The first explosion came before Kelvin reached the city walls.
BOOM!
The ground shook.
Birds exploded from the treetops.
A second explosion followed.
BOOM!
Then came the roar.
Not one beast.
Hundreds.
Kelvin stopped running.
His chest tightened.
Through the darkness beyond the trees, he could see flashes of red light.
The city's emergency barriers were activating.
Valoria was under attack.
Again.
But this time, Kelvin knew something the defenders didn't.
This Beast Tide wasn't normal.
Someone had guided it here.
He looked at his friends.
"Sofia."
She turned.
"Get to the city."
"What about you?"
"I'll follow."
Sofia shook her head.
"No."
Kelvin frowned.
She stepped closer.
"You're barely standing."
"I can still move."
"You have six HP."
Kelvin looked at her.
She knew.
The System wasn't visible to her, but his condition was obvious.
His clothes were torn.
Blood covered one side of his body.
His breathing was uneven.
He could barely keep his legs steady.
Sofia's voice softened.
"You don't have to protect everyone by yourself."
Kelvin stared at her.
Those words struck deeper than she realized.
For five years, he had carried one thought inside himself.
Become strong.
Because he had been weak when his parents died.
He had believed that strength meant standing alone.
But now he looked at Sofia, John, Michael, and Lydia.
They weren't asking him to carry them.
They were standing beside him.
John raised his ice blade.
"We fight together."
Michael's shadow spread across the ground.
"Together."
Lydia stepped forward.
"I can still heal."
Sofia's golden aura brightened.
"Then let's go."
Kelvin stared at them.
Then he smiled.
"Together."
They ran.
---
The eastern gate was already collapsing.
Hundreds of civilians were trying to escape toward the inner districts.
Awakened guards stood on the walls.
Some were firing spells.
Others were using weapons.
A massive barrier covered the city.
But cracks were spreading across it.
Kelvin stopped at the gate.
His Soul Perception activated automatically.
The sight nearly made him sick.
Thousands of souls.
Humans.
Beasts.
Awakened.
Fear.
Pain.
Rage.
The entire battlefield was glowing with spiritual energy.
And among those souls—
Kelvin sensed something wrong.
The beasts weren't behaving naturally.
They were moving like an army.
A wave of wolves attacked the eastern barrier.
Behind them came horned beasts.
Then giant armored creatures.
And behind those—
Three enormous souls.
Kelvin's eyes widened.
"Three D Ranks."
John swallowed.
"We can't fight those."
Kelvin nodded.
"We don't."
A guard nearby shouted.
"EVERY AWAKENED TO THE EASTERN WALL!"
The four friends immediately moved.
Kelvin followed.
As they reached the wall, a giant wolf leaped over the barrier.
An awakened warrior stepped forward.
"Fire Burst!"
Flames struck the beast.
It staggered.
But didn't fall.
The wolf charged.
Kelvin saw its soul.
Weak point.
A bright point appeared near its chest.
He reacted without thinking.
"Soul Thread!"
A thin black line shot from his fingers.
It struck the wolf's soul.
Kelvin pulled.
The beast suddenly stopped.
Its body collapsed.
The System appeared.
[D Rank Magical Beast defeated.]
[EP +80]
Kelvin stared.
Eighty experience.
One D Rank beast had given him more experience than dozens of smaller creatures.
Then another wolf jumped toward him.
Kelvin tried to move.
His legs failed.
Sofia stepped forward.
FLASH!
A golden spear of light struck the beast.
It crashed into the wall.
John froze it before it could rise.
Michael's shadow swallowed it.
Lydia finished the injured creature with a concentrated healing burst that destabilized its already damaged body.
The System appeared.
[D Rank Magical Beast defeated.]
[EP +80]
John grinned.
"See?"
Kelvin looked at him.
"We work better together."
Kelvin nodded.
But then—
A tremendous roar shook the city.
Everyone looked toward the forest.
The trees were moving.
Not swaying.
Breaking.
Something enormous was coming.
The barrier commander shouted:
"ALL DEFENDERS, FALL BACK!"
Kelvin's Soul Perception stretched outward.
His face became pale.
"It's here."
A gigantic creature emerged from the forest.
Its body was covered in black armor.
Four massive horns curved from its head.
Its eyes burned crimson.
The ground cracked beneath each step.
A System notification appeared.
[D Rank Magical Beast detected.]
Then another line appeared.
[Mutation detected.]
Kelvin's eyes narrowed.
[Warning: Beast's Soul has been artificially altered.]
The beast raised its head.
Its gaze locked directly onto Kelvin.
For one terrifying moment, the entire battlefield seemed silent.
Then the beast smiled.
Not like an animal.
Like something that understood.
Kelvin's blood ran cold.
The beast spoke.
"Kelvin."
Sofia stared at him.
"It knows your name."
Kelvin couldn't answer.
The beast charged.
---
BOOM!
The wall exploded.
Kelvin was thrown backward.
Sofia hit the ground.
John was buried beneath shattered stone.
Michael disappeared into the shadows.
Lydia screamed their names.
Kelvin's ears rang.
His HP dropped.
HP: 3/100
He coughed.
He couldn't breathe.
The beast stepped through the destroyed section of the wall.
Civilians screamed.
Awakened warriors attacked.
Fire.
Ice.
Lightning.
Weapons.
