The wind howled across the sky as the Midnight Lord circled above them. Its wings—ragged, black, and leathery like burnt hide—beat with a heavy rhythm that made the air itself vibrate. Below, Luke and the others were crossing the bridge toward the looming castle when a vast shadow fell across them.

The beast landed with a dull, bone-rattling crash, shaking the very stones beneath their feet. It was enormous, its gray, rotted skin stretched tight over sinew and bone, reeking of decay. Its eyes burned with a dead, unholy light—cold, inhuman. When it roared, the sound seemed to come from a bottomless pit.

[Reanimated Wyvern (Midnight Lord) – Lvl 99]

Luke still held Allison in his arms. For a split second, he froze—just like everyone else—as the creature's chest began to glow, pulsing with molten light.

Then it opened its mouth.

A torrent of fire tore through the air toward them.

Instinct took over. The group scattered, each running for whatever cover they could find among the trees surrounding the bridge. Luke pushed his body to the limit, burning stamina as he sprinted and threw himself behind a thick trunk. The flames swept past, devouring everything in their path and painting the world in red and orange.

Allison slipped from his arms, gasping for air.

"I'm fine," she said quickly, forcing herself upright.

Luke peeked around the trunk. The Wyvern stood on the bridge like a gatekeeper forged from nightmares, unmoving, guarding the path to the castle as if it had been born for that single purpose.

"Of all the things we thought this might be, this wasn't on the list," came Jack's voice from somewhere nearby.

The team crouched low behind the trees, breath visible in the cold, minds racing.

"Well, staring at it isn't going to make it die," Erza shouted from somewhere to the right. "Rhiannon, got any wisdom to share? This thing isn't a distant cousin of yours or something?"

Luke drew a long breath and slung the black bow off his back. From the pendant at his neck, he pulled an ultra-rare arrow, the mana thrumming against his skin like static. The Wyvern's heavy steps shook the ground as it prowled, sniffing the air, scanning the shadows with those lifeless eyes.

Allison leaned against a nearby tree, studying it carefully.

"A dragon's breath isn't infinite," she said.

"No kidding," Erza shot back. "What's next, you telling us it flies too?"

"I mean it has a cost," Allison replied, her tone cutting through the tension. "Not just mana—physical strain too. Overuse it, and it'll burn itself out. It won't be able to breathe fire for a while."

Luke's mind flashed back to the Beast Lord, the way it had overused its acid breath until its body gave out. He remembered, too, how Allison had nearly collapsed after using her own dragon breath just minutes ago.

"This thing's at the peak of Rank E," Mason's voice came through, tight and grim. "Its limit… isn't just a few fire breaths."

The ground trembled again. From deep within the forest came the sound of footsteps—and growls. Multiple. Four pairs of crimson eyes appeared in the darkness, each attached to a towering silhouette.

"Warden Generals," Luke muttered under his breath.

"Girls!" Erza shouted to the maids. "Don't let those things reach the Wyvern, or none of us are getting out of here alive!"

The maids didn't answer. They simply nodded once and broke into motion, vanishing between the trees with weapons drawn.

A dark shape flickered beside Luke, and Evangeline emerged from the shadows, her arm badly burned. "Where's Jack?"

"I—I'm here!" came his voice, breathless and panicked, from somewhere behind them.

Luke watched the dragon carefully. If he fired now, the creature would lock onto his position. He needed precision—and a plan. Charlie had been placed within his soul when he started running from the wyvern. He released her, and she appeared at his side.

"Think… think…" Luke muttered under his breath.

Allison broke the silence. "I'll fight the wyvern. You head for the castle."

"Oh, and let you take all the glory?" Erza teased, stepping into view with Anne.

"I've got the katana that helps me resist fire!" Allison shot back, turning as she ran.

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A cloud of white mist followed her, spreading through the trees as she sprinted down the trail. The wyvern let out a roar that rattled the forest, its jaws opening wide to unleash a torrent of flame. Allison countered with a volley of iceballs that hissed against the inferno. Luke bolted forward, drawing his bow. The moment the creature's chest glowed with heat, he loosed an ultra-rare arrow. It sliced through the air and struck the wyvern's neck. The sound that came out of it was a mix between a gurgle and a roar of rage.

Charlie ran alongside him.

"Get to the castle!" Erza shouted.

Evangeline followed with the doll maid, rushing to aid Allison, who was dodging the beast's snapping jaws while launching more iceballs in rapid succession.

Luke hesitated. He knew he could end it right here—if he used the Demon Predator's Hands together with the Epic Arrow. But that combo was his only real weapon against the Midnight King.

He glanced at Charlie. "Let's move!"

They ran, Evangeline, Jack, and Mason close behind. The dragon's fury erupted behind them, setting the forest ablaze.

