Kaiden stepped out of the guild hall with the rest of his party and saw every guild nearby moving in formation.

As they walked, Kaiden let his focus drift inward. The familiar pull of the system window unfolded inside his mind.

[Name: Kaiden Grey]

[Rank: 3 – Star]

[Class: Paragon of Sin]

[Level: 46 | XP: 87,192 / 460,000]

[Stats]

Vitality: 123

Strength: 143

Agility: 142

Endurance: 136

Mana: 114

Magic: 113

A low breath escaped him. 'It's been some time since I've fought monsters.'

Then he snorted inwardly. 'Well… not really. Only a few days. But with how insane everything's been? It feels like weeks.'

The Maximilian disaster, the infiltration of his den of sin, the final confrontation, his sentencing to death row… so much had unfolded in such a whirlwind that the last time he'd killed an actual monster felt like it belonged to a different chapter of his life entirely.

His eyes drifted back over his stats, and a slow grin pulled at the corner of his mouth. 'Amazing. I'm more than twelve times stronger and faster than a healthy adult man.'

That simple realization still sent a faint thrill up his spine. There was something intoxicating about raw power measured so cleanly, so undeniably. Being awakened and having the ability to ascend one's own existence in this manner was something Kaiden could never get tired of.

Wanting to experience this exact sensation was why he'd been begging all that was holy to be granted awakening ever since the mana apocalypse arrived, and it did not disappoint.

Before he could indulge in the satisfaction any further, a girly voice chimed inside his mind, bright and high enough to make the corners of his vision twitch.

<Big brother, are you seriously ignoring my contributions?! Don't forget we're one now!>

Kaiden winced. 'Why do you always have to say it like that…?'

<Because it's reality! Hmph!!> she scoffed cutely with the smug certainty of a girl who knew she was irreplaceable.

He shook his head, feeling that familiar mix of exasperation and fondness tug at him. 'Fine. Fair enough. You're doing a lot, I know.'

And it was true. The system notifications alone were proof:

[Status Effect Gained: Harmonic Conduit Integration]

+10% to all base attributes while Conduit Attached

Mana Perception: Enhanced

Dual Vision: Established

Alice's presence hummed gently at the top of his head, threaded through his senses like an invisible current. The bonus was always active while she was in her conduit form, though she stubbornly preferred calling it her 'little sister guardian angel mode,' because of course she did.

And unlike the very first time she'd merged with him, he no longer sported the half-black, half-white hair shift or eyes. They'd learned quickly that the dramatic transformation wasn't mandatory, just the default look when they fully synchronized.

Alice had learned to regulate it.

Kaiden had learned to focus through it.

The result was a stable, controlled state of being two in one.

<You're welcome for your free stats, by the way.>

'Yes, thank you…' he replied inwardly, resigned.

The holo artifacts on their wrists suddenly pulsed with a sharp, crystalline chime. A soft shimmer rippled across the metal bands before a woman's voice filled the air around every participant, and her face became visible in the holographic screen. She was instantly recognizable as the high-ranking officer who had spoken just before Magnus during the earlier announcement.

"Attention, competing awakened. The dungeon outbreak extermination event is now entering its operational phase. From this moment forward, your contributions will be recorded. The competition will run until all monsters within the designated sectors have been eradicated, or until thirty days have passed. With this, the event officially begins. In the name of the Awakened Association, I wish you good luck."

The message ended with another harmonic pulse, and the feed cut out.

A heartbeat later, dozens of holographic projections flared into existence above thousands of wrists. These were the topographic maps, blinking red pings, moving clusters, and shifting threat markers.

In an instant, the area erupted in motion. Groups from every nearby guild surged into a sprint, shouting to one another, comparing routes, and boasting loudly as they scrambled to chase the nearest monster clusters. Some dashed off like overeager sprinters, burning mana just to get ahead by a few seconds, while others argued heatedly about which paths would give them the highest score-per-hour. It was chaotic, noisy, and fueled entirely by the expectation of quick gains.

These people were not stupid - at least, not their guild leaders - they understood that caution was needed. But if they wanted to have a chance at even sniffing victory when New Dawn was competing, then caution had to be used moderately. Without taking risks, they would simply not have a chance.

Kaiden didn't budge at first.

He simply watched the frenzy unfold with a dry, almost amused expression before walking forward at the same unhurried pace he'd been using before the announcement. His girls matched his stride automatically, none of them even glancing toward the distant pings that others were racing toward. The difference in mindset was almost comical. While most competitors treated the event like a limited-time hunt where every second mattered, Kaiden and his party moved with the calm deliberation of people who knew the truth: this wasn't a rush for scraps - it was a month-long excavation site of endless monsters.

Clusters in the dozens. Herds in the hundreds. More than twenty destabilized dungeons had vomited their contents into this region, each one contributing wave after wave of creatures. The monster population wasn't just high: it was overflowing.

Of course, Kaiden also understood the might of New Dawn. There was a chance that he wasn't even on the level of an A-tier yet, but they had a whole army of them, led by two S-tiers and supported by competent B-tiers.

It was a powerful enough strike force that, should they invade a small country, they might just topple their government before breakfast. Any normal competitor would've felt pressure coil around their lungs just thinking about that kind of opposition.

Yet Kaiden remained calm, almost relaxed, because his path to victory didn't look anything like theirs. The class tier of a normal awakened was set in stone from the moment of their awakening. Thus, even if they killed many monsters and gained many levels, they'd still be facing bad odds.

Unlike the others, however, his power didn't demand that he match New Dawn today. It demanded that he reach the next bottleneck. If he hit level fifty, surpassed the threshold, and unlocked whatever powers the Demonic Pornstar System had stored away from the Paragon of Sin Class for him... that shift could put him in a completely different weight class overnight.

After all, when he pushed past the first bottleneck at level 25, his power level jumped astronomically.

As such, it wasn't outrageous to think he might have a chance at competing with New Dawn.

And, well, even if it was… So be it. He only stood to gain from being here and farming levels. Winning the competition would grant him immense benefits, but he still came to this location without knowing such a competition was about to begin.

Having his heart steeled for the brutal events that would unfold within this mountain range, Kaiden's eyes focused on the hologram map.

Just like this, the competition had entered its 'full steam ahead' phase, and it was time for Valhalla's Sinners to begin.

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