Xenia drifted in and out on the cave floor, half-aware of the damp stone beneath her and Bill’s trembling hands pressing down on her wound. Every breath felt wrong. It was not just pain, but that slow, creeping sickness that told her the venom was still in her blood and still moving.

Footsteps rushed in from the entrance, fast and heavy. Something scraped against the rock as Anemone pushed through, followed by a sharp, clipped voice that did not bother with comfort.

“Move. Make space.”

Do-Jin burst through the entrance like he had been running from something. His forearms were slick with blood, some of it dried and some new. Anemone lowered her head and eased a limp figure down from the makeshift rope harness looped around its jaws. The girl was bound tight so she would not thrash or slip, making her seem more like a package than a person. The sight made Xenia’s stomach churn even through the haze.

Do-Jin dropped to one knee at once and went straight for the worst of it. The girl he had just brought in had sustained a thigh wound that was still pumping blood in thick surges, as if it refused to understand the fight was over. He didn’t waste time checking anything else. He tore a healing potion free and poured it directly onto the gash, then forced the rest between the girl’s lips.

Mantis Predators were inconsistent. Some carried venom that did more than kill. Sometimes it halved recovery, other times it negated it entirely, and in the worst cases it turned healing into damage.

If this was the latter, dumping a potion on her like that was suicide, but Do-Jin simply watched without blinking. Eventually, the bleeding slowed, then thinned to a stubborn trickle. Only then did he move again, splashing what he could over the mangled stump of her arm and pressing down to buy her time.

The girl convulsed and choked, eyes unfocused. Her lips trembled as if she was trying to remember how to speak.

“Moac...?” she rasped. It sounded like a name dragged out of her by reflex, like she was reaching for someone who was not there.

Bill, on the other hand, made a strangled sound as he scrambled to the body that had just been brought in. “Mer!”

He nearly let go of Xenia to crawl to the girl’s side, eyes wide and horrified as recognition hit. It was a fellow Swordsmanship Division student, someone he actually knew, someone who was now missing an arm and white as paper.

“Relax,” Do-Jin said, voice flat. “She looks like hell, but she is not dying any time soon.”

Anemone laid Mer down beside Bill with a care that felt wrong coming from something built to bite. Bill stared at the severed arm for a long moment, jaw working like he wanted to say something but could not. When he finally looked up, his eyes were wet with anger and regret.

“It’s been fifteen minutes and all we’ve got is one survivor,” he choked out. “Damn it. If we’d found her sooner...”

Something flickered in Do-Jin’s eyes, quick and sharp, and then it vanished. He was already looking back toward the cave entrance, body tense as if he had never sat down at all. Bill noticed it, too. Whatever Bill was feeling turned hot and ugly, but he forced it down until it steadied into resolve.

Do-Jin pointed at him. “You keep guarding them. You are the only one here who is still in decent shape. Got it?”

Bill flinched like he had been struck, then nodded hard. “Yeah. Yes.”

“Then stay put,” Do-Jin said. “Don’t do anything stupid. I’ll be back.”

He stepped out with Anemone at his side, and the darkness swallowed them almost immediately. Bill watched the entrance for a long moment as if he could force them back by staring hard enough.

Xenia had been staring after Do-Jin too. Even half-dead, irritation found its way through.

“Come to think of it,” she muttered, voice thin but offended all the same, “when did that guy start talking down to me?”

Bondrei was a name that made people mind their tongues, but here he was, acting like it meant nothing and treating her as air. Somehow, that was what unsettled her most.

I’ve never met anyone even remotely like him...

***

Do-Jin and Anemone pushed themselves to the limit, doing everything they could to drag more students back alive. Maybe that effort was paying off, because by some stroke of luck, they managed to pull in two more pairs who hadn’t run into monsters yet.

Just as they were about to head back out for another sweep, Anemone’s ears and nose twitched. Her voice came sharp and urgent. “Do-Jin, I hear someone fighting out there. I can smell the blood, too.”

“Which way?”

“That way!”

There was no time to waste on explanations. Do-Jin vaulted onto her back, clutching a handful of silver fur to keep from sliding off. It looked ridiculous, but without a saddle there was no other way to ride her.

“Hold on tight!”

Anemone tore through the forest, paws pounding against the ground. It wasn’t long before they came across the scene where a boy was holding the line against two Mantis Predators at once. He was sweating bullets, fighting like hell to shield an injured teammate while trying not to get carved apart.

“Take the one on the right first!” Do-Jin said immediately.

“Got it,” she replied, slowing down enough for him to leap off.

Anemone then surged forward again, carrying all that momentum and driving her weight straight into the target. Her massive paw slammed down on the Predator’s antenna joint with a sickening crack. The thing convulsed and shuddered violently, the tremors proof of just how much pain the blow caused.

As the creature staggered, Do-Jin finished his chant and hurled Flame Spear. The searing bolt shot past Anemone and nailed the Predator right in the weak spot she had opened up. Pinned in place, the monster could only recoil before collapsing under their relentless assault.

While the two of them finished off their target, the other Predator was cut down by the boy who had been fighting to protect his teammate.

He held out against two at once and even managed to kill one the second he caught a break?

As Do-Jin closed in, his eyes lit up with recognition. The boy’s chest rose and fell with ragged breaths as his sword dripped with green fluid. He barely spared a glance at Do-Jin or the silver wolf and rushed straight to the girl behind him.

“Are you alright?”

“I-I’m okay... ugh!”

“Hang on, I’ll get you a potion—”

“Stop.”

