The roar of the waterfall had become so familiar that Kael no longer heard it.
For an entire year, that endless torrent of water had filled the darkness surrounding him. Day and night had long since lost meaning inside the cavern hidden behind the falls. There had only been silence, pain, and the slow passage of time marked by cold stone beneath his body and blood staining the floor beneath him.
Yet now—
For the first time in what felt like forever—
Kael stepped outside.
Mist drifted heavily through the air as he emerged from behind the waterfall, the cold spray soaking his already tattered clothes almost instantly. Grey skies stretched endlessly above the forest canopy, sunlight barely piercing through layers of dark clouds hanging over Blackveil Forest like a curse that refused to fade. Towering trees twisted unnaturally toward the sky, their bark blackened by demonic miasma accumulated over countless years. Some moved slightly despite the absence of wind, as though the forest itself were breathing.
Kael stopped walking.
The world felt... loud.
The rushing water.
The wind between leaves.
The distant cries of unseen creatures echoing through the forest.
After spending so long trapped between consciousness and unconsciousness, even simple sounds felt unfamiliar to him now.
His crimson eyes narrowed slightly.
Then pain spread through his chest.
A sharp sensation tore across his side, forcing his breathing to hitch faintly as one of the half-healed wounds reopened beneath the bandages wrapped around his torso. Dark blood slowly soaked through the cloth almost immediately.
Kael lowered his gaze toward it in silence.
The divine energy was gone.
He could no longer feel that burning corruption eating away at his flesh from inside his body. For one entire year, his Qi had clashed endlessly against the remnants of holy power left behind by the angels summoned by Lyra Virel. Every breath had felt like inhaling shattered blades. Every moment spent conscious had been agony.
And even then—
The wounds still refused to heal properly.
Kael slowly exhaled through his nose before tightening the loose cloth around his torso with one hand. His movements were slower than before. Heavier. The kind of heaviness that settled deep inside bones after surviving something the body was never meant to endure.
For a brief moment, his eyes drifted toward the sky beyond the trees.
Grey.
Empty.
Cold.
Then his thoughts wandered—
Golden hair stained red.
A trembling smile.
> Wait for my return.
Kael’s fingers tightened unconsciously around the black sword hanging at his waist.
Black Heaven.
Even after falling from the cliff...
Even after one year trapped between life and death...
He had never let go of it.
"...You really left me behind."
His voice was quiet enough to vanish beneath the waterfall.
No answer came back.
Only silence.
Kael lowered his eyes again and began walking.
Each step felt unfamiliar. Muscles stiff from disuse protested with every movement, yet his posture remained straight out of habit alone. The forest floor beneath him was damp and uneven, covered in roots thick enough to resemble coiled serpents beneath layers of black moss. Strange fungi glowing faintly blue clung to tree trunks while dark mist drifted between the woods low enough to hide whatever moved beneath it.
Blackveil Forest.
One of the few places on the continent abandoned even by monsters intelligent enough to fear death.
Centuries ago, this land had once been a battlefield during the earliest wars against demonkind. Countless demons had died here. Countless humans too. Their blood, mana, hatred, and despair had seeped into the land until the forest itself became corrupted. Over time, the mana within this region twisted into something unstable.
Something rotten.
Normal beasts mutated after living here too long.
Plants developed venom potent enough to kill knights within minutes.
Even mana itself behaved strangely within Blackveil, often becoming violent or distorted without warning.
Most humans who entered never returned.
Kael continued walking through it alone.
Because unlike mana—
Qi was not borrowed from the world.
It was carved directly from the body itself.
And Blackveil Forest...
Could not corrupt what already flowed within his bones.
The deeper Kael ventured into Blackveil Forest, the quieter the world became.
Even the sound of the waterfall had long since disappeared behind him.
Only the crunch of damp soil beneath his feet remained.
Mist drifted low across the forest floor, thick enough to obscure the roots twisting through the ground like veins beneath rotten flesh. Towering black trees blocked most of the sunlight overhead, their branches tangled together so densely that the sky itself seemed distant. Strange growths pulsed faintly along the bark, glowing dim crimson before fading again like breathing embers hidden beneath ash.
Blackveil Forest was alive.
Not in the way ordinary forests lived.
This place endured.
It watched.
