The light was blinding. It wasn't the warm glow of a hearth or the cold gleam of a dungeon crystal; it was the stark, terrifying white of annihilation. The Behemoth's hand, charged with enough mana to vaporize a city block, loomed inches from Haruki's face.
Haruki stood his ground. He couldn't move. His body had given out the moment the seal on Rico completed. His mana was dry, his nerves were fried, and his legs were effectively lead weights.
*Well,* he thought, watching the energy condense into a point. *At least I saved the idiot.*
He closed his eyes, ready for the final jurisdiction. Ready for the end.
*ZZZT.*
A sound cut through the roar of the charging blast. A sound like tearing fabric, sharper and faster than anything Haruki had heard before.
Haruki opened his eyes.
A streak of iridescent light had intersected the Behemoth's wrist.
For a second, the giant monster stood frozen, its killing blow primed. Then, the hand holding the sphere of destruction simply... slid off. The massive limb fell to the floor, severed cleanly, cauterized instantly, spinning like a dropped coin before exploding in a shower of wild mana.
The Behemoth roared—a sound of pure, incandescent rage. It spun around, its stump gushing black smoke.
"WHO DARES?!"
Haruki looked past the giant, toward the entrance of the hall.
They stood there, framed in the dust and dim light. A party of five.
They didn't look like adventurers. They looked like forces of nature given human form. Their gear radiated a hum of high-tier enchantment that made the air itself vibrate. The mana density around them was suffocating—not evil, like Rico's, but heavy with pure, refined power.
The Baskian Legends. An SSS-Rank Party. The elites of the world.
The woman at the front lowered her hand. She was tall, wearing sleek, silver armor that moved like liquid. Her hair was a stark white, and her eyes were sharp, calculating. She had thrown the shard.
She looked at the rampaging Behemoth, then her gaze flickered to Haruki. Her eyes narrowed slightly.
*He saw it,* she thought. *He saw the shard the moment it left my hand. Even in his condition, his eyes tracked it. A porter?*
"Formation," she commanded, her voice calm. "Wipe the threat. Healer, check the survivors."
"Understood, Lady Lizza!"
The party moved. It was a blur of coordinated violence. A tank with a tower shield slammed into the Behemoth's leg, cracking the bone. An archer unleashed a volley of arrows that turned into beams of light, pinning the creature's remaining limbs to the walls. A mage floated above, chanting a spell that turned the air into blades.
It wasn't a fight. It was an execution.
Haruki watched, his brain struggling to process the gap in power.
*They're handling an SSS+ Calamity like it's a floor two slime,* he thought.
His gaze drifted. He saw the debris nearby. He saw the bodies of his own party—Fen, Sable, Wick. They were buried under rubble, motionless.
His heart clenched.
"Sol. Rax. Scan them."
"Scanning..." Sol's voice was weak. "...Deceased. All three. Impact trauma and mana suffocation."
Haruki looked down at his hands. They were trembling.
Maren was the only one left. The one-armed leader who had escaped.
*I'm the only one left from the dive.*
He felt the weight of the Orb in his pocket—the seal containing Rico.
*Should I re-seal him?* he thought frantically. *If they find him... they'll kill him. He's a Great Demon. They won't hesitate.*
He gulped.
"Sol, Rax... did I fail you?"
The question came out small. Pathetic.
Inside his mind, the systems went quiet.
Sol accessed the archives of his previous hosts. He saw flashes of masters who had conquered kingdoms, slaughtered millions, achieved godhood. Masters who used their power for greed, for vanity, for cruelty.
Rax accessed his own memories. Masters who burned cities for fun. Masters who betrayed everyone for a coin.
Then they looked at Haruki. A boy who was bullied, broken, and tired. A boy who had just thrown away his life to save the very monster that tried to kill him.
"No," Sol said softly. "You didn't."
"You are still a great master, Haruki," Rax added, his voice devoid of mockery for once. "A stupid one. But a great one."
Haruki let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
He needed to leave. Now.
While the Baskian Legends were focused on the Behemoth, Haruki forced his body to move. He crawled into the shadows of a collapsed pillar, dragging himself toward a side passage.
"Well, well."
A voice cut through his escape.
Haruki froze.
A woman stood in his path. She hadn't been there a second ago. It was the leader of the Legends. Lizza Nomani. The "Sphincter Queen," as the underground rumors called her (a title she despised, but respected the fear it inspired). She looked down at him, her arms crossed.
"You're a hard man to kill, Porter," she said.
Haruki swallowed, trying to look harmless. "I... I got lucky."
"Luck doesn't track shards moving at Mach 3," she said dryly. "How did you get in this situation?"
Haruki lied. He lied smoothly, the way a survivor does.
"The floor shifted. We got separated. Monsters... happened. I was just trying to get the Commander out."
