The Infernal Direwolves closed in, their massive paws pounding against the cracked earth. Dust swirled around them, mingling with the heat rising from their infernal hides. The circle grew tighter, glowing eyes narrowing, their low growls weaving together into a chorus of primal hunger.
Asura's golden eyes gleamed, his lips curling into a smirk.
"…Alright," he whispered, raising the wooden katana, "let's try something new."
The nearest wolf lunged.
Its body blurred, impossibly fast for its size. Its horned skull crashed forward, jaws snapping with the force to crush steel.
Asura didn't move until the last second.
"Spirit Pistol!"
His fingertip flared blue, a marble-sized orb flashing out like a bullet. It struck the direwolf square between the eyes.
BOOM.
The monster's head snapped back violently, its massive frame flipping midair before it crashed into the ground in a spray of dirt. It twitched once—then lay still, its glowing eyes extinguished.
The system chimed.
Ding!
[Enemy Defeated – Infernal Direwolf Lv. 125]
[EXP Gained: 12,000]
[Skill Proficiency Increased: Spirit Bolt → Lv. 2]
Asura's smirk widened.
"Oh yeah. This is gonna be fun."
The rest of the pack roared in fury, their voices shaking the trees. Three leapt at once, fangs bared, claws flashing like blades. Their pack instinct made them move as one, surrounding him in midair.
Asura slammed his katana into the dirt, freeing his hands. Mana crackled violently in his palms, golden light surging brighter and brighter until it scorched the air.
"Final… Flare!"
The beam erupted like a miniature sun, ripping through the night.
The three direwolves disintegrated mid-leap, their armored hides no match for the searing column of light. The beam carved a trench through the clearing, igniting everything it touched.
When the flare faded, all that remained of them was ash drifting on the wind.
Asura panted, sweat dripping down his forehead—but his golden eyes burned hotter.
More growls erupted from the shadows. More eyes gleamed, dozens still encircling him. The pack had only just begun.
He lifted the katana again, aura flaring so violently that the fissures in the earth glowed crimson in response.
"Come on then," he snarled, his grin feral. "Let's see if any of you can keep up with me."
The direwolves lunged as one.
And Asura unleashed the storm.
✦ The First Spell
Asura's breath slowed, his golden eyes narrowing as the wolves circled tighter. Their claws scraped against stone, sparks flashing as their fangs snapped together, jaws dripping with steaming drool. Heat shimmered in the air, distorting their massive frames.
For the first time since the pack appeared, Asura lowered the wooden katana to his side.
"…Alright," he muttered, flexing his small fingers. His voice was calm, but the grin tugging at his lips betrayed the excitement boiling within. "Let's test something else."
Mana stirred.
It wasn't like swinging a sword. This wasn't physical. This was raw essence, pulled from the depths of his soul. His chest ached as energy coursed through him, filling his tiny body until it felt like his veins were burning.
The fissures in the clearing pulsed brighter, answering his call. Sparks of crimson and orange flickered at his fingertips, the heat distorting the smoke around him.
The wolves slowed, hackles rising. They felt it too. Instinct screamed at them to retreat, yet their pack bond held them firm. Their growls faltered into uneasy rumbles, and for a heartbeat, even predators the size of horses hesitated before a four-year-old boy.
Asura shut his eyes.
He pictured it clearly—hands forming signs, fire roaring into existence, the world lit in orange and gold. An anime scene replayed frame by frame in his memory, every detail etched into his soul.
He whispered the words that once belonged to another world.
"Fire Art—"
Mana surged violently, condensing in his palm. Light blazed, brighter and brighter, until his small hand glowed like a miniature sun. The sphere swelled, flames whipping outward in a roaring spiral, distorting the ground beneath it.
"—Giant Fireball Technique!"
He thrust his arm forward.
The fireball screamed across the clearing, trailing sparks and searing air. The ground scorched black beneath its path. The direwolves froze for a split second, glowing eyes widening. Then it hit.
BOOOOOOM.
The night was gone.
The explosion lit the forest brighter than dawn, a wave of fire expanding outward like the breath of a dragon. Flames consumed everything in their path, swallowing the wolves in a storm of heat and light. The shockwave tore through the clearing, ripping grass and soil into the air, rattling the trees until leaves and branches rained down like ash.
