The battlefield was quiet in the way only massacres could be.

Black ichor steamed against shattered stone. The Ant King’s corpse lay split and ruined—but you were barely aware of it. Your body was half-buried beneath broken terrain, blood soaking into the earth beneath you.

“Hey—hey!” Cha Hae-In’s voice cracked as she slid to her knees beside you. “Stay with me. Don’t close your eyes.”

Her hands hovered uselessly, afraid to touch what she couldn’t fix.

Baek Yoonho stood a few steps back, fists clenched so tight his claws pierced his palms. “…That damn thing,” he growled. “It went straight for her.”

Min Byung-Gyu was already kneeling, green healing light flaring desperately—but the spell flickered.

“I—I can slow it,” he said, voice strained, panic bleeding through his usual calm. “But this damage—this isn’t normal. Her mana’s collapsing.”

From behind them, a slow clap echoed.

Goto Ryuji stepped forward, katana still stained, eyes sharp and calculating as they swept over the carnage—and then stopped on you.

“…So even monsters fear someone enough to target what they treasure,” he muttered. “Interesting.”

Then—

The shadows bent.

Not stretched. Not flickered.

They bowed.

A cold pressure rolled across the island like a suffocating tide.

Baek straightened instantly. “—That presence.”

Cha’s breath caught. “…He’s here.”

Footsteps approached—measured, unhurried.

Sung Jin-Woo emerged from the darkness.

Behind him, the ground split as shadows rose in formation.

Igris knelt first, sword embedded in the earth, crimson eyes lowered. Tusk followed, staff, glowing ominously, tusked face grim. Tank lumbered into place with a low rumble, frost mist curling from his breath. Iron slammed a fist to his chest, snarling eagerly. Above them all, Kaisel descended, wings folding as the wyvern bowed its head.

An army.

Jin-Woo ignored all of them.

He went straight to you.

He knelt, coat brushing blood-soaked stone, and for the first time since anyone had met him, his voice lost its emptiness.

“…You’re hurt.”

Not shock. Not disbelief.

Confirmation.

Min Byung-Gyu swallowed. “Jin-Woo… I can’t stabilize her. The Ant King’s strike—it’s eating through everything.”

Jin-Woo didn’t look at them.

He looked down at you, forehead resting briefly against yours.

“They touched you,” he said quietly. “So the world will remember what happens when it does.”