The sharp command made him flinch. He spun around, startled, only to see Do-Jin standing there.

“Wait. Some of these mantis freaks carry venom that flips healing magic on its head. A potion could kill her if we don’t check first.”

The boy’s face hardened at the mention of venom.

Strong fighter, but he’s still green, Do-Jin thought.

He pushed the boy aside and checked the girl himself. Her robes were torn and she had cuts along her side and leg, but they weren’t deep. Her blood hadn’t clotted into jelly either, which meant she wasn’t poisoned like Xenia had been.

“She’s clear. There’s no venom in her system. Patch her up quick, then we move.”

The boy sighed in relief. While pouring a healing potion down the girl’s throat, he asked, “Who are you...?”

“I’m Bill Licht’s guard.”

“Wait, then is Bill—”

“Save the questions for later. Just follow me, and keep your footsteps light. Those mantis bastards are basically blind, but they pick up vibrations from walking and running better than anything else.”

“Sorry. I wasted time in the middle of enemy territory—”

“Save the apologies for later. Save the thanks for later too. As for you, why are you still on the ground? You’ve healed enough to walk, so get moving.”

Snapping orders left and right, Do-Jin got both of them moving and hauled them back toward the cave. Upon arrival, a group of students, including Bill, lit up the moment the boy entered.

“Huey!” shouted one of them.

Of course, he’s the popular kid, Do-Jin thought.

He had stood his ground against two Predators alone, and on top of that he had the kind of face that made people stop and stare. He had sharp features, a disarming smile, and eyes that gleamed with nothing but virtue. The whole package made him look like the perfect rival character straight out of an academy tale.

In fact, Huey was giving off that same aura now as he checked on his teammate’s condition. After making sure he did all he could, he turned to Do-Jin and bowed.

“I’m Huey, second-year at the Imperial Academy’s Swordsmanship Division. Thank you for saving me and my partner.”

Christ, what a pain. This poster boy of virtue, Do-Jin thought as he accepted the gratitude with a stiff look.

Then another thought struck him.

He introduced himself as a second-year, but didn’t give his family name. He must be a commoner, then. He’s a commoner who got into the Academy, fights like hell, looks like a model, has the right personality, and even has his classmates wrapped around him. Did he say his name was Huey? I guess that’s a name worth remembering, at least for now.

Shaking off the thought, Do-Jin chugged a mana potion and headed back toward the entrance.

“I’ll come with you,” Huey said, stepping forward.

“Stay here. Somebody needs to hold this place, and you’re the best chance they’ve got.”

Do-Jin shut him down without hesitation, swung onto Anemone’s back, and disappeared into the night.

***

Do-Jin clenched his fists when he saw another corpse ripped apart beyond recognition.

That makes seven I’ve seen with my own eyes already.

There were seven bodies, ripped apart and left to rot. At this point, the chance that anyone else was alive was practically zero.

It doesn’t matter. I’ll keep looking until there’s nothing left to check.

Even if it was hopeless, he wasn’t about to quit combing the mountain. There was always a chance someone was still breathing out there, but soon, even that stubborn drive hit a wall.

“Do-Jin, don’t attack that one. I can smell more of them nearby. If we start a fight here, they’ll just keep swarming.”

The numbers were growing. Despite having Anemone guiding him by sound and smell, weaving through the monsters without being spotted was getting harder by the minute.

When the fuck is this Rift gonna stabilize already? Do-Jin glared at the distant crack as the black-blue pillar of mana shot out of it like a giant middle finger.

“Do-Jin, something’s off. The scent of the bugs is all shifting in one direction. Until now, they’ve been wandering wherever, but now they’re grouping up.”

“In one direction?” Do-Jin shot back.

Instead of answering, Anemone bounded around, sniffing the air and piecing together what the wind carried. Finally, her voice came back low and uneasy.

“It’s the cave. They’re heading straight for where the kids are.”

Do-Jin’s face hardened. That’s impossible... We’re far from the cave. How the hell would they know to move in that direction?

They only reacted to vibrations within a certain radius. If no one was stomping around nearby, they’d stay put. However, Do-Jin suddenly recalled something he had overlooked about the species. The female Mantis Predator could emit rhythmic pulses, drawing every male in earshot to her side and turning them into foot soldiers.

If the kids stayed hidden and still, the chances of being found should’ve been slim. Even if one or two were discovered, there’s no way Predators this far out would all converge on that spot. Unless the female showed up right near the cave. Unlucky bastards.

“Anemone, we’re going back!”

No matter how he looked at it, the situation was going downhill fast.

***

On the way back to the cave, Do-Jin was certain that there was a female nearby.

If we stay like this, the males are gonna start tearing the whole place apart under her orders.

Fighting them was inevitable, but at this distance, the clash would cause vibrations strong enough to shake the whole place.

What is this bullshit? A Mantis Predator wave, right now? Just imagining the worst-case scenario made Do-Jin want to drop everything and walk away, but he shoved the thought down. Hah... I have to get back to the kids.

He pushed through the exhaustion and headed back into the cave. The moment he stepped inside, every student’s eyes locked on him. They were all too young, with faces that should have been at home, not trapped in a place like this.

To the kids, his face was just a shadow in the moonlight, unreadable. But Do-Jin saw the raw terror in their eyes, the way they clung to each other.

I can’t just walk away. Not after seeing that. No fucking way.

Grinding his teeth, Do-Jin faced the eight Imperial Academy students. “If you wanna stay alive long enough to see your mom and dad again, then I need you to listen the fuck up.”