The rest of the jog was silent. No monsters shrieking from behind, no muscle-bound horror show ripping creatures limb from limb. Just the sound of their footfalls and Kai's heartbeat pounding like a war drum in his ears.
Stupid Death had introduced himself like some cosmic VIP—"most powerful entity in the three realms," "one of the Primordials," blah blah blah. Kai hadn't really bought it at the time. But after everything he'd seen in this place, he wanted to believe. He hoped there was something grand waiting for him at the end of this nightmare.
Then Marcus opened his mouth and crushed those hopes with the efficiency of a hydraulic press.
"There! Doors!" Marcus called out, pointing to a pair of double doors at the end of the hallway. "We might find shelter past that. Come on."
Kai gave a short nod, not wasting words. Marcus, sensing the change in mood, reached out and rested a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry. I'll explain everything once we're safe. There's... a lot to it. A whole lore behind why only one Outrider of Death made it through."
"Alright..." Kai muttered.
He had been excited moments ago—pumped up with adrenaline, delusions of grandeur, maybe even a spark of hope.
But now? It all deflated like a sad party balloon. Crinkled. Weak. Sagging to the floor with a quiet fart sound only he could hear.
They reached the door and exchanged a glance before pressing their weight against it.
It was heavy—jammed or swollen with time—and groaned under the strain. Kai's shoulder was still wrecked from earlier, so he threw in the other one, hoping it wouldn't end up bruised too.
The old wood creaked, slowly giving way.
But just as the door cracked open an inch, both of them froze.
Sound. Voices. Movement. Metal clashing.
Marcus turned to Kai, eyes wide, then cautiously peeked through the gap. After a beat, he chuckled.
"Looks like we're saved, my friend."
He pushed harder, and the door groaned wider—until the full scene unfolded before them.
It looked like a battlefield.
Corpses littered the stone floor—goblins, mostly, but a few humans too. The air stank of blood, sweat, and death.
Inside, sixteen or seventeen survivors were spread across the wide room. They turned toward the door for a heartbeat, eyes locking onto the new arrivals, weapons half-raised—before snapping their attention back to the fight still in progress.
They were covered in blood, some from wounds, most from others. Swords, spears, staffs, even bare fists—everything was being used. And they were winning.
It wasn't salvation.
It was a warzone in progress.
"Holy hell..."
Kai muttered under his breath.
Marcus chuckled, placing a hand on his shoulder like a proud older sibling showing off his dysfunctional family.
"Yep. This is what we're capable of. Come on, let's introduce ourselves..."
He nudged Kai forward.
The moment Kai stepped into the room, something… shifted.
A strange sensation crawled over his skin—like invisible threads worming into his body, one by one. It wasn't painful, just weird.
He stiffened, eyes darting around for the source. But all he saw were goblin corpses. Minced, crushed, or otherwise reconfigured in ways that shouldn't happen to organic matter.
"…Huh."
Kai gave a casual shrug. Probably just this world's version of a warm welcome. He stepped wide, not wanting to plant his boot in a goblin spleen, and moved deeper into the chaos.
There were maybe three goblins left standing. The rest—at least twenty—were already paint on the floor. A few humans had gone down too.
One of the remaining goblins lunged at a skinny boy, its jagged spear slashing through the air. The boy ducked under it like a trained acrobat—or a guy who had nearly died a lot of times before.
Behind him, a petite girl let out a battle cry and chucked a discarded spear. It spun wildly in the air like a fan blade on its last breath and barely clipped the goblin's shoulder.
Kai raised an eyebrow.
'She isn't afraid to step up... so she knows what's going on. I suspect she's a support or something…'
Kai stroked his non-existent beard like a wise sage with exactly zero credentials.
Behind him, Marcus hollered:
"Need a hand here!"
Kai turned his head.
"What?"
"Close this damn door! I don't need another monster—of any kind—waltzing in!"
Kai understood what Marcus meant. He gave a quick glance to the hallway they'd just barely survived, then shoved the double doors shut with a grunt.
The hinges groaned like old men with bad knees, and the wooden lock slid into place with a satisfying thunk.
"Pheww, that was hard…"
Marcus huffed, dusting off his hands like he just saved the whole party, while Kai had already moved on, his eyes glued to the battlefield.
The goblin that had been targeting the boy had now shifted its attention to the petite girl. She stepped back cautiously, eyes never leaving the snarling creature. The goblin stalked forward, drooling rage.
But something about her expression made Kai pause. She was calm. Hell, she was even smiling.
'She knows what she's doing, huh?'
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the boy—now behind the goblin—slowly creeping closer. The girl caught his movement, and with a subtle nod between them, it all made sense.
Kai's eyes lit up.
All of a sudden, the girl turned and sprinted away—but not before blowing a cheeky kiss at the goblin.
The little green monster snarled and lunged after her—
—but that's when the boy behind it struck.
He clasped his palms onto the goblin's ankle, and to Kai's utter shock, a set of iron shackles, straight out of a medieval torture catalog, shimmered into existence beneath his hands.
They snapped around the goblin's leg with a clang, rattling with ominous finality.
Kai blinked.
'What the fuck?!'
But it was already too late for the goblin. The stupid thing had taken a step forward, and the moment it did, the chains yanked it back with a violent pull. The goblin shrieked and faceplanted hard enough to rattle its ancestors.
"Now!!"
The boy yelled.
From the side, another figure burst into motion—another boy, wild grin on his face, blood smeared like war paint. He stomped forward, planted a foot on the goblin's head—
"Absolute Ruin!"
Crunch.
His foot smashed through the goblin's skull like it was a ripe watermelon. Blood, brains, and probably some regret splattered in every direction.
The boy looked down at the twitching corpse. Then he looked at his foot. Then he licked his lips and grinned wider.
Kai's jaw dropped.
'Wh—what the hell! What the hell! That's so cool!!!'
His eyes practically twinkled with admiration, sparkling with unholy chuuni energy. Behind him, Marcus noticed the look and took a slow, instinctive step back.