Eryndor slowly pushed himself upright.
The endless void beneath him rippled like liquid darkness, each movement spreading across the black surface in silent waves. There was no sky above him. No ground beneath him. Only an endless sea of darkness that seemed to stretch beyond reality itself.
"...Where am I?"
His voice echoed into nothingness.
No answer came.
Silence.
A silence so complete that even breathing sounded unnatural.
Far behind him, Jae Hoon watched with narrowed eyes.
"...This place..."
He frowned.
"It feels... alive."
Beside him, the Divine Flame of Curses folded his arms without speaking.
For once...
Even he looked serious.
Seconds passed.
Then—
Something moved.
Far above.
At first, Eryndor mistook it for a mountain.
A massive black silhouette suspended within the endless void.
But then...
The mountain blinked.
Two enormous red eyes slowly opened.
The entire void trembled.
"..."
Eryndor instinctively stepped backward.
"What..."
The silhouette descended.
Slowly.
Unhurried.
With every movement, reality itself distorted.
The pressure became visible.
The air folded.
Space bent.
Even the darkness beneath Eryndor's feet shivered.
Jae's heart skipped a beat.
"What the hell..."
The creature continued descending.
Bigger.
Bigger.
And bigger still.
Until Eryndor finally saw it.
A wolf.
No—
Calling it a wolf felt disrespectful.
Its body stretched farther than the eye could follow.
Its silver-black fur shimmered like an endless galaxy filled with dying stars.
Red mana poured from it without end.
Not thousands.
Not millions.
Not billions.
Infinite.
It wasn't simply powerful.
It felt as though the concept of mana itself had been born from this creature.
Even the Divine Flame of Curses narrowed his eyes.
"...So that's him."
Jae swallowed hard.
"I've never..."
"...felt something like this before."
The beast smiled.
To Eryndor's surprise...
It was an incredibly cheerful smile.
Then it threw its head back.
"BEHOLD, HUMAN!"
Its voice exploded through the void like thunder.
"I AM KAELEN!"
"The Magnificent!"
"The Glorious!"
"The Handsome!"
"The Unbelievably Attractive Gift Bestowed Upon You By The Sacred Pond!"
Silence.
Eryndor blinked once.
Then twice.
He scratched the back of his head.
"...Are you a wolf?"
...
Everything stopped.
The smile disappeared.
The void fell deathly silent.
Even the ripples beneath Eryndor's feet froze.
A massive vein bulged across Kaelen's forehead.
The colossal beast slowly lowered his head until one red eye stared directly into Eryndor's soul.
"...What."
Eryndor tilted his head.
"...A wolf?"
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The universe shattered.
An unimaginable wave of mana crashed onto Eryndor.
His knees exploded into the black ground.
CRACK!!
His ribs bent inward.
His lungs compressed.
Blood erupted from his mouth.
"GHHHHHHH!!"
His vision blurred instantly.
Every organ inside his body screamed.
His bones groaned beneath the impossible weight.
The void beneath him shattered into thousands of rippling fractures.
Jae instinctively stepped backward.
"What the hell?!"
The Divine Flame of Curses remained silent.
Even he knew...
Kaelen wasn't trying.
This wasn't an attack.
This was merely his presence.
Then—
Kaelen lifted one enormous paw.
"...Insolent long-haired bastard."
The paw descended.
BOOM!!
Eryndor disappeared beneath it.
The impact shook the entire void.
The pressure became unbearable.
His spine bent.
His muscles tore apart.
His black shirt ripped across his shoulders as red black Hellfire leaked uncontrollably from the cracks forming across his skin.
Blood pooled beneath him.
His fingers dug desperately into the void.
"...Move..."
Nothing.
"...MOVE!"
His veins bulged.
Mana exploded throughout his body.
The Hellfire around him roared violently, burning his own flesh as much as it empowered him.
Every muscle in his body screamed.
Slowly...
Very slowly...
The gigantic paw rose.
One inch.
Kaelen blinked.
"...Huh."
Two inches.
The ancient beast's eyes widened slightly.
"...You're actually pushing back?"
With one final roar—
"GET THE HELL OFF ME!!"
BOOOOOOM!!
Hellfire erupted like a volcano.
The paw was thrown aside.
Eryndor stumbled to get up, coughing blood onto the void beneath him.
His breathing came in ragged gasps.
Every breath felt like broken glass tearing through his lungs.
His arms trembled violently.
