ragged.
"Magic isn't working!"
Mirae gritted her teeth.
"Regroup! NOW!"
But there was no chance to regroup.
The Abyssal Knight was already among them.
---
The Scouts tried to retreat, using their speed to reposition, but it was too fast.
Han-Sol, desperate, lunged forward with everything he had.
He aimed for the gaps in the armor, targeting where the Abyssal Knight had to be weak.
His blade slid between the plates at the neck.
A direct hit.
The squad paused.
For a moment—just a brief moment—they thought he had landed the fatal strike.
Then Han-Sol's expression shifted from triumph to terror.
The Abyssal Knight turned its head toward him.
The sword was still lodged in its armor.
And it did not care.
Han-Sol tried to move, but the Knight's gauntleted hand had already closed around his throat.
The grip tightened.
Han-Sol's face turned purple. His feet kicked against the ground, desperate, struggling.
Then—
A sickening crack.
The life in Han-Sol's eyes vanished.
The Abyssal Knight tossed his body aside like a broken doll.
Blood soaked the chamber.
Jin-Woo's screams of agony still filled the air, his body convulsing as he lay in his own blood.
The Mages had stopped casting.
The squad was breaking.
Mirae's heart pounded.
This wasn't a battle.
This was a slaughter.
The Abyssal Knight stood before them, blood dripping from its blade.
It had not once struggled.
Not once been forced into a real defense.
Not once taken them seriously.
And still, half their squad was dead or dying.
Mirae could barely breathe.
For the first time in her career as a Hunter—
She felt true despair.
---
The chamber stank of blood and death.
Bodies littered the cold stone floor—some twitching, others motionless, their lifeblood soaking into the cracks beneath them. The once well-coordinated raid team was now scattered, broken, barely clinging to life.
Jin-Woo lay on his back, his breaths coming in wet, ragged gasps. His severed arm lay a few feet away, fingers still curled as if clinging to an invisible shield. His vision swam, his remaining hand pressed against the bleeding stump of his shoulder. He had screamed himself hoarse.
Min-Seok was dead. Han-Sol's lifeless body had been discarded like trash. Ji-Hwan clutched his ribs, his breaths shallow, blood leaking from the side of his mouth. The remaining Mages had stopped casting, their hands shaking too violently to weave another spell.
Mirae could barely keep her grip steady on her sword.
And the Abyssal Knight stood among them, untouched.
Its runeblade gleamed red, the blood of their fallen comrades dripping from its edges. It had never been forced to retreat, never been made to defend.
It had simply killed.
And now, it was coming for the rest of them.
The remaining Hunters tried to hold on.
One of the Scouts, Kang-Il, made a desperate attempt to reposition, circling to the Knight's blind spot. His breathing was ragged, his hands trembling—but his legs still moved.
He gritted his teeth. If he could just—
A dark blur filled his vision.
Pain.
His world tilted.
He was still standing. His body still moving. But something was… off.
His knees buckled.
He hit the ground.
And as his head rolled away from his body, he finally understood.
The Abyssal Knight had beheaded him in a single stroke.
---
Mirae couldn't breathe.
They were going to die.
She knew it now.
The Abyssal Knight had been playing with them. Letting them believe they had control, feeding them false hope.
And now, that hope had turned to despair.
She raised her blade, forcing her shaking arms to move.
"Stand! We have to—!"
The Abyssal Knight was already in front of her.
She barely managed to raise her sword in time.
The impact sent her flying.
Her back slammed into the stone wall, the breath ripped from her lungs.
She gasped, coughing violently. Her ribs were cracked. Maybe broken.
The Abyssal Knight did not stop.
It pressed forward, stepping through the carnage without hesitation.
Mirae forced herself up, her vision blurred with pain.
She had to move. She had to—
A shadow loomed over her.
The Abyssal Knight raised its sword.
She saw her death in its reflection.
Her mind screamed, but her body wouldn't move fast enough.
The blade descended.
A flash of silver.
A crash of steel meeting steel.
The killing blow never landed.
The Abyssal Knight's sword had been stopped.
Blocked.
Intercepted.
By a single man.
Mirae's eyes widened, her mind struggling to process what she was seeing.
Standing between her and death was Kael.
He held a modern sword, crude compared to his true weapon, but his stance was flawless, his form unwavering.
He had stopped the Abyssal Knight's attack with one hand.
He exhaled.
And then—
He pushed.
The Abyssal Knight's blade was repelled.
For the first time, it took a single step back.
And the chamber fell into absolute silence.
---
Mirae coughed violently, forcing herself upright. "Kael…?"
He said nothing.
His eyes were locked onto the Abyssal Knight, his grip steady on the sword. His expression had not changed.
But his presence had.
The Hunters had only ever seen him as a foreigner, an enigma, a mystery.
But now—they saw something else.
A warrior.
A king.
Someone who had stood in battlefields drenched in blood and fire.
Someone who had faced monsters before.
And someone who would not lose here.
Kael's voice was calm. Absolute.
"You've had your fun," he said.
He raised his sword.
"Now, you fight me."