Chapter 8
Orion steadied himself against a tree, breath shallow as the forest slowly regained its sound. The pain behind his eyes didn't fade. It throbbed like a second heartbeat, one that didn't belong to him. Each pulse dragged faint echoes of that cosmic space into the edges of his mind — twenty-five distant lights, seven approaching, twenty-three fleeing.
He rubbed his temples, fingers digging hard into the skin as if pressure could force the pain away. But the ache was deeper than flesh. It lived inside the soul, coiling around something that had awakened without his permission.
He pushed off the tree and resumed walking.
His steps were stable, but the world around him felt… shifted. Every sound was sharper. Every scent clearer. His senses stretched far beyond their usual range. He heard monsters breathing in dens hundreds of meters away. He felt the trembling of tiny insects burrowed beneath the mud. Even the wind had weight. Meaning. Direction.
Nothing had changed in the forest—
But he had.
He walked until the sunlight dimmed again beneath thicker branches. The trees leaned inward like silent witnesses, their trunks unnaturally straight, as if awaiting something. His fingers brushed against a low branch as he passed.
It snapped.
A clean, effortless break.
He stared at the fragment in his hand, brow furrowing.
His strength wasn't supposed to spike this sharply. Stage 4 peak wasn't enough for this level of precision. The clean snap looked like something a Stage 5 would do without effort.
Or…
something awakening inside him was pushing his existence forward.
His gaze narrowed.
He tightened his fist.
The fragment crumbled into dust.
He didn't have time to think further.
A deep rumble spread through the ground, shaking loose dirt from the roots. Trees rustled as birds fled in panic. The trembling grew stronger… stronger… until the whole forest seemed to recoil.
Then he heard it.
A roar so massive the sky itself shook.
Orion inhaled slowly.
It was the fake Stage 5.
And it was close.
He continued walking, this time quicker, stepping soundlessly across roots and wet leaves. The air thickened with the smell of metal and blood. The tremors in the ground became more frequent.
He cleared the last of the brush and stepped into another clearing just as a massive shadow crashed through the trees.
The beast towered three stories high, covered in dark gray fur like steel threads. Its arms were long enough to drag through the earth, and horn-like bones jutted from its spine. But its face was what set it apart — too human, twisted with fury, and disturbingly aware.
A half-formed intelligence.
A body forced into power greater than its stage.
A monster pretending to be something it wasn't.
The fake Stage 5 turned toward him, its crimson eyes widening.
Orion didn't reach for his sword.
He simply stared back.
The beast lifted a tree trunk and hurled it. The air cracked as the massive piece of timber spun toward him with enough force to pulverize stone.
Orion shifted one foot.
The trunk split in half without touching him.
The clean cut fell on both sides of him, landing with a heavy thud.
A flicker of confusion crossed the monster's expression.
Orion took a single step forward.
The beast roared again, louder this time. Birds fled in waves. The earth split where its fists struck. Its massive form lunged, claws extended, jaws wide.
Orion exhaled.
He vanished.
Not through speed—
but through presence.
One moment he stood before the beast,
the next he was above it, cloak billowing like a shadow. He landed on its arm, boots touching down without sound, then ran up its limb with effortless balance.
The creature howled and swatted at him. Orion leaped, avoiding the blow by inches, and landed on its shoulder. His expression remained calm, as though he had done this a thousand times.
His sword slid free.
A faint black glow traced the blade.
The fake Stage 5 thrashed wildly.
Orion placed his empty hand on its neck.
"Struggle less."
His voice carried no threat.
No force.
Just quiet certainty.
The monster froze.
A tremor ran down its spine — fear.
For a moment, it understood it wasn't facing prey.
It was standing before something infinitely beyond itself.
Orion raised his sword.
The world dimmed.
Even the wind seemed to pause.
He swung.
But before his blade reached the flesh, pain exploded inside his skull again.
His vision blurred, and the swing faltered.
The beast seized the moment.
It roared and smashed its shoulder into the nearest tree, crushing Orion into the trunk. Bark shattered, and Orion's body sank into the wood, leaving cracks across the surface.
He pushed himself free, dropping to the ground with a quiet grunt.
His hand shook slightly.
Not from injury—
but from that damn pain, dragging his mind back to that cosmic space.
Seven lights.
Seven laws.
Seven domains.
Seven approaching him…
His breath hitched, but he steadied himself.
The monster charged again.
Orion tightened his grip on his sword.
He wasn't losing to pain.
He wasn't stopping here.
He stepped forward.
His blade shone.
And the forest held its breath.