His vision doubled.
Yet...
He remained standing.
Kaelen looked down at him.
Then...
A grin slowly spread across the beast's face.
"Interesting."
Eryndor wiped the blood from his mouth.
"...Screw this."
Red and black flames ignited around his right hand.
"If you're looking for a fight..."
A cold smile appeared.
"...Let's dance, you oversized flea hotel."
For one second...
Kaelen stared.
Then he burst into thunderous laughter.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"He called me a flea hotel!"
"I like you already."
Still laughing...
The colossal beast casually swung one paw.
Eryndor immediately moved.
Hellfire exploded beneath his feet.
He vanished.
Reappearing above Kaelen's head with his fist engulfed in infernal flames.
"Hell Judgment!"
His fist descended.
Only for Kaelen to casually raise a single claw.
TAP.
The attack stopped instantly.
Eryndor's eyes widened.
"...What?"
Without even looking—
Kaelen flicked him.
BOOM!!
Eryndor shot across the endless void like a cannonball, skipping across the black surface dozens of times before finally crashing to a stop far in the distance.
He lay there.
Motionless.
"...I..."
Blood trickled from his lips.
"...can't beat him."
Not yet.
His entire body screamed.
Every breath felt like inhaling shattered glass.
His ribs burned.
His muscles twitched uncontrollably.
Even lifting a finger felt like trying to move a mountain.
"...Damn..."
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"I've fought Yokais..."
"I've fought Divine Flames..."
"...but what the hell is this thing?"
Far away, Kaelen stood exactly where he had been moments earlier.
Not a single hair of his enormous body had moved.
The colossal beast looked down at Eryndor before casually yawning.
"...You done?"
Eryndor slowly pushed himself onto one knee.
His arms trembled violently beneath his own weight.
Hellfire flickered around him before disappearing.
Even his mana seemed exhausted.
"I..."
He coughed.
"...can't beat you."
Kaelen blinked.
Then tilted his gigantic head.
"...Well obviously."
"You've got eyes, don't you?"
"I've existed longer than most civilizations."
"If you beat me after meeting me for five minutes, I'd be incredibly embarrassed."
Eryndor couldn't even argue.
"...Fair enough."
Kaelen suddenly grinned.
"So..."
"You gonna call me a wolf again?"
"..."
"...No."
"Good."
A pause.
Then Kaelen proudly puffed out his chest.
"...Because I'm not a wolf."
Eryndor frowned.
"...Then what are you?"
The ancient beast immediately froze.
"..."
"...Honestly?"
He looked up thoughtfully.
"I have absolutely no idea."
Silence.
Eryndor stared.
Jae stared.
Even the Divine Flame of Curses looked confused.
"...What?"
Kaelen shrugged with both front shoulders.
"I've been alive for thousands of years."
"Nobody ever bothered telling me."
"I just woke up one day looking this handsome."
"..."
"...That's your explanation?"
"It has worked so far."
Eryndor pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I already have a headache..."
Kaelen suddenly leaned down until one crimson eye completely filled Eryndor's vision.
"So..."
"Answer something for me."
Eryndor sighed.
"...What?"
Kaelen's expression became strangely serious.
"...Are you a masochist?"
Eryndor blinked.
"...Excuse me?"
"You heard me."
"A masochist."
"One of those people that enjoys pain."
"...No."
"I hate pain."
Kaelen nodded thoughtfully.
"Hmmm..."
"I see..."
Another pause.
Then he suddenly pointed one enormous claw toward Eryndor.
"THEN WHY WERE YOU DROWNING YOURSELF FOR ABSOLUTELY NO REASON?!"
The roar echoed throughout the void.
Eryndor flinched.
"I wasn't drowning myself!"
"The pond swallowed me!"
"Oh yeah!"
Kaelen scratched behind one ear.
"Silly me."
"..."
"...You thought I willingly drowned myself?"
"I've met stranger people."
Eryndor didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Before he could answer—
Kaelen spoke again.
"Another question."
"...Go ahead."
"You got a girlfriend?"
Eryndor froze.
"...What?"
"A girlfriend."
Kaelen grinned mischievously.
"You know..."
"A pretty one."
"A big booty one."
Somewhere behind the vision—
Jae nearly choked.
"What kind of question is that?!"
Even the Divine Flame of Curses quietly looked away, hiding the corner of a smile.
Inside the memory...
Eryndor simply stared.
