Reon slammed one foot down.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.
The jungle floor detonated like the planet itself was throwing up.
Dirt and blood and broken branches shot twenty meters into the air in a perfect ring of pure chaos. Trees groaned and snapped like toothpicks. The ground split open in a wide crater, steam rising from the raw earth like it was bleeding.
His brand-new body rocketed straight up like a blood-red comet screaming for war, red aura blazing so bright it painted the leaves crimson for a second before the sky swallowed him.
The wind hit his face like a freight train made of knives.
WHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOSH.
Trees shrank beneath him in heartbeats.
The massacre clearing — Lyra's flayed remains, Arun lying in his own shit, the guards ripped inside-out — became a tiny red speck far below. Reon's glowing eyes burned hotter, his new muscles flexing as the power surged through every vein, every nerve, every inch of him screaming alive.
He threw his head back and let the roar rip out like the sky was paper.
"THIS ISN'T OVER, ARUN!"
The words exploded across the heavens like divine thunder.
"I'M COMING BACK FOR THE REST OF YOUR FAMILY! EVERY LAST FUCKING ONE OF YOU! AND WHEN I DO… YOU'LL WISH I KILLED YOU TODAY!"
The roar rolled for miles.
Birds exploded from the canopy in blind panic.
Monkeys screamed and swung away like the devil was on their tails.
Even the distant village probably heard it and locked every door, mothers pulling children inside, men grabbing whatever weapons they had.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
High wind force and low atmospheric pressure detected.
Wind Shield activated to protect host.
A screaming red vortex snapped around Reon's body like a second skin.
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE—
It sliced the air so sharp it left glowing red scars trailing behind him like blood in water. The shield howled, fighting the thin air at five kilometers up, but it felt fragile, like it was barely holding on.
But the system voice sounded strained.
Tired.
Like it was running on the last drop of blood.
Reon felt it in his bones — the power draining fast.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
Anium reserves critically low.
Wind Shield cost: 2 Anium.
1 Anium remaining.
Host body entering uncontrolled free-fall.
Gravity capsule activating.
Shutdown sequence in 8… 7… 6…
Reon's glowing eyes widened for half a second.
The red aura that had felt like godhood minutes ago flickered like a dying candle in the wind.
"Shit… not fucking now—"
He tried to push more power out, to slow the fall, but nothing came.
The system was gasping its last breaths, like a heart about to stop.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
Anium depleted
Void Binding offline.
Gravity capsule at 40% capacity.
Impact probability… unknown.
Reon laughed — raw, broken, pissed-off laughter that cut through the howling wind like a blade.
"Perfect. I just got my legs back and now I'm a goddamn meteor. Life really is a bitch."
The wind shield screamed louder, fighting the thin air at five kilometers up.
The world below was nothing but green blur and distant smoke.
Five kilometers.
Four.
Three.
His body started spinning wildly.
WHIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR—
Two kilometers.
Memories slammed into his head like knives while he fell — Marina's tired smile when she hugged him that night, Leona's tight hug and her laugh that used to melt steel, Lyra's fake moans while she rode him, Arun's laugh while he pissed on his face and called him a toilet boy.
Reon's fists clenched even as the ground rushed up.
"I'm not dying today, you pieces of shit. I still have a village to build. I still have an empire to raise. And I still have every last one of you to make scream for days."
One kilometer.
The river appeared below — a thin silver ribbon cutting through the jungle like a promise.
Crystal clear.
Beautiful.
Completely fucked the second he hit it.
Five hundred meters.
The capsule cracked with loud CRACK-CRACK-CRACK sounds.
Reon's last conscious thought was sharp, clever, and full of fire.
"If I survive this… first thing I'm doing is finding Anium. Then I'm coming back to collect every soul I left behind."
The capsule shattered completely.
SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—
Reon became a red streak of pure hell, plummeting straight toward the river like a fallen god who forgot how to fly.
But down below… the jungle wasn't silent anymore.
The massacre clearing was a nightmare painted in blood and shit.
Flies already buzzed thick over Lyra's flayed remains, the raw flesh glistening in the afternoon sun like some fucked-up art installation.
The three guards lay inside-out, organs still twitching like they hadn't gotten the memo they were dead.
Arun — the noble's golden boy — was a broken, shit-covered mess, his dignity burned to ash, eyes half-open, barely breathing.
Then the first guards burst through the trees — ten of them, swords out, faces pale as ghosts.
"What the fuck happened here?!" the lead guard yelled, gagging instantly from the stench.
A young recruit dropped to his knees and puked his breakfast all over the leaves.
"Lord Arun's… his thing is gone! It's just ash! Who the hell did this?!"
An older scarred guard knelt beside Arun's crushed body, fingers shaking as he checked the pulse.
"He's still alive… barely. Pulse is weak as a kitten's fart. Get the stretcher! Move your asses!"
