Chapter 3 - Chaos and Death Approaches

Hiyori immediately activated her healing skill. A warm light radiated from her palms, enveloping Kaito’s battered body. Her eyes were filled with worry as she looked at his face, twisted in pain.

“Hang in there, Kaito… I’ll heal all your wounds right away.”

Amano, Ren, and Rikuya rushed over to them.

Ren knelt beside Kaito, his voice firm yet edged with concern.

“What exactly happened, Kaito?

Who could possibly use magic to summon all these monsters?”

Kaito groaned softly, pain surging through his body. His breathing was ragged, but he forced himself to speak.

“I… I don’t know. The magic circles were just there on the ground all of a sudden…”

“When I checked from atop the kingdom walls, monsters were pouring out of them...”

“I tried cutting them down one by one, but… my mana ran out…”

“When I was about to use a command code, I got hit by a dragon’s attack… and ended up like this.”

From the night sky, a dragon swooped down toward them, its wings sending powerful gusts of wind in their direction.

Rikuya reacted instantly. He pulled up his storage menu and summoned his trusted sword. A flash of light enveloped the blade as it materialized before him.

Without hesitation, Rikuya gripped the weapon tightly and launched himself upward using High Jump. With one powerful slash, he severed the dragon’s neck.

The massive body crashed into the ground with a thunderous impact, shaking the earth around them.

Ren, who had been unaware of the approaching dragon, turned to see Rikuya standing before its corpse.

Rikuya turned to face him.

“Looks like we need to wipe them out all at once, Ren."

"Use your command code to remove these monsters.”

Ren gave a firm nod.

“Alright. I’ll do it.”

He straightened up and summoned the developer’s special interface. A bright blue holographic screen appeared before him as his fingers began typing in the command code to erase all the monsters.

Red text flashed across Ren’s holographic screen:

“ERROR”

“Command denied”

“Access from Kagami Ren denied”

Ren’s eyes widened, his breath catching in his throat.

“M-my access is denied…?”

“I… I can’t delete them…?”

“Wh-what’s going on…?”

His fingers typed frantically again, but the same message kept appearing, as if mocking him with every attempt.

Rikuya strode quickly toward Ren, who was frantically typing into the holographic screen, tension written all over his face.

“What’s going on, Ren?” he asked, his eyes darting toward the screen.

Ren turned to him, breathing unevenly, panic clear in his expression.

“I… I can’t delete them…”

“M-my access was denied by the system.”

Rikuya’s expression shifted to one of confusion, his eyes narrowing at Ren.

Hiyori, still focused on healing Kaito, tried to remain calm despite the unease creeping into her chest after hearing Ren’s words.

Amano, standing nearby, frowned.

“Your access was denied?"

"How could the system reject the very person who created it?”

Ren snapped his head toward Amano, panic etched deep across his face.

“I… I don’t know…”

Suddenly, a glowing magic circle flared to life on the ground, encircling all four of them.

Rikuya, Amano, and Hiyori still holding onto Kaito,stared in shock at the magical patterns beneath their feet.

Instinctively, Rikuya drove his sword into the ground, trying to shatter the circle. But it was useless,the light only grew brighter, and in the next instant, they were all separated, teleported to different locations.

Ren’s body was pulled into the teleportation, and when his vision cleared, he found himself high above the night sky. Below, an endless expanse of forest stretched as far as he could see.

His face was a mix of shock and panic.

“W-what’s happening?!”

He was falling fast, the cold night air whipping against his face.

“I-I’m in the sky?!”

Ren twisted his body midair, forcing himself to face downward. Cold sweat dripped down his temple as the forest grew larger in his view.

“I-I’m going to fall?!”

Frantically, he pulled up his skill menu, fingers darting as he searched for something anything that could save him from the impact.

“W-where’s the gravity skill?!”

“Ahh… at least some kind of useful skill anything!”

He scrolled quickly until his eyes locked onto one particular skill name.

“Summon… cotton?”

Without a second thought, Ren tapped the skill. His hand stretched downward, ready to activate it at the exact critical moment.

Just before his body hit the ground, a massive bundle of cotton appeared out of nowhere, cushioning his fall and saving him from instant death.

Ren gasped, his face still pale with panic.

“T-that was too close…”

The cotton slowly vanished, dropping Ren lightly onto the ground. He tried to stand, but his knees were still weak.

Before he could catch his breath, a dragon emerged from the trees, its heavy steps shaking the earth.

Ren, still propping himself up with both hands, froze in place.

“D-dragon…?!”

He quickly sat down and backed away slowly, his eyes locked on the massive beast.

The dragon advanced, lowering its head until its sharp gaze locked onto Ren, as if judging whether he was worthy prey.

Ren stared into the dragon’s eyes, his body trembling, breath caught in his throat. A chilling thought echoed in his mind.

"A-am I… going to die?

The sound of rapid footsteps pounded against the ground, rushing toward him from the depths of the forest.

A shadow emerged from the darkness between the trees. In an instant, the figure surged forward with lightning speed.

The gleam of a sword flashed in the dragon’s eyes, and with a single decisive slash, its head was severed. The massive body crashed to the ground, sending dust and leaves swirling into the night air.