Chapter 49 - Rune of Balance(1)

Liera stretched out her hands, flexing her long nails as she admired her newly transformed form.

A twisted smile played on her lips as she felt the raw power coursing through her veins, her crimson eyes glowing with exhilaration.

She turned to face the group, her expression unreadable for a moment before she let out a light chuckle. "Ah… I must say, I almost feel bad," she mused, tilting her head. "After all, we were comrades, weren't we?"

Silence.

Nathaniel clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white. His voice wavered, barely above a whisper. "Liera… what are you?" His throat felt tight, the weight of betrayal pressing down on his chest.

Liera's gaze flickered to him, amused. "What am I?" she repeated, placing a clawed hand on her chest. "A demon, of course. Was it really so hard to figure out?"

Vince staggered back as if struck. "No… No way." His breath hitched, eyes darting between his trembling hands and Liera's cruel smirk. "We trusted you. You fought beside us. You—" His voice cracked. Why?"

"And I enjoyed it," Liera admitted with a smirk. "I truly did. You humans have such fascinating emotions—trust, camaraderie, hope… They're so fragile. So easy to break."

Irene's breath was shallow, her hands trembling as she instinctively reached for her weapon. "You were lying to us this whole time?"

Liera rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. Don't act so betrayed. Did you really think a mere human could be this perfect? That I could stand among you as an equal, no—superior—and not be something more?"

She let out a low laugh. "I never needed your trust. I simply played along because it was convenient."

Lucien's face remained neutral, but his knuckles were white from how hard he was gripping his daggers. "Why reveal yourself now?"

"Because I no longer need to pretend," she said simply. "I was waiting for a perfect opportunity. And now…"

A slow shudder passed through her, her smile widening with a hunger that was no longer just amusement—but anticipation.

"Now, it has presented itself."

And then—

The ground trembled beneath their feet, a deep, guttural rumble vibrating through the stone like the growl of some slumbering beast.

Cracks spiderwebbed across the ceiling, and dust rained down in fine, ghostly wisps.

The dungeon itself seemed to stir.

The air shifted. The walls groaned as if something ancient had been disturbed.

Then, without warning—

At the far end of the chamber, the stone wall twisted, reshaping itself, bricks cracking and shifting as a small doorway materialized from nothingness.

Silence fell upon the room.

The air turned cold. Thick with something unseen, something Ancient.

Liera's breath hitched.

Her lips parted, her expression morphing from amusement to something almost… reverent.

Her fingers trembled, her eyes wide as she stared at the door as though it were salvation itself.

"This is it…" she whispered, her voice barely above a breath.

"Heheh..heheh...hehe"

She threw her head back, a gleeful grin spreading across her face.

"This is it!!!!"

"This… This is why I was sent here!" Her voice trembled with excitement, her hands clenched into fists. "An ancient Rune… No, something greater."

Her eyes glowed with a fanatical light. "The Demon King will reward me for this… I will rise!"

She took a step forward, her entire being trembling with anticipation.

Meanwhile, Ray's team stood frozen.

Drained of mana, their limbs heavy with exhaustion, they swayed but did not fall.

Terror clawed at their chests, an instinctive urge to flee coiling around their spines, yet they did not move.

Their fingers trembled, weapons slick with sweat, knees threatening to buckle—yet not a single one turned away.

Ash, on the other hand, remained indifferent.

His gaze flickered to the door, but no emotions surfaced on his face.

There is nothing in there that will benefit me, More importantly...

Ash gaze snapped to Ray.

Sigh....he's going to lose it.

In the novel, the first time Ray encountered a demon, he had gone berserk. The Academy instructors had to step in just to stop his rampage—even after the demon was dead. And it wasn't a one-time event.

Every time he saw a demon, he would lose himself. Like a beast running amok, attacking anything in sight until his rage burned out.

Until he learned to control it, this was bound to keep happening.

Ash watched Ray with wariness.

He stood still.

Too still.

