Aurelios lay on the shattered ground, his massive chest rising and falling heavily as dark blood poured from the deep wound across his body. The cold earth beneath him had already turned crimson. Every breath escaping his mouth sounded rough… almost painful.
In front of him stood the creature.
Completely unharmed.
Not even a single scratch covered its monstrous body. Thick black aura leaked from its skin like smoke crawling out of a bottomless abyss, while its glowing eyes stared into the darkness with a terrifying calmness. Low growls echoed from its throat, and with every sound, the pressure in the atmosphere became heavier.
Then its gaze slowly shifted toward Leo, Ray, and Chris.
SHHHK—
Leo instantly pulled out his katana. Crimson aura exploded around the blade, violent red energy flowing across its edge like burning blood. The moment the creature sensed that aura, its head sharply turned toward him.
Leo tightened his grip.
"This thing isn't normal…" he muttered coldly. "It defeated Aurelios. A mythical creature… In the ancient era, beings like him were said to rival dragons."
His body leaned forward, ready to attack—
But before he could move, Chris slowly pulled one hand out of his pocket and casually pushed Leo's katana downward using only two fingers.
"There's no need."
His voice carried no fear.
No tension.
Nothing.
"This battle belongs to Aurelios," Chris said quietly while staring at the creature. "We don't interfere."
Leo frowned. "Are you serious? We don't even know what that thing is. And its strength is insane—"
But the moment Leo looked into Chris's eyes…
He stopped talking.
Chris was completely serious.
After a few seconds of silence, Leo slowly lowered his katana.
Then suddenly—
The creature opened its mouth.
Dark purple energy began gathering inside its jaws. The energy rapidly compressed into a massive sphere of destruction, distorting the air around it. Cracks spread across the ground beneath its feet while violent winds burst across the battlefield.
Ray's expression stiffened.
Even Leo felt danger crawling down his spine.
But none of them moved.
Not even an inch.
Because they trusted Chris's words.
The creature prepared to fire—
But suddenly…
It stopped.
Its entire body froze before slowly turning around.
Aurelios was standing behind it.
Blood still dripped from his chest, but now his dark blue aura had become far more violent than before. The energy pouring from his body looked like a raging storm swallowing the battlefield whole. His glowing eyes no longer resembled a beast's.
They looked demonic.
Aurelios slowly stepped forward.
THUD…
The ground trembled beneath him.
THUD…
Cracks spread across the earth.
Leo's eyes widened slightly.
At that moment, he finally understood why Aurelios was called a mythical creature… and why even Chris struggled to control him.
Aurelios wasn't simply powerful.
He was a living catastrophe.
The creature let out a deep growl and lowered its stance. For a few seconds, both monsters simply stared at each other in complete silence.
Then—
Aurelios closed his eyes.
And in the next instant—
FWOOOOOOOSHHHHHH!!
Gigantic blue flames erupted from his mouth like a tidal wave.
The flames instantly swallowed the creature whole.
But these weren't ordinary flames.
The moment they touched its body, the surrounding energy in the atmosphere began to distort violently. The creature's flesh started burning black, yet for a few seconds it continued standing still as if it felt nothing.
Ray stared in shock.
"What kind of fire is that…?"
Chris smiled faintly.
"Those flames don't burn the body," he said calmly. "They burn the soul itself."
The moment those words left his mouth—
The creature screamed.
"GRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
Its roar shook the entire battlefield. For the first time, pain appeared in its voice.
The creature charged toward Aurelios in pure rage—
But suddenly its body stopped moving.
Invisible chains wrapped around its limbs, torso, and neck, locking it in place. The creature roared furiously while trying to break free, its muscles tearing apart the ground beneath it, but the chains refused to move.
And then—
Aurelios disappeared.
A sonic explosion echoed through the battlefield.
The next second, he appeared directly in front of the creature.
KRAAAAAAAAAASH!!
His claw pierced straight through the creature's chest with monstrous force.
Blood exploded everywhere.
The creature let out another horrifying scream as Aurelios pushed his claw even deeper inside its body. The invisible chains tightened harder, forcing the creature to remain trapped while blood continuously poured from the massive hole in its chest.
Then Aurelios slowly leaned closer…
Until his face was directly in front of the creature's.
