Unrivaled in another world

[: 3rd POV :]

On the other hand, Kiel and Manork were teleported together.

However, the place was full of darkness.

It wasn't the kind born from sorrow or evil, but ancient, deep, and alive.

The skies of the Demon Continent hung low and violet, riddled with drifting crimson stars and black moons that never waned.

The ground cracked with ember veins, pulsing with mana older than the world itself.

From within the spiral of void light that erupted amidst the obsidian plains, two figures fell through—scarred, weary, but very much alive.

Kiel hit the ground first, tumbling and groaning as he rolled onto his back.

Beside him, Manork landed with perfect posture, knees bent in silence, fists resting at his sides.

Kiel pushed himself up, breathing hard, blinking as he took in the jagged ridgelines of the volcanic horizon and the scent of brimstone filling his lungs.

"We're… home?" he muttered, dazed. "The Demon Continent…?"

He looked over at the towering figure beside him, his once-resented companion, the wrathful enigma who spoke little but carried the weight of worlds in his silence.

Manork remained still.

Eyes narrowed.

Breathing steadily.

But the wrath in his gaze spoke volumes.

He didn't shout and he didn't cry.

But the way his claws slowly curled… the way the heat around him twisted unnaturally…

There was vengeance in his silence.

Kiel rose to his feet fully, brushing ash from his shoulders, eyes dark and solemn.

He remembered Daniel's face in those final moments, the boy who had shielded them all with nothing but will.

The boy who never once complained, who laughed in pain, who gave even when he had nothing to give.

And now… they didn't even know if he was still breathing.

Kiel clenched his fists.

"He was a kid…" he muttered. "A damn kid. And he still protected us all."

His throat tightened, and his eyes stung.

"I never had a brother," he said bitterly, "but he was the first person I ever called friend… and the only one I ever trusted."

Then he turned to face Manork, his eyes full of fire.

"Manork," Kiel said firmly. "I'll set aside the resentment I've had towards you."

The older demon blinked slowly, listening.

"But you and I both know… that's not the problem right now."

Manork's head tilted slightly.

The ever-present tension between them still hung, unspoken but acknowledged.

"I agree," he rumbled at last, his voice like a quiet storm.

They didn't need to speak more.

There were unhealed wounds between them.

Old grudges.

Heavy truths.

But all of that could wait.

For now, they were united by one thing.

And the fire of vengeance that burned for him.

Kiel stood facing the violet-hued horizon, his breath unsteady as the wind from the volcanic plains swirled around them.

But Kiel didn't care.

His gaze was locked with Manork's, his resentment, sometimes ally, and now the only other soul who understood the storm inside him.

"Say it, Manork," Kiel muttered, his voice low.

"Tell me I'm not the only one who wants to rip them apart."

Manork remained silent for a moment longer, the embers beneath his boots glowing brighter with every second that passed.

Then, for the first time in what felt like years, he spoke, voice sharp, guttural, heavy with restrained fury.

"They chained her," he growled.

"They broke Rika. They made Caelira kneel. They tried to burn you alive."

He turned toward Kiel, eyes glowing a dangerous shade of blood-red.

"And they called Daniel worthless."

Kiel swallowed hard, nodding slowly, the heat in his own veins beginning to boil.

"He bled for us," he said bitterly. "He shattered himself to protect us."

His voice cracked.

"...And we couldn't do a damn thing for him."

Manork's fists tightened, claws digging into his palms.

"I will not forgive them."

Kiel looked up, wide-eyed.

Manork's voice shook with emotion now, not rage alone, but a deep, trembling wrath that had been sealed behind silence for far too long.

"I swear by my title. By my blood. By my very soul—" his voice thundered like an earthquake, "the Velroth name will be erased. I will crush the bones of every slave merchant who ever raised a hand to him."

Kiel's own power began to flare, dark lightning arcing across his arms, his voice carrying the same burning oath.

"I swear the same, Manork. I'll burn their houses, salt their lands, and drag their cowardly gods down into the dirt with them."

Manork took one step closer, the air between them dense with fury.

"I don't care how many kingdoms fall," he rumbled. "Daniel will be avenged."

Kiel grinned grimly, eyes filled with a pain too deep for words.

"No," he corrected. "He'll be saved. And then avenged."

A pause passed between them, silent, but understood.

Old enemies.

Now bonded by the same wound.

But before another word could pass between them, they felt it—a surge of energy, dozens of signatures rushing through the air.

The sky split, and within moments, black-armored knights descended from the skies above.

Their dark cloaks snapped in the wind, and when they landed, they staggered in disbelief.

"P-Prince Kiel!?"

"Demon Lord—Sin of Wrath—Lord Manork!?"

The royal knights of the Demon Continent dropped to one knee instinctively, eyes wide, unable to believe what they were seeing.

