"There's a monster here too," Kira said.

"Yes," Raito replied, his tone sharp. "But the one I sense has already killed some of the humans. I can feel it."

"So… are you saying we should separate?" Kira asked.

"Well, yes," Raito said. "To make things faster. I'm sure you can handle the monsters in your path. But the one ahead of me… might be A rank. Maybe even S rank. I'll take that one down myself."

He summoned a few undead from his army to follow Kira. "These ones will go with you," he said, "so I'll know what's happening where you are."

Kira nodded. "Got it."

Then, they split, each taking a different path, their footsteps echoing through the endless stone corridors.

Raito moved deeper into the left tunnel, the air growing colder with every step.

Kira turned right, gripping her sword tightly as the faint blue lights faded behind her.

Raito kept moving through the dungeon. He wasn't following Kira anymore, he was alone.

Everything around him was pitch black.

He slowed his steps, letting his senses stretch through the silence. The only sound was the faint echo of his boots against stone. Then, faintly, he saw something ahead, a glimmer of light.

He followed it.

The deeper he went, the brighter the light became, until he reached a narrow passage lined with glowing stones embedded in the walls. The pale light shimmered like veins of mana through the dungeon's rock.

Raito turned, taking another path. He was trying to sense where the surviving humans were. He could still feel traces of life, but faint, unstable, fading fast.

Then he froze.

A cold shiver crawled down his spine.

That presence, massive, suffocating, overwhelming,

There was no mistaking it.

"An… S rank," Raito muttered. "No. I'm sure of it."

He stepped forward, careful and silent, until the darkness gave way to an open chamber.

And there it was.

A huge monster, towering and winged, a Giant Wyvern, its scales pulsing faintly with crimson light. The ground shook slightly as it shifted, its breath filling the air with heat and decay.

But that wasn't all.

Standing beside the Wyvern was a figure clad in obsidian armor, tall and cold. His eyes glowed a piercing red beneath the black helm, and above his head hovered a faint shadow crown that shimmered like dark flame. A massive sword rested against his shoulder, its blade covered in faint runes.

Behind him, Raito saw four humans, trembling, terrified. Some were still alive. Others weren't.

The Wyvern moved, gripping one of the survivors, a man, by the torso. The man screamed, swung his weapon weakly, but his blade barely scratched the creature's scales.

Then

Crunch.

The Wyvern bit down, tearing his head off, swallowing the rest in one brutal motion.

Raito's eyes narrowed. The armored figure slowly turned, sensing him.

The air grew heavier.

Raito stepped forward, his voice steady.

"Hey… what are you doing? And who the hell are you?"

A notification flashed before his eyes.

[❖ Analysis Complete]

Black King, Rahel Ninil — Fallen ruler of another world. Banished to this realm.

Raito stared at the glowing text. "Black King… Rahel Ninil," he repeated softly.

Then he smirked.

"Interesting. I've heard of someone called the Black King before."

He tilted his head slightly, studying the armored figure as his aura began to flare.

"So it's real… The legend of the ruler who once stood at the top, then fell into darkness."

He raised his hand, summoning faint blue flames around his fingers.

"I don't know if you're the same one, or something different entirely…"

His eyes hardened.

"But it doesn't matter."

The Black King straightened, his red eyes narrowing behind the helm as he drew his sword, dark energy leaking from the edge.

Raito smiled, his dagger materializing in his grip.

"I just have to beat you."

The two faced each other,

Raito and the Black King,

the air between them warping under the pressure of two immense powers colliding.

The Black King picked up the sword that had been lodged in the Wyvern's flank. He held it in his right hand like a king reclaiming a throne. Then he raised his left hand, darkness bled up his arm and pooled around his palm like oil.

"Are you here to serve me?" the Black King intoned, his voice folding over itself as if two tongues spoke in one mouth.

Raito's jaw tightened. "I didn't even know another world existed," he said coldly. "But whether you're lost or banished, you won't be leaving this place alive. Are you here to serve… or to die?"

The Black King's laugh was a crack of thunder. "You insolent fool." The sound split the chamber. Then he lunged.

Steel screamed through the air.

A dagger bloomed in Raito's hand. He met the sweep of that colossal blade and tasted the force behind it, the impact pushed through his forearms, through bone. He anchored himself and shoved the Black King back. The shockwave knocked dust from the ceiling.

"Such strength," Raito breathed, not surprised, only curious. "Not strong enough."

The Black King answered with a dozen slashes in quick succession, wide, brutal arcs designed to tear flesh and cleave bone. Raito moved like water. He slipped between the strikes, dagger flashing, countering with short, brutal cuts. Every time steel kissed steel, a high, ringing note split the stillness.

They traded logic for momentum. The Black King's sword was an avalanche; Raito's movements were a blade of wind, small, precise, hungry. The King changed tempo and the room tried to keep up. He was fast. Faster than Raito expected. Faster than the King's bulk should allow.

Raito felt it then: a gap. A breath. The instant the King committed to a horizontal sweep, Raito twisted, ducked the steel, and drove his dagger into the other's ribs. Darkness blossomed where metal met armor.

The Black King staggered, but did not fall. He spat a smell like iron and rot, then slammed his palm into the floor. Shadows rolled outward like ink on stone and surged up to swallow Raito's feet.

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