---
Annie's plan had been simple, if a little insane—fill a flame-compressing artifact with her fire and detonate it inside the enemy. It was reckless, but somehow, Harden had managed to pull it off. And he looked cool doing it too, she thought to herself.
"So... is it all over?" Raizo asked, almost in disbelief.
"Yeah..." Harden struggled to say, visibly exhausted.
"We've retrieved the mythril. Our mission is complete. Let's go home."
Surprisingly, the exit to the abyss—once sealed—was now wide open. Did the device he used to seal us in explode with him? Raizo wondered.
The group emerged from the abyss, greeted by stunned staff. The cost of victory was sobering: Dylan and Kevin were dead, Mike and Derek required intensive care, and the rest bore various broken bones and injuries.
"What exactly happened in there?" asked a large bald man in a black suit, his glasses catching the light.
"Give them some time to recover," another interjected before anyone could speak.
Healers tended to their wounds, and soon after, the injured were sent to the hospital. Mike and Derek were rushed to the ICU. Annie, Raizo, and Harden were treated for minor injuries and told they'd be discharged the following day.
That night, Harden lay in his hospital bed, sleep eluding him.
I still can't stop thinking about it, he muttered. It was supposed to be a regular abyss... yet everything spiraled out of control. We're lucky to be alive.
So many thoughts swirled in his head:
Why could I use skills from different classes?
How were we sealed inside the abyss?
Will more people die in the abyss because of this?
It's not fair, he thought bitterly. These people have families, friends... They work hard just to survive the horrors of the abyss. And now the Cataclysmic Revolt is making it a living hell.
Who were those people? Where did they come from? What was their end goal?
The questions haunted him until sleep finally took him.
---
Almost immediately—or so it seemed—a voice stirred him awake.
"Good morning!" said a nurse with a smile. "We've inspected you and your teammates. You, Annie, and Raizo are free to go—you only sustained minor injuries. Derek and Mike have been moved from the ICU, but they'll need another day or two here."
She paused. "Oh, and you have visitors. They've been waiting down the hall."
Harden got dressed and made his way out. Down the corridor, he spotted Hawkins, Amy, and Raizo chatting. As soon as Amy saw him, she ran up and threw her arms around him.
"You guys are always so reckless and stupid," she said, holding him tight. "Don't go landing yourselves in the hospital all the time!"
"I'll keep that in mind," Harden replied with a tired smile.
Hawkins brought them back to his place, where they finally had the chance to debrief.
Harden explained everything—how he could use skills from different classes, how he understood each ability as if he had studied it for years.
"How's that possible?" Amy asked, shocked. "Your assessment said you had no class. We figured it was wrong since you used martial arts skills."
"It's probably some sort of innate ability," Hawkins offered. But even he was unsettled. What exactly is it? And why is his mythical force so... different?