Raven glanced at the system interface, panting. He had narrowly completed the quest, thanks largely to Saeyeon’s patience.

  Now that both the system’s quest and Lupin’s orders were complete, nothing stood in his way.

  Without a word to the others, he slipped into the shadows.

  “Wow, what kind of core shard is this?” Camila said, holding a small, solid crimson crystal.

  Normal core shards were usually translucent, smooth, and rhombohedral in shape, regardless of color or class. This one, however, was completely opaque, smooth, and irregular.

  “They really are extraterrestrial… their core shards are completely different from ours.”

  “Where do you guys think they come from?”

  “I—I don’t know,” Fenrir replied shyly. “There are only two known worlds in our star system, Heaters and Quantra, and we’re still unsure if Quantra is inhabited.”

  “Yeah,” Camila said in awe. “Scholars say the universe is unimaginably vast. They might be from somewhere we’ve never even dreamed of.”

  “What do you think, Raven? …Raven?”

  Camila and Fenrir looked around.

  “He left the moment all the Were-vampires were defeated,” Saeyeon said calmly.

  She glanced at them.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  'Compared to Earth, astronomy in this world is still in its infancy.'

  Raven emerged from the shadows and moved beneath the dusk sky. Soon, he reached the dungeon entrance.

  Warm breath steamed from his lips.

  His expression hardened, focused, resolute.

  This time, he would save his sister, no matter the cost.

  He stepped inside.

  Cold wind surged from the dungeon depths, slamming into him.

  From what he knew, dungeons were filled with monsters, traps, and countless nefarious mechanisms. Even charted ones were known to respawn monsters as long as the dungeon boss remained alive.

  Nyxarion Cavern had never been cleared, not even in his past life.

  For all he knew, this place was completely uncharted.

  Perfect.

  Raven activated his new skill.

  “Crow,” Raven said quietly, “go ahead and scout.”

  His shadow nodded, then slid away, gliding across the ground like a phantom.

  Raven chuckled. He stood there, completely shadowless, nothing cast beneath him.

  More than that, he could see through Crow’s vision.

  It slipped between crevices, boulders, and snowdrifts with eerie grace.

  The world through its eyes was dichromatic, only black and white.

  Raven theorized that shadows perceived reality this way because it reflected their nature.

  After a certain distance, the connection weakened. He recalled Crow.

  A dull pressure bloomed in his head, seeing through two perspectives at once came with side effects. He’d adapt.

  From Crow’s scouting, he had identified five monsters ahead.

  With the quest rewards fully restoring his energy, he was in peak condition.

  Raven advanced through the cavern like a wraith.

  Soon, he spotted them, five White Beastodons.

  They were completely unaware of his presence. His passive skill, Obscure Presence, masked him almost perfectly; even his scent was erased.

  A perfect ambush.

  Though his sword had been shattered earlier, Shadow Manipulation provided a replacement, at the cost of higher Celestial Energy consumption.

  Imbuing aura into the shadow blade, Raven activated Void Slash, combined with the Seventh Sword Technique, Flash Slash.

  The first Beastodon fell without understanding what had killed it.

  The others gathered around the corpse, confused.

  Another dropped, its body riddled with slashes, blood pouring endlessly.

  This time, the Beastodons became wary of their surroundings. They roared to intimidate whatever was taking them down one after the other.

  Slashing sounds chimed, a groan followed. The third Beastodon fell, still from the same tactics.

  They unleashed mana orbs and firing indiscriminate energy beams into the surroundings.

  Still, another fell.

  The last Beastodon panicked and tried to flee.

  Raven emerged from the shadows like a vengeful spirit.

  His smile was melancholic. His eyes, merciless.

  As the Beastodon turned, Raven flashed past it, delivering a clean cross-cut.

  The creature collapsed with a heavy thud.

  Five dull yellow core shards rested in Raven’s palm.

  His expression remained cold.

  Without pause, he continued deeper into the dungeon.