His head hung low, his shoulders rigid. His breaths—shallow, ragged—sounded almost strained.

It's starting.

But Ash had no time to worry about that now.

The situation was becoming dangerous. If Ray loses his consciousness before killing the demon, then he will die.

I can't let that happen

A deep frown tugged at his lips. Shit… I never thought I'd be absorbing another Rune inside this damn dungeon.

His grip tightened around the gemstone in his hand, a cold, uneasy weight settling in his chest.

I need to prepare for the worst-case scenario.

Pushing those thoughts aside, he lifted the gem toward his mouth.

For a moment, he hesitated.

But isn't it better if he died, I can collect the runes freely, I can leave this world and shift to another planet with Elysia.

Should I save him or leave?

After thinking like this for a while he decided.

Let's not take risk, who knows what will happen....

With a resigned sigh, he popped the gem into his mouth and muttered,

"Rune of Balance."

***

Meanwhile, Ray...

A tremor ran through Ray's body. His breath hitched—shallow, ragged gasps slipping past his lips. His hands twitched, his grip tightening around his sword so fiercely that the hilt groaned under the pressure.

His shoulders began to shake.

At first, it was subtle, almost imperceptible.

Then—

"Haha…"

A light laugh came from his mouth—Small, broken.

His head twitched upward, His pupils dilated.

"Haha… Haha… Haha…"

The sound slithered through the air, uneven, unstable—like a man standing at the edge of a precipice, peering into an abyss that laughed back at him.

Then, a voice—low, hoarse, crawling up his throat like something grotesque and alive.

"Demon."

Small memories flashed in front of his eyes,

—His mother's hands, warm as they ruffled his hair. "My little knight."

His fingers spasmed.

"Demon."

—His father's broad back, standing between him and the demons. "Run, Ray. RUN!"

The word bled from his lips, quiet at first.

Then again.

"Demon."

And again.

"Demon."

Each time, his voice grew louder.

"Demon."

Flames. Screams. The scent of burning flesh.

—His mother's arms around him, trembling. "Don't look outside, sweetheart. Wait for us we will come back."

"DEMON."

"DEMON."

The laughter twisted, warping into something unnatural, something terrifying, crawling from the depths of his soul.

"HAHAHAHA—"

His lips stretched into a grin, teeth bared in something that could barely be called a smile.

His face—euphoric and ecstatic.

His entire body quivered, his chest rising and falling erratically as his breath turned feverish. His heart pounded against his ribs—wild, uncontrollable. His pulse roared in his ears, drowning out every other sound.

The veins in his eyes burst. The whites turned crimson.

The sclera of his eyes—painted in blood, wide and gleaming with something raw.

Malice.

Hatred.

And something else.

Elation.

Like a starving beast that had just found its prey.

He took a step forward.

And the world itself seemed to flinch.

The air became suffocating.

The temperature plummeted.

A killing intent so vile, so utterly unrestrained, exploded from him like a tidal wave, crashing against the walls, the floor, the very fabric of space.

Nathaniel's breath hitched, his face draining of color. "W-What the hell…?"

Vince staggered back, his throat dry. "Oi… What's wrong with him?"

Irene clutched her arms, her entire body shuddering.

Even Liera paused.

A flicker of unease crossed her eyes.

Just for a second.

But then—

Ray took another step.

His voice grew Louder.

"Demon"

"Demon. Demon. Demon. Demon. DEMON. DEMON. DEMON."

"Hehehhee—hahahaha"

It was the laughter of someone on the precipice of sanity, balancing on the thin, fragile line between reason and madness.

His shoulders jerked with each breathless chuckle. His head tilted to the side, the whites of his eyes visible now,

"I FINALLY FOUND ONE!!"

His voice thundered through the dungeon, cracking through the suffocating silence like lightning splitting the sky.

"Hehehhee—hahahaha"

His laughter spilled out, unhinged, ceaseless, stretching into a chorus of madness.

And then—

Ray's figure blurred—then, in the blink of an eye, he was there, his sword already descending.

