The stone smoke faded slowly,
and the rocky forest regained its dead silence, except for the heavy drops of blood dripping from the giant monster's chest.
Then…
that man.
The air did not move when he appeared.
It was as if his existence did not disturb even the dust.
He stood on a vertical rock, his torn black cloak lined with silver threads woven into ancient seals.
On his right shoulder was a symbol impossible to mistake:
The Twin Emperor Flame — the mark of the Imperial Guard.
His eyes were soft, but inside them was something like a waiting death.
Everyone gasped in shock.
"It seems the imperial family sent their soldiers even to this remote area."
The leader of the Blood Hands faction muttered.
"They must be searching for traces of the Corpse Refining Sect everywhere… but why appear only now…? Did they use us as bait to weaken the Corpse Refiners and take them down without lifting a finger?"
The leader of the Blood Blade faction clenched his teeth in anger, as if everything suddenly made sense.
"Watch what you say. Keep those thoughts to yourself. He is extremely strong. All members of the Imperial Guard are required to practice the Blood Refining Path. And only those who reach at least Blood Warrior rank even qualify. If you irritate him, he may kill all of us."
The old man warned quickly, as if afraid the newcomer would take offense.
"Damn imperial dogs… they're too fast. Push your energy now! As long as he's focused on that failed experiment, we might escape."
The leader of the Corpse Refining Sect said in panic.
"It would've been easier if not for that crimson eye above our heads. Just breathing under its gaze is hard, let alone circulating energy… damn it."
His deputy cursed bitterly, as if the world itself hated them.
As for Ashen—
he looked at the newcomer with cold calm, with the stillness of a child who had seen too many corpses to be frightened by anything.
The newcomer studied Ashen as if trying to see through his soul.
He tried to read him… but saw nothing.
A depth with no beginning and no end.
"Interesting… truly interesting."
The man whispered to himself, as if he had found a jewel or treasure.
"Heh… no need for that frown, boy. I didn't intend to kill you. I only wanted to land a precise strike on that giant."
He spoke as if what he did was normal and not worth frowning over.
Ashen, after a long cold look, understood immediately:
This man was stronger than him. Much stronger.
Ashen turned silently.
He planned to leave.
He felt no desire to fight someone like this—not out of fear, but because it was dangerous and pointless.
But—
Awooooooooooo—
The giant monster's cry exploded through the rocky forest.
The stones shook…
the ground cracked under Ashen's feet.
The cry was not the cry of a beast.
It was a human scream mixed with a thousand broken souls.
Ashen lifted his head, frowning.
The strange man was no longer on the rock.
He was now standing on the monster's chest…
as if he had jumped without disturbing the air.
He stood directly above the wound made by the giant blood sword earlier.
His hands moved silently.
A blood spell.
Ashen had never seen anything like it.
Symbols formed in the air around the man's fingers, twisting like red light-worms, then gathering above the giant sword stuck in the monster's flesh.
Suddenly—
Fwooooooosh—
The sword ignited.
Blood fire.
Not red, but like molten lava filled with twisting black shadows.
The sword began absorbing.
Absorbing the monster's energy, its life, its fire, everything.
The giant was trembling.
Its body shook with convulsions no creature of that size should survive.
Its skin cracked.
Its veins burst.
Its wide red eyes began to melt.
The cry turned into weeping…
then into screaming…
then—
"No… no!
I do not want to die…
I…
have not…
taken… revenge…"
The words came as if spoken by thousands of throats.
By thousands of victims trapped inside that body.
But to Ashen…
they were something else.
They were a promise.
An echo.
A cry that felt carved into the last corner of his blood…
as if it matched a pattern inside his own soul.
Something in his chest stopped.
Something else ignited.
He did not think.
He did not hesitate.
He did not consider the consequences.
He moved.
His body shot forward like lightning.
The Blood Frenzy burned through his veins like a lethal flash.
In an instant he was above the imperial man.
And before the latter realized what was happening—
BOOOOOOOM!!
Ashen's strike hit the Imperial Guard directly.
The air shook.
The space around them distorted.
The man flew like a thrown doll, crashing through the rocky forest for dozens of meters before smashing into a stone pillar.
Before his body even fell—
Ashen had already grabbed the handle of the giant blood sword.
He tore it out of the monster's chest with lethal force.
Tssssssssssss—
Blood exploded.
The spell collapsed.
The blood flames stopped burning.
The giant monster gasped—
a sound like air escaping a shattered lung.
Its massive eye, full of agony, searched for Ashen…
and a strange tremor passed through its pupil,
as if something human tried to return for a brief moment.
And Ashen…
stood on its chest, holding the sword, covered in blood from head to toe.
The echo of the words still rang in his ears:
"I… have not taken revenge… yet…"