NAME: Rose Redspine
RANK: S
LEVEL: 110
RACE: Human
CLASS: Crimson Sword Saint
POTENTIAL: APEX
LAW: REDSPINE
Main Skills:
[Crimson World] – Converts the entire area into a personal domain where every slash ignores defense and strikes the soul.
[Blade of Reversal] – Any attack received can be reflected with double the intensity, once every 60 seconds.
[Redspine Severance] – A conceptual slash that ignores distance. Can strike any target within the visible reality.
[Limitless Momentum] – Each consecutive strike exponentially increases the power of the next, until the dance is broken.
---
The world around Rose fell silent. The Crimson World had descended like an invisible veil, turning the world in red. Every breath, every heartbeat, every grain of dust appeared to bow before her presence.
In front of her, the monster stood like a colossus, its heads ready to devour her.
"My name is Rose Redspine." Her voice cut through the air like steel.
"For you to come here..." she said, drawing her sword, "was a terrible mistake."
The Devourer of Realms lunged forward, an unnatural movement for its massive size. A mouth as large as a building opened on its chest-
Reality Maw.
Reality in front of it was erased. Not exploded. Not burned. It simply vanished. A whole section of homes and street disappeared as if swallowed by a black hole.
But Rose was already airborne.
"Limitless Momentum"
The first strike was normal, the second one was stronger and faster, the third was even better. Every attack was increasing her speed and damage.
The intensity grew. Rose became a phantom, circling the monster gracefully
But the Devourer didn't seem to care—it could regenerate instantly, afterall.
Voidborn Regeneration absorbed the shadows of the entire city, morphing them into black tentacles that lashed out at her.
Then—
Eclipse Pulse".
A gray explosion spread in every direction, canceling every enchantment and active magic. Even Crimson World trembled... but did not collapse.
Rose landed on one knee, a thread of blood at the corner of her mouth. A smirk escaped her lips.
"You call yourself a Devourer of Worlds, yet you can't even devour my domain?"
"Pathetic."
With a single step, Rose vanished.
She was everywhere. In the air, on the walls, even within the monster's shadow. Her blades were crimson lines tearing through the air.
"Blade of Reversal"
This skill reflected the last attack she received, but with much greater intensity, and then—
An entire section of the creature's body was torn apart by its own power.
The monster roared. Not a sound, but a tremor that shattered windows across half the city.
Rose gripped the hilt with both hands, ready for the final skill that would end the demon's suffering.
"Redspine Severance."
A single cut. But that strike... didn't travel through space—it seemed to slice the demon directly, skipping space and time entirely.
It was one of Rose's signature abilities. A concept only she could wield.
The monster's entire body was cleaved in two by what seemed like a cosmic will.There was no blood, only light escaping from the wound.
The Devourer looked at itself. Then collapsed. No regeneration. No roar. Just... silence.
Crimson World faded like mist.
Rose remained standing, her dress torn in several places, her sword still vibrating.Around her, the city was safe—for now.
"If this is only the beginning... the world isn't ready."
She lifted her head toward the sky, where new rifts were beginning to form.
Fortunately, they didn't seem to be Rank S Gates, but rather Rank A and B portals.Simple for her—but not for the others.The monsters, after all, were anything but simple. All of them were mutated, enhanced.
"Everyone, listen." Rose's voice, powerful and confident, calmed the masses."The situation is dire, but as long as I'm here, nothing irreversible will happen."
Her aura rose to the sky, and countless people screamed and applauded at her presence.It was reassuring to have a Rank S like her on the battlefield.
That was the common thought.
And so, driven by the aura of the Academy's headmistress, the humans began repositioning to face the monstrous beasts charging at them.
They had already slain many of these creatures.They weren't very strong—despite their numbers, most were Rank C or lower.Only a few were Rank B, and even fewer Rank A.The situation was manageable—considering that those living in the North Capital were far from weak.
But the number of monsters was terrifying.They seemed endless.
For every monster slain, two more appeared.
The situation couldn't be sustained in the long term.
"Hold the line," said one of the city's Rank A defenders."Miss Redspine is handling the Gate closures. We just need to hold out!"
Somehow, the voice worked. It reassured the humans, who had been fighting for dozens of minutes, without pause.
Many had died, but thanks to the healing classes' abilities, the situation wasn't too grim.They were just exhausted.But they could still fight.
The battle raged on.Tens of thousands of monsters had already been slain, while the human side had lost at least a thousand people.
The situation no longer looked as promising as in the beginning.
Even Rose Redspine was sweating now.She hadn't stopped for a second.
She had entered lower-rank Gates trying to close them by wiping out all the monsters inside—and at first, she was succeeding.
Her power allowed her to perform miracles.Entering and exiting a Gate cost her mere seconds.
But for each Gate destroyed, something seemed to charge in the air.Something unnatural—like the very fabric of space beginning to tear.
Too many rifts in this area had destabilized space, making it more vulnerable to further Gates appearing.The situation was growing more critical by the minute.
"At this rate, we won't be able to win," Rose murmured, watching the destruction the monsters were wreaking.
Humanity couldn't hold out much longer.They were doomed.
Rose could have escaped at any moment—just like many of the Rank A and B powerhouses.Their strength allowed them to flee.
But where would they go?
From what they'd learned after contacting other cities, the situation was the same everywhere.The only relatively safe place seemed to be the Imperial Capital itself.
After all, it had far more Rank S defenders.
But the thought of fleeing danger never once crossed Rose's mind.Doing so would leave a stain on her pride, and would indirectly harm her power—her Law.
---
"Hey, man," said a voice suddenly from within the darkness of the shelter. "Where the hell did Jeremy disappear to? Could he really be dead this time?"
"Are you serious?" another voice snapped back from the shadows. "How can you even say something like that? Especially now that we've all finally reunited!"
"I know, I know, I was just saying," replied the first voice. It belonged to Ivan, Jeremy's friend. "How could he die after earning the favor of the Headmistress herself?"
"Don't joke about things like that! But... you're right. There's no way he's dead. He's strong, after all," Nathan, the other friend, replied.
"We can only hope for the best. Do you think we'll make it through this?"
"If we can't survive, imagine the other cities—without even a single Rank S to protect them. We have to survive, for their sake."
The two boys, along with countless other citizens, were hiding inside an underground facility, arranged like a bunker.
There were many similar shelters scattered throughout the city, and most of them were filled with people like them—too weak to face the atrocities unfolding outside.
They were safe, for now. But the situation on the surface was dire. They could feel it in the sound of explosions, in the tremors growing closer with each passing second.
And they weren't wrong.
The death toll continued to rise, and Rose had chosen to focus on protecting the citizens rather than trying to destroy the Gates. Every Gate destroyed only created more instability.
The only way to stem the chaos was to destroy the Gates faster than they appeared.
That was impossible for a single Rank S. She needed help—but there was no one who could aid her in that moment.
The awakened humans kept dying, even with Rose actively defending them. There were simply too many monsters, and they were laying siege to humanity from every direction, across every corner of the North Capital.
Were they truly doomed?
The situation was critical, but Rose and the other high-ranking Awakened were still holding the line. Not the entire city could be saved, but at least part of it—those under the direct protection of high-Rank defenders—might survive.
But things could only get worse.
The instability reached its peak, and with a deafening roar, a massive tear in space opened, giving birth to two Gates—larger and more menacing than any before.