Without warning, the colossal monster lunged forward at a speed faster than sound itself. The massive black katana in its hands cleaved downward, tearing the air apart, leaving behind a blinding rift of light as the wind howled violently—like the world itself was being split in half.
Myria reacted instantly. Her silver staff rose high, intercepting the devastating strike. The impact roared like thunder, shockwaves rippling outward, toppling trees and shattering the earth into jagged fragments.
Mye wasted no time. Her eyes flared, her small hand thrust forward, weaving condensed natural energy that lashed out and coiled around the monster's colossal arm, binding it in a storm of green light.
Shun, his fear now cast aside, let out a fierce cry and charged. The dagger in his grasp gleamed coldly as he carved a savage arc through the air, driving it deep into the creature's twisted ribcage.
A hellish roar erupted, shaking the forest to its roots. The ground split open, trees toppled, and reality itself seemed to shudder on the verge of collapse. From the beast's throat spilled a rancid stench—like the very breath of annihilation rising from the abyss.
Myria's voice rose above the chaos, her eyes ablaze with divine fire. With a single, unyielding motion, she struck, knocking aside the monster's katana, sparks and embers flaring in the suffocating dark. Her staff lifted skyward, and her voice thundered with a forbidden invocation:
- "Curse of the 327th Saint: Descent of the Light!!"
The sky, once drowned in darkness, split apart. A primordial sunlit brilliance erupted, tearing open the night as a colossal ray of holy radiance poured down upon the monster.
Its roar twisted into a shriek of agony, a piercing cry so sharp it felt as though Shun's ears were bleeding, his skull ready to shatter. The light engulfed the entire forest, burning away every shadow. Trees, soil, and the air itself were consumed by its brilliance. Ghostly figures clinging to the bark screamed in anguish before crumbling into ash, swept away by the merciless white fire.
The monster writhed violently, its grotesque body convulsing, black blood gushing forth and searing into the earth like acid, threatening to erode the world itself. Yet the light would not relent. It grew brighter, harsher, pulverizing bone, shredding sinew, annihilating every trace of its warped flesh until only an echoing scream remained—then silence.
For a fleeting moment, the forest—once shrouded in despair—shone as bright as day. But the instant the light faded, the darkness surged back, heavier and more suffocating than before.
Shun collapsed onto the ground, his body trembling, sweat and blood streaking across his pale face. He lifted his gaze toward Myria—who still stood tall, her staff smoldering with silver smoke, her eyes sharp and merciless, as though they had pierced both life and death.
Mye's hand clenched tightly, her natural energy flickering weakly, the glow threatening to extinguish at any moment.
And then… in the fragile silence that followed, from the depths of the darkness, a horrid, guttural laughter echoed—rasping, distorted, as if it came from a thousand rotting throats crying out in unison, reverberating across every corner of the night.
- "Did you truly believe… you had destroyed my body…?"
The ground trembled. The air froze.
The temperature plummeted into the abyss of absolute cold.
The monster had returned.
But this time, its form was even more grotesque and terrifying.
From every corner of the forest, the wailing of tormented souls erupted, echoing like a thousand claws shredding eardrums, driving the human mind to the brink of collapse. That shrieking was not mere sound — it was a curse, a venomous surge of spirit that seeped straight into the heart, forcing fear to bloom at the very core of one's soul.
Each soul was dragged into the monster's body, fusing into a grotesque mass of flesh. In an instant, it had grown four more gigantic arms, three twisted heads, taking on a nightmarish shape: three heads, six arms, six swords.
Every head gaped open, exposing jagged iron fangs as thick, black blood poured like a waterfall, sizzling as it corroded tree roots where it fell. Dozens of eyes sprouted across its body, twitching and rolling, scanning every angle — as if it could see not only in 360 degrees, but beyond the very limits of space.
The air grew viscous and heavy, the chill it exuded turning every breath into frost.
And then — it moved.