The air howled as the blade cut through it, a arc of death racing toward Liera's throat.

Liera barely had time to react.

The blade cut through the air with a shriek, a sound so sharp and violent that it sent a chill racing down her spine.

Fast—!

Her instincts roared, and she twisted her body at the last second.

SLASH—!

A metallic hiss rang out as Ray's sword carved through the space where her head had been mere milliseconds ago. Strands of her hair fluttered, severed cleanly by the attack.

But Ray—

Ray wasn't done.

His blood-red eyes locked onto her, wild and unrelenting.

"Heh… Hehehe… Hahahahaha!!"

His voice trembled with something between laughter and hysteria. His shoulders shook—not from fear, but from raw, unfiltered exhilaration.

His grin stretched unnaturally wide, his teeth bared in a wolfish, almost predatory snarl. His breathing was erratic, deep and shuddering, as if his body couldn't contain the sheer rage surging through him.

"I found a Demon."

His fingers twitched.

His voice dripped with venom, warping into something twisted and grotesque.

"DEMON—!!"

The air cracked.

The suffocating pressure of his killing intent spiked, pressing against the walls, distorting the very atmosphere.

Liera's eyes narrowed.

She had underestimated him.

For a human, for a boy who had never taken a human life before, this level of killing intent… This wasn't normal. This was something born of pure, unfiltered hatred.

"Tch—"

She clicked her tongue, her muscles coiling as she moved, her body flickering backward like a shadow.

But Ray was already there.

"Hah—!!"

His sword came down in a vicious arc—

And a brilliant crescent of void energy erupted from his blade.

The slash cut through the air like reality itself had been torn apart.

Liera's eyes widened. Tch, that's dangerous—!

She moved to the side just in time, dodging by the width of a hair.

The aftermath—

A massive shockwave erupted, carving a deep fissure into the dungeon floor.

Dust and debris exploded into the air, the ground splitting apart as if the dungeon itself had recoiled from Ray's wrath.

But he wasn't done.

A deep pulse of energy throbbed from his body, distorting the air around him,

And then—he vanished.

Liera's eyes darted around, Where—?!

A split second too late.

A boom echoed through the chamber as Ray materialized in front of her—

A surge of Fire crackled across his sword.

A blinding arc of blaze followed his swing, the scent of ozone thick in the air.

Liera barely managed to intercept. Her claws met his blade, sparks flying as the two clashed. The sheer force of the impact sent her skidding back, her arms trembling slightly.

She had fought plenty of prodigies.

But this—

This was something else.

A relentless barrage of attacks followed. Ray's strikes were wild yet precise, each movement fueled by raw fury but refined by something more instinctive—something terrifyingly natural.

Fire and Space mana arced from his blade, each swing followed by the roar of a thunderstorm. The very air seemed to ripple from his speed.

Then—he twisted his wrist.

His sword vibrated violently, his mana condensing along the edge, bending space itself.

Liera's pupils dilated. Oh no—!

A devastating slash cut through the dungeon—

The space around her twisted. Stone walls cracked. The entire dungeon trembled due to the impact.

Liera's instincts screamed. She twisted, the tip of Ray's sword missing her by a hair's breadth. The heat of his swing grazed her cheek, a thin line of crimson appearing before she even registered the pain.

She clicked her tongue. This isn't good. If this keeps going—

But Ray…

His sword shattered, unable to withstand the sheer, unfiltered force of his strike. Shards of metal scattered, clattering against the stone floor.

Ray didn't flinch.

Without pause, without thought, his hand dipped into his inventory. A new sword materialized in his grip, as if the destruction of the previous one meant nothing.

And he didn't stop.

His breath came in ragged gasps, his chest heaving.

The effects of Overclock had begun to take hold.

His muscles twitched erratically, his grip tightening, his body nearly breaking under the strain.

But his eyes—

His eyes showed no hesitation.

He laughed again, a deep, unsettling sound.

"Heh… Hahaha… This is it…! This is how it should be!"

***