Villagers started pouring in from the path — farmers with sickles, merchants with baskets, women clutching kids — all drawn by that sky-shaking roar.
A fat merchant pointed at the peeled skin strips hanging from trees like bloody ribbons.
"Sweet gods above… that's Lady Lyra's dress pieces. And that pile… that's her skin! Someone skinned her alive like a damn rabbit!"
A woman screamed and fainted straight into the blood-mud with a wet SPLAT.
An old hunter spat on the ground, eyes wide as dinner plates.
"Looks like the devil himself came down and threw a tantrum. Look at the ground — cracks everywhere. Trees snapped like twigs. This ain't human work, lads. This is demon shit."
A young village girl, maybe fourteen, peeked from behind her father and whispered in horror, "The noble's son… he's still shitting himself even while unconscious. Smells worse than the pig pen after three days of rain."
The guards were full panic mode now.
"Shut your mouths and help lift him!" the scarred one barked. "If Lord Alden finds out his only son looks like a used condom, we're all hanging by sunrise!"
They hauled Arun's broken body onto a makeshift stretcher, his ruined lower body flopping uselessly like a sad sausage.
One guard accidentally stepped on a piece of flayed skin and slipped, face-planting into the blood mud with a *SQUELCH*.
"Fuuuuck! This ground is cursed! I'm telling you, something demonic happened here! I saw a red streak in the sky right before the roar!"
Another guard wiped sweat from his face, voice shaking.
"Red streak? You think that was the monster? Gods… we need to get Lord Arun to the mansion medical hall now. If he dies on us, the lord will skin us slower than this poor girl."
The villagers were losing their shit.
A baker woman clutched her apron, tears streaming.
"My daughter worked in that mansion last month… if this is what happens to the nobles' toys, what chance do we have?"
A blacksmith slammed his hammer on the ground.
"I say we burn the whole damn mansion tonight! Enough of these greedy cunts treating us like meat!"
The scarred guard spun on him.
"Keep talking like that and you'll be next on a stretcher. Now clear the path! We're taking Lord Arun to the medical hall before he bleeds out!"
They started carrying the stretcher through the crowd, Arun's broken body bouncing like a ragdoll, shit still dripping from his ruined pants.
The whole village was a screaming mess now — people running, praying, cursing, some already packing bags to flee into the woods.
Nobody knew what the red streak in the sky had been.
Nobody knew the monster they created was still falling… five kilometers up… capsule flickering… heading straight toward a quiet river miles south.
And the mansion?
The real storm was just starting.
---
Back at the lord's mansion, the grand hall was absolute pandemonium.
Lord Alden sat on his throne like a fat king about to explode, face purple with fury and fear.
Servants ran in every direction.
Relatives were pouring in from carriages outside, silk dresses and gold chains flashing as they rushed in.
A messenger burst through the doors, covered in sweat and dirt, voice cracking.
"My lord! The southern jungle clearing… it's a slaughterhouse! Your son… Lord Arun is barely alive. His… his manhood is burned to ash! The girl Lyra is skinned like a rabbit! Three guards ripped apart from the inside!"
The hall exploded.
Lady Salpera, Arun's aunt, clutched her pearls so hard they cracked.
"Skinned?! Who would dare touch my nephew?! This must be those filthy rebel peasants he liked to play with!"
A fat cousin slammed his fist on the marble table, rings clinking.
"We need to burn the entire village tonight! Round up every servant who ever smiled at my nephew and hang them all!"
An old uncle with a wine-stained beard laughed bitterly.
"Burn the village? Good. But first find the bastard who did this. I want him alive. I want to watch him beg while we peel him inch by inch — just like they did to that whore Lyra."
Lord Alden stood up slowly, voice cold as ice but shaking with rage.
"Bring my son here immediately. Medical hall, best healers, Anium ore, everything. And send riders to every outpost. I want every peasant within fifty miles questioned. If anyone saw a red streak in the sky or heard that roar… bring them to me in chains."
A young servant girl whispered to another, eyes wide.
"I heard the roar… it sounded like a demon. What if it's the gods punishing us for how we treat the poor?"
Her friend slapped her arm.
"Shut up before they hear you. The lord will have us whipped if he thinks we're sympathizing."
The hall buzzed with fear, fury, and whispered plans.
"Double the taxes this month — make them pay for this insult!"
"Call the royal inquisitors!"
"No… we handle this ourselves. Quietly. No one outside the family can know the heir is… broken like that."
Lord Alden slammed his goblet down, wine spilling like blood.
"Find the monster who did this to my bloodline. And when you do… bring him to me alive. I want to hear him scream for weeks."
The entire mansion was a storm of panic and vengeance.
And high above it all… miles up in the thinning air… Reon's unconscious body kept falling.
Capsule flickering weaker.
Red streak getting closer and closer to that quiet crystal river.
The village was in chaos.
The mansion was in uproar.
And a cute pissed-off tomboy healer was about to have the morning of her life.