Half a dozen direwolves were hurled backward, their hulking frames thrown like toys. One slammed into a tree, snapping it in half before collapsing in a heap. Another rolled across the ground, fur burning, howling in agony before going still.
The smell of burning flesh filled the air, acrid and suffocating. Smoke rose in towering columns, mixing with the fire still devouring the edges of the blast zone.
Asura lowered his hand slowly, panting, his tiny chest rising and falling with each breath. Sweat streamed down his temple, but his grin stretched wider than ever. His golden eyes gleamed in the firelight like molten stars.
Then the system chimed.
Ding!
[Skill Acquired: Fireball]
[Skill Acquired: Fire Art: Giant Fireball Technique (Unique)]
[Affinity Bonus: Mana Efficiency +5%]
[Unique Title Acquired: One Who Burns the Night]
[Skill Proficiency — Rapid Growth Mode Activated]
[Notice: Output unstable. Recommend control training.]
[Hidden Condition Unlocked: True Demon Lord Elemental Resonance Detected.]
Asura blinked at the flood of messages, jaw dropping slightly. Then his lips curled into a wicked grin.
"…Not bad. Not bad at all."
He raised his katana again, his body trembling—not from fear, but from exhilaration.
"Worked even better than I expected."
The remaining direwolves growled in unison, fury burning in their glowing eyes. Their fallen packmates twitched and smoked on the ground, the acrid scent of charred fur clinging to the air. But the survivors weren't retreating.
No—if anything, the pack had become more dangerous.
Their growls deepened, their breaths hissed louder, and one by one, they lowered themselves, claws digging into the cracked earth. The circle grew tighter, more coordinated. Their pack instinct took over, uniting them as a single hunting machine.
Steam hissed from their fangs, the heat bending the very air. The ground trembled under their synchronized steps.
Asura smirked, flicking embers from his fingers.
"…Alright then. Round two."
The pack lunged.
And Asura unleashed the storm.
✦ The Alpha Emerges
The clearing still burned from the fireball's aftermath. Smoke drifted in lazy spirals through the night sky, glowing red where embers clung to shattered branches. The remaining direwolves circled tighter, growls rumbling low, eyes blazing with fury.
But then they stopped.
Every head snapped toward the treeline. Ears pressed flat. Claws dug into the earth. The growls withered into silence, replaced by something else—submission.
The forest trembled.
A low vibration rolled through the ground, so deep and steady it rattled Asura's bones. Birds erupted from the canopy in panicked flocks. The flames at the clearing's edge guttered and bent, as if forced downward by an unseen pressure.
Then it came.
A roar.
It wasn't just sound—it was force. It split the night like a thunderclap, shook the air until Asura's ears rang, and made his wooden katana quiver in his hands. The very trees leaned away, their leaves shuddering violently as if trying to flee.
The direwolves bowed their heads low, their massive frames trembling. Not one dared move. Even injured beasts crawled back to their feet, only to lower themselves in reverence.
From the darkness, it stepped forth.
The Alpha.
It dwarfed the rest of the pack, twice their size, towering so high its horns scraped low-hanging branches. Its body was a mountain of muscle beneath fur as black as obsidian. Scars crisscrossed its hide, glowing faintly with molten light as if fire itself had healed the wounds. Its veins pulsed brighter than the others, glowing crimson lines that snaked across its body, pulsing like magma flowing through cracks in the earth.
Twin horns jutted forward from its skull, longer than spears, jagged and sharp enough to pierce stone. Heat radiated from them, shimmering the air so violently it looked like the Alpha carried an aura of flame wherever it moved.
Its eyes locked onto Asura. Crimson. Burning. Intelligent.
The child felt it instantly. This wasn't just another monster. This wasn't even just a pack leader.
This was a predator forged by nightmare and survival, a sovereign beast that ruled through fire and blood.
The system exploded with alerts.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
[Warning: Boss Detected!]
