One piece: Without a system, I have to survive!

Even though the Forsaken King had been defeated, the unease in my chest refused to fade.

The battlefield was quiet, but it wasn't the silence of victory—it was the silence before a storm. The dark clouds in the distance churned ominously, stretching across the sky like a shadow that refused to lift. The air still carried the scent of ash and blood, a grim reminder of the battle we had just survived.

Shira wiped the sweat from her brow, still catching her breath. "You felt it too, didn't you?" she asked, her voice low.

I nodded. "Something else is out there. This wasn't the real fight."

Vex crossed his arms, his expression unreadable. "Then we should get moving. If there's another enemy waiting, we need to be ready."

I exhaled sharply. He was right. We couldn't afford to stand here, waiting for the next disaster to find us. The Forsaken King had been powerful, but the lingering presence in the air told me we had only scratched the surface.

I turned my gaze to the ruins, my mind racing. The final rune had been shattered, and the Forsaken King was gone—but had we really destroyed its source of power? Or had we just unleashed something far worse?

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw it.

A figure stood on the far edge of the battlefield, cloaked in the shadows. It was too far to make out the details, but the way it watched us sent a chill down my spine.

The figure didn't move, didn't speak. It simply observed.

"Someone's there," I muttered, my hand instinctively tightening around my sword.

Shira and Vex followed my gaze, their bodies tensing.

And then—before we could act—the figure vanished into the darkness.

A warning.

Or a challenge.

The wind howled through the ruins, sending loose debris tumbling across the ground. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. Whoever that was, they had been watching the entire battle. Studying us.

And that meant one thing:

The real enemy was still out there.

And they were waiting for the right moment to strike.