Leveling Through Betrayal

CHAPTER 9 — Guardian of the Ruins

Alex froze where he stood. At the end of the pitch-black corridor, a pair of pure golden eyes pinned him in place from within absolute darkness.

Alex’s fingers turned white as he gripped the hilt of his black sword, its blade still wet with the blood of monsters. His heart pounded wildly against a body that was beginning to rebel. A small voice of logic in the corner of his mind whispered the truth: if the creature before him decided to attack, the sword in his hand would be nothing more than useless scrap metal.

Alex’s breathing came in ragged gasps, each one scraping through his throat, which felt as dry as a desert. Every inch of his body felt as heavy as lead. Beneath his torn robe, a burning heat pulsed constantly—fresh blood still dripped slowly from the gaping wound on his back. He was too exhausted to think about escape routes, and too weak to squeeze out any more strength to fight.

For the first time since being thrown into this alien world, a cold sense of resignation crept into Alex’s heart.

“So… this is the end?” he muttered faintly, barely audible in the silence of the ruins.

A bitter laugh caught in his lips. Whether he died as Alex or as Aldric, fate seemed to have the same way of ending his life in tragedy.

Ding.

The familiar mechanical sound of the System suddenly rang at the edge of his consciousness.

[Target analysis failed.]  

[Target cannot be fully identified.]  

[Insufficient data.]

Alex furrowed his brows, ignoring the throbbing pain in his temples. “Failed?”

This cold System always had an answer for everything. It always provided unlimited information, dissecting every monster’s structure as if they were fragile lines of code. But this time, the entity suddenly faltered, unable to give even a single concrete explanation.

Cold sweat mixed with blood trickled down Alex’s temple. “What do you mean by insufficient data?”

There was no reply. The ancient silence crept back in, swallowing the underground chamber whole.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The sound of light footsteps broke the silence. It was the rhythmic sound of calm steps walking out from the trap of darkness. Those golden eyes moved forward, drawing closer.

Alex forced his trembling body to stand straight. His black sword rose unsteadily, trying to muster the last remnants of a fighter’s pride. But the moment the creature stepped out from behind the shadow of a ruined pillar, Alex’s eyes widened in shock.

The creature looked nothing like the terrifying monsters he had slaughtered before.

Its body resembled a majestic giant stag, covered in fine golden fur that emitted a soft, glowing light around the stone walls. Its four sturdy legs were sculpted with extraordinary elegance. On its head grew a magnificent pair of branching antlers that shimmered transparently, like pure golden crystal.

Every step it took radiated a calm rhythm. Graceful. Yet the magical atmosphere emanating from its existence made every hair on Alex’s body stand on end—far more intimidating than the murderous aura of the Dire Wolf King.

This creature showed no bloodlust or killing intent. It was too calm. Too peaceful. And in this brutal world, such absolute peace felt far more terrifying.

Ding.

[Golden Horned Kirin.]  

[Status: Guardian Beast.]  

[Status: Non-Hostile.]  

[Guardian of the Forbidden Ancient Area.]

Alex blinked several times, trying to sync his blurred vision with the transparent pop-up in front of him. “Non-hostile…?”

His gaze shifted warily from the System text to the Kirin, which had now stopped a few steps away. “Are you really sure about that?” Alex whispered to the System, but as usual, the artificial intelligence remained silent.

The Kirin lowered its majestic head for a moment, sniffing the air around Alex’s blood-soaked body. Slowly, its golden eyes moved downward, locking onto Alex’s chest.

“Dragon core.”

Alex’s heart slammed hard, as if struck by a mace. Reflexively, his left foot stepped back, tightening his grip on the sword hilt with what little strength remained. His mind was instantly filled with worst-case assumptions—was this sacred beast also after the cursed object nestled inside him?

But the Kirin showed no sign of aggression. Instead of attacking, the ancient creature spoke again, its voice flowing softly into Alex’s ears.

“Even a dragon child.”

Alex’s hand holding the sword stiffened. “Dragon child? Nero?”

How could this creature detect its presence so easily? Wasn’t Nero currently sleeping soundly, hidden inside the isolated Shadow Nest dimension? Even elite monsters on the surface couldn’t sense the little dragon’s existence.

The Kirin shifted its gaze toward the black shadow stretching beneath Alex’s feet. The fine lines on its face softened, creating the illusion of a faint, wise smile. “Be at ease, Human. I have no interest in taking what has been destined to stay with you.”

Skepticism still filled Alex’s mind. “If you really don’t intend to take it, how can you even know it’s in there?”

The Kirin didn’t answer his suspicion. Instead, it looked at Alex again. This time with a much longer, more intense gaze that pierced straight into his soul. As if those golden eyes could see through the deepest layers of secrets that even Alex himself couldn’t access.