[Alpha Infernal Direwolf]
[Level: 210]
[Rank: S]
[Element: Fire/Infernal]
[Special Traits: Infernal Hide (Enhanced), Flame Howl, Mana Regeneration, Pack Commander]
[Threat Level: Overwhelming]
[Estimated Survival Rate: 0.001%]
Asura's golden eyes widened at the barrage of text, heart hammering in his chest. His knees wobbled. His hands trembled on the hilt of the wooden katana. His body screamed at him to run, to flee, to vanish before those fangs closed on him.
But his soul—
The boy who had once lived in a dull, colorless world. The boy who had dreamed of dragons, of magic, of life-and-death battles. The boy who had begged for another chance.
—his soul laughed.
A grin split his face, wild and sharp, fangs flashing in the firelight.
"…Finally," he whispered, voice trembling not with fear, but with exhilaration.
The Alpha lowered its head, horns pointed like lances, molten drool sizzling where it struck the scorched earth. Heat rolled off it in waves, bending the light, suffocating in its intensity.
Asura lifted the wooden katana. The tiny blade looked laughable compared to the monster before him, but his aura surged anyway, dark and oppressive, rippling outward until even the remaining wolves shifted uncomfortably.
The night itself held its breath.
A child and a beast. Golden eyes against crimson. Wooden blade against horns of obsidian fire.
The Alpha roared again, so loud the trees cracked under the force, and charged.
✦ The Experiment
Asura's chest heaved, his golden eyes tracking the wolves as they circled tighter. Smoke rose in thin ribbons from the carcasses already littering the ground, the acrid scent of scorched fur and burning flesh mixing with the tang of ozone still clinging to the air.
The Alpha's presence pressed down like a mountain, molten eyes gleaming with something close to amusement. It didn't attack—not yet. It watched, waiting, as though curious how long the child would last.
Asura grinned. His pulse hammered with excitement.
"Alright… sword techniques are good. Magic works even better." He raised his wooden katana, tilting it just enough for moonlight to glint along its edge. "But what happens if I put them together?"
The idea thrilled him. In his past life, anime characters had unleashed absurd combos, fusing martial skill with elemental power. He had dreamed of copying them—but this wasn't just cosplay anymore. This was real.
He inhaled slowly, steadying his small frame. Mana stirred, hot and violent, swirling from his core into his arm. At the same time, he tightened his grip on the katana, focusing on the flow of energy as though the blade itself was an extension of his soul.
For a moment, the energies resisted. The raw chaos of magic clashed against the clean intent of the sword. Sparks snapped violently, and the wooden weapon trembled in his hands. His vision blurred from the strain, a warning echoing in his mind:
Too unstable…
But Asura laughed, sharp and reckless. "Since when have I cared about stable?"
He pushed harder.
The energies snapped together with a thunderous crack.
Black lightning burst across the blade, jagged arcs dancing from tip to hilt. The katana glowed with a furious hum, so bright and violent that it looked more like a weapon forged from storm than wood. The smell of ozone thickened until the air tasted like burnt metal.
The direwolves froze. Their growls faltered into uneasy whines, hackles bristling, claws scraping back against the cracked earth. Even the Alpha tilted its massive head slightly, molten eyes narrowing as though acknowledging something it hadn't expected.
Asura's grin widened, fangs flashing in the stormlight.
"Black… Lightning… Slash!"
He moved.
The blade carved a brilliant arc, a crescent of jagged light screaming outward. It ripped through the air with a sound like thunder exploding inside the clearing. The earth itself split beneath its path, a smoking trench carved into stone.
Two wolves lunged too late. The arc tore through them, their bodies glowing violently from within. For a heartbeat, their frames locked mid-stride, frozen statues of convulsing muscle and fire. Then they collapsed in smoking heaps, their red eyes dimming to black.
The silence that followed was absolute.
Even the surviving pack members hesitated, shifting nervously, growls faltering. The Alpha's molten gaze lingered on Asura, no longer merely amused, but… intrigued.
Asura lowered the katana, still humming with black sparks, his chest rising and falling rapidly. Sweat ran down his face, but his grin was sharper than ever.
Then came the system's flood.
Ding!
[New Skill Acquired!]
