The Wind Emperor was cutting through the sky at immense speed, but something inside him was not at ease.
The closer he got to the source of those black waves, the heavier the air became… denser, as if the sky itself was trying to stop him from advancing.
The clouds above the Dark Forest were no longer normal.
They were rotating slowly around a single point in the depths, forming a massive black vortex that swallowed the light itself.
Lightning flashed inside it occasionally, but even the lightning seemed dim before that gloomy energy.
Then he began to hear sounds.
Roars.
Screams.
Violent collisions.
And sounds of mass escape.
He lowered his altitude and looked below… and his eyes froze.
The forest beasts were fleeing.
Not one or two beasts… but entire swarms.
Giant wolves running madly between the trees, massive black snakes slithering at hysterical speed, winged creatures flying erratically, and even the beasts known for their ferocity were fleeing without looking back.
They were not chasing anything.
They were running… from something waiting for them.
From the center.
The Wind Emperor felt a cold chill run down his spine.
A feeling he had not experienced for centuries.
He whispered in a low voice:
“What is happening here…?”
He gradually slowed his speed and began approaching cautiously.
Everything became silent.
No birds.
No insects.
Even the wind that always accompanied him… seemed afraid to approach.
The giant trees were uprooted, the rocks had turned into scattered fragments, and the earth itself was filled with black cracks as if from repeated earthquakes.
As for the dark energy…
It covered the place like a living mist.
Thick.
Suffocating.
Making him feel as if his breath was being slowly pulled from his chest.
Then…
He saw him.
Standing atop a massive rock in the midst of destruction.
A young man of slender build, but his body was taut like a bowstring.
His long black hair moved with the wind like a dark banner, and the scars covering his arms and neck seemed as if the forest had carved its memories onto his body itself.
And beside him…
A black sword was planted in the ground.
A sword that seemed like part of him, or as if the two were born from the darkness itself.
But what made the Wind Emperor freeze most…
Was that energy.
It flowed from Kentro’s body like flame, but it was not fire.
Nor magic.
Something else.
Something primal… ancient… that did not belong to this world.
The Wind Emperor’s eyes widened in genuine shock.
A shock he could not hide this time.
“Impossible…”
He descended slowly onto one of the high rocks, but he did not take his eyes off Kentro for even a moment.
He felt something inside him screaming:
“Run.”
“Get away immediately.”
But his pride prevented him from retreating.
He watched the young man in silence.
Then he whispered to himself:
“Is this… really that child?”
Below…
Kentro was panting quietly after his last fight.
Blood covered his arm, and some wounds were still open, but his crimson eyes remained terrifyingly ablaze.
Suddenly…
He raised his head. This chapter was copied from novelping.com without permission.
His eyes reflected directly toward the sky.
Toward the Wind Emperor.
And at that moment…
The Wind Emperor felt as if his gaze had pierced through his entire body.
It was not the gaze of a child.
Nor the gaze of a survivor barely escaping death.
It was the gaze of a hunter…
Who had finally found something he wanted to tear apart.
Then Kentro’s voice echoed through the forest:
“Stop hiding up there!”
The trees shook violently.
Even the air itself trembled with his voice.
The Wind Emperor finally descended before him, maintaining his outward calm, while his green cloak fluttered with the turbulent wind.
But inside him…
He was never calm.
Kentro looked at him in long silence.
He examined him from head to toe.
As if something old was beginning to awaken inside him.
Then…
His eyes widened slightly.
And the memories came all at once.
The ritual hall.
The crystal that did not glow.
The faces of contempt.
The whispers of mockery.
The fear that filled his small heart as he was surrounded by eyes that looked at him as if he were a mistake to be discarded.
The king’s cold voice.
The emperors grabbing him forcefully.
His screams.
His tears.
The massive gate closing behind him.
Then…
The forest.
The loneliness.
The hunger.
The pain.
Full years of fighting just to survive.
Kentro clenched his fist violently until his veins bulged.
As for the Wind Emperor…
He smiled a cold smile.
A smile with which he tried to hide his true unease.
He looked at him with deliberate contempt and said:
“So… the little mouse is still alive.”
Silence fell.
But the air around Kentro began to stir.
The dark energy rose slowly, as if breathing with his anger.
The Wind Emperor took another step closer.
“I thought you had turned into bones inside a beast’s stomach years ago.”
Kentro did not answer.
So the emperor continued, enjoying the provocation:
“What is this form you’ve turned into?”
He looked at his scar-covered body.
“You look more like a beast than an heir.”
Then he laughed a short, mocking laugh.
“Though the word ‘heir’ doesn’t suit you at all.”
The ground trembled beneath Kentro’s feet.
The rock he stood on cracked slowly.
But the Wind Emperor did not stop.
He wanted to test this “child”.
“Without magic.”
“The shame that tainted the demon bloodline.”
“The child who cried as he was thrown out of the kingdom.”
He stepped closer.
Then he said with a provocative smile:
“Do you still cry even now, Kentro?”
Silence fell.
A second…
Two seconds…
Then Kentro smiled.
But it was not a normal smile.
It was too calm.
Too wide.
The smile of someone who had lost everything long ago… and no longer feared losing more.
The smile of someone who had finally found a target worth destroying.
He slowly raised his head.
And his crimson eyes filled with terrifying madness.
“I was wondering…”
He grabbed the black sword and pulled it from the ground.
A sharp metallic sound rang out, as if the earth itself breathed in fear.
“When I would return the favor.”
And in the next moment…
The dark energy exploded.
Not gradually.
But all at once.
As if a dam had broken.
As if a beast that had been chained for years… had finally been freed.
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
The entire forest shook.
Trees were uprooted.
The ground cracked.
The sky itself was disturbed, and the swirling clouds expanded terrifyingly.
The Wind Emperor was forced to plant his feet firmly to avoid being pushed back.
His smile disappeared completely.
For the first time…
He felt true danger.
But despite that…
He laughed.
A tense laugh, but one that carried the excitement of a fighter who had found a worthy opponent.
“Hahahaha…!”
The wind exploded around his body violently, and the green energy turned into a massive hurricane swirling around him.
The mockery disappeared from his eyes.
And was replaced by something else.
Seriousness.
He raised his hand toward Kentro and said in a low voice:
“Let’s see then…”
The wind paused for a moment.
“Have you truly become a monster?”
And at that same moment…
Both vanished.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
A massive explosion tore through the earth the moment their fists collided.
A huge crater formed beneath them, and rocks flew in every direction like projectiles.
The air itself exploded from the force of the impact.
And the sky…
Shook.
As for the Dark Forest…
It had entered the beginning of a new catastrophe.
To be continued…