And somewhere deep within its endless darkness, things far older than mankind continued breathing unnoticed.
Kael walked through it alone.
His pace remained slow. Not cautious—simply limited. Every few steps sent dull pain spreading through his torso as the wounds left behind by the angels threatened to reopen beneath his bandages. The divine authority embedded within them had faded after a year of constant resistance from his Qi, but traces still lingered inside his body like splinters lodged too deeply to remove entirely.
A normal person would have died within days.
Perhaps hours.
Even now, Kael himself did not fully understand how he remained alive.
His body should have collapsed long ago.
Yet it continued moving.
One step after another.
The same way it always had.
His crimson eyes shifted quietly toward the surrounding forest.
Silence.
Too much silence.
Then—
A faint sound reached him.
Rustling leaves.
Slow.
Heavy.
Kael stopped walking.
The mist ahead stirred unnaturally.
At first, it resembled nothing more than shifting shadows beneath the trees. Then the shape slowly emerged from the darkness, scales scraping against damp earth with a low dragging sound.
A serpent.
No—
Something that had once been a serpent.
The creature’s body stretched nearly fifteen meters long, thick enough that its coils resembled tree trunks. Black scales covered most of its flesh, though parts of its skin had split open unnaturally, exposing pulsating veins glowing with dark crimson light beneath. Several malformed eyes had grown along the sides of its neck, opening and closing independently while black saliva dripped from fangs longer than daggers.
The stench reached Kael a moment later.
Rotten blood.
Corrupted mana.
Demonic miasma.
The creature stared at him.
And Kael stared back.
Neither moved.
Then the serpent opened its mouth.
SCREEEE—
The sound tore violently through the forest.
The creature lunged.
Its massive body exploded forward with terrifying speed, jaws wide enough to swallow a man whole. Trees shattered apart behind it as the corrupted serpent crashed through the forest like a living avalanche.
Kael’s body reacted immediately.
Not through thought.
Instinct.
His hand moved toward Black Heaven.
The blade left its sheath with a low metallic whisper.
SHING—
The serpent’s fangs descended.
Kael stepped sideways.
Pain instantly tore through his ribs.
His movements slowed for the briefest fraction of a second—
Enough.
The serpent’s tail whipped toward him from the mist like a collapsing pillar.
BOOM—
Kael crossed his sword defensively.
The impact hurled him backward through the forest floor, roots and dirt exploding beneath him before his body slammed violently against a tree trunk.
Crack.
The bark shattered.
Blood spilled from Kael’s lips as fresh pain spread across his chest.
The wounds reopened.
Again.
For several seconds, he remained still.
The serpent slithered closer through the mist, malformed eyes blinking hungrily.
Kael slowly wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.
Then he stood up.
His breathing had grown slightly heavier now.
But his eyes remained unchanged.
Cold.
Empty.
The serpent lunged again.
This time—
Kael moved first.
BOOM—
The ground beneath his feet collapsed as Qi surged through his legs. His body shot forward fast enough to tear apart the surrounding mist, black sword trailing behind him in silence.
The serpent opened its jaws—
Kael stepped inside its range.
One movement.
One strike.
Heaven Splitting Draw.
SHHHK—
Black steel flashed once through the darkness.
The serpent froze.
Then—
Its entire head slid from its body.
Blood erupted across the forest floor as the massive corpse collapsed violently between the trees, crushing roots and stone beneath its weight.
Silence returned.
Kael stood motionless beside the corpse, his sword still lowered at his side.
Blood dripped slowly from his reopened wounds.
Warm.
Steady.
Yet his expression never changed.
Not relief.
Not satisfaction.
Not fear.
Nothing.
The serpent was dead.
And he felt absolutely nothing at all.
***
For a while, Kael simply stood there beside the serpent’s corpse.
Black blood spread slowly across the forest floor, steaming faintly where it touched the roots beneath the mist. The stench of corrupted mana thickened the air around him, yet the creatures lurking within Blackveil did not approach. Whether they feared the serpent or the man standing beside it was impossible to tell.
Kael lowered his sword.
A faint tremor ran through his arm.
His body had not fully adapted to movement yet. The brief exchange alone had reopened several wounds across his torso, and he could already feel warm blood soaking through the cloth wrapped beneath his dark robes. The pain remained constant now—a dull ache buried deep inside flesh and bone alike.
