Once the three of them had finished resting, Alwyn packed away the remnants of their camp, carefully erasing any trace of their cooking. It was time to move again.

Since they couldn’t just leave Han behind, Alwyn and Erika had no choice but to bring him along as they searched for the Starfiend they were tasked to hunt. Alwyn had suggested returning and escorting Han to safety, believing it would be the more responsible course of action. However, Erika had no desire to waste time backtracking. She insisted they press on, and Alwyn reluctantly agreed.

Han, for his part, didn’t want to be left behind either. He refused to say where he’d come from, making it impossible to send him away even if they wanted to. And so, with no better options, the trio ventured deeper into the Wastes, leaving behind the soft glow of the Lumenbloom.

As they descended further, the darkness thickened, pressing in on them like a living presence, as if the land itself wanted them gone.

Eventually, they arrived at the edge of a large crater. The ground dipped sharply into a basin of shadows, the bottom swallowed by pitch-black gloom.

“Anyone want to bet the Starfiend is down there?” Erika asked, peering into the abyss.

“Let’s go,” Alwyn said simply.

Without hesitation, the three of them climbed down. The crater wasn’t too deep, though it would’ve been a nightmare for someone older or less agile. Thankfully, the trio were young and nimble, landing with ease and continuing on without injury.

They moved cautiously across the basin, eyes scanning the surroundings. The Lumen Lanterns they carried cast pale light around them, just enough to ward off the worst of the darkness. The glow would intensify if a Starfiend was nearby, but so far, it remained steady.

Han squinted into the gloom, his eyes darting about. Something flickered in the shadows, and he took off without a word.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going, you dumbass?!” Erika shouted.

Alwyn immediately followed, racing after Han before he got himself killed. So far, Han had survived by sheer dumb luck, but that luck wouldn’t last forever.

“I’m not chasing after that idiot!” Erika snapped, watching the light of Alwyn’s lantern grow fainter with distance. She crossed her arms, half-hoping the boy would stumble into a lesson he sorely needed. With a sigh, she leaned back against the bark of a dead tree to wait.

But then, she felt a subtle shift in the air behind her, a movement slight but unmistakable.

She looked up.

A massive eye stared down at her, embedded in the center of a colossal flower, its petals curled inward like a trap.

The Lumen Lamp at her waist flared with a sharp, urgent glow.

Erika didn’t flinch. Instead, a grin stretched across her face.

“So that’s where you’ve been hiding.”

A glowing golden thread slithered out from her hand.

*

On the far side of the crater, Alwyn was still chasing after Han, who had plunged into the darkness without a hint of fear. No matter how fast Alwyn ran, the boy somehow stayed ahead, his figure quickly swallowed by the pitch-black surroundings. Without a Lumen Lamp to light his way, Han had vanished completely from view.

Alwyn slowed to a stop, frustration mounting. Had he lost him? Or worse, had something already gotten to the boy? Just as he considered turning back, the ground beneath his feet shuddered. His Lumen Lamp pulsed with a sudden, brilliant light.

Instinct kicked in.

Alwyn sprang backward a second before jagged vines burst from the earth, stabbing through the air where he had just stood. Without hesitation, he ripped open the book strapped to his side and ran his fingers over a familiar page etched with the image of a wolf.

Ink shimmered. Aether surged.

From the page, a spectral wolf burst forth, its body crackling with raw magic. With a snarl, it lunged at the Starfiend emerging from the soil. Its fangs tore into the creature, shredding it in a blur of violence and snarling rage.

But victory was fleeting.

All around him, more Starfiends began to rise, each one blooming from the earth like twisted flowers, their massive eyes locking onto him with unnatural precision.

Alwyn’s jaw tightened. He pressed his hand to another page in his book, summoning the next beast. There was no time to hesitate.

*

Erika dodged the furious strikes of the vines as the massive flower lunged at her, trying to cut her down. With a flick of her wrist, she sent a golden thread spiraling toward the Starfiend, binding its movements. In one swift pull, she yanked the creature toward her. With her other hand, she drove her dagger straight into its eye. The Starfiend collapsed to the ground in a lifeless heap, and Erika stomped on its head to make sure it was dead.

