Chapter 361: The Door

'Breathe, Kael… breathe…'He forced himself to focus on his breathing, trying desperately to silence the voice invading his mind.

Even through the pain, he kept his eyes on the beast's movements. No matter what happened, he still had to defend himself.

Looking at the creature, Kael spoke through gritted teeth.

"What the hell are you…?"

The wolf's body suddenly began twitching violently. Its flesh split apart as black veins spread across its skin like roots tearing through soil. Bones cracked outward, and the spikes along its spine sharpened into blade-like protrusions. Its jaws stretched unnaturally wide, beyond what any living creature should have been capable of.

Then it whispered,

"You carry the scent of the abyss."

Kael was already struggling to endure the pain, but the voice inside his head only grew louder. Still, the moment the beast spoke, he forced himself to stand.

Inside him, something reacted violently.

He didn't know what was happening to him, but agony exploded through his veins. It felt as though his blood was burning while his skin shattered apart at the same time.

Kael tried to endure it all, but without realizing it, black smoke began rising from his skin.

"Yes… that power…" the beast inhaled deeply.

"Kael… Kael…"

He could hear someone calling his name.

"Kael! Cut off its head now!" Zhal shouted inside his mind.

'It's not as easy as you make it sound. In my condition, cutting off its head is nearly impossible. And even if I manage to… what then? It'll just regenerate.'

The beast slowly approached Kael.

Kael could see it moving toward him, yet he couldn't move even an inch. At first, he thought he was doomed, but the beast didn't attack.

Instead, it stopped directly in front of him, almost as if it were absorbing the black smoke coming from Kael's body.

Kael breathed heavily.

'My body can't keep up anymore.'

"You are incomplete," the wolf hissed, "but the door has already opened."

'What door…?' Kael wondered through the pain.

Then suddenly, a memory struck him.

"The Black Door Incident."

From chapter 1387—a catastrophic event that was originally supposed to happen years later during the war arc. A gate that connected directly to the Abyss Realm.

"But no… I won't let that happen," Kael whispered painfully. "Not until my death."

Thousands had died. Hundreds of heroes had vanished. Nearly the entire kingdom had collapsed.

And according to the novel, the door was never a naturally occurring phenomenon.

It was created.

"As long as the vessel exists… the door will eventually open," the wolf grinned wider.

For the first time since transmigrating into this world, Kael truly understood that it wasn't just the timeline changing.

The world itself was accelerating toward destruction.

And somehow… he was becoming the center of it.

Kael forced mana into his legs.

"Astral—"

But his body was too weak.

He failed.

Just as he thought it was over, with his consciousness beginning to fade, Kael suddenly saw a silver light flash across the forest.

When he looked at the beast again, one of its arms was gone. Black blood poured from the severed shoulder.

Then, from seemingly nowhere, someone appeared between him and the beast.

Silver hair.

A long cloak fluttering softly behind her.

And in her hand, a black-bladed spear humming with terrifying mana.

She glanced at Kael and said,

"So you're the one."

'What does she mean by I'm the one? What is she talking about?'

Black-bladed spear. Silver hair. Long cloak.

Kael's eyes widened in disbelief.

'It can't be… Is that Lunaarie? The Ash Crown Spear?'

Lunaarie was a hero who died protecting the Final Gate. She wasn't from the academy, nor from the current timeline, but from the future war arc—a character who shouldn't appear for another five years.

And yet, she stood here now.

'Why is she staring directly at me? Why is she here in the middle of nowhere?'

The wolf's severed arm hit the forest floor, black blood splashing like acid and melting the grass and plants around it.

"You filthy human," it growled. "You should not interfere."

Lunaarie tightened her grip around the spear.

"You talk too much."

But the wolf ignored her completely, its gaze locked onto Kael with unnatural obsession.

"Eyes on me, if you don't want to die."

The moment she spoke—

BOOM!

She shot toward the beast so quickly that the ground exploded beneath her feet. It was as if she vanished entirely.

Kael barely saw a silver flash before her spear pierced straight through the wolf's chest.

SHRRRK!

The impact blasted nearby trees apart. The beast screamed as black energy erupted from the wound.

But instead of dying, it grabbed the spear with one clawed hand.

'It caught her weapon…'

The spear pierced straight through the wolf's body…

Yet it still smiled.

"Too late," it growled.

Black smoke exploded outward from the beast, and Kael instinctively raised an arm to shield his face.

The entire forest trembled violently.

The smoke thickened the air until breathing became difficult.

Then a sound echoed across the sky—

Like reality itself was cracking apart.

It resembled thunder, but far worse.

Like a thousand bolts striking at the same time.

"...Impossible," Zhal's voice trembled.

Even Lunaarie's expression changed.

Within the darkness of the black smoke, something split open.

It looked as though something massive was moving behind it.

The crack widened further.

Then, high above them, a gigantic eye slowly opened within the fracture.

The pressure alone made Kael's entire body tremble.

It felt far more terrifying than any demon he had ever faced.

Even Lunaarie's mana flared instinctively, as though her body reacted on its own.

At first, the eye seemed to observe everything.

Then it stopped.

And focused directly on Kael.

The moment their eyes met, Kael heard another voice inside his head.

"Found you."

Kael's vision shook violently.

Memories flooded into him.

But they weren't his.

And yet… somehow they felt like they were.

Burning worlds.

Oceans turning red.

Gigantic creatures moving beneath endless darkness.

A throne made entirely of bones.

And standing before it—a figure completely covered in shadow.

Countless creatures bowed before him, whispering:

"The Demon Lord."

But this Demon Lord was different from the one described in the novel.

Older.

Far more terrifying.

Then the visions shattered.

Blood dripped from Kael's nose onto the ground.

"Why am I seeing visions of the Demon Lord…?"