They had been gone for years.

Declared lost.

Vanished and thought to be dead. 

And now, suddenly, both returned?

Kiel sighed, placing a hand on his hip.

"Guess the rumours of our death were exaggerated."

Manork didn't speak.

His eyes were still locked on the horizon.

Because something in him already knew…

They weren't back for long.

Not until Daniel was found.

And not until the Velroth name was buried beneath the ashes of revenge.

Kiel finally turned to the kneeling knights, his voice resounding like thunder.

"Summon the royal court. Tell the King and Queen his son is home."

"And war," Manork added, stepping beside him, "is coming."

[: In an unknown land :]

Darkness had no beginning, no end.

It cradled him.

Not cruelly...but with eerie softness, as if the Void itself mourned what he had lost and what he had given.

Daniel did not dream.

He existed, barely tethered to the world.

He was floating… weightless… timeless.

There was no breath to take, no heartbeat to track, only the faint echo of a memory—

A girl screaming his name.

A brother lunging with broken fists.

A sword falling.

Then… nothing.

Until now.

A tremor.

No...it was gentler.

A ripple across the abyss, like someone knocking on the walls of his soul.

And then a whisper.

[: Awakening Initiated. :]

He gasped.

Air slammed into his lungs like a storm through shattered windows.

He arched off the ground, chest rising with panic...sweat trailing down skin cold as frost.

He coughed, he choked...he breathed.

And then he opened his eyes.

What greeted him wasn't the blue skies of the Human Realm or the silver canopy of the Elven Forests.

It was a sky of fire lit by the sun, half eclipsed by a glowing lunar ring.

The clouds twisted in slow spirals of violet and gold.

Strange flora blanketed the landscape...plants that shimmered like crystal, trees that hummed with static energy.

It was silent.

But it wasn't empty.

Daniel slowly pushed himself upright.

His limbs felt… new.

As though rebuilt. His bones ached in unfamiliar ways.

His hair had grown.

His fingertips tingled with remnants of power.

And his heart… his heart knew.

This place… wasn't anywhere known.

Not by humans.

Not by elves.

Not by demons.

Then the sound came again.

A soft, chime-like echo in the air, followed by glowing text that filled his vision.

[: Congratulations, Daniel. You have awakened. :]

His breath caught in his throat.

That word—awakened. His mind immediately reeled back to the timeline. His bloodline wasn't supposed to awaken for at least two more months.

He hadn't even undergone the Rite of Passage.

So why?

''System...if I'm awakened, that means you can answer my question, right?''

[: Yes Host :]

[: Due to the instability of your Physique and your lack of control, your Physique Ability was forcibly activated :]

[: However, the Void has listened to your will, and you were protected and preserved by the Void. :]

[: However, it needed 2 months for your body and mind to recover :]

[: Hence, the reason why the Host was able to wake up after 2 months :] 

Daniel stared at the message, heart sinking.

"Two months… I've been unconscious for two whole months…"

His gaze darkened as flashes of memory returned.

Caelira's arms were around him.

Rika's defiance.

Kiel's laughter.

Marnok's shield.

And Velroth's rage—swallowing the battlefield like a god cast in flame.

He had tried to save them.

He did save them.

But the cost… was separation.

Uncertainty.

Isolation.

"Where are they?" he whispered, trembling. "Caelira… Rika… Kiel… Marnok… are you safe?"

No answer came.

The Void, once a guardian, now felt like a hollow echo.

He was grateful, yes—but every beat of his heart cried out for the ones torn from him.

Daniel stood shakily, surveying the alien terrain.

Mountains floated in the distance, their peaks wreathed in violet mist.

Rivers of silver light snaked through canyons carved into the land like scars.

Even the wind here whispered differently.

A final system message blinked into his sight:

"…I'm completely alone," Daniel said under his breath.

And yet...

Somewhere deep in his spirit, past the confusion and fear and grief, resolve stirred.

He clenched his fist.

"I'll find them."

"I don't care where they are… I'll find them."

His eyes, once dim and weary, burned again with life.

"If I have to walk across every continent, rip apart every barrier, and burn through every throne…"

"I'll bring them back."

''But before that, I need to know where I am, system, could you help me with that?''

[: Current Location Confirmed :]

[: Host is now within the Forbidden Continent — an ancient land forsaken by gods, exiled by kings, and sealed away by the World Order :]

[: Once a paradise of power and origin of many primaeval races, the continent fell when the Gate Calamities emerged—rifts from beyond that unleashed waves of incomprehensible monsters. :]

[: The invading beasts were capable of annihilating cities with a single breath, of shattering realms with a step. :]

[: Due to their overwhelming numbers and powers, all known civilisations retreated and all maps erased their name. :]

[: It became a restricted land :]