ARCADES

Three days later, they arrived at a small kingdom nestled in a valley of cliffs and wheat. The town had no name on any map. Its walls were wooden, its gates iron-plated, and its people—tired.

They felt the tension the moment they entered.

Merchants whispered. Children were kept indoors. Archers lined the rooftops—not with confidence, but with fear.

They remained mounted as they passed through the gates.

A desperate woman, spotting their unfamiliar faces, hurried over.

She waved at a stable owner to come take their horses and keep them safe.

"Welcome, warriors," she said, panting slightly. "You seek shelter? We've got you covered."

The travelers exchanged glances, then followed her without a word.

She led them to a small motel near the edge of the inner quarter. Cracked stone walls. Faint smell of old smoke. It would do.

Kalamari paid the woman well—he knew there was likely no other way for her to earn.

They each settled into separate rooms, dropping their gear and resting until nightfall.

Kalamari sat in a meditation position, closed his eyes, and connected with the spirit realm.

From the shadow behind him, Nylok emerged.

The creature blinked once, then scanned the room. Its gaze settled on Kalamari—still deep in his trance.

"Be careful, Nylok," Kalamari murmured without moving. "Don't cause any trouble."

Nylok slithered into the darkness like a moving shadow, patrolling the mini kingdom in silence. Just to be safe, Kalamari extended his awareness—linking his senses to Nylok's for the first time.

Through the shadow's eyes, Kalamari saw everything.

He smiled.

And then… he led Nylok to Unomi's window.

Inside, she danced—alone and carefree—half-naked, wearing only a black bikini. She moved to the rhythm of a quiet melody only she could hear.

Kalamari lingered through Nylok's eyes, watching. Just until she paused and turned toward the window.

Nylok ducked instantly and sprinted away, fading into the shadows until he arrived outside Tozi's room. The big warrior was fast asleep.

---

The next morning, the three of them took a stroll through the kingdom, breathing the dry air, observing the broken roads and bent walls. The place was a mess.

Near a stone well, a merchant woman leaned toward them and whispered:

"There's a beast. Twenty feet tall. Comes every moon. Controlled by a wizard. Demands our gold… or he crushes our fields."

"Why not fight?" Tozi asked.

"We tried," she whispered. "He burned our militia to ash. No one survives the beast's wrath."

Unomi looked at Kalamari.

He gave one slow, deliberate nod.

---

That night, as the moon rose high and red behind the hills, thunder shook the earth.

The monster came—an armored colossus twenty feet tall, forged of black iron and bone. Tusks of fire curled from its face. Its eyes burned like molten glass, and every step turned the wheat fields to dust.

Behind it floated the wizard.

He drifted above the ground, cloaked in black and gold robes, face hidden behind a cruel mask of glass and steel. His hands shimmered with dark runes, the symbols shifting, glowing, and reforming with every second—drawing sigils in the air that pulsed with forbidden power.

"I come for my gold," he thundered, his voice cracking rooftops and splintering shutters. "Or this time, I take your lives instead."

But tonight, three figures stood at the village gate.

Kalamari. Tozi. Unomi.

They said nothing.

The wind moved around them, as if sensing the weight of what they carried.

"Who are these pests?" the wizard sneered. "Are you here to give me my gold?"

No one replied.

Kalamari looked at the wizard, then slowly turned his gaze elsewhere—as if dismissing him entirely.

The message was clear without a word: Turn around and leave.

The wizard felt the insult. His face twisted behind the mask.

He raised his wounded hand, chanting ancient magical lyrics.

The monster's eyes glowed red.

It roared—and the battle began.

Tozi vanished first.

One moment he stood beside them. The next—he was gone, swallowed by shadow like a whisper lost in the wind. His blade, forged of silver-black alloy, moved so fast it blurred, carving glowing runes from the very air. Every time the wizard tried to cast, Tozi was already there—slashing the spell apart before it could form, severing the sigils mid-gesture.

Arcane light fizzled into smoke and sparks.

Unomi launched skyward in a burst of pure gravitational force. The earth cracked beneath her, scattering dust like a broken spell. She flipped twice in the air and landed lightly atop the colossus's shoulder. Her Soul Sword flashed, slicing in elegant arcs as she danced along its armored spine. With every strike, she carved blazing silver trails across its enchanted plating. Sparks flew. Bloodmetal hissed.

The wizard snarled from behind his mask and flung a spear of black fire toward her. She twisted mid-step, bent the weight of the air itself, and dropped off the beast's back just in time—narrowly avoiding the searing blast. It struck the wheat field and turned half an acre into smoldering glass.

