Chapter 14

Eren: Huh?

A slash was incoming to Eren directly to his head.

He couldn't see that coming...

It was already inches away.

The goblin's hand blurring with brutal speed.

But something in Eren moved before thought could catch up.

His body twisted instinctively, ducking just enough for the tip of the sword to miss by centimeters.

SLASH!

He struck back mid-motion, his blade grazing the goblin's wrist, redirecting its attack with raw reflex.

That thing's hand was deattached from its body with the retaliating slash of Eren.

Breath shaky, eyes wide, Eren stared.

He had survived... just barely.

Eren: SHOULD HAVE SEEN THAT COMING! I DODGED IT SOMEHOW...

That goblin backed up with the loss of its hand and the weapon.

It couldn't change the fact, the other two goblins who struck the shield with their swords instead of Eren again delivered another attack.

Eren countered it using the shield he wields on his left hand and delivered a counterattack to one of the goblins at its chest.

Eren didn't hesitate. He was against three goblins at that time because he decided to rush those three goblins. He severed two of them.

Without a moment, he slashed his dagger at the one who still hadn't eaten any of his attacks.

A horizontal cut, delimbing the bastard with its weapon lost from it.

Another cut was made to it, as Eren delivered another slash right on its neck to decapitate that thing.

Eren: Huh!?

The two goblins that he didn't rush when running back to grab some time to plan his counterattack. Those two were now gone.

Eren: Where did they go?

Eren gets his eyes locked onto those severed two who are yet to be killed. He rushed one.

Slash

The fatal slash was delivered, making the kill count of those seven goblins to four.

Eren gets his eyes locked onto the other severed one that was left. Without hesitation, he rushed towards it as it was trying to run away from Eren.

As he was sprinting, his reflex kicked in. He backed down a little.

It was in that moment, his reflex helped him a lot.

The two goblins he didn't charge, they were planning to attack from stealth together.

The two swords were coming right to pierce through Eren but he backed down.

He dodged the unexpected attack.

As he backed down, he threw his shield at the goblin on the left.

He retaliates by directing his dagger straight to the chin of the goblin on the left.

The force was too much that the strike that pierced through the chin of that goblin made its foot leave the ground.

It seemed like the goblin's weight was less for someone skinny person like Eren.

The goblin that was pushed back by the shield, it got back in the action.

Without any moment, it rushed to Eren, the sword aiming on Eren.

Eren realizes that the goblin was approaching him.

Him who was lifting that goblin with his dagger waited for the moment as if he was trying to let that goblin reach him.

The moment came when it approached him.

Shhhnk

The sword was piercing through air.

Blood splattered. But it wasn't red. It was black.

Instead of Eren, it pierced through the goblin that was in midair. It killed its own kind.

Eren removes his dagger from the goblin that was killed by its own kind and delivers a fatal slash to that goblin which killed its own kind on the waist.

Strike was powerful enough to halfen the goblin.

Eren: Six out of seven...

He killed five goblins. And the last one, it was dragging itself away from Eren. As Eren sees it going away from him.

Eren: To think before I was in that tunnel, I missed my shot hitting that big ass creature.

Eren was taking his position likely to...

Eren: Let's gamble on this one I guess...

Eren shoots his dagger straight to the maimed goblin that was fleeing away.

Shunk

The shot this time was successful. It was straight on to the back of that creature. It pierced through it.

Eren: Hah...

"Seven out of seven."

The goblins' corpses began to fade, slowly dissolving after their deaths. It was strange.

Eren: Why weren't they fading before? Why now?

The creatures Eren slaughtered first hadn't vanished right after death.

But once the last fell, they all began to fade—like dust scattered by the wind.

It was eerie, unsettling.

Eren: And not a single item drop... nothing left behind.

It wasn't just the corpses.

The weapons were vanishing too.

The shield Eren had stolen from the first goblin—gone.

The swords—fading into nothingness alongside their owners.

Eren: Welp… trial's not over yet. Gotta keep moving through this damn tunnel and find out what's next.

What surprised him most was how little damage he'd taken this time—far better than his last run in that twisted dark dimension.

And yet…

Eren: Wonder what time it is in the real world.

