She looked at his hand for a moment, her gaze lingering not on the gesture itself but on what it implied, as if weighing the cost of accepting something that was neither trust nor submission but something far more unstable, and then, without hesitation yet without warmth, she spoke.
"Then we'll be temporary allies… for now."
Her words were clear, but the distance between them remained.
Raon didn't respond, but he understood.
It was temporary and it is an conditional ragile.But that was enough.
Without another word, both of them turned and left the rooftop, the sound of their footsteps echoing faintly as they moved down the dim stairwell, the air growing heavier with each level they descended, carrying with it the scent of dust, rust, and something faintly rotten that had settled into the bones of the building.
The moment they reached the lower floor, her demeanor shifted.
And then the calm turned into command.
She moved forward without slowing down and spoke in a firm, controlled voice.
"A swarm is approaching," she said, her words directed toward the people gathered below. "From the northern side. Prepare for battle."
The reaction was immediate and the atmosphere changed in an instant.
People who had been resting stood up. Weapons were picked up. Movements became sharper, faster, more deliberate. There was no panic—but there was urgency.
Raon's eyes moved across them briefly.
And they all are in group and it was organized and they were not weak.
And then he hear an voice.
"Raon."
The voice came from the side.
He turned slightly and saw Han approaching him, his expression tense but steady, as if already expecting something like this.
"What are we doing?" Han asked.
Raon didn't take long to answer.
"For now," he said, his tone calm, "we fight with them."
Han looked at him for a moment, as if trying to read something more from his expression, but there was nothing to find.
"…Got it," he replied.
And he didn't ask any further questions and
that was enough.
Around them, preparations continued.
The faint clatter of weapons, quiet exchanges, controlled breathing—everything pointed toward a group that had done this before.
But Raon didn't stay.
Instead, he turned again and made his way back toward the staircase.
toward the up to the roof step by step.
Until he reached the rooftop once more.
The wind greeted him again.
Cold.
Sharp.
Unforgiving.
He walked toward the edge and looked out into the distance, toward the direction from which the earlier roar had come.
For a moment—
Nothing.
Just the broken city.
Then—
He saw it.
Far away, on top of a collapsed building that leaned dangerously to one side, something stood.
Large.
Still.
Watching.
A wolf.
But not one that belonged to any natural world.
Its body was too large, its silhouette too defined against the fractured moonlight, its presence too heavy to ignore even at that distance.
And then—
It howled.
The sound tore through the night.
Deep.
Resonant.
Commanding.
And as the echo spread—
Movement answered.
From the streets below.
From between broken buildings.
From the shadows.
Wolves.
Dozens.
Then more.
They began to appear, emerging from darkness like something that had been waiting for a signal, their bodies low, their movements fast, all heading in the same direction.
Toward them.
Raon watched in silence, his eyes narrowing slightly.
A coordinated swarm.
Not random.
Not scattered.
Controlled.
Which meant—
That one.
The one standing above.
Was leading them.
A brief thought crossed his mind.
I don't have a weapon.
It wasn't panic.
Just a fact.
But then—
Another memory surfaced.
The reward.
From the second scenario.
The gift box.
Without wasting time, Raon reached into his subspace.
A skill he had acquired after the scenario, one that allowed him to store a limited number of items beyond physical space, and in the next moment, a small box appeared in his hand.
Simple.
Unremarkable.
But not ordinary.
He opened it.
And immediately—
Light burst out.
Not violently, but in a controlled surge, scattering like fragments of glass illuminated from within, filling the space around him with a soft, radiant glow that flickered against the dark sky.
For a moment, the rooftop was no longer shadowed.
Then slowly—
The light began to settle.
To gather.
To take shape.
And when it finally faded—
Something remained.
Floating in the air before him.
A sword.
Black.
Not dull, not reflective—but absorbing light itself, as if its surface rejected the idea of brightness entirely.
It hovered for a moment.
Still.
Silent.
Raon extended his hand.
The moment his fingers touched the hilt—
A window appeared before his eyes.
Information.
Description.
Details.
He read it.
Silently.
Carefully.
Every word.
Without missing anything.
Then—
A sound.
Footsteps.
Soft, but clear against the concrete.
Approaching from behind.
Raon didn't turn immediately.
He already knew.
But when he did—
She was there.
The Moon Leader.
Dressed differently now.
Gone was the stillness of before.
In its place—
Preparation.
Battle.
Her clothing was dark, fitted for movement rather than appearance, layered with light protective plating that didn't restrict motion, with subtle metallic lines running along the arms and torso, catching faint traces of moonlight without revealing too much, and her presence felt sharper now, more focused, like a blade that had finally been drawn.
She walked forward and stopped beside him.
Not too close.
Not distant either.
Her gaze followed his.
Toward the swarm.
Toward the distant wolf that had called them.
"…That's the source," she said quietly.
Below them, the city trembled with movement as the wolves advanced.
The night, which had been silent before—
Was no longer empty.
And standing there, side by side—
Not as allies bound by trust, but by necessity—
They watched and waited for the battle to begin.