“You… are not from this world.”

Thud.

For one terrifying second, the blood in Alex’s body seemed to stop flowing. His eyes widened completely, every muscle in his body tensing like stone.

How could it? How could the being before him know that? The original Aldric had died long ago, and his soul had been completely replaced. This was an absolute secret that should have been buried forever with the death of the previous body’s owner.

“You…” Alex swallowed hard, moistening his dry throat. “Who exactly are you?”

Ding.

[Divine Authority Trace Detected.]

Alex’s head throbbed even harder. “Divine authority? What kind of insane puzzle is this now?”

But this time, the shock didn’t only hit Alex. The majestic Kirin in front of him also froze for a moment after a strange energy ripple passed through Alex’s body. The sacred beast stared at him with an expression that was difficult to interpret—as if it had just realized a great, invisible conspiracy.

“Hm…” The Kirin snorted softly, its crystal antlers glowing brighter. “I understand now.”

“Understand what? Tell me!” Alex demanded in frustration.

“No wonder fate brought you here,” the Kirin murmured, ignoring Alex’s question.

The creature had no intention of explaining further. It gracefully turned its massive body, looking toward the stone corridor that stretched deeper into the earth, and began walking slowly.

“Follow me.”

Alex frowned, staring at the golden back moving away. “Just like that?”

The Kirin stopped without turning around. “If my purpose here was to spill your blood, you would have turned to ash the moment my eyes first caught a strand of your fur, Human.”

Alex fell silent, unable to refute the brutal truth. With his body in such a broken state, a single flick of the Kirin’s tail would be enough to send him to the grave. With no more rational options left, Alex finally stepped forward, following the guardian with vigilance still burning in his chest.

During the journey through the silence, Alex secretly observed every movement of the Kirin. His head nearly exploded with new questions piling up.

The creature in front of him was truly incomprehensible. Not only could it speak human language, but it also knew about Nero in the shadow dimension, knew where Alex’s soul came from, and even… knew about the System. It turned out the contents of this world were far more complicated and terrifying than just chasing monsters on the surface.

They continued walking through the ancient, stuffy corridors. On both sides, the stone walls were covered with ancient carvings that had begun to erode with time. Some depicted the might of giant dragons in the sky, while others showed humans kneeling in fear before something—an unknown entity whose figure had been worn away by the ages.

Alex wanted to open his mouth to ask questions, but the silent aura emanating from the Kirin seemed to dictate that he keep his lips tightly sealed.

Until finally, the path ended in a massive open chamber. And there, Alex’s steps came to an absolute halt once more.

Before him stretched a vast underground river. Its water was crystal clear, flowing calmly so that the stones forming the riverbed were visible without obstruction. A mystical blue glow radiated softly from within the water, casting magical reflections onto the cave ceiling.

The air around the place changed drastically. It felt so pure, fresh, and light when inhaled. Amazingly, with every breeze from the water’s surface brushing against his skin, the overwhelming fatigue that had weighed down Alex’s body slowly began to fade away.

Without realizing it, Alex took a step forward, staring in disbelief. “Isn’t this…”

His sentence hung in the air. Even without waiting for a notification or slow analysis from the System, every cell in his body could feel it clearly.

Mana. Pure magical energy in an incredibly massive and dense quantity, swirling calmly within the river’s flow.

Ding.

[Special Location Detected.]  

[Holy River — Source of Ancient Mana.]

Alex stood frozen in silent awe. A second later, an even more shocking realization struck him. The stinging pain from the torn wound on his back slowly began to subside. The blood that had been soaking his robe thickened and stopped completely. Even every breath he took no longer felt as heavy as before.

He stared at the blue light reflecting on the water’s surface without blinking. For the first time since being thrown into this cruel world and forced to crawl his way through it… Alex truly felt a real glimmer of hope for survival.

However, right in the midst of that calming silence, the Kirin’s voice standing beside him spoke again, breaking his reverie.

“You can feel it, can’t you?”

Alex turned, looking at the guardian from the side. “You… know what this place really is?”

The Kirin gave a faint smile full of hidden meaning, its golden eyes staring straight at the flow of holy water. “This is a place that has been waited for, guarded, and mourned by many entities for hundreds of years.”

Hearing those words, the warmth that had just settled in Alex’s chest slowly faded, replaced by a cold sensation creeping up his nape.

Because for the first time, a darker new realization struck his logic. This place—this source of ancient mana—clearly held far greater and more sacred value than the dragon core currently being fought over by thousands of bloodthirsty monsters on the surface.

And if that assumption was correct… then the scale of danger waiting for Alex in the future was surely far greater and more terrifying than anything he could imagine right now. The sense of safety in this place was merely a brief pause before the real storm came crashing down.