If the damn Midnight Lord is the peak of Rank E… then what level is the Midnight King?

The thought echoed in Luke's head as they sprinted through the burning woods. The sound of their footsteps mixed with the wyvern's distant roars. The air reeked of smoke and scorched snow. Even from far away, he could feel the heat chasing him. He focused on the pendant hanging from his neck. The pocket dimension opened in his mind like a shimmer of blue light. Inside, everything was meticulously organized—forty-six uncommon arrows, thirteen ultra-rares, and one single epic. His last resort.

Twenty common arrows sat in his quiver, enough to craft more if he had time. But he knew better. Against monsters like these, regular ammunition was about as useful as throwing stones. He sheathed his bow and replaced it with his kukris. The twin blades gleamed with a silvery hue as he ran.

"We're on our own now," Luke muttered. "No Allison, no Erza, no Anne… and no maid reinforcements."

Mason kept pace beside him, replying without missing a step. "We killed the witch together. If she falls and there's still time, we'll decide then whether to go back for the Midnight Lord."

"I can only use Shadow Prison three more times," Evangeline warned. She kept running despite the pain, her arm freshly healed by Jack's magic.

Three uses. Luke did the math in his head: one for the witch, two for insurance against the king.

Even so, it still didn't feel like enough.

The forest began to thin. Ahead, the stone bridge stretched over a deep, shadowed abyss, and beyond it rose the castle. Vast and ancient, its tall towers pierced through the swirling snowstorm, their outlines faint under the dark night sky. The wind that swept from it was icy and howling. Luke stared at the horizon. The castle felt like the end of the world, the last edge of the map, and deep down, he knew that was true. This was the limit of the tutorial, the point where reality itself ended and only the unknown remained.

A roar split the air above them, shaking the ground and every heartbeat in their chests. Luke's eyes darted upward. The silhouette of the Midnight Lord tore across the gray sky, wings cutting through the snowstorm.

"No way…" he muttered.

The Wyvern dove, slamming down in front of them and blocking the bridge completely. Its wings spread wide, casting a shadow that swallowed the entire group. Luke's first thought was the worst possible one. Something must have gone wrong with Allison and the others.

The creature's chest began to glow again, that same molten red. A heartbeat later, fire erupted, pouring from its jaws in a torrent that seemed to consume the world itself. Charlie didn't hesitate. She stepped forward, shield raised, spectral barrier flaring to life in her other hand. The blast struck with a thunderous crack. The barrier shattered like glass, scattering shards of light through the air, but the shield held.

The flames engulfed her completely. When the blaze finally died, Charlie was still standing, unmoving, smoke curling from her armor. She took a single step back, then struck. Her fist slammed into the creature's snout, the impact echoing through the air.

[Mark of Doom activated]

At the same time, spheres of ice rained down from above, exploding against the Wyvern's scales. Allison was still alive and firing from a distance.

"Fall back!" Luke shouted. "Back to the forest!"

They sprinted, the world behind them collapsing into chaos, fire meeting ice, explosions shaking the sky. When they reached the trees, Mason stopped, gasping for air, sweat freezing on his face. "That bastard's not letting anyone reach the castle!"

"Yeah, no shit," Evangeline snapped, wiping blood from her lip.

Allison, Erza, and Anne emerged from the mist soon after, clothes scorched but still standing.

Luke turned to Charlie. Her armor was cracked and half-melted, but the dark metal was already knitting itself back together, the plates shifting into place. The Midnight Armor lived up to its name, and her Mark of Doom had landed. The creature was marked.

The situation was obvious now: the Wyvern would never let them advance.

"Looks like he's decided no one passes from here," Erza said flatly.

"If we can distract it again, maybe we could slip past," Mason offered, though even he didn't sound convinced.

Anne leaned against a tree, breathing heavily. "Need… bird-brain… away from bridge."

"Why didn't it attack our army before? Why now?" Jack asked.

Luke summoned his interface, words and numbers flashing before his eyes. He scrolled through the mission data, searching for anything useful, any hint or loophole. Then he saw it. A single line in the mission's description caught his attention: "The Midnight Lord, the tireless guardian of the Capital and eternal servant of the throne."

He looked up. The Wyvern roared in the distance, wings unfurling, standing sentinel before the bridge like a demonic hound guarding its master's gates.

"It won't let anyone near the castle," Luke said quietly, his voice steady. "It's bound to protect it. Anyone who tries to cross that bridge, it'll stop them."

"Yeah, we figured that part out," Evangeline replied dryly.

Luke opened his pocket dimension, his eyes scanning the collection of arrows inside, the rare ones and the single epic, each faintly shimmering. Then he looked at Charlie, watching the Wyvern.

"And that's exactly why…" He drew a deep breath, feeling the weight of the decision settle in his chest. "…I've got an idea."

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