But compared to the agony of the past year...
This felt insignificant.
Kael slowly sheathed Black Heaven before walking toward the serpent’s corpse. Its enormous body twitched occasionally from lingering nerve spasms, malformed eyes still blinking weakly despite the severed head lying several meters away.
Mutated creatures possessed absurd vitality.
Kael crouched beside the corpse in silence before pressing two fingers lightly against one of the exposed crimson veins pulsing beneath its torn scales.
Warm.
Corrupted mana flowed through the creature like poisoned blood.
His crimson eyes narrowed slightly.
The demonic corruption inside Blackveil had worsened.
Even one year ago, beasts this deeply mutated rarely wandered near the outer layers of the forest. But this serpent had appeared relatively close to the waterfall cave.
Which meant one thing.
The forest itself was becoming more unstable.
Kael withdrew his hand slowly.
"...Mana."
The word left his mouth quietly.
Once upon a time, he used to envy it.
A power gifted naturally to almost everyone in the world. Beautiful. Convenient. Blessed by heaven itself. Meanwhile, Qi demanded endless suffering just to take shape within the body. Bones shattered. Muscles torn apart. Breath cultivated until even sleeping became a form of training.
Mana was loved by the world.
Qi fought against it.
And yet—
Looking at the serpent before him now...
Kael wondered if perhaps mana had always been more dangerous.
Because unlike Qi—
Mana could be corrupted.
Twisted.
Driven mad.
His gaze drifted upward toward the dark forest surrounding him.
Then slowly—
Toward the distant sky hidden beyond the canopy above.
Leonhart.
No matter how many times Kael tried to suppress the thought, his mind always returned there eventually.
Mana Sovereign.
A man loved by mana itself.
A blessing so absurd that even the greatest archmages of the continent considered Leonhart’s existence a miracle granted by heaven.
But if mana could rot...
Then what would happen to someone loved by all mana?
The thought lingered unpleasantly inside his chest.
Kael closed his eyes briefly.
Tired.
Not physically.
Something deeper.
The kind of exhaustion that settled into the soul after watching everything meaningful collapse beyond repair.
For a moment, he almost laughed.
Leonhart had spent years saving people who would never remember his name.
Shared meals with them. Bled beside them. Trusted them without hesitation.
And in the end—
the blades that pierced his body had all come from people he once called companions.
How absurd.
Kael opened his eyes again.
The mist drifting through Blackveil no longer felt cold to him.
Neither did the silence.
Perhaps because after surviving that night...
Nothing in this forest felt more frightening than humanity itself.
He turned away from the serpent’s corpse and resumed walking through the forest once more.
Slowly.
Aimlessly.
Like a sword that no longer knew what purpose it had been forged for.
***
The deeper regions of Blackveil Forest rarely changed no matter how far one traveled. Endless black trees stretched across the land like the ribs of some enormous corpse buried beneath the world. Mist drifted endlessly between them, carrying the scent of damp earth, blood, and decaying mana. Occasionally, distant roars echoed through the forest before vanishing just as quickly, as though even sound itself feared lingering too long within Blackveil.
Time passed strangely here.
Without civilization, sunlight, or human voices, days blurred together until they became almost meaningless.
Kael did not mind.
Perhaps because after everything that had happened...
He no longer knew what exactly waited for him outside this forest.
Revenge?
The thought felt hollow.
Killing the traitors would not bring Leonhart back.
Destroying the Church would not erase that night.
Even if every single person involved died screaming before him—
The memory of Leonhart sitting alone at the edge of that cliff would remain unchanged.
Kael’s hand tightened slightly around the sheath of Black Heaven.
For a moment, he almost stopped walking entirely.
What exactly was he supposed to do now?
Wait?
Search?
Hide?
Survive?
His entire life until now had revolved around a single person.
From childhood until the final battle against Valthor, Kael had always walked beside Leonhart without questioning it. Leonhart smiled, so Kael followed. Leonhart wanted to save people, so Kael cut down whatever stood in his path. The Hero walked toward the light naturally—
And Kael became the shadow following behind him.
Simple.
Obvious.
But now that light was gone.
And for the first time in years—
Kael had no idea where to walk.
The realization settled unpleasantly inside his chest.
