The city came into focus piece by piece.

Stone streets instead of warped ground. Building foundations still standing, walls cracked but recognizable, alleys laid out with intent rather than distortion. Compared to the lighthouse island, this place felt… grounded. Wounded, but not twisted.

Noel walked at a steady pace, boots echoing softly against the road. Beside him, Noir sat briefly on a broken step, watching the street ahead with quiet alertness before padding after him again. She didn't speak. She didn't need to.

"This one was lived in," Noel muttered.

Before he could follow the thought further, a faint vibration pulsed from inside his dimensional pouch.

He stopped.

The sensation was subtle, almost easy to miss—but now he recognized it. Noel reached in and pulled out the compact metallic device Theo had given him. The surface hummed once more, then a familiar, tired voice came through.

"Noel. I can see you now."

Noel exhaled slowly, relief slipping through before he could stop it.

"You're on the island of Elyra von Estermont group," Theo continued. "They're all there."

That got his attention.

Noel slowed, gaze lifting toward the inner districts.

"I see," he said quietly.

Theo didn't pause.

"Good fight… or maybe I should say massacre. I've never seen anything like it."

Noel winced faintly, rubbing the back of his neck as he kept walking.

"Ah… sorry about that," he replied. "I still don't really control my strength yet. Don't worry—I'll leave your islands intact." Noel paused for a bit. "I think."

A dry sound came through the device. Not quite laughter, but close enough.

"With you here," Theo said, "I believe we'll recover the islands sooner or later. You just don't realize how much that matters yet."

Noel didn't answer right away.

"Now, what matters," Theo went on, "your friends aren't by the coast anymore. They were at first—but they've started moving. Toward the center of the island."

Noel stopped at the edge of a wide avenue.

The main street.

It cut straight through the district like a spine, leading deeper into the city where taller structures loomed. This island felt different from the lighthouse's. Less damaged. Almost… preserved.

"The path itself is simple," Theo warned. "But it's crawling with monsters, lad. You'll have to carve your way through—or use that Shadow Step of yours again."

Theo hesitated, then added:

"Though that raises a question. How exactly do you plan to move all of them between islands?"

Noel's jaw tightened.

He didn't answer immediately.

"I don't know," he admitted at last. "We'll figure it out once I reach them."

A long breath came through the device.

"Then so be it," Theo said. "For now, good luck. If you need guidance, use the device. I can still watch."

"The other groups are moving too. The only ones who haven't are the crew—they're guarding the ship."

Noel nodded once, even though Theo couldn't see it.

"Thanks, Theo."

"One last thing," Theo added. "Follow the main street. It leads straight to the center. You may still encounter people… or you may find they've already been taken."

"Be careful."

The device went silent.

Noel lowered it slowly, slipping it back into his pouch. He stood there for a moment, staring down the long, monster-infested avenue.

Noir stopped beside him, sitting calmly, eyes fixed forward.

Noel inhaled.

Then he stepped onto the main street.

The main street stretched ahead like a scar carved through the island.

Cracked stone, abandoned stalls, fragments of buildings leaning at wrong angles—this place had once been alive. Now it was just a corridor filled with movement that shouldn't have been there.

The first thing Noel noticed was the sound.

Metal dragging over stone.

Low, heavy, rhythmic.

From between the collapsed buildings, they emerged.

Serpentine shapes slithered across the street, bodies covered in thick scales dulled by grime and dried blood. Others followed on four limbs—beasts that looked like twisted wolves or boars, their muscles distorted by control rather than growth.

All of them wore chains.

Thick, heavy links wrapped tightly around their necks, some embedded into flesh, others fused directly into bone. The chains didn't drag uselessly—they pulled, tightened, corrected. Every movement was guided.

Ascendant – Rare.

Noel didn't stop walking.

He lifted one hand casually.

"Fire Arc."

A curved blade of compressed flame tore forward, slicing through the street in a clean sweep. Three chainbound serpents were cut in half before they could even lunge, their bodies collapsing in smoking sections.

[You have slain Chainbound Serpent (Ascendant – Rare).

You have received 0.02% Core Progress.]

[You have slain Chainbound Serpent (Ascendant – Rare).

You have received 0.02% Core Progress.]

[You have slain Chainbound Serpent (Ascendant – Rare).

You have received 0.02% Core Progress.]

More surged in immediately, as if the chains themselves had ordered it.

Noel's eyes narrowed—not in concern, but mild annoyance.

"Glacialis."

A spike of dense ice punched forward, expanding on impact. Two beasts were frozen mid-stride, their joints locking instantly. The ice didn't hold long—because Noel shattered it a heartbeat later with a flick of lightning.

[You have slain Chainbound Beast (Ascendant – Rare).

You have received 0.02% Core Progress.]

