Daion ran, his heart pounding like a war drum. The Hellseeker's roar echoed through the cave, closing in fast. Pain shot up his leg with every step, but stopping wasn't an option. Not now. Not after leaving a man behind to die.

The soldier's screams still rang in his head.

Jack stood at the cave's exit, muscles tense, eyes locked onto him.

"Move your ass, damn it!" he roared. "Haruka, get ready! The second he's through, blow the entrance!"

Haruka nodded, extending a hand. Murmured words. Fire erupted from her palm, illuminating the stacked fuel barrels near the entrance.

Fifteen meters.

Daion could almost feel the fresh air outside. But then—impact.

A monstrous force yanked his leg back.

The Hellseeker had caught him.

Panic twisted in his gut. The beast raised its club and swung. Daion barely managed to raise his sword in defense. The impact was brutal. The blade flew from his hands, clattering against the cave floor.

"No!" Finn shouted, firing his rifle. The bullets barely scratched the monster's skin.

The Hellseeker let out a guttural snarl and sank its claws into Daion's leg. Agony tore through him. He screamed, breath coming in ragged gasps. Fear. Desperation. His hands clawed at the beast, uselessly.

"Shit, I can't kill it!" Finn gasped.

Then—a tingle in Daion's arm. A strange heat.

The glove.

His mind flashed back to Haruka's gem glowing before she cast fire. Could he do the same?

He clenched his jaw, focusing on the sensation in his arm. He raised his palm, aiming at the Hellseeker, willing something to happen.

Nothing.

The Hellseeker growled and drove its claws into Daion's side.

Pain like fire.

Daion screamed. Muscles seized. Blood soaked his clothes. His vision blurred.

At the cave's entrance, Jack clenched his fists. He could run in and help. But if he did, the Devourers would break free. If those monsters reached the city, everything would be lost.

Maybe… the only choice was to leave Daion behind.

"This is his fault!" Minjae spat. "He got us into this!"

Jack shut his eyes for a second, cursing under his breath.

"If a Devourer gets close, destroy the entrance," he ordered Haruka.

She swallowed hard.

Finn kept firing, but the Hellseeker didn't even flinch.

Daion, barely clinging to consciousness, felt his arm tremble.

The glove was glowing.

The Hellseeker yanked its claws from Daion's body and raised them for a killing blow. Its hollow eyes reflected only one thing—death.

No.

Daion clenched his teeth. He refused to die.

Not here.

With his last strength, he screamed—and his arm exploded with blinding light.

A pure energy blast ripped through the Hellseeker's skull.

Half of its face disintegrated in a shower of burning flesh and boiling blood.

The monster staggered back. Daion gasped, body on the brink of collapse. His arm burned like it was melting from the inside out.

No time for pain.

He forced himself to move. His injured leg threatened to buckle, but he had to run.

Ten meters.

Haruka saw the Devourers surging forward—a tide of writhing shadows.

And the Hellseeker… it was still standing.

It wasn't regenerating, but its body still held power. It dug its feet into the stone—preparing to charge.

Jack's throat tightened.

"Haruka, NOW!"

Haruka lifted her hand, flame ready to fire.

But she hesitated. Daion hadn't crossed yet.

"Wait!" Finn shouted.

He raised a hand, chanting under his breath.

The air vibrated. A sphere of compressed energy formed in his palm.

"Close your eyes!"

Finn released the sphere.

It detonated midair.

A blinding explosion of light swallowed the cave.

The Devourers shrieked, disoriented. The Hellseeker stumbled.

"Run, Daion!" Jack bellowed.

Daion didn't think.

He sprinted.

Haruka reacted instantly, launching a fireball straight into the fuel barrels. Flames erupted—but nothing happened.

Time froze.

"What the fuck?" Minjae gasped.

Daion's breath hitched. "Haruka… does your magic cause explosions?"

She shook her head, teeth clenched. "I… I haven't reached that level yet!"

Cold dread washed over Daion.

Fire alone wouldn't ignite the fuel.

His mind raced. "The fire is heating the liquid, but we need the vapors to ignite!"

Jack cursed, glancing at the cave.

The Hellseeker was rising.

Half its face was gone, but it was still coming.

The Devourers, drawn by the scent of blood, crawled closer.

Time was up.

"Then what the fuck do we do?!" Jack roared.

Daion's mind clicked.

"Oxygen!" he gasped. "We need oxygen to make it combust instantly!"

He pushed himself up, barely able to stand. His pulse thundered in his ears.

"Finn!" he shouted. "Tell me you have something with oxygen!"

Finn groaned. "Damn it, stop yelling!"

He traced a precise pattern in the air, forming a glowing blue circle.

A magic grenade.

"Starving Wind Grenade!" Finn murmured, clutching the swirling sphere in both hands.

The core pulsed—oxygen, condensed and volatile.

Without hesitation, Finn hurled it into the flames.

The sphere hovered—then collapsed into an invisible shockwave.

Oxygen flooded the fire.

And then—

BOOOOOOOM.

The explosion consumed the cave in an instant.

Boulders crashed down like falling meteors.

The Hellseeker barely had time to shriek before it was crushed under tons of rock. Blood and viscera burst in a grotesque spray.

The remaining Devourers were buried alive.

The roar of the blast faded.

Only the sound of settling stones remained… and the ragged breaths of the survivors.

A nearby guard stumbled to a corner and threw up.

Daion could barely stand. His clothes were drenched in blood—his own.

But anger burned hotter than pain.

He glared at Jack. "You didn't even know how to blow up a fucking barrel?"

Jack shifted uncomfortably. "...It was our first time using explosives, I thought it'd be simple—"

"You made me haul volatile fuel without knowing how it worked? Are you an idiot?!"

Jack scowled but didn't argue.

Then—CRACK.

A deep, bone-chilling sound from behind.

The rubble shifted.

The Hellseeker moved.

With its last strength, the beast roared and lunged at Daion—claws outstretched.

Jack moved.

He tackled Daion to the ground just as—

SHLACK.

His short sword pierced through the monster's mouth, straight into its skull.

The Hellseeker went still.

Then—its body convulsed.

Jack barely had time to pull his sword free before—

BOOM.

The Hellseeker's flesh burst, drenching them in burning blood and gore.

The stench of death was suffocating.

Jack gritted his teeth. "We did what we could…"

Daion trembled, rage boiling beneath the exhaustion.

"Go to hell."

He swung at Jack—

But his strength gave out.

Darkness swallowed him as he collapsed.