And he roared.
"ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!!!"
The sound blasted across the battlefield like thunder.
Trees shattered.
The ground cracked apart.
Even the air itself trembled.
Then Aurelios tilted his head upward.
A gigantic sphere of blue energy began forming inside his mouth. The energy kept growing larger and larger, illuminating the entire battlefield with an eerie blue light.
The pressure alone was enough to make the earth collapse.
And then—
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!
Aurelios fired the blast directly into the creature's face.
The impact was apocalyptic.
Everything near the explosion instantly turned into ash. Trees vanished. Massive rocks disintegrated. Entire sections of the battlefield collapsed beneath the overwhelming force.
For several seconds…
Nothing existed except blinding blue light.
When the smoke finally cleared, the creature's body was barely standing.
Its flesh had completely burned away.
Its energy was gone.
And its face…
Didn't exist anymore.
Half of its upper body had been erased from reality itself.
The corpse crashed onto the ground.
Silence consumed the battlefield.
Then suddenly, Aurelios activated a strange spell. His glowing eyes shined brighter for a brief second before a mental connection formed directly with Chris.
Chris's calm expression instantly disappeared.
Fear appeared on his face for the first time.
"That's impossible…" he whispered.
He immediately turned toward Leo and Ray.
"Get on. Now."
Without hesitation, all three jumped onto Aurelios's back.
But then—
The headless creature slowly stood up again.
Its body twitched unnaturally as black smoke leaked from the remains of its neck. It took one unstable step forward—
Then collapsed again.
Its body slowly began turning into ash.
Piece by piece.
Until nothing remained.
Aurelios silently stared at the ashes for a few moments before closing his glowing eyes.
Then—
BOOOOOOM!!
His body shot into the sky at terrifying speed.
Meanwhile…
The three cultists had already entered the 6th Division base.
The moment they stepped inside, screams echoed through the massive halls.
Bodies covered the entrance.
Division members had been slaughtered so brutally that blood covered the walls like paint. Severed arms and broken weapons were scattered everywhere across the floor.
One of the cultists — the one who behaved like a child — laughed cheerfully while arranging severed heads in a straight line near the entrance gate.
"Hehehehehe…"
Blood dripped from his fingers as he placed another head beside the others like a child organizing toys.
A surviving division member charged toward him in rage.
"You monsters—!"
Before the man could finish speaking—
SLASH!!
His body split in half instantly.
The cultist laughed even louder as warm blood splashed across his face.
Further inside the base, chaos had completely consumed the 6th Division.
Elite members desperately fought against the cultists in the corridors. Swords clashed violently while screams echoed everywhere.
One division member lunged toward a tall cultist with a spear—
But the cultist caught the weapon barehanded.
Then twisted.
The spear shattered instantly.
Before the soldier could react, the cultist grabbed his face and smashed him into the wall hard enough to crush his skull.
Blood exploded across the corridor.
Another member attacked from behind—
Only for his arm to be ripped off completely.
His horrifying screams echoed through the halls before a blade pierced through his throat.
Bodies continued falling one after another.
The beautiful white walls of the 6th Division were now drenched in blood and covered in deep claw marks. Corpses lay scattered everywhere while pools of blood slowly spread across the floor.
The air smelled of iron and death.
And through all that carnage…
The three cultists calmly walked toward the prison area.
Their footsteps echoed through the dark stairway.
Tap… Tap… Tap…
Eventually, they arrived at the cell where the dead cultist's body remained.
The two cultists behind silently walked away while the last one slowly crouched near the corpse.
Blood still covered the floor.
The cultist touched it with his finger…
Then licked it off slowly with his tongue.
A twisted smile appeared on his face.
"Mmm…"
"You were delicious."
"But now you're dead."
A few moments later, the other two cultists returned carrying the corpses of their poisoned comrades.
The last cultist stood up and lifted the headless corpse onto his shoulder.
"Let's go," he said softly.
Blood continuously dripped from the corpse while they walked back through the prison stairs.
Drip… Drip… Drip…
Soon, the three cultists exited the ruined 6th Division base and disappeared into the dark forest.
Then—
Their bodies slowly distorted into the air itself…
And vanished completely into the darkness.