After a few moments passed with Grendel's colossal body lying motionless, a grey portal flickering with unstable energy slowly materialised at the centre of the hall.

"I-is… this… the exit?" I murmured, my voice barely above a whisper. The ordeal of the long battle against the trolls had taken a heavy toll on my body.

My internal organs were crushed, my ribs fractured, and my right arm was completely limp from excessive blood loss. To prevent a complete drainage of blood from my body due to Curse of Binding, I had ordered Vivi to stop the blood flow to my right arm, which in turn had rendered it completely useless.

Still, even as my body screamed in agony, an uncontrollable smirk crept across my face—twisted, feral, and unmistakably demonic when paired with the blood-smeared skin and gaping wounds that framed it.

"Ume… I… I will...meet you... soon."

While I smiled creepily, my eyes, hidden behind the curtain of my hair, turned toward two figures that had just appeared from the portal.

Due to my blurry vision and the distance between us, I couldn't see their faces clearly. However, I instantly recognised the signature of their Soulforce.

"A-Aryan…Uncle Reyaan," I chuckled, the smirk still tugging at my face.

Behind them, numerous other blurry figures emerged from the portal, their Soulforce unfamiliar to me.

Their murmurs felt distant, but from their tone alone, I could tell they were profoundly shocked.

Suddenly, Aryan's blurry figure vanished from the ground, reappearing in front of me in the very next moment.

"R-Raj?" His voice came out barely above a whisper.

I slowly raised my head with a groan, the slight movement sending bolts of agony through my entire body.

"H-hey br—"

Before I could complete my sentence, my limp hand slipped from the hilt of the sword, my body pitching forward.

Instead of hitting the floor, my chest leaned into a gentle palm that supported my exhausted body.

The moment Shinku no Sabi was removed from my hand, blood rushed back into my pale arm, filling it with life once more—the condition I told Vivi to began the blood flow again.

My arm slowly swelled, returning to its original size, but the wounds inflicted by the earth spikes split open once more, crimson liquid seeping and trailing down my arm.

Aryan's mouth strangely didn't utter a word—about the condition of the hall, how I survived, who killed that humongous monster, or, most importantly, what happened to the companions who had entered the gate with me. He didn't ask anything.

I already knew the reason for his silence. To him, nothing else mattered in that moment except the fact that I was alive and in urgent need of medical attention.

Aryan placed my uninjured arm over his shoulder, trying to lift me from the throne.

The moment he pulled me, grotesque pain surged through my body. My eyes narrowed, and blood gushed from my mouth like a waterfall. The direct punch I had received from Grendel had thrown my internal organs into complete disarray.

Aryan instantly placed me back onto the seat and shouted,

"Bring me a healer!"

His raw, cracking voice resounded through the hall like an absolute order. I could already hear the sudden increase in the speed of distant footsteps.

Some of the figures hastily disappeared into the portal—likely heading outside to bring a healer.

While the figures below rushed to fulfil Aryan's command, a warm hand gently tapped my head.

Blood stopped leaking from the holes in my arm, and my internal organs rearranged themselves into their rightful places.

My vision cleared. My hearing sharpened. A calming energy flowed through my muscles, reducing my pain severalfold.

I slowly lifted my head to look at the source of the soothing energy that was easing my pain.

"Th-thanks, Uncle Reyaan," I murmured, my eyes looking up at him as he healed my wounds with nothing more than the gentle touch of his palm.

"I'm not an expert in this field," Uncle Reyaan said calmly. "This is only first aid to ease your pain."

"Thank you, father," Aryan said, his voice filled with pure gratitude.

"What are you thanking me for?" Uncle Reyaan scoffed, as if offended by the formality.

Now that I was in a condition to converse, Uncle Reyaan asked, "Have the other awakeners made it?"

Although he asked the question, there was a hint of a sigh in his voice. He must have already assumed they were dead, as that was the only logical outcome of a Black Gate.

Contrary to his assumption, I slightly nodded before replying, "All of them are alive."

Both Aryan and Uncle Reyaan flinched at my words. Not just them—the awakeners whose forms had finally become clear to me let out exaggerated gasps upon hearing my revelation.

I raised my arm, pointing toward the sealed tunnel on the opposite side of the hall.

"Destroy that wall. A path will be revealed, leading to the other awakeners."

With a mere glance from Uncle Reyaan, several officers rushed toward the sealed entrance, striking it with Soulforce-infused wepaons to break it open.

Meanwhile, Aryan gently pulled me to my feet once again, helping me walk down the stairs toward the exit.

"Raj, how did you get separated from the rest of the group?" Dr. Reyaan asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

"I left them at the entrance where the first portal appeared to deal with the monster here. But another monster cast a spell, sealing the exit with stone walls," I replied, keeping the explanation brief.

Aryan's steps halted immediately as both he and Uncle Reyaan turned to stare at me, their eyes wide with disbelief.

"Y-you mean you fought all these monsters, including the boss monster of this Black Gate, alone?" Uncle Reyaan stammered, his usual composure faltering.

Since Payal and the others had already witnessed my powers, there was no point in hiding it anymore—not that I wanted to hide it in the first place.

Taking a brief sigh to brace myself for their reaction, I said,

"Yes. I did."

The moment I said those words, Aryan's grip around my shoulder loosened, almost making me trip on the stairs. However, before I could fall, he suddenly regained himself, supporting me again.

Meanwhile, Uncle Reyaan and all the awakeners gathered on the ground had their eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

Gasps and murmurs from the awakeners filled the hall, their gazes fixed on my battered body as if they were looking at some kind of anomaly.

Well, their reaction was only natural, given the absurdity of the situation.

An E-Rank gate turning into a Black Gate meant the boss monster had to be at CCC-Rank—something even a seasoned, blessed B-Rank awakener wouldn't have the confidence to slay.

Yet an E-Rank awakener, who had only woken up from a coma a month ago, not only solo-defeated the boss monster but also took down its many minions along with it.

All of them knew how troublesome it was to defeat a troll due to its insane physical prowess and regeneration, making it even more unbelievable that I had not only survived against them but also defeated them.

"That's absurd! Isn't he only an E-Rank?" one of the awakeners subconsciously said out loud.

"Yeah, I also heard he's an E-Rank awakener."

"No… this isn't something an E-Rank should even survive, let alone accomplish."

Not entertaining their exclaims any further, Aryan took me closer to the portal.

He was equally surprised—if not more—than the rest of them, but he decided to hold his questions for later, as the priority was to provide me with the medical attention I needed.

As he took me out through the portal, a thought appeared in my mind: I wonder how they would have reacted if they knew the boss monster was, in truth, at B-Rank.

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