Ray's body convulsed as the final trace of 4th Rank mana detonated inside his core.
Boom.
A violent shockwave tore through his meridians.
Blood burst from his mouth—thick, dark, and scorching hot.
His vision blurred.
The mana he had forcefully compressed hours ago was rebelling now.
It no longer flowed.
It rampaged.
"Damn it…"
The unstable current split apart inside him, crashing wildly through secondary channels, tearing at his already damaged meridians.
If this continued—
His core would crack.
Now.
Gritting his teeth, Ray forced his trembling will upon the chaos, dragging the scattered mana toward his main circulation path.
The energy resisted.
It burned.
It fought.
But slowly… painfully…
The disorder narrowed into a single stream.
The rampage weakened.
And the storm inside him began to quiet.
Silence returned to the cave.
But outside—
Something else had begun.
A strange stillness spread through the Demon Forest.
It began subtly.
The distant cries of night-creatures faded one by one, as if an invisible hand had erased sound from the world.
Leaves stopped rustling.
The wind died.
Even the insects—the tireless singers of the forest—fell silent.
Far away—
Thud.
The ground trembled faintly.
Not violently.
Not enough to snap branches or shatter stone.
But enough for roots beneath the earth to quiver.
A herd of horned shadow-deer burst from the deeper woods, eyes wide with primal terror. They did not slow. They did not look back.
Behind them, lesser demons scattered—scaled predators, clawed beasts, winged scavengers—fleeing in chaotic desperation.
Something was coming.
And the forest knew it.
Several kilometers away, darkness thickened unnaturally between the trees.
It did not fall like night.
It gathered.
Like ink bleeding into water.
Within that mass of shadow, a colossal silhouette moved—silent despite its size.
Black metallic fur absorbed the faint moonlight, swallowing every trace of light. Two crimson eyes opened within the darkness, calm… calculating.
Razgorth Ashfang.
King of the Ashfang Bloodhound Demons.
One of the Ten Kings of the Middle Zone.
His nose twitched.
The air shifted.
Blood.
Fresh.
Burned by mana.
The scent was sharp. Violent. Unmistakable.
"So… you chose my territory."he muttered, his voice low and steady.
Why has a 4th Rank human suddenly appeared near my territory?
Rumors of an approaching apocalyptic war had already spread throughout the Demon Forest.
The source was no ordinary whisper.
It came from the Demon Shrine in the Core Zone—the sacred land of demons, older than kingdoms, older than empires… said to have existed since the birth of the First Demon God.
When the Shrine spoke, Kings listened.
Now—
A 4th Rank human had appeared near his domain.
The timing was not coincidence.
"Are the humans planning something…?"
Or…
"Is it a trap?"
Razgorth did not summon subordinates.
He did not alert the other Kings.
If this was a scout… or a spy…
He would confirm it himself.
Thud.
This time, the earth felt it more clearly.
With each step he took, lesser demons retreated from his path without daring to breathe.
The scent grew stronger.
Closer.
Inside the cave, Ray's breathing suddenly stalled.
His eyes snapped open.
The mana within his core—though stabilized—shivered.
Not from instability.
But from instinct.
A cold sensation crawled up his spine.
He hadn't sensed an aura.
He hadn't detected killing intent.
But something was wrong.
Terribly wrong.
The forest outside—
It was too quiet.
Ray slowly rose to his feet. The storm inside him had barely settled.
He stepped toward the cave entrance.
And then he saw them.
Lesser demon birds.
Hundreds of them.
Exploding into the sky at once.
Not hunting.
Not migrating.
Fleeing.
Thud.
The tremor was clearer now.
Dust trickled from the cave ceiling.
Ray's pupils contracted.
"…Not human."
A beat.
"A high-rank demon."
The air grew heavier.
Even breathing felt slightly difficult.
Somewhere in the distance—
between the trees—
two crimson lights flickered.
Watching.
Measuring.
Hunting.
Ray didn't know what was approaching.
But every instinct inside him screamed the same truth—
He was no longer alone in the forest.
And whatever was coming…
Was not something he could defeat in his current state.