She turns back to look at him.

He wasn't standing. He wasn't moving.

She could barely make out the blood smeared across his chest, the crushed arm, the shattered sword beside him—and the shadow of Lim Jisoo crouched low, holding pressure to his wound with one hand, blade ready in the other.

"Minjae!" Hana snapped, "Go. Now. He's down!"

"On it."

He broke formation, aura flaring green as he sprinted toward the fallen Non-Coreborn.

 Jisoo, the flux core didn't glance up as he arrived.

"He's poisoned and his shoulder's gone," she said coldly.

"I kept him breathing. Barely."

Minjae dropped to his knees beside them, already conjuring threads of Corelight.

"Thank you," 

He began weaving a healing lattice over Jaemin's battered torso. His palms hovered, slow pulses of amber light seeping into the torn muscle and cracked ribs.

"You're going to stay that way, alright? Just don't move."

"Form up!"

The leader's voice rang out like a war drum.

His aura blazed higher—deep crimson, like a flare touching the sky—and in a single motion, he swung his greatsword. The ground scorched. The closest striders vaporised in the shockwave.

The tanks flanked left, aura trailing like molten Red, drawing the bulk of the remaining shadows.

That's when Juri and Rin moved.

Juri's Corewheel spun with lethal brightness, eyes locked. Rin blurred past her, twin daggers catching light with every step.

Lim Jisoo gave Jaemin one last look, then rose, sprinting toward the frontline. The air pulsed as she rejoined the group, blade humming.

The remaining DPS—two Velocity Cores and one Precision—fell into formation, their

Corewheels blazing to life.

The team stood in a loose circle, back to back.

Weapons raised.

Aura flaring like a sunrise.

Then—

They launched.

A cyclone of motion.

Juri's bolts shredded the last One-Eye mid-air.

Crackk!

Rin darted in, blades drawing arcs through the ribbed necks of Striders. Lim Jisoo cleaved through three Rifthounds in a single sweeping cut.

Shingggg!

Mist hissed, and shadows screamed.

Slash after slash.

The battlefield emptied, one kill at a time.

When the dust settled, only silence remained.

Hana's arms dropped—her spell fading, the glowing lamp behind her flickering out.

SFX: Sighs

She swayed on her feet, completely drained.

But her eyes found Jaemin—and nothing else mattered.

She ran, boots kicking up dust and ash.

Hana fell beside him, hands trembling. Corelight flared from her palms again, faint but focused. It took more effort than she had left, but—

His wounds began to close quickly.

Torn muscle knitted. Blood dried. Poison flushed. And with a quiet, glowing pulse, his missing arm began to reform.

Regenerated.

Hana let out a breath—half relief, half exhaustion—and slumped beside him.

"You're alright," she whispered, half to him, half to herself.

The whole team finally closes up together.

Rin stepped forward.

"When the fuck did Abyssals start adapting like this?"

She muttered, eyes narrowed into the thickening fog.

Juri didn't look up as she slid her bolts back into the holster on her hip.

"Last time I checked, no Rift has mist. Not like this. And One-Eyes? They don't belong here."

Minaje scoffed, spitting blood to the side as he leaned on his staff.

"Striders and Rifthounds, sure—Tier 5 trash. But One-Eyes? Those beasts are Tier 4. So how on earth did they end up in a Tier 5 raid?"

 Jisoo spoke, her tone as emotionless as ever.

"Easy. We're not in Tier 5 anymore."

Her gaze flicked toward the squad leader.

"We're in a Tier 4 rift now… right, Captain?"

The leader didn't answer immediately. His shoulders were tense, eyes narrowed into the fog as if trying to pierce the veil with sheer will. The red glow of him had faded, but the weight of power still clung to him like a storm waiting to crack.

"Damn right we are".

He took a slow step forward, surveying the aftermath—the torn remains of shadows, the scorched ground still hissing under the weight of their powers. His jaw clenched as he spoke.

"This Rift is abnormal. Broken to its fucking core. There's no Overseer here. And if there is, it's a puppet. Just bait."

"We're stuck," the captain said, louder now. "Deep in Doom's mouth."

Juri shifted uncomfortably beside Rin. "So what now?"

The leader turned to face them, eyes burning.

"We can't go back. We can't stay or else we rot... We move forward…"

His voice dropped, rough with grim certainty.

"…we all can die if we don't..."