Chapter 10:Rainer The Mercenary

The first creature lunged.

Lorien barely had time to react. His instincts screamed, and he dove aside, rolling just as the creature's clawed hand slashed through the air. A sharp, whistling sound followed—like wind tearing through shattered glass.

Too fast.

He spun to his feet, sword drawn, facing the horde.

They moved unnaturally, like broken puppets, their heads twitching at impossible angles. And then, as one, they attacked.

Lorien swung his blade, catching the nearest one in its shifting torso. The impact felt like cutting through thick smoke, resistance for only a second before the body dispersed.

But instead of fading, it reformed—instantaneously, its faceless head turning toward him once more.

His stomach dropped.

"They can't be killed conventionally."

A second one struck from behind. Lorien twisted, bringing his arm up to block, but the force sent him skidding backward, his boots dragging deep grooves into the fractured ground.

His mind raced.

There had to be a way to stop them.

The Key to Chaos

[System Alert:]

[Sovereign's Vestige Activation Recommended.]

Lorien hesitated.

He had only just acquired this skill. He didn't fully understand its limits.

But hesitation meant death.

Gritting his teeth, he summoned the power of the First Sovereign's Vestige.

Dark energy coiled around him, cold and all-consuming. The moment it touched his skin, his body reacted—

Pain.

It wasn't just magic.

It was a fragment of an existence that should have never been touched again.

But as the pain surged, so did his power.

The shadows clinging to him flared, reshaping his form into something more than human, yet less than a god.

The remnants hesitated.

And for the first time, Lorien saw something flicker in their hollow forms.

Fear.

He didn't give them time to react.

With a single motion, he raised his hand—

And the depths of Chaos answered.

Breaking the Cycle

The moment Lorien's power surged, the world shuddered.

The remnants let out an ear-piercing wail as tendrils of shadow wrapped around them, dragging them back into the abyss from which they had emerged.

One by one, the figures vanished, pulled into the depths of something far older, far more powerful than themselves.

Until only silence remained.

Then—

The fractured ground sealed. The twisted sky mended. The village, which had been on the brink of collapse, returned to its untouched state.

As if the trial had never happened.

Lorien gasped, collapsing to one knee. The power receded, leaving him breathless, his limbs trembling.

A chime echoed in his mind.

[Trial Completed.]

[New Skill Acquired: Abyssal Grasp.]

His vision blurred as the system imprinted another image into his mind—

A Sovereign, reaching beyond the veil of existence, grasping something even the gods could not control.

He exhaled sharply.

Every trial was only going to become harder.

And next time, the cost of failure might not be so easily undone.

The remnants were gone. The village was intact, as if the battle had never happened.

Yet Lorien felt every second of it in his bones.

His breaths came shallow, his hands still trembling from the remnants' unnatural presence. That was only the beginning.

The system had said only one word—Survive.

That trial had barely lasted a minute, yet the sheer weight of the battle left him drained. He didn't just fight those creatures; he had been forced to wield a power not meant for mortals.

And that power was starting to feel like something else entirely.

Lorien pushed himself up, his legs unsteady. The village had returned to its previous state, but the world had not forgotten what happened.

Even if the land bore no scars, he did.

And then—

A voice broke through the silence.

"You look like you've seen a ghost."

Lorien turned sharply, his instincts still raw from the fight.

A man stood a few feet away, arms crossed. His black cloak was worn from travel, a scar running across his jawline. Despite his relaxed stance, Lorien could see the sharpness in his gaze—a fighter, someone used to watching his back.

Behind him, a girl barely in her twenties rested against a wooden fence, twirling a knife between her fingers. She had short silver hair, mismatched eyes—one green, one gold—and a smirk that spoke of mischief.

Neither of them had been here before.

And yet, they were watching him.

Lorien's grip tightened on his sword.

"Who are you?"

The man raised a brow. "Not exactly the greeting I was expecting from someone who just tore a hole in reality."

Lorien stiffened. They had seen.

The girl chuckled. "Relax. If we wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead." She gave him an exaggerated grin. "Though, considering what you just did, I doubt that'd be easy."

Lorien studied them carefully. They weren't ordinary travelers.

There was something off about them—not in a threatening way, but in a way that told him they weren't strangers to danger.

The man sighed. "Name's Rainer. Mercenary, tracker, occasional thief when the job calls for it. This here's Veyna. She's… well, a bit of a menace."

"Charmed," Veyna said with a wink.

Lorien didn't lower his guard. "You saw what happened."

Rainer's expression darkened slightly. "We've seen worse."

That response unsettled him more than it should have.

Rainer stepped forward, voice lowering. "We're looking for someone. Or rather, something."

Lorien narrowed his eyes. "And you think I know something?"

Veyna flipped her knife in her hand lazily. "Let's just say it's hard to ignore someone pulling creatures from the abyss and then sending them back like it's a bad dream."

Lorien exhaled slowly. They were watching. Observing. Judging.

But… there was something else.

They weren't afraid of him.

Not the way most would be.

That was rare.

Rainer met his gaze. "We've been tracking a group. They call themselves the Nightborn. You heard of them?"

Lorien shook his head.

"They're not your usual bandits," Rainer continued. "They don't steal gold. They don't kill for sport. They're looking for something. Something powerful."

Veyna leaned against the fence, watching Lorien closely. "They attacked a village three nights ago. Burned it down, took only one thing."

Lorien frowned. "What?"

Rainer's expression was grim. "A child."

Lorien stilled.

"They're searching for someone born under a cursed star," Veyna added, voice quieter now. "A child who supposedly shouldn't exist."

A cold sensation wrapped around Lorien's spine.

They weren't just looking for some random legend.

They were looking for something connected to Chaos.

Lorien's mind raced. The Nightborn… whoever they were, they were after something dangerous. And if they were searching for something tied to Chaos, then…

It was already too late to turn away.

He clenched his jaw.

"I'll help you."

Rainer studied him for a long moment before nodding. "Figured you'd say that."

Veyna smirked. "Looks like we're stuck with you, Sovereign."

Lorien exhaled slowly.

He wasn't alone anymore.

For now.