Everything struck the beast.
Nothing stopped it.
Kelvin struggled to stand.
"Move!"
Sofia grabbed his arm.
"We have to retreat!"
Kelvin looked at the beast.
"No."
"What?"
"It isn't attacking randomly."
His Soul Perception focused.
The beast's soul was enormous.
But there was something inside it.
A black thread.
Connected to another soul.
Kelvin followed it.
His eyes widened.
The thread stretched beyond the battlefield.
Beyond the city.
Beyond the forest.
Toward something he couldn't see.
Someone was controlling the beast.
Kelvin whispered:
"They're using it."
Michael appeared beside him.
"Using what?"
"The Beast Tide."
Kelvin pointed.
"They aren't trying to destroy Valoria."
Michael looked at him.
"Then what are they doing?"
Kelvin's gaze hardened.
"They're searching for me."
---
The beast roared.
A shockwave swept through the street.
Several awakened warriors were thrown into buildings.
The city barrier flickered.
Another section collapsed.
The beast charged toward Kelvin.
Sofia stepped in front of him.
Light exploded from her body.
"LIGHT WALL!"
A golden barrier appeared.
The beast struck it.
CRACK!
Sofia screamed.
The barrier fractured.
"SOFIA!"
Kelvin moved.
The beast struck again.
The barrier shattered.
Sofia flew backward.
Kelvin caught her.
They hit the ground together.
Her HP was dangerously low.
Kelvin looked at her.
"Are you okay?"
She nodded weakly.
"I'm... fine."
"You're lying."
She smiled.
"So are you."
Kelvin almost laughed.
Then the beast attacked again.
John appeared.
ICE PRISON!
Ice erupted around the creature.
Michael followed.
SHADOW STEP!
He appeared behind the beast and struck its exposed side.
The beast roared.
Lydia raised both hands.
"Heal!"
Green light surrounded Sofia.
But Lydia suddenly screamed.
Her healing stopped.
Kelvin looked at her.
"What happened?"
She was staring at her hands.
"Something is blocking my magic."
Kelvin activated Soul Perception.
A black thread was wrapped around Lydia's soul.
His expression changed.
"They've marked you too."
The four friends froze.
Kelvin suddenly understood.
The fox.
The tracker.
The Beast Tide.
The attack on the forest.
It was all connected.
The Gate organization had not been testing only Kelvin.
They were testing the bonds around him.
His friends were targets because they were connected to him.
Kelvin's fists tightened.
The beast charged again.
This time, Kelvin stepped forward.
Sofia grabbed his sleeve.
"Kelvin, don't."
He looked back.
"If I don't stop it, it'll reach the civilians."
"You can't!"
"I know."
Kelvin stepped forward anyway.
His body was almost empty.
HP: 3/100.
Mana: 2/100.
But something inside his chest was awakening.
The black sphere.
His Soul Core.
A faint crack appeared across it.
CRACK.
Kelvin froze.
The System appeared.
[Soul Core activity detected.]
[0.03% → 0.05%]
[Warning.]
[Soul Core awakening may cause irreversible changes.]
Kelvin stared at the message.
The beast was almost upon him.
He had no strength left.
No Mana.
No reliable skill.
Yet he could feel something.
A deeper power.
Not Mana.
Not magic.
Soul.
The beast raised its claw.
Kelvin raised his hand.
"Stop."
The beast froze.
Everyone stared.
Kelvin's eyes changed.
For a brief moment, the world became silent.
He could see the beast's soul.
Every thread.
Every wound.
Every foreign command.
And at the center—
A black chain.
Kelvin reached toward it.
Soul Thread.
The thread appeared.
But this time it wasn't thin.
It was enormous.
It wrapped around the beast's soul.
The beast screamed.
Kelvin screamed too.
Pain tore through his body.
His HP dropped.
HP: 2/100
The System flashed.
[Critical condition.]
[Host survival probability: 11%.]
Kelvin gritted his teeth.
"I don't care."
He pulled.
The black chain cracked.
A voice thundered across the battlefield.
"STOP!"
Kelvin's eyes widened.
The voice came from the beast.
But it wasn't the beast.
It was the person controlling it.
"You do not possess the authority!"
Kelvin pulled harder.
The Soul Core inside him cracked again.
CRACK!
0.05% → 0.07%
The black chain shattered.
The beast collapsed.
The entire battlefield went silent.
Then—
[Foreign control removed.]
[D Rank Magical Beast has been freed.]
[EP +120]
[Level requirement reached.]
LEVEL UP!
Kelvin — Level 3
HP restored.
Mana restored.
Kelvin stared at the System.
For the first time since the battle began—
He could breathe.
Then another message appeared.
[Hidden Quest Updated.]
PROTECT YOUR BONDS
Objective: Protect the souls connected to you.
Progress: 1/4
Failure Condition: Death of a bonded soul.
Kelvin's face became serious.
Four bonds.
Four friends.
Four targets.
And somewhere beyond the battlefield, the enemy had just learned something too.
Kelvin could break their control.
A distant voice whispered:
"Interesting."
A black portal opened high above the city.
A figure stood within it.
Kelvin looked up.
Their eyes met.
The figure smiled.
"Now we know what you can do."
The portal closed.
Kelvin's fists tightened.
The Beast Tide was still raging.
And the real battle had only just begun.