Ten minutes earlier
deep inside the burning forest
Vyom Dravik lay surrounded.
Blood spread slowly around Vyom's body from his severed shoulder and pierced thigh as he tries to sit up using a stone as support .
His breathing had become ragged and uneven.
Pain shot violently through his severed shoulder and pierced thigh every time he moved.
Yet some how he still laughed.
The assassins surrounding him remained silent beneath their black masks.
One of them finally stepped forward.
"Give us the names of the other transmigrators."
Vyom is shocked but quickly recovers his expression and weakly raises his head.
"how??…..You people really know how to ruin someone's evening."
The assassin kicked him violently across the ground.
"Names."
Vyom coughed out blood before slowly pushing himself back upright.
His vision blurred slightly.
But deep inside mana continued gathering silently.
The assassins had no idea.
Another assassin grabbed Vyom by the collar and forced him upward.
"Where are the others hiding?"
Vyom stared silently at the man in front of him.
Then suddenly a tired and broken laugh escaped his mouth
"You know what's funny?"
Blood dripped from the corner of his lips.
"My first life ended because of a truck."
The assassins frowned slightly.
"And now…"
Vyom slowly looked around at the black-robed figures surrounding him.
"…I'm getting hunted through a forest by mysterious lunatics wearing masks."
A weak grin appeared on his face.
"Honestly?"
"I expected better plot from this world."
The assassin held Vyom by his neck
"Why are you spouting nonsense , just answer my question"
Vyom while coughing out blood answers
"Well i needed to buy some time"
The assassin tightens the grip on Vyom's neck
"For what ? No one is com...."
The mana around him suddenly trembled violently.
One assassin's eyes widened, looses the grip and backs away from Vyom"
"Wait!!!!"
Too late. Vyom slowly closed his eyes.
"If I'm dying here…"
His voice became quieter.
"…then I'm not dying alone."
CRACK.
The ground beneath him split apart.
The assassins immediately panicked.
"He's destabilizing his core!"
"RUN!"
The assassins scattered instantly, sprinting desperately through the forest.
the unstable mana around Vyom continued compressing further and further.
The forest itself began trembling violently.
For a brief moment ,Vyom simply stared at the night sky above him.
"…...What a shitty second life."
Then
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
A massive crimson explosion swallowed the forest whole.
Trees were blown apart instantly.
Flames erupted violently into the night sky while the shockwave tore through the surrounding land .
_______________________________________
At the outskirts of the capital of elarion
multiple black carriages abruptly came to a halt.
The Dravik guild members stared toward the distant explosion in horror.
A massive crimson light illuminated the dark sky.
Inside the leading carriage Drake's face instantly went pale looking at the light
"…No."
He immediately jumped down from the carriage.
The distant flames reflected within his trembling eyes.
"That spell…"
His voice cracked slightly.
"…Crimson Collapse."
Vyom's final spell.
A spell he swore he would never use unless death was certain.
For the first time that night
fear truly appeared on Drake's face.
"No…"
Without another word, Drake sprinted toward the explosion.
The Dravik guild members immediately followed behind him.
Branches snapped violently beneath their feet as they rushed through the dark forest.
Then suddenly figures emerged from the smoke ahead.
Drake was expecting it was his best friend .
"Vyom is tha..."
As Drake stops , multiple figures out from the smoke .
The assassins.
Their black robes were burned and torn while blood covered their bodies.
One of them cursed loudly after seeing Dravik.
"Shit! They got here already!"
The assassins immediately attempted to retreat.
But Drake's expression had already changed completely.
Rage.
Pure rage.
"You bastards…"
SHING!
Drake drew his sword and charged forward instantly.
The injured assassins struggled to defend themselves against the furious assault of Dravik's members.
Clang!
One assassin was thrown violently into a tree.
Another barely escaped a spear aimed directly at his throat.
But despite their injuries the assassins still managed to retreat deeper into the darkness.
They escaped. Unable to retrieve the corpse of their fallen comrade.
Drake stared furiously toward the forest before clenching his teeth tightly.
"Forget them."
His voice trembled slightly.
"Find Vyom first."
________________________________________
far deeper within the forest
Aarav slowly walked toward the rising smoke.
The cold wind brushed against his academy uniform while dead leaves crunched beneath his footsteps.
"So…"
Aarav nervously looked toward the distant smoke.
"The explosion came from this direction… right?"
His voice sounded uncertain.
"What even causes an explosion that big at night?"
Another thought suddenly crossed his mind.
"Bandits…?"
"Or maybe some weird cult…"
The thought alone sent chills running down his spine.
Every instinct screamed at him to turn around and run away.
Yet somehow his curiosity kept pushing him forward.
Eventually Aarav reached the destroyed area and froze at the sight
The part of the forest that was lush green in the eveninh now was burnt . Trees had been completely blown apart and some still burned quietly
Smoke drifted across the shattered forest while the smell of blood and burnt wood filled the air.
Aarav's eyes widened slowly.
"What the hell happened here…?"
He carefully continued walking forward while looking around in shock.
Then suddenly
THUD!
"Ow!"
Aarav stumbled over something and rolled awkwardly across the ground before landing face-first in the dirt.
"My face!"
"That hurt so much!"
Blood slowly dripped from his nose as he groaned painfully.
"What did I even trip on..."
Aarav rubbed his aching knee before absentmindedly patting the ground around him.
Then his hand touched something wet and slimy.
Aarav froze.He slowly he looked downward to see .The sight allmost stopped Aaravs heart
A half-burned corpse missing several limbs stared directly back at him.
Its remaining eye reflected faintly beneath the moonlight.
For one second Aarav's brain completely stopped functioning.
Then he loses his mind.
"OH MY GOD!"
"MOMMY!!!!!!"
"DADDY SAVE MEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!"
Tears instantly flooded his eyes as he scrambled backward in complete terror.
His breathing became hysterical.
Then without even looking back Aarav turned and sprinted blindly into the darkness.
________________________________________
Drake and the Dravik guild members finally reached the center of the destroyed forest.
And stopped moving.
Silence filled the area.
Their guild master
The man who always stood ahead of them
now lay unrecognisable motionless upon the scorched ground. His limbs were scattered all over the place .
For a moment nobody spoke or moved from their spot .
Drake slowly walked forward , each step felt unbearably heavy.
Eventually he reached Vyom's body and dropped to his knees beside him.
The burned remains of Vyom's coat still carried the insignia of Dravik
Drake's hands trembled slightly, gently touching the insignia
"Vyom…"
His voice cracked.
"I'm sorry."
"I'm really sorry for being late…"
His head slowly lowered as tears fell silently onto the scorched ground below him.
Behind him every Dravik guild member bowed their heads in silence toward their fallen leader.Only the cold forest wind could be heard.
After recovering from the grief a little ,drake asked his teamates help for carefully preparing Vyom's body for transport.
While warping Vyom's body , Drake suddenly noticed something unusual near the edge of the explosion site.
Footprints.
His expression slowly sharpened.
"These footprints…"
He crouched beside them carefully.
"…they don't belong to the assassins."
The footprints were smallerand lighter and the prints almost looked like academy-issued boots.
Drake's eyes narrowed slightly.
He immediately called another guild member over.
"Take a picture of these and also survey the forest for any proof"
The guild member quickly nodded.
_______________________________________
Aarav continued running blindly through the forest with tears streaming down his face.
Completely unaware that fate had already attached itself to him.