Consciousness returned to him suddenly, as if a black storm had spat him back to the surface. He found himself once again in the hellish arena. The ground was cracked and scorched, as if it had endured thousands of ancient wars, and the sky was covered with dark red clouds pouring down lightning made of blood.
But what took his breath away was not the place… it was what appeared before him.
Beasts.
Gigantic creatures, their limbs twisted, their eyes burning, their skins covered in scales and bones. Some looked like endless giants whose heads touched the clouds. Others were primitive reptiles with fangs longer than trees. Wolves howled and filled the horizon, while giant birds flapped their wings and shattered mountains.
This was the manifestation of savage intent in its purest form.
Absolute savagery.
A struggle with no purpose except survival.
The sky tore apart with their roars, the ground shattered beneath their weight.
Every beast fought another with a brutality he had never seen before. They knew nothing but attack, destruction, and devouring everything before them.
Ashen fell to his knees, his body still breaking apart from the poisoned blood. His eyes widened as he stared at the scene before him.
This was not just an illusion.
It was a message.
A declaration that savage intent was not just a power to be used. It was an entire world that swallowed anyone who approached it.
He felt a pain greater than before. This time it was not from his body, but his soul. It was as if the savage intent seeped into every corner of his being, melting his memories, crushing his identity.
The whispers returned, but now they were not just words. They were the voices of thousands of beasts screaming at once:
"Surrender… surrender… let us guide you… you will become like us… no pain… no weakness…"
Ashen clenched his teeth until some of them cracked.
But he felt… crushed.
No matter how much he resisted, this wave would swallow him eventually.
At that moment… he made the decision.
For a brief instant, just a spark of time, he allowed the savage intent to flow inside him without resistance.
And the moment he did that…
He exploded.
A blood-drenched scream burst from his chest, turning into a massive red wave that swept across the arena. Strange blood surged out of him like an endless flood, transforming into blades, into spears, into storms. The massive beasts locked in battle were torn apart in an instant, their limbs shackled, their bodies turned into bloody dust scattered across the sky.
The entire place shook as if doomsday had arrived.
It was a mad power, beyond description… a blood tide without mind or restraint.
But… the price was severe.
Ashen himself had lost control.
When the explosion finally ended, he remained standing in the middle of the blood, but he was no longer himself.
His hands trembled, his body swayed, and his eyes had turned black with burning red lines.
He felt himself dissolving.
Not his body… but his mind.
His memories, his past, his vow of revenge… all began to fade away.
His thoughts were scattered, drowned in fog.
He began to hear new voices, not from outside… but from within.
Beasts inside him roared, screamed, and laughed.
He felt as if his body had become their cage, and his soul just an arena for their struggle.
An inner voice whispered to him:
"Do you see? The power is great… but it is not yours. It is ours. All you did was open the door… and we will enter."
Ashen dropped to his knees, holding his head, trying not to collapse.
But he no longer knew if he was still himself.
Was he still Ashen? Or had he become nothing but a vessel for savagery?
He realized the terrifying truth:
Savage intent was not a weapon… it was a curse.
A curse that devoured anyone who dared to touch it.
And while his mind was breaking apart, he noticed something.
The eyes in the sky had moved.
The Eye of the Body, which had been blazing, dimmed until it was just a spark.
But the Eye of the Soul… burned brighter, its light becoming a bloody river flowing from the sky, painting everything in the color of madness.
Ashen lifted his gaze, with only half his consciousness remaining, and saw that hellish eye staring at him.
It was no longer just an observer… but a judge, an executioner, and perhaps… a beast greater than all he had seen.