[Elemental Sword Art – Beginner Lv. 1]
[Hybrid System Triggered: Sword + Magic Combination]
[Growth Potential: Infinite]
[Hidden Path Unlocked: True Demon Lord Innovation]
[Title Gained: Creator of the Impossible]
Asura blinked, stunned at the messages filling his vision. For a second, even his breath caught.
"…I created a new skill tree?" he whispered.
His lips split into laughter, wild and breathless. "Not just skills… I can invent them. I can make them real."
He looked down at the katana, sparks still flickering across its surface. It was a crude weapon, just wood stolen from the castle's edges, yet in his hands it had become a conduit for destruction.
His golden eyes burned brighter than ever.
"This is my power. Not just stats. Not just the system. It's me."
The direwolves snarled again, furious at their fallen kin. But their movements weren't as confident now. They paced, hesitant, eyes flicking toward the child who wielded lightning on a stick as if it were a god-forged blade.
And Asura, still small, still only four years old, laughed in the middle of the carnage.
"…This world has no idea what's coming."
✦ Overkill
The wolves moved as one.
Dozens of hulking bodies circled tighter, horns glowing crimson, their veins pulsing brighter with every heartbeat. Their growls blended into a low, unified rumble that rolled through the clearing like distant thunder. The earth trembled beneath their synchronized steps, claws scraping sparks across stone.
Asura's golden eyes flicked from one beast to another. Smoke clung to the battlefield. Flames sputtered from broken trees. Yet despite the carnage he had already wrought, the survivors were not retreating.
They were preparing.
The Alpha loomed at the edge of the crater, its molten eyes unblinking. It did not roar. It did not move. It simply watched, as though measuring the boy who dared stand against its pack.
Then the pack lunged.
All at once.
Claws dug furrows in the earth. Fangs gnashed. Dozens of bodies leapt in unison, their combined momentum like an avalanche of fire and muscle crashing down on a single child.
Asura inhaled sharply, heart pounding. His system flared, mana surging violently through his veins until his small body ached, every muscle trembling under the torrent of energy. His golden eyes widened, blazing brighter than the moon overhead.
"…Fine," he whispered, voice trembling with both fear and exhilaration. He spread both hands skyward, the wooden katana dangling loosely in one. "Let's end this in style."
He closed his eyes.
Every battle he had ever watched in anime, every last-stand finale, every desperate power-up flooded his mind. Screaming warriors unleashing beams that split planets. Wizards summoning storms that swallowed armies. Heroes sacrificing everything for one final, impossible strike.
Not copies. Not echoes. But his own vision.
His own creation.
Mana surged higher, threatening to tear him apart. His veins burned, his horns ached, his chest felt like it might burst from the pressure. But he forced it together—lightning, fire, wind, and more—layering them in a maelstrom of chaos and control.
The ground split beneath his feet, fissures glowing molten red as if the earth itself resisted what he was about to unleash.
His voice rang clear in the night, louder than the pack's roars.
"Final Heaven: Tempest Wrath!"
The world shattered.
The sky split open with a thunderclap that drowned even the Alpha's roar. Lightning cascaded downward in jagged torrents, spearing the earth in brilliant flashes that seared the night white. Firestorms erupted across the clearing, towering columns of flame twisting into tornadoes that devoured wolves mid-leap, their howls lost in the inferno.
A gale screamed outward, sharper than blades, ripping entire trees from the soil and hurling them into the storm. The air itself seemed to tear apart, a vacuum pulling the wolves inward before blasting them outward in pieces.
The ground convulsed. Fissures burst open, spewing molten mana in violent geysers that swallowed beasts whole. Shockwaves rippled outward in concentric circles, flattening everything for hundreds of meters.
For an instant, it was no longer a forest. It was a battlefield of gods.
The clearing became a sun, brighter than dawn, heat pressing down until the air seared lungs, light so blinding the stars themselves seemed to vanish.
Then silence.
Slowly, the glow faded.
Where once there had been a forest, there was now only ruin. A vast crater stretched outward, its edges jagged and glowing faintly with molten cracks. Ash drifted like snow through the night air, settling on the charred remains of trees reduced to blackened stumps. The earth steamed. The air stank of ozone and blood.
