Under a pitch-black sky, a girl with brown hair was running.

Her breathing was uneven, ragged gasps tearing from her throat. Her eyes were wide, pupils trembling, overflowing with fear—as if she had seen something so horrifying it had carved itself into her bones.

Olivia looked terrified.

Absolutely terrified.

Her steps faltered.

She stumbled over a jagged rock and crashed to the ground.

Pain shot up her leg.

Her ankle twisted at an ugly angle, skin scraped raw against the rough terrain.

"Ah—!"

She hissed, grabbing her leg for a second.

But she did not stay down.

Grinding her teeth, she pushed herself up and forced her injured leg to move. She limped forward, half-running, half-staggering.

"No... I have to escape," she muttered, her voice shaking. "Or he’ll kill me."

Sakura was right.

"That guy... he really is an abomination. He can cause our doom."

She had seen it herself.

With her own eyes.

Arthur’s mercy—if it could even be called that—was selective, twisted.

He had humiliated Elizabeth, the ruler of the vampires.

But for what? Just because she had beaten him up a little.

He had destroyed their entire race.

Their whole fucking race.

He had made Elizabeth watch as every single vampire exploded like insects.

And he had laughed.

Laughed with pure joy in the middle of that carnage.

The sound of that laughter still echoed in her mind, sharp and unbearable, refusing to fade no matter how far she ran.

’Only a maniac can do that,’ Olivia thought, her breath catching. ’Now I understand why Sakura was afraid of him.’

She had a chance to track Arthur.

She knew he had reached his limit.

If she went back now, she might find him exhausted, vulnerable—

But her body refused.

Every part of her screamed not to go near him.

Her instincts did not whisper.

They roared.

Run.

Run as far as possible from that thing.

’We’ll have to deal with him soon,’ she thought, her nails digging into her palms. ’Or he really will destroy the world... just what kind of terrifying system does he possess?’

Her mind flashed to something else.

Jericho’s body.

’And what did he plan to do with Jericho’s body...?’

She exhaled slightly in relief.

’It’s a good thing I destroyed Jericho’s body before coming here.’

Still, a faint unease lingered in her chest, as if something had been left unresolved.

She forced herself to stop.

Then crouched and pressed her palm against the cold ground.

"Aura Detection," she whispered.

A faint glow spread from her hand.

[ Talent Activated: Aura Detection ]

[ Rank: S-Rank ]

[ Description: Releases a pulse that detects all living auras within a 1 km radius, revealing their location and intent in real time. ]

A pulse of invisible energy rippled outward from where her hand touched the earth.

In the next second—

She felt them.

Dozens of signatures.

Every moving monster in the radius.

Every living thing.

Each aura pricked at the edge of her awareness—some dull and apathetic, some predatory, tinged with killing intent.

Then she sensed something different.

Human auras.

Clustered together in the eastern direction.

’Humans?’ she thought. ’In the Null Realm?’

It wasn’t completely strange.

High-ranking hunters often entered the Null Realm to hunt powerful monsters and make a name for themselves.

"If they’re hunters," Olivia muttered, "then they should know the way back... to Ragnarion."

The world Arthur and Olivia both belonged to.

She pulled a small vial from her belt with shaking fingers.

A healing potion.

She downed it in one gulp.

Warmth spread through her body, easing the pain and knitting torn flesh. The twist in her ankle straightened out bit by bit.

She took a breath.

Then started running toward the auras.

Her steps grew steadier as the potion did its work.

After some time—

She reached the area.

Her eyes widened.

Ahead of her stood several hunters.

Even from a distance, the aura coming off their bodies screamed danger.

Power.

They all had the weight of people who had survived too many battles.

They were all turned toward the direction Olivia had come from, as if expecting a threat to appear from the darkness behind her.

Their eyes were sharp.

Cautious.

At the front of the group stood a woman with grey hair tied back. Her black eyes were calm but alert. Both of her arms were heavily bandaged, wrapped from shoulder to wrist, as if she had just come out of a life-and-death battle.

Beside her stood a man in a black suit, his face concealed behind a black mask. His posture was stiff, disciplined—the kind that came from decades of combat experience. He looked to be in his fifties.

And at the center—

A boy.