Kalamari still hadn't moved.

He stood at the edge of the field, cloak billowing, hands open at his sides.

Watching.

Waiting.

Then, as if addressing an old friend, he smiled faintly and whispered to the earth behind him.

"It's your turn."

From the dirt at his feet, a shadow exploded.

Nylok.

It burst upward like a column of black lightning, spreading across the earth like living ink, crawling up Kalamari's legs and into his arms, threading through his veins. His eyes flared—a deep, unnatural violet. His breath echoed with something no longer fully human. It was a fusion now. Kalamari and Nylok, body and shadow, warrior and wraith.

He moved.

In an instant, he collided with the charging colossus, catching its fiery tusks in both hands. The impact boomed like a mountain collapsing. Shockwaves rippled through the fields, flattening wheat, snapping trees in half.

The beast pushed harder, flame rolling from its jaws.

Kalamari's muscles tensed. His feet dug into the earth.

His eyes glowed brighter.

With a pulse of invisible power, he lifted the creature—twenty feet of armored fury—and slammed it sideways into the cliff wall with godlike force. The stone cracked. Armor shattered. A wave of molten shrapnel rained down across the hills.

He didn't hesitate.

Kalamari leapt after it in a single bound, landing atop the crumbling monster. He drove a fist into its chest plate, shattering the inner core. Molten shards erupted like dying stars.

Above, the wizard screamed in fury and conjured a vortex of flame and shadow, swirling together in a storm of raw destruction.

From behind cover, Tozi appeared beside Unomi. He was smiling, just a little too calmly.

"He's not normal," she muttered, stunned.

Tozi shrugged, still grinning. "Did I forget to mention?"

He leaned closer, whispering like it was a casual secret.

"He's actually A-rank."

Unomi's eyes widened. "But how—? He was F-rank when we E-ranks left Arcade."

"I was surprised too," Tozi said. "He never bragged. Never cared about ranks. But he doesn't fear anyone. Not even gods."

The wizard screeched, his fury boiling over. He slammed his hands into the ground, and a massive wave of obsidian spikes erupted from the soil, racing toward the trio like a tidal wave of death.

Unomi snapped her fingers.

Gravity bent sideways.

She and Tozi flew over the spikes like leaves in the wind.

Kalamari?

He walked through it.

The obsidian shattered against a shimmering veil of shadow coiled around his body. His skin crackled with violet arcs. His voice, when it came, was no longer just his own—it was thunder wrapped in ancient shadow.

"You should've left when I told you to," he said. "Your era ends here."

He raised both hands.

The clouds tore open.

From the heavens descended a blade—forged of shadow and starlight, its edge humming with forgotten power.

Sun Qie Ge Zhe.

The sword of Helios.

It fell like judgment.

The impact cracked the wizard's barrier like glass struck by lightning. He reeled back, screaming. Tozi surged forward with a blur of speed and cut through the remaining wards with one precise strike.

Unomi dove behind him, gravity guiding her Soul Sword like fate itself.

She pierced the wizard's chest, cutting through both enchantment and flesh.

He gasped once—eyes wide behind his steel-glass mask—then collapsed, lifeless, into the dust.

The colossus, severed from its master's will, trembled. Its molten core flickered… dimmed… and died.

It took one last, groaning step—like a mountain on its final breath—and then collapsed into a heap of dust and cracked armor.

Silence.

The wind returned.

Then, slowly, the villagers emerged from hiding.

Children. Elders. Farmers with dirt under their nails. All wide-eyed. All stunned.

A boy no older than seven ran forward and dropped to his knees before Kalamari, kissing his hand.

"You saved us," he whispered.

Others joined him.

"Yoooo!!" someone cried. "Our salvation! The kingdom protectors—they saved us!"

Voices rose like a tide. The entire village echoed with cheers.

They praised them, sang songs in their honor. Children danced in circles around the three warriors. Food and gold were brought forth—silk sheets, honeyed wine, beds fit for royalty.

Kalamari looked at Tozi. Then at Unomi.

They each gave a small nod.

And yet, as the celebrations reached their peak, the three of them disappeared.

By dawn, they were gone.

Vanished into the misty road beyond the valley, silhouettes fading into the rising sun.

The villagers watched from the gates, hands raised in farewell.

The protectors had come like a storm.

But their journey was far from over.

The world still needed to be rebuilt.

---

Next chapter unfolds something new.