2026-05-15 20:27:43The morning sunlight carried no warmth.
To Aroan’s skin, now accustomed to the deathly chill of Velmora, the light felt like a slow drizzle of corrosive acid.
Aroan narrowed his eyes. The black veins beneath the skin of his neck twitched, reacting in instinctual rejection of the light. But slowly, the Seal of the Void Sovereign carved into his shoulder by Sargon pulsed with a faint heat. The burning sensation faded, replaced by a cooling veil that completely masked his dark aura.
In an instant, the terrifying pressure of the Abyssal Sovereign vanished. If any Lunaris Knight were to see him now, they would only see a pale, ragged young man with a profoundly ordinary Rank-D shifter aura.
"Perfect," Aroan muttered.
On his shoulder, Nyx—now reverted to the form of a scruffy, black-furred little pup—sneezed softly at the snow dust.
Aroan continued his march through the Deadwood, the buffer zone separating the edge of the Velmora abyss from the outermost territories of the Lunaris Pack. Thick snow blanketed the ground, yet strangely, every time Aroan’s boots touched the powdery surface, they left no footprints. The passive effect of his Shadow Step made his body as light as a dried leaf.
Half an hour into his trek, Aroan’s sharp ears caught the sound of harsh laughter and groans of pain.
Aroan halted. His purple eyes glinted with cold indifference. He leaped lightly onto a thick pine branch without making a single sound, peering down at the dirt path below.
Three men in dull silver armor bearing the crest of a howling wolf on their chests were surrounding an old man sprawled and bleeding on the ground. Beside the old man, a wooden cart filled with low-grade mining crystals had been overturned.
They were the Lunaris Pack Border Patrol. Aroan recognized the uniform. He was the one who had designed that very armor before his father threw him away like trash.
"You think 'I haven't been paid yet' is gonna save you from the festival tax, old man?!" barked a pockmarked guard. He viciously kicked the old man in the stomach.
Thud!
"Please... Sir... my daughter is sick. If you take these crystals, we won't be able to buy medicine—"
"Not my problem!" The second guard, a burly Rank-D shifter, let out a condescending laugh. "Alpha Valerius is holding his grand wedding with Luna Elina next month! Every citizen must contribute! If you don't have the coin, send your daughter to our barracks tonight!"
Hearing the names Valerius and Elina, the temperature around Aroan’s perch plummeted instantly. The snow on the branch he stood on melted, evaporating into wisps of black smoke.
"A grand wedding?" Aroan smirked beneath the hood of his cloak. It was a smile devoid of a single shred of humanity. "Good. I need a grand stage to return the pain they gave me."
"Hey, who’s up there?!" The third guard, possessing slightly sharper instincts, aimed his spear at Aroan's pine tree.
Aroan didn't bother hiding. With a casual motion, he dropped down. His boots hit the snow without making the slightest sound.
The three guards narrowed their eyes, staring at the pale youth in a worn black cloak and the tiny wolf pup on his shoulder. They sensed a Rank-D aura radiating from him. The exact same rank as them.
"Who are you, beggar?" the pockmarked guard demanded, drawing his silver sword. "This is Lunaris Border Patrol territory! Hand over all your valuables as a toll!"
Aroan slowly raised his head. His glowing purple eyes stared at the three men as if looking at a patch of annoying weeds ruining the view.
"My name is Vane," Aroan's voice was hoarse and low, yet it echoed ominously in their eardrums. "And I don't have any valuables. But I am very interested in your lives."
"Huh? Are you courting death, bastard?!"
The burly guard roared. Thick fur sprouted on his face, his fangs elongating—a partial silver wolf shift. He lunged at Aroan, swinging a fist coated in blinding white mana. The speed and force were enough to shatter a boulder.
For the Aroan from a month ago, this punch would have obliterated his skull. But now? In Aroan’s eyes, the guard's movements played out in slow motion.
Aroan didn’t even bother drawing the Eclipse Blade from beneath his cloak. He simply tilted his head a fraction to dodge the strike, then casually reached out with his right hand, palming the burly guard's entire face.
SMACK.
The massive guard's momentum stopped instantly, as if he had crashed into an invisible wall of solid steel.
"Weak," Aroan whispered.
[Skill: Devour's Touch Activated!]
A coin-sized black vortex ignited in the center of Aroan's palm.
"W-what the—AARRRGGGHHH!"
The guard's scream was bloodcurdling. His skin shriveled like a raisin in mere seconds. His blood, mana, and very life essence were violently sucked into Aroan's palm. In just three seconds, the hulking man was reduced to a desiccated mummy, crumbling into gray ash that scattered in the freezing wind.
The remaining two guards froze. Their weapons trembled violently in their hands. Their faces were deathly pale, as if they had just witnessed the Grim Reaper himself.
"What kind of dark magic is that..." the pockmarked guard muttered, stumbling backward until he tripped over the wooden cart. "Y-you... you're a monster!"
Aroan turned to look at them. He rolled his neck until it popped with a sharp crack. The pure surge of Void energy he had just absorbed made his Dark Iron Bones hum with twisted satisfaction.
"Please, don't run," Aroan said, taking slow, deliberate steps toward them. A demonic smirk was etched clearly on his lips. "Because I am very, very hungry."
[Ding!]
[1x Lunaris Guard (Rank-D) Killed. +30 VP.]
[Absorbing Partial Memories...]
Aroan’s eyes flashed. This morning's slaughter had only just begun.
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