Golden hair.

Amber eyes.

Lucas Evan Imperius.

Olivia’s breath hitched.

Her legs almost gave out again.

She quickly bowed deeply, her head lowered.

"M-my lord," she stammered. "What... what are you doing here...?"

Lucas clicked his tongue.

"Looks like she was on point she came here on her won just as she had predicted i have to say I’m impressed.

As confusion flickered onto olivias face.

As lucas said."I’ve come to take you back,"

A small, hopeful smile tugged at Olivia’s lips despite her fear.

"For me," she said, her voice trembling. "You came here... for me."

A sharp sound rang out.

Lucas’s hand slapped across her cheek.

SLAP.

Olivia’s head snapped to the side in shock.

"How dare you waste my precious time like that," he said coldly. "If you didn’t possess that hacking system, I would have never bothered coming here."

Despite the sting on her cheek—

A faint blush crept onto Olivia’s face.

Her heart beat a little faster.

"But... how did you know I was here?" she asked.

Lucas exhaled sharply.

"You should be thankful to Sakura," he said. "She was the one who told me—with that weird ability of hers, whatever it is."

He narrowed his amber eyes, pausing as his next words forced Olivia to remember something she desperately wanted to forget.

"But before we go," he continued, "tell me what happened to Arthur."

Silence fell.

The other hunters glanced at Olivia, waiting.

Her body began to shake.

Her fingers dug into her own clothes.

"That guy..." she whispered. "That guy is an abomination."

She lifted her head slightly, her eyes still filled with terror.

"We should get out of here."

"That guy possesses powers unlike anything I’ve ever seen," Olivia said, her voice trembling. "Even for a system user... that guy annihilated the entire Crimson Vampire Clan."

Lucas’s eyes widened for a brief moment.

Then they narrowed, turning sharp and cold.

"I underestimated him," he muttered. "So he’s the one who stole my inventory."

His jaw tightened.

"A system that can steal other people’s powers, huh..."

Just thinking about it—

A chill ran down Lucas’s spine.

He slowly turned his gaze toward the darkness in the direction Olivia had come from.

’Should I kill him right now?’ he wondered.

Around him, the two powerful guards of the Imperius family stood at the ready. Both radiated pressure that could crush most high-ranking hunters.

If he gave the order—

They would move.

But Olivia’s words echoed in his mind.

An entire clan.

Erased.

A pure-blood vampire queen.

Forced to her knees.

Lucas hesitated.

’What kind of power has that accursed brother of mine awakened...?’

He clicked his tongue.

"Let’s wait and watch," he said finally. "I have no influence in this world. It’s dangerous to jump into something with so little information."

A cold smile tugged at his lips.

"Just let him come back to the real world," Lucas said. "I’ll make his life hell... for taking something that belonged to me."

He glanced at the grey-haired, bandaged woman beside him.

"Let’s go," he said. "It’s a waste of time to stay here."

The woman nodded.

A sword materialized in her bandaged hand—sleek, black, and humming with spatial energy.

She slashed the air.

A rift opened in front of them, a vertical tear in reality itself. On the other side, faint light from another world bled through.

Olivia did not hesitate.

She jumped into the portal first.

The masked man followed behind her, then the bandaged woman stepped through as well.

Lucas stayed for a moment longer.

He turned his head back toward the direction of the Night Sanctuary.

"You will pay dearly, dear brother," he murmured, his tone eerily composed.

"Every action has a cost, and I intend to collect it in full. Everyone who helped you, who believed in you—they will all suffer just because of you.

I’ll make sure you watch every moment of it, unable to do anything but endure. And when you finally break, when that last bit of defiance leaves your eyes, I’ll remind you of what you’ve always been—a failure.

Nothing has changed. Not then, not now, not ever. You can struggle, you can fight, you can cling to whatever illusions you’ve built for yourself... but in the end, you’ll still be the same worthless failure you’ve always been. Just wait... and see."

A cruel glint shone in his amber eyes.

"I’ll make you kneel before me," he whispered, "just like the good old times—until you beg for forgiveness."

He smirked.

"It’s going to be a lot of fun."

Then Lucas stepped into the portal.

It snapped shut behind him.

The Null Realm grew quiet once more.