[Seraphine’s Apartment | 1:00 AM]

  The clock ticked quietly above her desk as Seraphine sat curled up in a loose hoodie, legs folded beneath her on the bed. Papers littered her sheets—each one messier than the last, covered in crossed-out words and bad ideas.

  Her golden hair was slightly messy from all the frustrated tossing and turning.

  She stared blankly at one page.

  “Skyblasters?”

  “Phoenix Cuties?”

  “Boom Boom Angels?”

  “Thunder Cucumber?!”

  “…What the hell was I thinking with that one?” she muttered, rubbing her forehead.

  She leaned back with a groan, letting herself fall into the pillows.

  “How do people even come up with cool names?!”

  She reached for her phone, and paused as she glanced at Ryo’s contact—the number Elira had secretly slipped to her.

  Seraphine bit her lip and whispered,

  “It has to be good… something that won’t make him roll his eyes.”

  Then, glancing down at a half-crumpled note that said “RageCats”, she snorted a laugh.

  “…I’m losing it.”

  Outside, the city lights shimmered. Inside, one blonde girl was fighting the greatest boss of all—naming a guild.

  [Location: Gaebong Mountains – 130km East of Seoul]

  High above the fog-covered cliffs of the Gaebong mountain range, a shimmering green gate pulsed in the air like a heartbeat, warping the forest around it in slow, unnatural waves. The ground beneath it was scarred with dried grass, fractured stones, and the lingering scent of ozone.

  A party of three stood before the portal.

  Raze Hiroto crossed his arms, his signature cocky grin in place. His long red coat fluttered slightly in the breeze, and his obsidian blade rested against his shoulder—unnecessarily, theatrically.

  "Tch. S-Rank Gate, huh? Doesn't look like much. Green? Is this a joke?"

  Beside him stood a man with sharp eyes and a blade almost taller than he was, strapped to his back. His expression was stoic, unreadable—but his calloused hands subtly flexed in readiness. He was known as Kai Tenjou, the silent swordsman of the eastern guild.

  And on the other side, leaning lightly on her polished staff, was a girl in a violet cloak. Her raven-black hair swayed gently with the wind, eyes glowing faintly from beneath the hood. Small, arcane runes circled her fingertips as if waiting to be released. Her name was Mira Vell, a mage with a reputation for dismantling A-rank monsters with a flick of her wrist.

  Raze cracked his neck.

  "Let’s make this quick. I’ve got someone to crush later."

  Without waiting for a reply, he stepped forward, the green gate pulsing as it prepared to swallow them whole.

  As Raze, Kai, and Mira stepped into the green gate, the environment immediately shifted. The crisp mountain air was replaced with a humid, stagnant atmosphere. The ground beneath their feet turned soft, and the path ahead was covered in thick, murky swamp waters. The once clear sky was now blanketed by a tangle of dark, looming trees that seemed to stretch their branches like twisted fingers, blocking out the light.

  The distant croaking of unseen creatures echoed in the air, and the ground around them seemed to shift and ripple, as if something large and ominous was moving beneath the swamp’s surface.

  Raze stood with his hands on his hips, glancing around the swamp with a mixture of distaste and amusement.

  "So, this is the welcoming committee, huh? Classic."

  He looked at Mira, his voice growing serious.

  "Use the detection spell, Mira. We don’t know what’s waiting for us here."

  Mira gave a short nod, brushing back a strand of hair that had fallen across her face. She stepped forward and raised her hand, focusing her magic.

  "Alright, just give me a moment."

  She muttered under her breath, her fingers tracing an ancient sigil in the air, her staff glowing faintly. The swamp’s eerie silence grew heavier as she cast the spell.

  "Detectus Revelare."

  A soft, rhythmic pulse of light emanated from her staff, expanding outwards in concentric waves. As the pulse hit the swamp’s waters and trees, faint glowing lines appeared above the ground, indicating magical disturbances. After a few moments, the spell’s pulse returned to her, leaving a faint shimmer in the air.

  Mira’s brow furrowed as she scanned the results of the spell.

  "There’s something strange about this place, Raze. No monsters directly nearby, but the energy here is… warped. It's like the whole forest is alive, somehow. And there's a deeper presence, hidden beneath the surface."