Perhaps that was why Leonhart’s final words angered him so much.
> Wait for my return.
Such selfish words.
As though Leonhart had simply decided Kael would continue living no matter what happened afterward.
As though surviving that night had been easy.
Kael exhaled slowly through his nose.
“…Idiot.”
Yet despite the bitterness hidden within the word—
His steps never stopped moving forward.
Because even now, after one year buried inside darkness and silence...
A part of him still believed those words.
Black Heaven shifted lightly against his waist as Kael stepped over a fallen tree root. His body remained tense instinctively, senses quietly spread through the surrounding forest through Qi perception. Unlike mana detection, Qi perception did not expand outward explosively. Instead, it sharpened awareness itself—the movement of air, killing intent, breathing, vibrations beneath the ground.
Subtle.
But deadly.
And at this moment—
Kael sensed something.
A faint tremor beneath the earth.
His crimson eyes narrowed slightly.
Not another serpent.
Smaller.
Lighter.
But moving quickly.
The bushes several meters ahead rustled violently.
Then a shadow burst from the mist.
A beast roughly the size of a large hound lunged toward him, its body twisted unnaturally by corruption. Dark fur hung in rotten patches across exposed flesh while multiple crimson eyes glowed across its skull. Its jaws opened wide enough to reveal rows of jagged teeth dripping black saliva.
Fast.
But predictable.
Kael shifted sideways slightly.
SHHK—
Black Heaven left its sheath halfway.
One precise movement.
The beast’s body split apart before it even reached him.
Blood scattered across the roots beneath the mist.
Kael continued walking without even looking back.
The corpse behind him twitched weakly before falling still.
No hesitation.
No emotion.
Just movement.
The deeper he wandered through Blackveil, the more Kael realized something unsettling.
Fighting monsters felt easier than thinking.
Because monsters were simple.
They attacked.
He killed them.
Nothing more.
Humans, however—
Humans smiled before placing blades through your heart.
***
The forest gradually grew darker as Kael continued forward.
Whether evening had begun or the canopy above had simply thickened further, even he could no longer tell. Blackveil swallowed light unnaturally. The deeper one traveled, the harder it became to distinguish time itself. Even the air felt heavier now, carrying traces of demonic miasma dense enough to distort ordinary mana circulation.
Kael’s expression remained unchanged.
But internally—
His body had already begun reaching its limit.
The earlier movements against the serpent had reopened more wounds than expected. Warm blood continued soaking beneath the bandages wrapped around his torso, sticking uncomfortably against skin already scarred from a year of resisting divine authority. Every breath carried faint pain through his ribs, while the lingering remnants of holy power buried deep within his flesh reacted violently whenever he pushed his Qi circulation too forcefully.
He could continue fighting.
But not for long.
Kael understood that much clearly.
A faint rustling echoed somewhere above.
His eyes shifted upward instinctively.
Several pairs of crimson eyes stared down at him from the branches overhead.
Silent.
Watching.
The corrupted beasts of Blackveil had already begun recognizing weakness.
Kael stopped walking.
The forest became quiet once more.
Then slowly—
His hand rested against the hilt of Black Heaven.
Not drawing it.
Simply touching it.
A faint crimson pressure spread outward from his body.
No explosion.
No killing intent.
Just enough.
The creatures above immediately retreated deeper into the trees.
Kael lowered his hand again before resuming his steps.
Even weakened, he remained dangerous enough that most beasts instinctively avoided risking death against him. Creatures born within Blackveil understood violence better than humans did. They knew when something could kill them.
Humans often did not.
After several more minutes of walking, Kael finally stopped beside the roots of an enormous dead tree twisted nearly twenty meters into the air. Its trunk had split open long ago, leaving enough hollow space beneath the roots for temporary shelter from both rain and wandering beasts.
Good enough.
Kael sat down slowly against the wood.
The moment tension left his body, exhaustion crashed into him all at once.
His breathing roughened slightly.
Blood loss.
Fatigue.
Pain.
For one entire year, survival had consumed every fragment of focus inside his mind. Expelling divine authority from his body had demanded constant Qi circulation without rest. Several times, he had nearly died simply because his consciousness slipped for too long.
And now that the immediate struggle for survival had lessened slightly...
The emptiness left behind became clearer.
Kael tilted his head back against the tree trunk and closed his eyes.
