Chapter 70 — Two Successors

The entire settlement collapsed into darkness.

Kael's vision disappeared.

The ground beneath his feet suddenly vanished.

He dropped.

For a split second, there was nothing beneath him.

No earth.

No air.

No sound.

Then—

BOOM!

A tremendous burst of mana erupted from below.

Kael reacted instantly.

Metal Control activated.

The metal fragments hidden beneath his coat flew outward and formed a protective barrier around his body.

The explosion struck.

The barrier bent.

Kael was thrown through the darkness.

He twisted in midair and forced himself into a landing position.

His boots struck stone.

He immediately rolled.

Another impact followed.

CRACK!

Black tendrils erupted from the ground where he had been standing.

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“Underground…”

He activated Network Sense.

The darkness changed.

Thousands of faint lines appeared.

The entire settlement had been built over an enormous buried structure.

And it wasn't a normal structure.

It looked like a massive network node.

But unlike the ancient network beneath the mountain—

this one was wrong.

The lines were twisted.

Broken.

Reconnected.

Then twisted again.

A foreign network had been stitched through the original structure.

Kael immediately understood.

“This place was converted into a relay.”

Erynd landed several meters away.

Unlike Kael, he hadn't been thrown around by the explosion.

He simply stood there.

Calm.

Watching.

Kael glanced at him.

“You knew this would happen.”

“I suspected it.”

“You could have warned me.”

“You wouldn't have listened.”

Kael's expression hardened.

“You're assuming a lot.”

Erynd smiled faintly.

“And you're assuming I'm your enemy.”

Before Kael could answer—

the darkness moved.

Six black figures emerged from the surrounding shadows.

They weren't humans.

They weren't ordinary monsters either.

Their bodies looked incomplete.

Armor-like pieces covered their limbs, while black energy flowed through gaps between them.

Their faces had no features.

Only thin white lines where their eyes should have been.

The System activated.

[Network-Bound Hunter]

Level: 37

Grade: Commander

Classification: Severance-Altered

Traits:

Network Synchronization

Severance Thread

Parallel Movement

Mana Suppression

Shared Perception

Kael's eyes sharpened.

“Six Level 37 Commanders.”

Erynd looked at them.

“Seven.”

Kael glanced to his left.

Another figure emerged.

He immediately understood.

“Shared perception.”

The seven entities looked at him simultaneously.

The same movement.

The same angle.

The same timing.

Kael raised PR-02.

He didn't fire.

Instead, he watched.

One of the creatures disappeared.

Another moved.

Kael's eyes followed it.

Then—

BANG!

He fired.

The bullet struck the ground rather than the creature.

Mana Disruption spread through the floor.

The creature's movement suddenly stuttered.

Kael smiled.

“There.”

He had found it.

Their shared perception depended on the network beneath them.

They weren't truly seven independent fighters.

They were a single combat system distributed across seven bodies.

Destroy the connection—

and their coordination would collapse.

Kael switched to AR-04.

The weapon transformed in his hands.

He fired toward the ceiling.

BANG!

The shot struck an ancient metal structure above the battlefield.

The Severance thread connected to it snapped.

Three creatures immediately moved out of synchronization.

Erynd looked at Kael.

“You noticed quickly.”

Kael didn't answer.

He fired again.

BANG!

Another connection broke.

The seven creatures suddenly stopped moving together.

One charged.

Another hesitated.

A third turned toward Kael while the fourth turned toward Erynd.

Kael smiled.

“Now they're individuals.”

The first creature attacked.

Kael blocked with his katana.

The impact forced him backward.

The creature was stronger than its level suggested.

Kael twisted.

The Severance Thread on its arm snapped toward him.

He jumped backward.

The thread struck the wall.

The stone immediately lost its mana.

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“Mana suppression.”

The creature attacked again.

Kael didn't block.

He moved.

One step.

Two.

Then—

SLASH!

The katana struck the creature's shoulder.

Its body didn't split.

Instead, the black armor cracked.

Kael immediately fired PR-02 into the opening.

BANG!

The monster staggered.

Kael followed with a Metal Control spike.

The spike pierced the ground beneath it.

Metal erupted upward.

The creature was pinned.

One down.

But the others attacked.

Kael barely had time to react.

A black blade came from the left.

He blocked it.

Another attack came from behind.

He ducked.

A third struck the ground.

A wave of suppressive mana spread outward.

Kael's movements slowed.

His breathing became heavier.

The enemies were adapting.

Kael immediately changed tactics.

“Fine.”

He released Metal Control.

The metal around him dissolved into dozens of small fragments.

Instead of forming one weapon—

they scattered.

The creatures hesitated.

Kael smiled.

“Darven style.”

The fragments moved.

WHUM!

Metal struck from every direction.

