DEMON STAR WOLF
Chapter 2
"SILENCE!"
The word crashed into the young man's mind.
Pain exploded inside his skull. He cried out and curled onto the cold floor, clutching his head. It was worse than the pain he had suffered when his eyes were gouged out—worse than anything he had ever imagined.
"I JUST WANT TO BE LEFT IN PEACE!" the voice thundered.
The beasts fell silent.
The young man writhed, unable to understand what was happening. The voice hadn't merely reached his ears. It had struck something deep inside him.
Then the entity spoke again, its tone suddenly changing.
"Oh?"
A brief pause.
"A human?"
Surprise coloured its voice.
The young man tried to scream, but another wave of pain swallowed the sound. His body convulsed against the floor.
The entity seemed unaware—or unconcerned.
"What are you doing here?" it asked.
"Where is this place? The mana here is too thin…"
A brief silence followed.
"Ah… so this is where I ended up."
"Hey."
A warm sensation entered the young man's body, gradually easing his unbearable pain.
His trembling subsided slightly as he struggled to catch his breath.
"Where is this place?" the voice asked again.
"How weak…"
The entity surveyed the surrounding area through its perception, a trace of disdain in its voice.
"No wonder these beasts dared to approach. None of them has even reached the Earth Realm."
It paused.
"Anyway, let's take a look around."
Its perception spread outward, sweeping through the ruins and the surrounding vegetation.
Then—
"What the fuck?!"
For the first time, the entity's voice lost its composure.
"Why am I coming out of a tree trunk?!"
It examined its current situation, confusion quickly turning into disbelief.
"Wait… is that a Void Mango Tree?"
Its surprise gave way to delight.
"Hahaha! A Grade Seven Void Mango Tree! Even the Five Immortal Deities would turn green with envy if they knew about this!"
It laughed for a moment before abruptly falling silent.
"Hold on."
Another pause.
"That still doesn't explain why I'm coming out of a tree."
Its voice grew increasingly agitated.
"Shit. Shit, shit, SHIT!"
A terrible possibility crossed its mind.
"Did I die?"
Silence.
"Don't tell me all I have left is my Spirit Bone…"
Then it remembered something.
"HEY!"
Its voice thundered through the surroundings.
"WAKE UP!"
The young man groaned.
"Ugh…"
His body shifted weakly against the ground as he slowly regained consciousness.
"Finally! Hey, human! Answer me!"
He tried to open his eyes.
Nothing.
For a brief moment, he lay still, confusion clouding his thoughts. Then the memory returned.
His eyes.
They were gone.
His breathing grew erratic. His hands flew to his face, fingers trembling as they touched the ruined flesh where his eyes should have been.
"No… no, no, no…"
His chest tightened. He struggled to draw a proper breath, panic clawing at his throat.
"HEY! I'M TALKING TO YOU!"
The unfamiliar voice rang out again.
The young man flinched violently and scrambled backward, his palms scraping against the ground.
"Who are you?!" he shouted, his voice breaking. "Stay away from me!"
"Stay away from you?" the entity repeated incredulously. "What are you talking about? I'm asking you a question!"
The young man froze, turning his face toward the voice.
He couldn't see the speaker.
He couldn't even tell how far away it was.
And after everything that had happened to him, he had no reason to trust anyone—or anything. "Who are you?! Stay away from me!"
The entity fell silent.
For two seconds.
Then—
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"
Its voice exploded inside the young man's head.
"YOU'RE THE ONE LYING THERE LIKE A CORPSE, AND I'M THE ONE ASKING QUESTIONS! CAN YOU AT LEAST ANSWER ONE?!"
The young man clutched his head, wincing.
"Stop shouting! My head—"
"OH, NOW YOU CAN TALK!"
The entity paused, seemingly offended.
"Wonderful! A human with a functioning mouth! Now, tell me where we are!"
"I—I don't know!"
"You don't know?"
"No!"
"THEN WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HERE?!"
"How am I supposed to know?! You think I wanted to be dumped here?!"
Silence.
For the first time, the entity had nothing to say.
Then it muttered, "Unbelievable. I've survived a war, only to end up dealing with an idiot." How wonderful.