The Infernal Direwolves were gone. Not a howl, not a growl. Only scattered bones and smoking heaps remained, their armored hides shattered beyond recognition.
Asura stood at the center of it all, his small chest heaving, arms trembling violently from the strain. Sweat poured down his face, dripping from his chin onto the cracked earth. His golden eyes glowed faintly in the afterlight, wide with awe at the devastation he had wrought.
The system howled.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
[Unique Magic Acquired: Final Heaven – Tempest Wrath (Rank: EX)]
[System Alert: New Archetype Registered — "Creator"]
[Title Gained: Anomaly of Creation]
[Hidden Trait Activated: True Demon Lord Overload]
[Warning: Mana Output Unsafe. Risk of Collapse: 73%]
[Notice: Growth Acceleration Engaged.]
[Unique Path Unlocked: God-Slayer Potential.]
Asura blinked through the flood of notifications, his vision swimming. Then his lips curled, and a shaky laugh spilled from his throat.
"…I erased them. All of them… in one move."
The laugh grew louder, sharper, until it echoed across the ruined forest like the mad joy of a child who had just been handed the world.
"I really am… unstoppable!"
But the exhilaration dimmed as his knees buckled. His body screamed in protest, veins raw from mana overload, lungs burning from the strain. He dropped to one knee, panting, vision blurring at the edges.
The crater stretched around him in silence, the devastation absolute. Yet in that silence, one truth rang louder than any victory.
This power was his.
But power like this came at a cost.
For the first time, Asura felt it—not just strength, but the weight of destruction.
And the knowledge that the world would never look at him the same way again.
✦ The Aftermath
The roar of the world-ending spell faded, leaving only silence.
Asura stood at the center of the crater, chest heaving, his small body trembling under the weight of what he had just unleashed. His wooden katana, the same crude stick he had carved nights ago, glowed faintly with thin cracks of light, humming softly from the mana overload. It looked ready to snap at any moment.
The battlefield around him was unrecognizable.
Where once had stood a forest now stretched a wasteland of ash and molten stone. Trees had been erased, reduced to blackened stumps or vaporized entirely. The ground was split open in deep scars, glowing veins of magma bleeding through the fissures. Smoke rose in thick plumes, blotting out the moonlight, leaving the night sky dim and suffocated.
Not a single Infernal Direwolf remained whole. Only scattered remains—charred bones, fragments of armor-like hide—littered the ruined crater. Their growls, their howls, their hunting cries… all gone.
The silence pressed against his ears, louder than any roar.
Then the system came alive again.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
[Magic Proficiency Increased!]
[Unique Elemental Techniques Unlocked.]
[Hybrid Path Expanded.]
[Title Acquired: One Who Mimics the Impossible.]
[Warning: Mana Overload Detected.]
The messages overlapped, flooding his vision in a chaotic stream of praise and warning.
Asura's legs buckled. He fell to both knees, the katana slipping from his trembling hands and clattering onto the scorched earth. His breaths came ragged, his throat raw, his heart hammering like it wanted to burst from his chest.
And then he laughed.
At first, it was just a shaky breath. Then a chuckle. And finally, full, breathless laughter spilled from his lips, echoing across the crater where no wolves remained to hear it.
"…I'm a monster," he whispered, sweat dripping down his face, hair clinging to his skin.
But his grin only widened.
The fear in his voice was drowned out by exhilaration, by the thrill of having proven the impossible. His golden eyes gleamed brighter, like twin stars burning through the smoke-choked night.
"Anime moves…" he said, voice trembling with joy, "…are broken in this world."
He clenched a fist, staring at the destruction surrounding him—the crater, the ash, the silence carved into the forest by his hand.
"If I can remember it…" His smile sharpened into something dangerous, feral. "…I can make it real."
He dragged himself back to his feet, swaying, exhausted yet unwilling to fall. His eyes swept across the devastation one last time, drinking it in, branding the memory into his soul.
His golden gaze burned with childlike excitement wrapped in demonic fury.
"…And this," he whispered to the ruins, to the night, to the world itself, "…is just the beginning."
The wind howled through the crater, carrying his words into the silence, as if even the shadows trembled at what they had just witnessed.