"...What the actual hell..."
Kaelen waited patiently.
"...Well?"
"...No."
"I don't."
Kaelen gasped dramatically.
His enormous paws flew to his face.
"THAT EXPLAINS EVERYTHING!"
"What does that explain?!"
Kaelen looked at him with complete sincerity.
"...You're really just a long-haired wo-man."
A thick vein immediately bulged across Eryndor's forehead.
"...Huh?"
Kaelen nodded confidently.
"Look at you."
"Beautiful hair."
"Smooth face."
"No girlfriend."
"You moisturize, don't you?"
"I DON'T MOISTURIZE!"
"I KNEW IT!"
"You hesitated!"
"I DIDN'T HESITATE!"
Kaelen rolled across the endless void laughing.
His booming laughter echoed forever.
"Hahahahaha!"
"You should've seen your face!"
"You looked offended!"
"I AM OFFENDED!"
"You called me a woman!"
Kaelen wiped away imaginary tears.
"Don't worry."
He spoke with the seriousness of a wise old sage.
"You can check your pants later."
"You're probably still a man."
Something inside Eryndor snapped.
His eye twitched.
His fist slowly clenched.
The temperature around him rose as faint strands of crimson-black Hellfire escaped between his fingers.
"I..."
"...am trying..."
"...so hard..."
"...not to punch you."
Kaelen looked genuinely touched.
"Awww."
"That's growth."
After several long breaths, Eryndor finally forced himself to calm down.
"...Forget it."
"I'm here for one reason."
Kaelen tilted his head.
"Oh?"
"The trial."
"The Sacred Pond."
"I was told I'd have to prove myself."
"So..."
"...Where is it?"
Kaelen blinked.
"...The what?"
"The trial."
"The test."
"The impossible challenge."
"The thing guardians always make people do."
"Oh."
Kaelen casually scratched behind his ear.
"I don't do those."
Silence.
"...What?"
"I don't do tests."
"...Seriously?"
"Too much paperwork."
"There was paperwork?"
"I don't know."
"I never read it."
Eryndor stared in disbelief.
"...Then did I waste my time being here, why am I even here then?"
Kaelen shrugged.
"To make a contract."
"...contract?"
"Yep."
"No life-threatening challenge?"
"Nah."
"No proving my worth?"
"Nope."
"No ancient riddle?"
"Boring."
"No fight to the death?"
"We already did that."
"...yeah.....you nearly killed me."
Kaelen smiled proudly.
"And look!"
"You survived."
"I'd call that progress."
Eryndor slowly sighed.
"I genuinely can't tell if you're insane..."
Kaelen's grin widened.
"Oh."
"I'm definitely insane."
He paused.
"But..."
The smile slowly disappeared.
For the first time since Eryndor had met him...
Kaelen's red eyes became frighteningly calm.
"There is one thing."
The joking vanished from his voice.
"Making a contract with me..."
"...hurts."
Eryndor straightened.
"...How much?"
Kaelen looked away.
"...Honestly?"
"I've never had anyone survive long enough to tell me."
Before Eryndor could respond—
The colossal body erupted into brilliant crimson light.
Stars burst from Kaelen's fur.
The endless wolf dissolved into countless glowing fragments that spiraled through the void like galaxies collapsing into a single point.
The light condensed.
Shrank.
Twisted.
Until...
A tall young man stood before Eryndor.
Dark brown hair.
Sharp red eyes.
A lazy smirk stretched across his face.
He looked almost human.
Almost.
"...Nice meeting you."
Kaelen walked forward casually, hands in his pockets.
Eryndor instinctively took a step back.
Kaelen raised one finger.
"...Contract time."
Then—
He flicked Eryndor squarely in the forehead.
Thunk.
The world shattered.
The instant Kaelen's finger touched Eryndor's forehead—
Reality shattered.
CRACK.
The endless black void fractured like glass.
Darkness swallowed everything.
There was no up.
No down.
No sound.
No light.
Only an endless abyss pressing in from every direction.
Eryndor's body floated helplessly through the emptiness, unable to move so much as a finger.
Then he laid in a raining forest.
"...What..."
Before he could finish—
Something moved beneath him.
A ripple spread through the forest.
Then another.
Then hundreds.
The blackness itself began to rise.
Not like water.
Like something alive.
Countless streams of pitch-black liquid slithered upward, writhing like serpents searching for prey.
Eryndor's eyes widened.
