The portal collapsed behind Buji with a resonant *snap*, sealing away the dungeon's suffocating darkness. The hunters outside froze, their weapons half-drawn, as the blood-streaked boy erged alone. His Void-tal Armor, now a deep cerulean, clung to his lean fra like a second skin, its surface shimring faintly under the midday sun. Aetherfang hung loosely in his grip, its blade still slick with wyrm's blood.
Kira's breath caught. Her notes slipped from her hands, scattering in the wind. *He's alive.* The thought crashed over her in waves—relief, confusion, terror. But the boy standing before the crowd wasn't the Buji she knew. His posture was rigid, his athyst eyes cold and distant, scanning the hunters like a predator sizing up prey.
Emra stood rigid beside the bonfire, her dagger trembling. Her father was still trapped in that dungeon, and this *kid* had walked out unscathed? Rage simred beneath her fear. "Restrain him!" she shouted, her voice cutting through the silence. "He knows what happened inside!"
The hunters stirred. Lower-ranked fighters—D and C-ranks—exchanged uneasy glances. A burly man with a spiked club stepped forward first, his rank badge glinting: **D**. "Don't make this hard, kid. Just co quietly."
Buji tilted his head. "Quietly?" He laughed, the sound hollow. "You think I crawled out of that hellhole to surrender?"
---
### **First Wave: The D-Ranks**
The burly hunter lunged, club swinging in a wide arc. Buji didn't move. At the last second, his Void-tal Armor rippled, the plates shifting like liquid to form a spiked gauntlet around his fist. He punched *through* the club, splintering it, and drove his fist into the man's chest. The hunter crumpled, gasping.
Two more D-ranks rushed him—a wiry woman with twin daggers and a hulking axeman. Buji sidestepped the axeswing, grabbed the woman's wrist, and twisted. She scread as her dagger clattered to the ground. Aetherfang flashed, its flat side slamming into the axeman's temple. Both hunters dropped.
*Ding!*
**[Combat Initiated]**
**[Foes Defeated: 3 D-Rank Hunters]**
**[XP 150]**
**[New Skill Unlocked: *Adaptive Defense* (Void-tal Armor morphs to counter physical attacks)]**
Buji smirked. "Too slow."
---
### **Second Wave: The C-Ranks**
C-rank hunters were smarter. They fanned out, surrounding him. A archer nocked an ice-tipped arrow; a brawler crackled with electricity; a swordswoman levitated blades telekinetically.
The ice arrow shot first. Buji swung Aetherfang, the blade humming as it *shattered* the projectile mid-air. Frost dusted his armor but lted instantly—the Void-tal hissed, dispersing the cold. The electric brawler closed in, fists sparking. Buji ducked a jab, grabbed the man's wrist, and yanked him into the path of the telekinetic blades. The swordswoman barely diverted her attack, slicing her ally's shoulder instead.
"Idiots," Buji muttered. He lunged at the swordswoman, Aetherfang clashing against her floating blades. With a grunt, he channeled energy into the sword—its runes flared crimson, and the psychic steel *shattered*. The woman stumbled back, blood trickling from her nose.
The archer fired again. This ti, Buji didn't bother blocking. The arrow struck his chest—and disintegrated, the Void-tal absorbing its magic. "My turn," he said. The armor rippled, forming a cannon-like appendage on his shoulder. A blast of concentrated frost erupted, freezing the archer's legs to the ground.
*Ding!*
**[Foes Defeated: 4 C-Rank Hunters]**
**[XP 300]**
**[Reward: *Elental Siphon* (Armor absorbs and stores one elental attack per battle)]**
---
### **Third Wave: The B-Ranks**
The B-ranks stepped forward now, their auras sharp. A fire mage, a shield-bearing knight, and a rogue with poison-coated knives.
The knight charged first, her tower shield slamming into Buji. He skidded back but grinned. "Nice try." His armor morphed again—spikes erupted from his elbows, digging into the shield's tal. With a roar, he *heaved*, flipping the knight onto her back.
The fire mage unleashed a torrent of flas. Buji raised Aetherfang, the blade drinking in the inferno until its edge glowed white-hot. He swung—a crescent of fire ripped across the field, forcing the mage to dive behind a boulder.
The rogue struck from behind, knives aid for Buji's neck. The Void-tal collar thickened, deflecting the blades. Before the rogue could retreat, Buji grabbed his arm and slamd him face-first into the knight's shield.
*Ding!*
**[Foes Defeated: 3 B-Rank Hunters]**
**[XP 500]**
**[Reward: *Aetherfang's Inferno* (Stored elental energy can be released as a charged attack)]**
**[Level Up: Buji → Level 22]**
---
### **The Crowd's Silence**
The battlefield lay in ruins. Hunters groaned amidst shattered weapons and scorched earth. Buji stood at the center, breathing steady, Aetherfang's tip grazing the ground. His armor reverted to its sleek form, blue as a midnight ocean.
Kira trembled. This wasn't the boy she'd trained with, the one who'd blushed when their hands brushed. This was a monster—beautiful and terrifying. She opened her mouth to call his na, but no sound ca.