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  She paused for a moment, looking back toward the distant treeline. The ground around them seemed to pulse with an unsettling rhythm.

  "Whatever it is, it's not something we can take lightly."

  Raze chuckled darkly.

  "I don’t plan on taking anything lightly."

  He reached for the hilt of his sword, ready for whatever awaited them in this strange, twisted swamp.

  Raze raised his sword slightly, the edge catching the faintest hint of light. Without a second thought, he closed his grip, and in an instant, the air seemed to ripple.

  Shiiing!

  The motion was so fast, it was as though the sword never swung at all. The moment his grip tightened, a slash of pure energy sliced through the trees, moving faster than the eye could perceive.

  The trees around them didn’t even have time to react before they were cleaved in half. A clean cut appeared along the trunks, and the edges began to smolder and burn. Flames quickly spread from the wounds of the trees, turning the once calm forest into a fiery storm.

  Raze stood calmly, his expression unchanged, as the fiery chaos erupted around him. "Pathetic." He muttered, unbothered by the destruction.

  Raze's voice was cold as he surveyed the area. "The other trees... they're the monsters here," he said with a knowing smirk. "They're just blending in with the surroundings."

  As they walked deeper into the swamp forest, a subtle rustling came from the thick foliage. The trees around them seemed to shift, their bark warping and twisting in unnatural ways. Then, it became clear—those were no ordinary trees.

  A nearby trunk cracked, and a grotesque face emerged from the bark. Its eyes glowed an eerie green, and sharp limbs sprouted from the base. The once still and lifeless trees began to stir, revealing monstrous forms camouflaged in plain sight.

  The creatures' bark-covered skin bled a sickly green, resembling the deep, stagnant waters of the swamp they had stepped into. Some of them had twisted branches for arms, while others had jagged roots crawling like legs beneath their bark. As they began to shift, the ground beneath them trembled, and their hunger for prey became all too evident.

  Raze's smirk never faded. "Just another day's work."

  Mira’s voice broke the tension in the air as she observed the monstrous creatures, now fully revealed. "They're BarkCrunchers," she said, her tone measured, her eyes scanning the moving trees.

  Raze’s gaze didn’t shift from the approaching monsters. With a touch of irritation in his voice, he replied, “I know. I can read.” His words were almost too calm for the imminent danger.

  The BarkCrunchers came charging at them—huge, green-tinged beasts that were more tree than animal, but just as deadly. Their limbs cracked like splintering wood as they ran, their gnarled claws reaching out for the group, thirsting for blood.

  Raze's posture shifted. He slowly drew his sword, the blade gleaming under the dim forest light. The moment his fingers wrapped around the hilt, a rush of power surged through his body, and his sword began to glow with a fierce, golden light.

  “Ignis,” Raze muttered under his breath. The blade erupted in flames, the heat of it scorching the air around him, sending waves of fiery energy into the surrounding swamp. The sword hummed with the intensity of a beast ready to devour its prey.

  With an effortless flick of his wrist, Raze transitioned into a battle stance, one that spoke of a thousand battles fought and won. His legs bent slightly, positioning himself like a coiled spring ready to release. The flames around his sword grew brighter and hotter, swirling as if responding to his very will.

  “Molten Piercer!” he roared. The sword seemed to sing as the heat intensified, a fiery aura enveloping it in a blinding blaze. He thrust it forward with brutal precision, the slash cutting through the air like a jagged, molten wave.

  A torrent of flames surged from the blade, a brilliant stream of fire tearing through the air with explosive speed. The flames burned hotter than a furnace, a roaring inferno that incinerated everything in its path. The BarkCrunchers shrieked in agony as the fire engulfed them, their bark turning to ash in an instant, their bodies reduced to charred remains.

  The trees around them seemed to crackle and bend as if the very forest itself recoiled from the destructive power unleashed. The heat from the attack was so intense that the surrounding swamp water began to evaporate, sending steam billowing into the air. The scent of burned wood filled the air, thick and pungent.

  As the last of the BarkCrunchers crumbled to dust, Raze stood tall, his sword still glowing with residual heat. A confident smirk tugged at the corner of his lips, and he wiped the sweat from his brow.

