The earth was torn apart by raw, overwhelming force, cracks spider-webbing across the ground. At the heart of the estate, the grand fountain pool dried up under the searing heat of the flames, its stone basin splitting open. Rows of trees burned fiercely, and the gilded mansion itself blazed like a colossal torch, illuminating the entire night sky of Water City.Caesar lay on the ground, barely alive.His body was covered in countless wounds. Under the rampaging flames, his fur emitted the stench of scorched flesh. The most fatal injury was the one on his forehead—a penetrating wound that went straight through his skull, piercing his brain. Only the extraordinary vitality of a werewolf allowed him to cling to life for these final few minutes.The battle was clearly over.“I lost,” Caesar said.There was no sorrow on his face. On the contrary, a look of release rested there.As chieftain, he had done everything he could to secure a future for his people. He had struggled, fought, and w

Jones stood frozen in place, his mind utterly blank. He had no idea what expression he should wear, nor what words he could possibly use, to face Bob’s mother.After all, Bob had lost his life trying to help him. That crushing weight of guilt pressed so heavily on Jones’s chest that he could not speak.Sarah stopped as well. Seeing the hollow, broken look on Jones’s face, she quietly reached out and held his hand.In that instant, the air grew cold and suffocating.The woman looked at Jones’s stiff expression, and a terrible premonition surged in her heart.“What happened to Bob?” she asked urgently.Jones took a deep breath before speaking slowly, each word heavy as lead.“Bob is dead…”The sentence fell like a stone, weighing down the air itself, rendering it solemn and stifling.“What…?”The woman stood there, stunned, unmoving for a long moment.But she did not remain frozen for long. Life’s burdens had long since numbed her. As a mother who had raised three children on her own, s

2:00 a.m.Blood soaked the entire street.The Blackblood Tribe’s werewolves had descended into absolute madness, launching indiscriminate attacks against every human in sight.Their king—their revered leader, Caesar—was dead.Caesar had fallen by human hands, slain in a despicable conspiracy. That was the intelligence delivered by that repulsive vampire.And Caesar’s final wish had been clear:Kill every human who betrayed their promise.So they sought revenge.Even if it meant sacrificing the entire tribe, humanity would not be allowed to walk away unscathed.For the first time, the citizens and police of the City of Water tasted the malice of an ancient age—the terror their ancestors had once faced.“Fire! Open fire! Kill these beasts!”The soldier at the front of the formation roared in fury, eyes bloodshot after watching his friend torn apart and devoured by a werewolf.Rifle fire thundered for a full minute.The towering, muscular werewolf was riddled with bullets, its body perfo

Pain.Pain so absolute that Jones could no longer think clearly.Sweat born of agony evaporated the instant it surfaced, turning into white vapor under the searing flames. When he finally endured this first wave of torment, the next trial followed immediately—Greed.Jones found himself pulled into an illusion.Treasures beyond measure appeared before him, born from the Sin of Greed—gold, silver, jewels piled high. All it would take was the slightest reach of his hand, and they would all be his.An irresistible impulse surged from deep within his soul. A voice echoed in his mind:Take them. Take all of it.This was the greed etched into a dragon’s very nature, magnified to its peak during the second awakening. The boundless desire drove Jones to raise his hand toward the treasure.And the moment he touched it—He would be consumed by greed.The awakening would fail.He would die.“Stop!”Jones forced every ounce of his will against the desire, halting the hand he had just lifted. The

The pitch-black beam struck Jones.In the next instant, darkness swallowed him whole. Black light wrapped around his body, sealing him inside a void where nothing else existed.—Within the illusion.The trial of the second Dragonblood Awakening was nearing its end. Jones now faced the final ordeal—Gluttony, one of the Seven Deadly Sins.Before him stretched an impossibly long dining table, so vast that its end could not be seen. Countless delicacies covered its surface: sea urchin, prime cuts of steak, bluefin tuna, lobster—every imaginable luxury, each one enough to awaken instinctive desire.Jones was starving.It felt as though he had gone centuries without food. The accumulated hunger was maddening, almost enough to drive him insane.His stomach churned violently as digestive acids flooded it, the burning pain forcing him to grit his teeth and gasp for breath. Beads of sweat dotted his brow.And yet—Jones was smiling.Because he was certain he could endure this trial.He was abou