Without warning, its colossal body lunged forward at a speed surpassing sound itself. With a single step, an entire swath of the forest was ripped apart. Trees uprooted, the ground shattered, shockwaves roared like thunder exploding at the depths of hell.
Mye gasped, instantly summoning the power of nature. From her trembling hands, three radiant shields of energy materialized, wrapping around the group. They pulsed and quivered like shells of light, straining against the overwhelming force bearing down on them.
Myria wasted no time. Raising her silver staff, eyes flashing cold and resolute, she unleashed the holy pursuit spell. Countless streaks of white light tore through the darkness — yet even the speed of divine radiance could not catch the monster's deranged movements.
In the blink of an eye, it was gone from sight.
"—Shun!!" Mye screamed. But it was too late.
A hideous screech burst out behind them. The abomination emerged, six arms swinging six swords at once. Its massive body spun like a whirlwind of death, sucking everything into its storm. The air howled, soil and stone, trees and wandering spirits alike were dragged in, shredded to fragments.
Shun staggered, nearly swept away — until BOOM!!!!-
Myria slammed her staff into the earth.
A thunderous blast erupted. Gravity itself shifted, warping the space around them, an invisible force pinning the three down. They held their ground amid the killing storm, anchored against annihilation.
Myria's eyes blazed. She lifted her staff high, divine light gathering at its tip, swelling into a blinding sphere. In the sky above, ancient runes ignited, forming a massive arc, pouring down torrents of radiant fire.
Her voice rang out, heavy with grief yet searing with authority, piercing straight into the soul:
-"In the name of God… grant me Thy blessing:
The End of Darkness!!"
A burst of holy power erupted. The runes flared brilliantly, weaving together into a colossal spear of light.
At the speed of light, it hurled toward the monster as it dove upon them.
The moment of impact — BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!!-
An explosion of incomprehensible magnitude tore through reality. Divine radiance engulfed the entire forest. The ground convulsed, distant mountains thundered in response.
The world itself seemed blasted apart. Darkness was shredded. Every root, every tormented soul, every drop of blackened blood was incinerated in absolute white light. The monster roared in agony, its scream entwined with countless dying souls, becoming a macabre requiem that clawed at the spine.
For a heartbeat, the forest shone brighter than daylight itself.
But — as the light ebbed away, the darkness crept back in. Heavier. Denser. More abominable than before.
Shun collapsed, sweat and blood streaking down his face as he gasped in despair. Mye trembled, clutching his hand tightly. Myria's staff still smoked silver, her stance firm — but her eyes flickered with a worry she could not mask.
And then, from the resurrected shadows, a hoarse, hate-soaked laughter seeped out… like it poured from a thousand rotting throats:
- "You believe… you could destroy me…?"
The air shuddered. The temperature plunged into the abyss of ice.
A nightmare far worse… was about to awaken.
From deep within the pitch-black forest, where the holy light could not reach, a silhouette slowly emerged.
It was a man.
He stood nearly six feet tall, his body sculpted with bulging muscles, every sinew defined like carved stone. On his left arm, tribal tattoos stretched from shoulder to wrist, the intricate lines twisting and curling as though alive, faintly glowing in the darkness. His attire was that of an ancient tribesman, fashioned from beast hide and strange woven fibers—yet not a single sound accompanied his steps, as if even the earth itself dared not stir in his presence.
His face—was completely obscured.
A dense shroud of black mist clung to him, like a malignant energy feeding on his very existence. No matter how hard she tried, Myria could not see through it. Her powers, her divine insight, even her sacred intuition—all were blocked, smothered.
What she felt instead was a dreadful contradiction.
Her instincts screamed: "This man does not exist! He isn't real!"
But her senses and her mind insisted: "He's right there, flesh and blood, only a few steps away."
A shiver coursed down Myria's spine. Never before had she encountered something that forced her instincts and reason into such violent opposition.