"What... is that?"
The black liquid reached him.
It stopped inches from his face.
For one brief moment...
Everything became still.
Then—
The darkness lunged.
"W-WAIT—"
The black substance forced itself into his nose.
His mouth.
His ears.
Even the corners of his eyes.
It invaded him.
"No—!"
Eryndor tried to scream.
Nothing came out.
His lungs refused to obey him.
His body convulsed violently.
The black liquid poured deeper and deeper into him, as though trying to fill every empty space inside his soul.
His veins darkened.
His pupils shook uncontrollably.
Then—
The memories came.
Not one.
Not a hundred.
Not a thousand.
Thousands upon thousands of years exploded inside his mind all at once.
BOOM!
A sky filled with unfamiliar stars.
BOOM!
A civilization rising from nothing.
BOOM!
Kingdoms collapsing beneath oceans of blood.
BOOM!
A child laughing.
BOOM!
A mountain splitting in half.
BOOM!
A sea turning bloody.
BOOM!
A lonely beast wandering an empty world.
BOOM!
Friends.
Enemies.
Wars. .
Songs.
Faces.
Names.
Languages he had never heard.
Worlds he had never seen.
They all flooded into his consciousness without mercy.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
Eryndor's scream echoed through the darkness.
His hands clawed at his own head.
Veins bulged across his neck.
Blood streamed from his nose.
His body shook so violently that his bones cracked beneath the strain.
"I CAN'T—!"
Another lifetime crashed into him.
Another century.
Another war.
Another death.
Another farewell.
Millions of memories overlapped until he could no longer tell which thoughts were his and which belonged to Kaelen.
"...No..."
"I..."
"...Who..."
For a terrifying instant...
He forgot his own name.
He saw a young beast staring at an endless sky.
He felt centuries of loneliness.
He remembered conversations that had happened thousands of years before he was born.
He mourned people he had never met.
He remembered laughing...
Then crying...
Then watching entire continents disappear beneath impossible catastrophes.
His mind reached its limit.
Black water erupted from his mouth.
"COUGH!"
More followed.
"COUGH!"
It poured endlessly onto the black floor beneath him.
His lungs burned.
His vision blurred.
His heart pounded so violently that he thought it would burst.
Every instinct screamed for him to let go.
To surrender.
To allow the memories to erase him.
But another voice echoed within his heart.
A promise.
A promise made beneath the flames of Hell.
"No matter the cost..."
Eryndor clenched his fists.
"I..."
Blood dripped from his lips.
"...won't..."
His body trembled.
"...break!"
The darkness surrounding him suddenly quivered.
The black liquid paused.
Then, as though acknowledging his will...
It slowly withdrew.
One stream after another rose out of his mouth.
Out of his nose.
Out of his ears.
Each strand returned to the darkness from which it had come.
The flood of memories stopped.
Silence returned.
Eryndor collapsed flat against the endless void.
His entire body was numb.
He couldn't move.
Couldn't speak.
Couldn't even blink.
The only proof he was still alive was the faint rise and fall of his chest.
Several long moments passed.
Then—
The darkness around him faded.
The endless black void returned.
Footsteps echoed softly.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Kaelen stood over him once more.
This time in his human form.
His usual carefree grin had softened into something almost... respectful.
He looked down at the motionless Eryndor.
"...Well."
A small smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"I honestly didn't expect that."
Eryndor managed the smallest movement.
His eyes shifted toward Kaelen.
"..."
Kaelen folded his arms.
"For thousands of years..."
"I've watched people seek my power."
"Kings."
"Sages."
"Yokais."
"Even beings who called themselves gods."
"They all wanted a contract."
His red eyes narrowed.
"Every single one of them died the moment my memories entered their minds."
He chuckled quietly.
"They couldn't handle thousands of years of existence crashing into them all at once."
He crouched beside Eryndor.
For the first time since they had met...
There wasn't a trace of mockery in his expression.
Only genuine admiration.
"You..."
"...are the first."
A long silence settled between them.
Then Kaelen smiled.
A real smile.
Not one meant to tease.
Not one meant to provoke.
One born from respect.
"I accept you."
He extended his hand toward the exhausted young man.
"From this day forward..."
"I, Kaelen..."
"...accept you as my Contractor, Eryndor."
The void trembled.
Ancient runes ignited beneath the two of them.
Somewhere beyond the vision...
Jae instinctively held his breath.