“Host, I would like to inform you—” the mechanical voice of the System began in her mind.

“Yeah, yeah, shut it. I can hear it later,” Erika muttered, turning around just in time to see Alwyn approaching. His expression was grim, his book clutched tightly in one hand.

“You run into trouble too?” she asked.

“Yes,” Alwyn replied, his gaze falling to the dead Starfiend at her feet.

Noticing his glance, Erika smirked. “See? While you were off chasing that idiot, I actually got something done—”

RUMBLE!

The ground beneath them quaked violently. Both of them turned as the earth split open, and from the depths, something monstrous erupted.

It was a massive and grotesque Starfiend, unlike any of the others. Its body was a writhing mass of vines and gnarled plants, dotted with blinking eyes. But its upper half resembled a twisted humanoid torso, crowned with two vast white wings and a halo.

What caught their attention most, though, was the figure clinging to its chest.

Han, gripping a black sword, had plunged the blade deep into the creature’s body. His legs dangled in the air as he held on with all his might.

“Host, I would like to inform you again that the one you killed was not the main body,” the System said.

“Yeah, I figured that out!” Erika shouted.

From its sheer size and presence, the creature had to be an Elite-class Starfiend. The ones they’d fought before were likely just its minions. Yet Han, dangling like a stubborn leech, showed no sign of fear.

With a furious shriek, the Starfiend released a concussive shockwave. Han was flung into the air, but he landed cleanly on his feet. His usual cheerful expression was gone, replaced with a cold, steely glare.

“Han, where did you go?” Alwyn asked, stunned.

“Oh, I saw something moving in the distance, followed it, and found a cave. That led me here,” Han answered, ducking under a vine that tried to swipe at him.

“That was reckless.”

“But it worked! We found the boss,” Han said with a grin.

“Less talking, more fighting!” Erika snapped, flinging her golden threads to bind the Starfiend before it could retreat.

The creature howled and summoned dozens of smaller monsters from the ground. They surged forward to protect it. Alwyn responded instantly, summoning several spectral birds from his book. The birds dove into the horde, detonating like magical bullets as they struck.

Han raised his black sword. Fire burst from the blade, engulfing it. With a single swing, he released a wave of flame that incinerated the incoming Starfiends.

Erika watched, her eyes wide. “Guess he’s not useless after all.”

Alwyn remained silent, staring at Han. His earlier assumptions had clearly been wrong. He had thought the boy was just a naïve wanderer who had stumbled into the Wastes. But Han fought with the ease of someone who had faced death more than once. His movements were sharp and deliberate, his strikes efficient and merciless. There was no hesitation in his grip, no fear in his stance.

This wasn’t a fluke.

Han was a fighter, and a damned good one.

The Elite Starfiend, sensing its life was in danger, unleashed a barrage of magical projectiles that rained down from above like a deadly storm. Han dodged several with fluid agility, but one was hurtling straight toward him. Before it could land, Alwyn summoned another creature from his book. A hawk-shaped spirit intercepted the blast and burst into shards of light.

Erika didn’t waste the opening. Golden threads whipped from her hands, latching onto the Starfiend’s torso and wrapping it in a tight bind. She pulled with all her strength, trying to drag the monster down. The Starfiend thrashed violently, resisting her control until Alwyn ran to her side and added his weight, anchoring it in place.

Han didn’t hesitate. Using the threads like a path, he ran forward, his movements swift and graceful. Each step landed perfectly as he sprinted across the golden strands, wind rushing past his face. In seconds, he was face to face with the towering creature. Its many eyes burned with hatred. Han met its gaze, unflinching.

With a cry, he swung his sword and cleaved through its neck.

The Starfiend’s head tumbled to the ground. Its body convulsed, but Han wasn’t done. Twisting his grip, he drove the black blade deep into its chest. Flames erupted from the weapon, pouring into the creature and consuming it from the inside out.

The fire surged downward, hunting for the core. When it found it, a deep crack echoed through the air. The Starfiend let out one final, agonized shriek before its body crumbled to ash.

Silence fell.

All that remained was smoke, heat, and the drifting ashes of a fallen monster.