Shun and Mye, still gasping for breath after the battle, stared in shock. The man required no incantation, no flourish. He simply raised his hand—casual, almost lazy—as though crushing an invisible insect.
Instantly, the monstrous abomination with three heads and six arms convulsed violently. The wailing spirits surrounding it were silenced in an instant, as if their voices had been strangled. The creature's massive body shrank, cracked, and twisted, collapsing inward until it condensed into a single sphere of pure blackness. From that sphere radiated waves of darkness, warping the air itself, driving back the light, and pressing upon their lungs with suffocating weight.
Not a word.
Not an expression.
The man simply turned his back and walked quietly toward the devouring forest shadows behind him.
Shun and Mye instinctively stepped forward, compelled to stop him, to uncover who he was—or at the very least, to prevent him from vanishing so easily. But before they could move further, a sharp THUD! echoed.
Myria's staff struck the earth, barring their path.
Her face was stern, her eyes sharp as ever—but within them burned something Shun and Mye had never seen before: true fear. Her voice cut the air, cold and resolute:
- "No. If we follow him now… if we strike him here… all three of us will die."
Shun froze. Mye's eyes widened. They had never heard Myria—the woman who had stood fearless against countless horrors—utter such words.
And then… they saw it.
A single bead of sweat.
The first bead of tense sweat to ever grace Myria's cold, unwavering face, sliding slowly down her cheek.
The forest fell utterly silent. No wind. No insects. Not even the restless dead remained. Only a suffocating stillness lingered, so heavy it felt as if the entire world had fallen to its knees, trembling before the shadowed figure who vanished into the night.
Shun swallowed hard, his throat dry and constricted as though an invisible hand was choking him. Beside him, Mye stood frozen, her hands trembling violently, yet she forced them together, clinging to some fragile semblance of composure.
In that heavy silence, it was Myria who broke it first. Her voice was cold, sharp, and absolute—leaving no room for defiance:
- "We return to the village. Today's expedition… ends here."
Without waiting for Shun or Mye to protest, Myria turned on her heel and strode ahead, leading them out of the suffocating forest. Their footsteps struck the earth with a hollow echo, each one weighed down by a dread none of them could shake.
On the way back, Shun and Mye couldn't stop glancing behind them, their eyes glued to the direction where that shadowy man had vanished. Every whisper of wind sent shivers crawling up their spines, as though he might suddenly materialize behind them at any moment.
In Shun's mind, a storm raged.
"That man… he's the one from my dream!! Why? Why does he look exactly the same?! But then… why did Myria say he could kill all three of us? Just what in the hell is he?!"
Shun ground his teeth, swallowing down the fury and helplessness swelling in his chest.
They walked and walked, until at last the faint glow of the village lights flickered in the distance. A fragile spark of hope lit in their hearts—yet the moment they stepped through the village gates, that hope was mercilessly crushed.
The sight before them froze Shun's blood solid.
The once peaceful village had been transformed into a slaughterhouse of horrors.
Corpses littered the ground, the familiar faces of the villagers now nothing more than cold, lifeless husks. Blood soaked the earth, seeping into the stones and grass. But the most grotesque of all—their skins had been flayed, peeled from their bodies, and hung high upon the power lines, swaying gently like some macabre banner in the night wind.
The stench of death filled the air, so thick it burned the lungs. Mye's stomach twisted violently; she clapped both hands over her mouth, her wide eyes trembling with terror.
Myria stood frozen, her usually icy gaze faltering with the slightest tremor. She swallowed hard, her dry throat making a faint, broken sound.
As for Shun, he could not tear his eyes away. His vision blurred red, reflecting each mangled corpse, each strip of human skin fluttering in the wind. His fists clenched so tightly his nails pierced his palms, blood trickling down unnoticed.
The silence that bound the three of them mixed with the faint, sickening creak of flayed skins swaying on the lines—creating a scene so haunting it felt as though hell itself had descended upon their world.