The monsters were forced to defend themselves.

Kael moved through the openings.

AR-04.

Three shots.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The first creature fell.

Kael turned.

PR-02.

One precise shot.

The second collapsed.

A third rushed him.

Kael drew the katana.

The impact sent sparks into the darkness.

Kael was pushed backward.

The creature's strength was enormous.

Kael gritted his teeth.

Then he noticed something.

The creature's movements were becoming slower.

Not because it was injured.

Because the network around them was collapsing.

Every time Kael destroyed one connection, all of the creatures became slightly less synchronized.

So Kael didn't need to kill them.

He only needed to destroy the network.

He jumped backward.

“Erynd!”

Erynd looked at him.

“Can you destroy the central node?”

“No.”

Kael frowned.

“Why?”

“Because it's beneath us.”

“Then break the ground.”

Erynd stared at him.

For the first time, Kael saw a small smile.

“You really are a Darven.”

Erynd raised his hand.

Silver light gathered around his fingers.

Then he struck the ground.

BOOM!

The ancient floor shattered.

A gigantic circular mechanism appeared beneath it.

Kael's eyes widened.

The structure was covered in symbols.

And in its center—

was the same four-path symbol marked on Erynd's hand.

But there was something else.

A fifth symbol.

An empty circle.

Kael stared at it.

The System reacted violently.

[Unknown Authority detected.]

[Bloodline resonance increasing.]

[Administrator Path interference detected.]

[Warning.]

[Forbidden structure recognized.]

Kael's breathing stopped for half a second.

Forbidden structure.

That was new.

The network creatures suddenly stopped attacking.

All seven turned toward the mechanism.

Their bodies began shaking.

Then—

one of them spoke.

Not with its own voice.

With the voice of the network itself.

“Administrator.”

Kael froze.

The creature continued.

“Successor.”

Erynd's expression changed.

The creature's head slowly turned toward him.

Then back toward Kael.

“Contradiction detected.”

A wave of pressure spread through the chamber.

The circular mechanism began spinning.

The five symbols illuminated one after another.

Four of them connected.

The fifth remained dark.

Kael's eyes widened.

“The missing function…”

Erynd looked at him.

“You understand?”

“The four authorities weren't complete.”

Erynd nodded.

“The network was built around four.”

Kael looked at the empty fifth symbol.

“But it was designed to recognize five.”

“No.”

Erynd's voice was quiet.

“It was designed to fear five.”

The moment he said that—

the chamber shook.

Something enormous moved beneath them.

Not the network creatures.

Not the mechanism.

Something deeper.

Kael's bloodline surged.

His vision blurred.

For an instant, he saw a memory that wasn't his.

A vast ancient structure.

Thousands of people standing beneath a black sky.

A glowing bloodline mark.

Four figures standing around a massive core.

And one person standing outside them.

Alone.

Rejected.

The fifth figure.

Then the vision disappeared.

Kael staggered.

Erynd immediately stepped toward him.

“What did you see?”

Kael looked at him.

“You tell me.”

Erynd's expression became serious.

“You saw the first division.”

“The first division?”

“The moment the bloodline split into paths.”

Kael clenched his fists.

“And one of those paths was removed.”

Erynd nodded.

“The path that couldn't be controlled.”

Kael looked at the symbol beneath them.

“That fifth path.”

“Yes.”

“What was it called?”

Erynd was silent.

Kael stared at him.

“What was it called?”

Before Erynd could answer—

the chamber shook again.

A deep vibration came from below.

The Ancient Core.

Kael immediately recognized the sensation.

Not a direct connection.

But a reaction.

Something beneath the mountain had noticed the meeting of two bloodline signatures.

The network creatures suddenly collapsed.

Their bodies dissolved into black energy.

The central mechanism began shutting down.

Erynd looked at Kael.

“We have to leave.”

“Why?”

“Because the moment the Core noticed both of us, the Severance Order probably noticed too.”

Kael's expression hardened.

“How?”

Erynd pointed toward the collapsing mechanism.

“This entire place was a beacon.”

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“So this wasn't a trap for me.”

Erynd shook his head.

“It was a trap for the bloodline.”

The meaning of those words settled over Kael.

Someone had been waiting.

Not for Kael specifically.

For someone who could activate the hidden structure.

And because Kael and Erynd had appeared together—

they had accidentally activated it.

The chamber began collapsing.

Kael immediately opened his Space Ring.

He secured the remaining records from the lost branch.

He grabbed several ancient metal fragments.

Then turned toward the old man.

“Move!”

The old man nodded.

Kael created a path through the falling debris.

Erynd moved alongside them.

The three escaped through the broken tunnel seconds before the entire underground structure collapsed.

BOOM!

The settlement above them vanished beneath dust and stone.