Silence surrounded him once more.
No battlefield.
No screaming.
No Leonhart smiling beside him.
Only darkness beneath his eyelids.
“…What now?”
The words left him quietly.
No answer came.
Of course not.
Leonhart had always been the one moving forward first.
Kael simply followed behind him.
But now?
There was no path ahead anymore.
Only a forest filled with monsters and a world beyond it that believed him to be the murderer of the only person he had ever truly cared about.
A bitter smile almost formed on his face.
Almost.
Then—
His eyes opened again.
Slowly.
Because for the briefest moment—
Kael sensed something strange.
Not killing intent.
Not mana.
Movement.
Small.
Weak.
Somewhere nearby within the darkness of the forest.
Kael’s eyes remained fixed on the darkness beyond the trees.
The movement disappeared almost instantly.
Small.
Light.
Not enough to pose any threat.
For several seconds, neither the forest nor the mist moved again.
Only silence remained.
Kael quietly narrowed his eyes before eventually lowering his gaze once more. Whatever had been watching him possessed no killing intent. Most likely some small scavenger drawn by the scent of blood lingering around him after the battle with the serpent.
Normally, creatures that weak would avoid approaching stronger predators.
But Blackveil Forest was not normal.
Everything here survived by feeding on whatever it could.
Even corpses.
Kael closed his eyes again.
He was too exhausted to care.
The faint presence lingered for a few moments longer somewhere within the darkness before eventually retreating deeper into the forest once it realized the wounded human beneath the dead tree was still awake.
Then even that presence disappeared completely.
The forest became silent once more.
Cold wind drifted quietly between the roots while distant cries echoed far beyond the mist-covered woods. Somewhere deeper within Blackveil, another beast roared violently before being answered by something even larger.
Kael ignored all of it.
His breathing gradually slowed.
Qi circulated quietly through his body as he meditated against the dead tree, carefully guiding energy through damaged meridians while suppressing the lingering pain buried inside his wounds. Faint crimson aura flickered beneath his skin occasionally before fading again into darkness.
Hours passed quietly.
Or perhaps only minutes.
Inside Blackveil Forest, time often felt meaningless.
At some point during his meditation, Kael’s thoughts drifted once more toward the outside world.
Toward the continent beyond this cursed forest.
The Hero was dead.
The Demon King had fallen.
Humanity had won.
By all logic, the world should have entered an era of peace now.
Villages rebuilding.
Kingdoms celebrating.
Children no longer fearing demons crossing borders during the night.
It was what Leonhart had wanted.
What he had fought for since childhood.
And yet—
Kael could not bring himself to care.
Not because he hated humanity.
But because the world Leonhart died trying to protect no longer felt real to him anymore.
It felt distant.
Like something belonging to another lifetime.
Another person.
Kael slowly opened his eyes.
The forest before him remained dark and endless.
For a moment, he simply stared into it silently.
Then his hand moved toward Black Heaven resting beside him.
The black blade reflected faint traces of crimson light beneath the mist.
A sword.
That was all he was now.
Not a hero.
Not a savior.
Not even a person with a destination.
Just a blade that had failed to protect the one person who mattered most.
Kael lowered his gaze slightly.
“…Leon.”
The name escaped his lips almost unconsciously.
Soft.
Quiet.
Like someone speaking to a memory already gone.
No answer came back.
Only the endless sound of wind moving through Blackveil Forest.
...Kael slowly stood.
Pain spread through his body immediately, but he ignored it.
The bandages wrapped around his torso had already turned dark red again. Fresh blood seeped slowly beneath the cloth before disappearing into black fabric. Above him, the endless canopy of Blackveil swayed quietly beneath the wind while distant beast cries echoed through the forest like something mourning within the dark.
For a moment, Kael looked back toward the direction of the waterfall cave hidden deeper inside the forest.
One year.
An entire year spent surviving.
Breathing.
Enduring.
Yet in the end—
Nothing had changed.
Leonhart was still gone.
His fingers tightened slightly around Black Heaven.
Then Kael turned away from the cave and continued walking deeper into the forest.
Not toward revenge.
Not yet.
First—
He needed to know what remained of the world beyond Blackveil.
Because before sharpening his blade against the world…
Kael first needed to understand the world that abandoned them.
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