Emra's nails dug into her palms. *Where is my father?* Her dagger itched to fly, but reason held her back. This boy had dismantled B-ranks like toys. Attacking blindly would be suicide.
Buji's gaze swept the crowd, lingering on Kira. For a heartbeat, his cold mask faltered—a flicker of pain, of recognition. Then it vanished. He turned toward the horizon, where the sun dipped low.
"Anyone else?" he asked softly.
No one moved.
He sheathed Aetherfang and walked. Hunters scrambled to clear his path, their bravado extinguished.
---
### **System's Whisper**
As Buji disappeared into the tree line, screens flickered in his vision:
**[Main Quest Updated: *Ascend from the Ashes*]**
**[Current Objective: Establish your Legion (0/10 mbers)]**
**[Reward: *Legion Lord* Title (Authority over recruited mbers' skills)]**
**[New Skill Available: *Soulbrand* (Mark defeated foes for future resurrection)]**
He smirked. *Resurrection? Maybe later.* For now, he had a ssage to send.
---
### **Aftermath**
The Hunter Association would later debate the incident in panicked etings. Footage of the battle spread like wildfire—a teenager in blue armor, dismantling seasoned hunters with ease. The dia dubbed him *Cobalt Reaper*.
Kira stared at the crumpled notes in her tent. One phrase stood out: *"I wish you understood…"* She wiped her tears. *What are you now, Buji?*
Emra stord into her father's empty office, slamming a fist on his desk. "I'll find you," she swore to the silence. "And that *Reaper* will tell how."
Far away, Buji knelt by a river, scrubbing dried blood from his armor. The water reflected his face—paler, harder, with eyes that glowed even in darkness.
"Weakest no more,"
The council chamber buzzed with tension. Holographic screens replayed Buji's massacre outside the dungeon—D-ranks crumpling like paper, C-ranks frozen mid-attack, B-ranks scorched by their own elental fury. Emra leaned over the mahogany table, her knuckles white. "He's not just so rogue kid. He's a *threat*. And he knows what happened to my father in that dungeon."
The Association Head, a gaunt man with a voice like gravel, steepled his fingers. "Which is why we're deploying A-ranks. But we need leverage." His gaze slid to Kira, silent in the corner. "You trained with him. Fought alongside him. You know his weaknesses."
Kira's throat tightened. The mory of Buji's laughter—warm, not hollow—flashed in her mind. "I… don't know what he's beco."
"But you'll try," Emra snapped. "Unless you'd rather join him as a traitor."
The threat hung in the air. Kira nodded, her chest burning.
---
### **The A-Rank Squad**
Four hunters assembled at dawn:
1. **Garrick "Ironclad" Voss** – A tank fused with enchanted exoskeleton armor, his fists capable of seismic punches.
2. **Lysandra "Veil" Marrow** – A illusionist who weaponized shadows, bending light to suffocate or disorient.
3. **Tarek "Emberfang" Rhyne** – A pyromancer with magma coursing through his veins, his flas hotter than plasma.
4. **Silas "Viper" Cade** – A poison-alchemist with darts that paralyzed nervous systems.
And Kira.
They tracked Buji to the Ashen Wastes, a skeletal forest of petrified trees. Lysandra's shadows slithered ahead, sniffing for traces of Void-tal. "He's here," she hissed. "And he's not alone."
---
### **Buji's Preparation**
Buji knelt in a clearing, Aetherfang buried tip-first into the ash. The system's screens flickered:
**[Legion mbers Available: 10]**
**[Summon? Y/N]**
He selected *Yes*.
The ground quaked. Ten figures clawed free from graves of shadow—Mr. Zin, his garlor armor now rusted and fused with necrotic thorns; Raven, her sniper rifle replaced by a bone cannon; Lily, her healing magic inverted to rot flesh. The others were blurred, their identities erased by undeath, but their power pulsed like a heartbeat.
"Protect your king," Buji murmured. The legion knelt, eyes smoldering with loyalty.
---
### **The Clash**
The A-ranks struck fast. Garrick charged first, his exoskeleton roaring as he slamd a fist into the earth. A shockwave tore through the clearing, uprooting petrified trees. Buji's legion scattered—except Mr. Zin. The undead knight t Garrick's next punch head-on, necrotic thorns spearing through the exoskeleton's joints.
"Pathetic relic!" Garrick snarled, wrenching free.
Mr. Zin's jaw creaked open. **"You… lack… honor."**
Tarek lobbed a magma orb at Raven. She retaliated, her bone cannon firing a concentrated blast of soulfire. The collision ignited the air, ash raining like black snow.
Lysandra targeted Lily, weaving shadows into tendrils. But the undead healer grinned, her hands unleashing a wave of decay that dissolved the darkness. **"Your tricks… are mortal,"** Lily rasped.
Silas darted between skirmishes, firing darts. One grazed Raven's shoulder—her bone arm crumbled to dust. Buji snarled, "Enough!"
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