Cold.That was the only thing left when death finally embraced you. The agonizing pain from his shattered ribs and punctured lungs slowly faded, replaced by a freezing emptiness. In that absolute darkness, Roy Jecoriah's consciousness drifted like a dry leaf swept away by the current of a pitch-black river.He no longer heard the laughter of the monsters outside his cabin. He no longer smelled the smoke or the metallic stench of his father's blood. All his senses were dead. Was this the end of a tragedy he hadn't even had time to understand? Dying as a helpless village boy beneath the ruins of his own home?But right in the middle of the dead silence of his inner hell, a faint sound pierced the veil between life and death."Waaah, waaaah!"A baby's cry. Fragile, pitiful, and full of despair. That cry from the neighboring cabin acted like a hook that forcefully snagged Roy's consciousness, dragging him back from the bottom of death's abyss.Instantly, in the pitch-black of his mind, a

One hour before the group of boys managed to reach the south gate.An old woman's piercing scream was instantly cut short by the swing of a dull blade. Blood splattered, soaking Gharok's steel-plated boots.The pitch-black Beast Man commander didn't even bother looking down at the corpse he had just stepped on. With a bored expression, he wiped the blade of his massive axe using a torn strip of the village flag. All around him, the village of Oakhaven had been reduced to a sea of fire and a literal slaughterhouse.Gharok let out a slow yawn, showing off rows of razor-sharp fangs that could easily tear right through armor."Boring," Gharok growled. He kicked a skull near his foot, shattering it to pieces. "This isn't a war. This is just stepping on an anthill."He reached into the leather pouch at his waist, pulling out a hexagonal crystal that gave off a faint blue glow. It was a high-tier communication crystal, a luxury item the isolated Lycan race of the north could never possibly o

"AAAAAAARRRGGGGGHHHHH!"Ivan's scream tore through the dead silence of the pine forest, echoing between the towering dark tree trunks. The absolute sickening crunch of rusty iron biting into his flesh and shattering his shinbone was almost unbearable to hear.Fresh blood sprayed out violently, soaking the moss and the pile of dry leaves right beneath his foot.Henry instantly dropped to his knees in the dirt, grabbing both sides of the bear trap's massive iron jaws. The veins in his neck and arms bulged to the absolute limit. "Hold on, Ivan! I'm going to pry it open! Dammit, open up, you piece of junk!" Henry growled, pouring every last ounce of his giant strength into pulling the steel plates apart.But the trap was specifically designed to hold down a half-ton mutant bear. Human strength, especially from someone whose arm was already badly torn up like Henry's, was completely useless. The iron jaws didn't budge a single millimeter."It hurts, it hurts so bad! Dammit, Henry, let go o

Far to the north, completely out of reach of the blood-soaked pine forest, an ivory-white tower violently pierced the clouds. Its walls were built entirely of sacred marble that perfectly reflected the starlight, and every single carving was actively flowing with pure mana, making the air around it feel incredibly crisp and deeply soothing. At the very top of that tower, standing on a massive balcony overlooking an absolute ocean of clouds, Lord Vael of the Elven race gracefully raised a crystal glass to his lips.The thousand-year-old ruby-red wine flowed slowly down his throat. His sky-blue eyes stared incredibly sharply, but not out at the stars. He was staring directly into a massive crystal ball hovering right in the center of the balcony. Inside that sphere, the horrific scene down in the pine forest played out with absolute, crystal-clear precision, exactly as if he were watching a grand opera from the very best seat in the house.He watched Gharok, the filthy northern dog, vio

The pine forest had forfeited its claim to the night. The air was no longer cold, but heavy, thick with the overwhelming stench of copper.Above the muddy ground, thousands of blood droplets defied gravity, orbiting Roy Jecoriah like a dark red asteroid belt. The young man's eyes pierced through the darkness, yet his gaze was entirely hollow. Not a single trace of humanity remained. There was only an endless void, demanding to be filled with suffering.Gharok, the Beastman Commander who had been laughing at human suffering just minutes ago, stood completely frozen.His primal instincts, sharpened across hundreds of battlefields, suddenly screamed an absolute warning inside his skull. Run, or you will die in a way you cannot even begin to imagine.Without realizing it, Gharok took a step back. A soft squelch echoed as his steel boots pulled away from the mud."Fall back," Gharok whispered to the two Lycan warriors beside him. His raspy voice trembled. Beads of cold sweat rolled down hi