Silence returned.

Kael stood on a distant ridge.

The old man breathed heavily.

Erynd stared toward the ruins.

Kael turned toward him.

“Now answer me.”

Erynd looked at him.

“The fifth path.”

Silence.

“What was it called?”

Erynd looked directly into Kael's eyes.

For several seconds, he said nothing.

Then—

“I'm not sure.”

Kael frowned.

“You said you knew.”

“I know what it did.”

“Then what was it?”

Erynd looked toward Kael's hand.

Toward the ring.

Toward the katana.

Toward the weapons Kael carried.

“The fifth path wasn't meant to control the network.”

Kael waited.

“It was meant to exist outside it.”

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“Like you.”

“Yes.”

“And that's why the Core rejected you.”

Erynd nodded.

“But that's not the important part.”

“What is?”

Erynd's silver eyes became cold.

“The fifth path was never meant to have an Administrator.”

Kael remained silent.

Erynd continued.

“It was meant to have a wanderer.”

“A person who could move between systems without belonging to them.”

Kael slowly looked toward the distant mountain.

The Ancient Core.

The network.

The Severance Order.

The Darven bloodline.

Everything was becoming more complicated.

Yet strangely—

one thing was becoming clearer.

He didn't need every answer right now.

He needed strength.

Erynd looked at him.

“You're going to the pocket world.”

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“How do you know?”

“Because you've reached the point where curiosity is no longer enough.”

Erynd turned away.

“You need power.”

Kael didn't deny it.

“You have no idea what is waiting inside.”

“I know.”

Erynd glanced back.

“That's why you shouldn't enter yet.”

Kael frowned.

“Then what should I do?”

Erynd answered with a single sentence.

“Become stronger.”

The old man slowly looked at Kael.

Erynd continued.

“The Legendary Beasts are not enemies you challenge simply because you know they exist.”

Kael's grip tightened around his katana.

“How strong do I need to be?”

“Level 50.”

Kael stared at him.

That number matched what the ancient records had implied.

Erynd continued.

“Not because Level 50 guarantees victory.”

He looked toward the mountains.

“But because before that level, you won't even have the foundation to understand the battle.”

Kael was silent.

Erynd began walking away.

Kael called out.

“Wait.”

Erynd stopped.

“You said our family forgot you existed.”

“Yes.”

“Will I see you again?”

Erynd looked back.

“You will.”

“When?”

Erynd smiled faintly.

“When you stop searching for answers.”

Kael frowned.

“That doesn't make sense.”

“It will.”

Erynd stepped into the shadows.

Then paused.

“One more thing.”

Kael waited.

“Do not tell Darian that you met me.”

Kael's expression changed.

“Why?”

Erynd's silver eyes became cold.

“Because if Darian knows…”

He paused.

“…then Seran may know too.”

Kael's heart tightened.

Seran.

The missing eldest brother.

The man who touched the Ancient Core.

The man who disappeared while searching for the Origin.

Erynd looked toward the eastern horizon.

“And you are not ready to meet either of them.”

Then he disappeared into the darkness.

Kael stood silently.

The old man approached.

“You're going to hunt, aren't you?”

Kael looked at the ruined settlement.

Then at the mountains.

Then at his weapons.

“Yes.”

The old man frowned.

“You know what waits beyond Level 40.”

“I do.”

“And beyond Level 50.”

Kael's grip tightened.

“The Legendary Beasts.”

The old man said nothing.

Kael looked toward the distant horizon.

For the first time since entering the lost branch—

his expression was completely calm.

He had mysteries waiting for him.

A lost brother.

A missing brother.

A buried fifth path.

The Ancient Core.

The Severance Order.

And an unknown enemy observing from the shadows.

But none of those things changed the immediate truth.

He needed power.

Real power.

Not borrowed authority.

Not ancient secrets.

Not luck.

Power earned through battle.

Kael opened his status.

[Kael Darven]

Level: 32

Strength: 28

Agility: 38

Vitality: 35

Intelligence: 35

Mana: 36

Bloodline Progress: 15%

Darven Armament: 3/3

Administrator Authority: Active

Beast Path Compatibility: 4%

Kael closed the System window.

“Eighteen levels.”

He looked toward the wilderness beyond the mountain.

“There are eighteen levels between me and the Legendary Beasts.”

His eyes sharpened.

“I'll earn every one.”

The old man watched him leave.

Kael walked into the forest alone.

Behind him, the ruins of the lost branch disappeared into the darkness.

Ahead—

the wilderness waited.

And somewhere far beyond it—

three ancient Legendary Beasts slept inside a sealed pocket world.

Kael did not know it yet.

But the moment he reached Level 50…

the gates to their prison would finally begin to open.

And the hunt would no longer be for monsters.

It would be for legends.