He gestured to Vorian, who was being stabilized by the Legend's healer a few meters away. The Commander was unconscious, but alive. Haruki let out a breath of relief that was only partially faked.
Lizza studied him. She noticed the way his eyes scanned the exits. She noticed the lack of fear in his scent—he was exhausted, yes, but not terrified of her.
*He's special,* she realized. *And he's hiding something.*
But she didn't press. She wasn't paid to interrogate survivors.
"Keep an eye on him," Lizza whispered to the archer girl beside her. "Until we clear the dungeon. Something about him feels... off."
The archer nodded.
Lizza turned back to ask Haruki another question, but the space where he had been sitting was empty.
Haruki was gone.
The First Floor Gate.
Haruki stumbled out of the stairwell. He didn't stop. He didn't look back. He bypassed the Guild Knights who were setting up a perimeter, slipping through the shadows like a ghost.
He was too far from the Legends now. He was safe.
He caught his breath, leaning against the cool stone of the dungeon entrance. He pulled the Orb out of his pocket. It pulsed faintly.
"You're heavy," he muttered to the sealed demon inside.
He put it away and walked out into the daylight.
The sun was setting over Ashfen. The town was in chaos—guards running, healers shouting.
He walked toward the Guild Hall.
He opened the door.
The waiting room was crowded, but the moment he stepped in, the smell of blood and ash hit him.
"MAREN!"
Maren was sitting on a bench near the reception desk. Her stumps were bandaged heavily. She looked pale, broken, her eyes staring at the floor.
Boros was standing nearby, his face grave. His daughter, Lira, was hovering by Maren's side, clutching a towel.
At the shout, Maren looked up.
Her eyes widened.
"Haruki?"
She tried to stand, but stumbled. Haruki rushed forward, his exhaustion forgotten, and caught her.
They hugged. It was a messy, desperate embrace. Maren was crying instantly, sobbing into his shoulder.
"I thought you were dead," she wept. "I thought... I left you..."
"I'm here," Haruki whispered, patting her back. "I'm here."
He pulled back, looking her in the eye. His face was serious.
"Maren. Listen to me," he whispered, leaning close to her ear. "We need to talk. Privately. About... what happened. You can't tell anyone about *him*. If they know he's alive, they'll hunt us both."
Maren pulled back, confused, wiping her tears. She saw the look in his eyes—the cold, pragmatic look of the boy who fixed hinges and cut off hands to survive.
"Okay," she whispered. "I won't."
Boros walked over. He looked at Haruki like he was seeing a ghost. He handed him a piece of parchment sealed with golden wax.
"Boy... you're a miracle," Boros grunted. "This arrived. By Royal Courier. It was delivered to the front desk just minutes ago."
Haruki took the letter. He broke the seal.
To the Survivor of the Ashfen Rift Incident:
In recognition of extraordinary valor and survival against a Class-A Dungeon Shift, you have been recommended by the Baskian Legends for immediate admission.
Enclosed is your acceptance letter to The Soldemn Academy of Magic.
Report to the Capital in one week.
Haruki stared at the paper.
*Soldemn.*
The most prestigious magic school in the kingdom. The place where heroes were forged. The place where the rich, the powerful, and the talented gathered.
It was also the place where the "Heroes" summoned by Seraphiel were currently training.
His classmates. Ren. Hana. The ones who had been celebrated while he was eating ashroot in the Grey.
*They're there,* he realized. *The otherworlders.*
He was being sent straight into the lion's den.
"I'm... I'm accepted?" Haruki stammered, playing the part of the shocked commoner.
"Yes," Boros said. "Full scholarship. It's an honor."
*It's a death sentence,* Haruki thought. *I have a sealed Great Demon in my pocket, two voices in my head, and now I have to go to a school with the people who are supposed to be the protagonists of this world?*
He looked at the letter. He looked at Maren, who was smiling through her tears, happy that something good had finally happened.
Haruki sighed.
"Well," he muttered under his breath. "I guess I'll just walk some crossroad again. I don't know."
THE END OF THE RICO DUNGEON ARC.
Wow.
I honestly can't believe we reached this point. When I started writing *Surviving As An Anomaly In Another World*, I didn't expect the journey to be this wild.
To every single one of you who clicked on this story, who read through Haruki's struggles, his silence, and his knitting—**Thank You.**
We just hit 28,000 Views. And 9 Collections.
I know 9 collections might seem small to some, but to me that means the world.
Thank you for the comments, the support, and for sticking with Haruki through the Grey, through the dungeon, and through the madness with Rico.
This isn't the end. Haruki's story is just getting started. He has a school to survive, a demon to hide, and a peaceful life to somehow find.
Season 2 is coming soon.
I'll see you all at The Soldemn Academy.
Stay safe, and keep knitting.
~ ItsNonsenseOfficial