Brog instinctively jumped back, his breath hitching as he struggled to process what he had just witnessed. Beside him, Kuro's eyes widened in sheer terror.
The woman before them looked human, but everything about her—the way she spoke, the overwhelming power she wielded—was far beyond human comprehension.
Arthur seized the moment. Using his ability, he increased his weight drastically, breaking free from her grasp. As he stumbled back, gasping for air, the woman's gaze slowly shifted toward him.
"My lord is interested in you," she whispered. Her voice carried no emotion, only certainty. "You will come with me."
Arthur's expression hardened. "I will not," he spat. "I don't care about that so-called lord of yours!"
Before he could react, she appeared in front of him in an instant. His breath caught in his throat. A delicate fist pressed against his chest, seemingly gentle—yet a crushing force erupted from the impact.
Arthur was slammed into the ground by an immense air pressure. His body convulsed as pain surged through him. Blood trickled from his nose and ears, he could feel his whole body getting crushed,
A furious roar shattered the moment.
Brog lunged forward, his fist encased in jagged metallic debris. He swung with all his might. The woman barely tilted her head, dodging with ease—but Brog twisted his wrist mid-air, redirecting the strike toward her hand.
A thin red line appeared across her wrist. Blood dripped to the ground.
Arthur, now freed, collapsed onto his knees, gasping desperately for breath. Kuro rushed to his side.
Brog and the woman locked eyes once again.
Without hesitation, Brog unleashed a relentless barrage of punches. Each strike was precise, deadly. But this time, she didn't dodge. Instead, she caught his metal-clad fists with her bare hands. Then, with sheer, unimaginable strength, she hurled him through the air.
His body crashed into a tree, snapping it in half.
Before he could even groan in pain, she was already beside him.
A crushing force drilled him into the earth. The ground cracked beneath him, blood spurting from his mouth. His vision blurred. Bones shattered under the pressure. The glow in his eyes flickered, dimming.
As his consciousness wavered, she turned and began walking toward Kuro and Arthur.
"Come with me," she murmured again, her voice void of will, as if she were merely following orders.
Kuro's mind raced in panic.
This is bad… What do I do? I can't fight. I can't run. F*ck it all, why did everything have to go this way?
A deep, trembling voice broke through the chaos.
"Sorry… but as long as I'm alive, I won't let you take these boys."
The woman halted. Kuro lifted his gaze.
Brog stood once more. His eyes burned with a molten, metallic glow. Cracks ran down from his eyes to his throat, pulsing with raw energy.
The scattered metal debris around them began to tremble. Then, as if drawn by an unseen force, they surged toward him, breaking through buildings, twisting and reshaping themselves.
Within seconds, a towering titan of metal—twice the size of a man—stood before them.
Arthur, struggling to stand, clenched his fists. "Let's run," he whispered.
Kuro, still staring at Brog's transformation, exhaled slowly. After a pause, he spoke, his voice soft but resolute.
"We can't run."
The battle resumed.
The metal titan raised its massive fist and swung with crushing force. The woman stood still; confident it wouldn't touch her.
She miscalculated.
The sheer weight of the strike tore through the air, distorting space itself. Before she could react, the titan's fist crashed into her, sending her skidding across the battlefield, rocks shattering in her wake.
Her arm was broken. Yet, her face remained empty, devoid of pain.
Does she not feel anything? Kuro thought, his chest tightening.
The titan advanced, each step carving deep craters into the ground. Another punch. Faster. Stronger.
She vanished just before impact. The missed blow struck the ground instead, sending a violent tremor through the battlefield.
Reappearing midair, she raised a hand. The wind howled. A spear of compressed air formed at her fingertips, humming with deadly energy.
With a flick of her wrist, she sent it flying.
It struck the titan's core.
A shockwave blasted outward, knocking Kuro and Arthur off their feet. As the dust settled, their hearts sank.
The metal shell crumbled.
Kuro and Arthur watched in horror as the metal debris crumbled away, revealing Brog's motionless body, it fell to his knees. A gaping hole was carved through his chest.
Arthur clenched his fists, his entire body trembling. "You… you monster," he choked out. "He had a daughter waiting for him at home!"
The woman's expression remained indifferent. "He was in the way of my order."
Arthur's fury boiled over. "I will kill you, I swear, I will not die until I rip you apart!"
"That doesn't matter," she replied emotionlessly. "You two will come with me."
She turned and walked toward the withering tree, half-destroyed by the blast. Raising her hand, she effortlessly uprooted it, revealing a swirling, dark rift—tearing through the very fabric of space.
"Come with me," she repeated.
Arthur's voice wavered. "But… what about our families? Shouldn't they know where we are?"
She paused, then said, "The moment you step inside the Rift, everyone in this world will forget you ever existed."
The words struck Kuro and Arthur like a dagger to the heart.
Kuro swallowed hard. "It's only been two days since I escaped that prison… and now I'm being taken to another world. I didn't even get to give Ilya her 18th birthday gift."
Arthur's hands shook. "What… what do you mean?"
The woman didn't answer.
Arthur's voice hardened. "What if I refuse to go?"
"You have no choice," she stated simply. "Your destiny is already decided."
After a pause, she added, "My lord will close all the Rifts in this world—if you come with me."
Without another word, she placed her hand inside the Rift and vanished.
Kuro took a deep breath. Then, with one final glance at the world he was leaving behind, he stepped forward, his hand disappearing into the darkness. The void swallowed him whole.
Arthur hesitated for only a moment before following.
Outside the Rift
Captain Yeon sprinted toward the withering tree, his pulse pounding in his ears. The ground trembled beneath his feet, the air thick with dust and the stench of blood.
Then he saw it.
His breath caught. His heart sank.
The withering tree—uprooted, torn from the earth like it had never existed. And at some distance, slumped over a heap of twisted metal, was Brog's lifeless body, still kneeling as if refusing to fall completely.
Not far away, another broken figure lay motionless.
Captain Shin.
A gaping wound in his abdomen. Blood pooled beneath him, soaking into the ground.
Yeon's fists clenched, his whole body shaking. "What… what in the world happened here?" His voice wavered with disbelief and fury.
The gates to the Forbidden Zone creaked open at last. Reinforcements flooded in, their hurried footsteps and frantic voices filling the air—yet nothing could drown out the heavy silence that loomed over the battlefield.
The soldiers who had survived stood pale and shaken, their eyes hollow with exhaustion. When they spoke, their voices trembled, recounting the battle that had unfolded— the desperate struggle, the lives lost.
They had fought with everything they had. And still, it hadn't been enough.
Brog and Shin's bodies were recovered.
Not a single withered one remained inside.
For the first time in history, humanity had reclaimed a Forbidden Zone.
The world took notice. The news spread like wildfire.
And the name Brog echoed everywhere.
A hero.
A man who had defied the impossible—until the very end.
Elsewhere...
Tears streamed down Ilya's face as she watched the news. Her chest tightened, a hollow ache forming deep inside her.
Something felt... wrong.
What is this feeling? she thought, wiping her tears. Why does it feel like I've lost something?
She stared blankly at the screen.
"Was Dad... going to bring me a gift?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.
Beyond the Rift
Kuro and Arthur walked in silence, following the woman through the pitch-black void.
Then, without warning, a blinding light erupted around them.
They shut their eyes against its intensity.
When they opened them again—
They stood on a vast, open plain. The ground beneath their feet was covered in wild, untamed grass. The air howled around them. Behind them stretched an endless wilderness.
They could hardly believe their eyes.
But this...
This was just the beginning.