[You have slain Chainbound Beast (Ascendant – Rare).

You have received 0.02% Core Progress.]

One serpent lunged from above.

Noel didn't even look at it.

"Voltage Needle."

The thin bolt of lightning pierced straight through its skull, the chain around its neck clattering uselessly as the body hit the ground.

[You have slain Chainbound Serpent (Ascendant – Rare).

You have received 0.02% Core Progress.]

More targets clustered ahead.

"Chain Flash."

Lightning erupted, jumping from one chained neck to the next. Bodies convulsed, scales blackened, and the street filled with the sharp smell of burned metal and flesh.

[You have slain Chainbound Beast (Ascendant – Rare).

You have received 0.02% Core Progress.]

[You have slain Chainbound Beast (Ascendant – Rare).

You have received 0.02% Core Progress.]

Noel finally drew Revenant Fang.

"Ignition Surge."

Fire wrapped the blade instantly. He stepped through the remaining monsters in a blur of motion, each strike precise, excessive, final. Chains snapped. Bodies fell.

The system kept notifying.

The progress barely moved.

And Noel didn't slow down.

He just kept walking forward, flames, frost, and lightning clearing the street like debris in his way—already adjusting, already learning what it meant to move as an Archmage.

The street began to open up.

Buildings pulled back from the road, their facades scorched and cracked, chains hanging loose from shattered doorways and broken lampposts. Fewer monsters crawled out now. The ones that did hesitated—instinct finally catching up to reality.

Noel felt it before he heard it.

A ripple in the air. Mana moving with intent.

Then—an explosion ahead.

A controlled detonation, shaped and supported.

Noel stopped for half a heartbeat, head tilting.

"…That's not random," he muttered.

Another impact followed, this one sharper. Focused. The sound of something being pinned in place before being erased. Threads of mana layered carefully, like scaffolding around a strike.

Support magic.

Noel exhaled through his nose. "Elyra."

A third surge rolled through the street, greener, wilder—but disciplined. Vines snapped up from between stones, not sprawling, not reckless. They grabbed, restrained, then withdrew the moment their job was done.

"Elena," he said quietly.

Then came the last signature.

A clean, almost clinical pulse. No wasted mana. No excess force. A spell designed to do exactly one thing, executed perfectly, and ended the moment it was done.

Noel smiled despite himself.

"…Laziel."

The remaining monsters didn't get the chance to react.

Noel moved.

"Stormpiercer."

Lightning detonated around him as the street collapsed into a straight, blinding line. He reappeared twenty meters ahead, boots skidding across cracked stone as a chained beast tried—and failed—to turn.

"Ignition Surge."

Fire wrapped Revenant Fang, tight and obedient. One swing. The chain snapped with a sound like tearing iron. The creature fell before it understood it was dead.

Another lunged from a side alley.

"Voltage Needle."

The spell punched through its skull and out the other side. The body collapsed mid-step.

A cluster surged forward together, chains clattering, mouths open.

"Chain Flash."

Lightning leapt, split, and tore through them in rapid succession. They dropped where they stood, smoke rising from broken collars and scorched scales.

The street ahead was already clearing, magic from both sides converging toward the same point. The sound of combat grew sharper. Closer. Familiar.

[Current Core Progress: 1.20% — Mana Core: Archmage]

Noel glanced at the notification once—then dismissed it.

This level of power made clearing streets trivial.

Revenant Fang moved almost on its own.

Noel didn't stop to cast anymore—he flowed. Each step carried him forward through the street as if resistance had stopped being a factor worth acknowledging. Chains snapped apart under the blade's edge with a shriek like tearing iron, bodies collapsing in pieces before they even finished turning toward him.

Flame traced the sword's path, then froze over, then cracked with lightning an instant later. Monsters lunged and died mid-motion, their attacks ending before they properly began. The street filled with the smell of scorched metal and ruptured flesh, broken links clattering uselessly across stone.

Beside him, the shadows surged.

Noir erupted into her full form in a rush of black mass and muscle, towering over the ruined buildings—eight meters of fangs, claws, and hunger. She hit the monsters head-on, not delicately, not cautiously. She tore into them, jaws closing around chained necks, ripping control collars free along with everything attached to them.

She didn't slow either.

Creatures vanished into her maw, crushed and swallowed as if they were nothing more than obstacles meant to be cleared. Her presence pressed outward, dominant and absolute, forcing the remaining beasts to hesitate—just long enough.

Noel used that hesitation.

Another step. Another strike. Another body down.

The system continued to notify in the background. The progress barely moved.

Noel didn't care.

He kept walking forward—blade humming, shadows pacing him, the street breaking open ahead of him—already adjusting, already learning, already understanding what it meant to move through the world as an Archmage.

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