  “Turned them to ash,” he muttered, clearly unfazed. "Just how I like it."

  Mira, unfazed by the devastation, gave him a deadpan look. "You certainly have a flair for the dramatic."

  As the last remnants of the BarkCrunchers crumbled to dust, Kai, the giant swordsman, was already moving. His eyes were sharp, and his grip on his massive sword was unwavering.

  "More coming from the left!" he bellowed, his voice carrying the weight of authority as he raised his enormous blade with both hands, readying for the next wave.

  Before anyone could react, Kai swung his sword with terrifying speed. The blade, a massive hunk of steel, cleaved through the air with a sound like thunder. The BarkCrunchers that rushed from the left were instantly obliterated, their monstrous forms torn apart in a single swing, bodies scattering in all directions as the blade’s force ripped through them like a hot knife through butter.

  Kai's roar filled the swamp as he spun on his heels, bringing his sword up again. The raw strength of his swing sent shockwaves through the ground, and the arc of the blade was so vast, so precise, that it cut through the next batch of enemies before they even had the chance to react. In a flurry of motion, the BarkCrunchers were sliced apart, their limbs and torsos flying in every direction, shredded into pieces as if they were little more than twigs under a storm.

  The ground beneath them trembled from the impact, as though the very earth itself was reacting to the brutality of his attack. Kai stood tall in the center of the destruction, his heavy breaths the only sound that filled the air.

  "Nothing like a good fight," Kai said, his voice calm yet tinged with excitement. His sword, covered in the remains of the BarkCrunchers, shimmered with the light of the flames still flickering in the distance.

  Raze glanced at him, a flicker of amusement crossing his face. "Well, that's one way to clean up the mess," he remarked, his sword still glowing faintly with the last remnants of his Molten Piercer attack.

  Kai wiped the sweat from his brow, his grin widening. "I don't like leaving things half-done."

  The swamp, now eerily silent except for the crackling of distant fires, felt momentarily at peace. But they all knew that it was only a brief pause before more dangers awaited them.

  A deep rumble echoed from the heart of the swamp, reverberating through the trees and the thick mist that clung to the ground. The very air seemed to tremble, as if the earth itself was stirring from a long, restless slumber.

  Far away, deeper into the forest, a massive figure began to move. The ground cracked beneath the weight of its presence as the ancient giant tree groaned to life. Its bark was dark and knotted, and its limbs stretched up toward the sky like the fingers of a colossal hand reaching for the heavens. Its eyes, glowing faintly with an eerie, green light, flickered open.

  With a voice that sounded like the wind howling through the branches of a thousand-year-old tree, it spoke, each word heavy and full of ancient authority.

  “Who dares trespass in our peaceful place?”

  The sound of its voice rippled through the forest, shaking the leaves on the trees, and sending an unsettling chill down the spines of those nearby. The giant tree’s enormous roots shifted, dragging the earth itself as it slowly began to rise, towering over everything in sight. Its voice was both commanding and ominous, filled with an ancient anger that had been dormant for centuries.

  The surrounding BarkCrunchers paused, their wild movements halting as they turned toward the source of the voice. Even they, mindless monsters under normal circumstances, seemed to cower before the awakening of this massive, ancient being.

  Raze, who had been wiping the blood off his sword, froze for a moment. A smirk crept across his face as he heard the rumbling question. “Well, well… Looks like we woke up the boss,” he said, eyeing the massive tree with a dangerous glint in his eye.

  Mira, who had been standing close by, widened her eyes. “That... that’s no ordinary tree! It’s an ancient guardian. It must have been here for centuries.”

  Kai, still holding his giant sword, grinned eagerly. “Finally, something that’ll give us a real challenge.” His muscles tensed, ready for the next battle.

  The giant tree’s voice boomed again, louder this time, as it began to rise fully from the ground, its roots crackling like thunder.

  “Leave now, or face the consequences of disturbing the sacred land. We are the protectors of this place... and you will not leave unscathed.”

  With a deafening sound, the tree’s massive branches swayed and twisted, like weapons preparing to strike. The air thickened, charged with the raw energy of nature itself.

  It was clear now—this was no ordinary fight. This was the true test. The guardian had awoken, and it was ready to defend its domain at all costs.