He sighed.

No choice but to survive and finish this trial—fast.

He moved deeper into the darkness of the tunnel.

Who knew what awaited him beyond the shadows?

==============

7:00 AM.

That was the time in the outside world.

Outside the main entrance of Velvet Apartments, a residential complex, a young man with white hair arrived—hands in pockets, steps slow but deliberate.

Jack: College got suspended 'cause of some portal that emerged near the main entrance…

His gaze shifted toward the street, where barriers and flashing lights still surrounded the area.

Jack: Gotta investigate what's going on there.

A faint breeze brushed past him, ruffling his coat. The world around him felt oddly quiet, as if it were waiting for something to happen.

Jack: Come to think of it...

Memories from the night before flooded Jack's mind.

"It's been 12 PM since she hasn't returned," Aria had said, concern evident in her voice.

"Don't worry. She might've been caught up somewhere. Maybe her phone's dead and she couldn't call us," Jack replied, gently patting her head.

"If she doesn't come back by night, I'll head out and look for her. Now go to sleep, Aria."

"Alright..." she murmured, voice low and uncertain.

Jack: She didn't return last night either...

Jack: Aria left for school just thirty minutes ago... She looked really down.

The weight of their mother's absence pressed heavily on him. A whole day had passed, and she hadn't returned—not a single call, not a message.

Jack: Damn it...

If it wasn't for that stupid portal I got trapped in trying to save that bastard...

He was clearly referring to Eren—the one he risked himself for.

Though he made it out alive, the time lost in that dark dimension had cost him dearly.

Jack and Aria's mother was an office superintendent at a private company.

That much Jack knew.

But something worrisome clicked in his mind.

Jack: Hold on…

His eyes narrowed as he connected the dots.

Jack: The company she works at… its route overlaps with my college's pathway!

A genuine tension grew inside him.

He hadn't realized it before—but now, it hit him all at once.

Jack: What if…

His fist clenched tightly, pressure building with the weight of sudden realization.

Jack: What if she was trapped in that portal… the one that appeared near my college's main entrance?

The thought struck him hard—sharper than anything he'd faced inside that dark dimension.

Jack sprinted toward the nearby bus stand, urgency in every step.

Just then, a car rolled out from the main entrance of the Velvet Apartments.

It was the same car that had dropped Jack home before—familiar, both in look and in the man behind the wheel.

Triner: Huh? Where's that kid running off to?

His gaze locked onto Jack in the distance.

The car sped up slightly, closing the gap. Within seconds, it caught up to the boy.

Triner: Yo, Jack!

Jack turned mid-run, eyes meeting Triner's. The sight made him slow slightly as he waved back, recognizing the driver.

Jack: Hey Triner! Can you give me a ride? It's an emergency!

Triner: Sure, hop in.

The car came to a halt. The backseat door swung open, and Jack quickly got in.

Triner: So, where you headed?

Jack: Meridian Commerce Institute. That's my college.

Triner paused for a moment, the name triggering a thought.

Triner: Wait a sec… Isn't that the place where a portal just showed up?

Jack: I'll explain everything later, but can we please go? It's urgent. I'm asking you as a favor.

Triner: Alright, alright… fine.

Triner tapped the college name into his car's built-in navigation system. The route lit up on the screen. Without wasting a second, the car sped off, heading straight toward the location Jack had asked for.

Triner: You do know that area's covered by agencies now, right?

Jack: It's not like I'm planning to go inside.

Triner: Didn't expect you to pull something reckless anyway.

They continued their conversation as Triner drove through the city streets toward Jack's destination.

Triner: Just one question—and you better answer. Otherwise, I'll drop you off somewhere random.

Jack stiffened at the remark. It threw him off.

"Damn it…" he muttered internally, swallowing dryly.

Triner: So what's the emergency?

Jack's eyes shifted to the rearview mirror, locking with Triner's reflected gaze.

Jack: Promise me you won't expose anything I'm about to say.

Triner: If it's serious, then no, I won't. Go ahead.

Jack: I think… my mother might have gotten into the portal.

That was what Jack finally said to Triner, his voice low, the weight of the words sinking heavily into the air.