Damon never gave an answer to the question, or better yet, to the allegations against him. All Waton could say was that this guy only grew more mysterious the closer he got to him.

It felt like anything and everything could crawl out of that shadow of his.

He smiled faintly at Damon. This guy wasn't a good person. First impressions could be deceiving. He might look like an arrogant commoner, but there was something about him Waton could understand.

"If you were born a noble, I believe you and I would have been good friends."

Damon turned, narrowing his eyes.

"What... what did you say..."

Waton looked away immediately.

Damon sighed.

'No, I can't let him get to me. How could I heartlessly abandon him when the time is right?'

Damon was about to speak again when he suddenly froze, turning his head toward the distance. His expression darkened.

He pointed toward the horizon.

"Is it just me, or is the world shrinking?"

Waton followed his gaze, eyes widening slightly before he nodded.

"Yeah, I guess I forgot to mention it, but the combat zone is shrinking. That chaotic area can kill any person trapped there."

Damon nodded, watching the distortion with casual detachment.

"It's moving pretty fast too."

Waton smiled faintly.

"No need to worry about me. I have wings. I can fly away before it reaches me."

Damon nodded slowly, his tone dry.

"Come closer, Wagon... come closer."

The moment Waton stepped forward, Damon grabbed his head and growled.

"Some of us don't have wings and are too injured, maybe you should have said that fifteen minutes ago."

Waton scratched his head awkwardly.

"Hehe, sorry about that, but don't worry... I can still carry you."

Damon looked at the approaching storm and imagined himself being carried by Waton like a princess.

'If I do that, I'll lose all my aura... me, carried like a princess?'

"I'd rather die," he muttered.

Wendy tilted her head at the two of them.

"Why are we still talking?" she asked, her words clearer than before, her grasp of their language slowly improving.

Damon nodded quickly.

"Transform back to a Wendigo."

She shook her head.

"No... too weak."

Damon gulped.

"What do you mean you're too weak to transform? That's your true form."

"Tired. Low mana. Not enough," she said simply.

Damon turned to look at the wave of chaotic energy sweeping toward them, streams of wild mana tearing through the air and disintegrating everything they touched.

"Hmmm..."

The three of them exchanged glances as the wave grew closer. It was so massive it was hard to gauge its speed, yet it was fast, far faster than it had any right to be.

No more words were spoken.

Waton spread his wings and took to the sky, flying as fast as he could. Wendy ran through the ruins behind, her claws scraping against shattered stone as she sprinted with feral grace. Damon melted into the ground, his form dissolving into shadow as he followed them.

All around them, the chaos of survival erupted. Demon beasts and monsters fled in every direction, their howls blending with the roar of the collapsing world.

Damon slipped into the shadow of a demon beast, his body aching, his strength fading. He gritted his teeth and ignored the pain, letting himself be dragged along until he could teleport from one shadow to another. Each leap drained him further until, finally, he reached Wendy's shadow and sank into it.

Wendy glanced at the darkness flickering beneath her feet, sensing his presence, but said nothing.

Damon peeked out from within her shadow just in time to see the city swallowed by a sea of purple light. The ruins, the towers, the remnants of a once-great city, everything was erased in an instant, leaving behind only a luminous wall of violet energy that shimmered menacingly before it began to slow.

Wendy skidded to a stop, panting. That had been too close. Waton descended nearby, wiping sweat from his forehead as he caught his breath.

They weren't the only ones who had survived. Demon beasts and monsters had also stopped, frozen, their gazes fixed on the glowing destruction behind them.

"Phew," Waton sighed in relief, until the realization hit him. They were standing right in the middle of what was left of the monsters in the city.

"Hey, Wendy... keep Wagon alive, okay." Damon asked.

Waton blinked in confusion.

"Keep me alive? From what? Why?"

Before he could say more, Damon gave them a lazy wave and melted into Waton's shadow.

The demon beasts didn't wait for an invitation. They charged.

Wendy met the first one head-on, her bone blade slicing through its neck in a single clean motion. Blood sprayed, and she spun to meet the next.

Waton froze for a moment, overwhelmed by the sudden attack, then scrambled to cast his time magic in support. But it quickly became clear Wendy didn't need his help. She fought like a whirlwind, each swing brutal and precise.

Oddly, most of the beasts ignored Waton altogether. Their aggression focused entirely on Wendy. Waton was strong in the third class, and far from weak but for some reason, not many came for him.

It was hard to notice in the chaos, but the truth was simple: from within Waton's shadow, Damon was quietly exerting his Demon Dominate, bending the demons ' instincts away from his pawn.

When the last beast fell, silence returned. The air was thick with the smell of blood.

A small pile of medallions lay before them.

Waton, drenched in gore, crouched and picked them up.

"Look, we have medallions."

Damon didn't respond.

Waton pointed toward a stone stele nearby.

"Look, it's a record stone. Let's check our rank. I wonder how well we're doing."

Damon remembered the emperor mentioning it during the briefing, the stele displayed rankings based on medallion counts.

Waton pressed his hand to it, channeling mana. The magic seals lit up.

Damon stepped closer, curious, until he saw the result. His face darkened.

"Huh... what? I'm dead last?"

Even Wendy and Waton were ranked higher than him.

"Who's in first place?" Damon asked.

Waton looked up, his jaw tightening.

"It's...lady Evangeline Brightwater."

Damon gasped, feeling jealous.

"She's cheating."

Highly unlikely it was jealously speaking.

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