The Woods of Shadowfen were not meant for human survival.
Thick, unnatural fog clung to the ground like a damp blanket, reeking of rot and stagnant water. Twisted, leafless trees stretched toward the rainy night sky like gnarled fingers, their hollow trunks echoing with the distant, unnatural howls of night-creatures.
I leaned against a moss-covered oak tree, wiping a mixture of rain and mud from my face. My lungs burned, and my Aether pool was slowly trickling down.
[Current Status:]
Name: Kaelen Cross
Rank: F-Rank Summoner
Aether Capacity: 180 / 250
Active Summons: Valeska, The Ashen Monarch (Calamity Rank 9)
Progress to 2nd SSS-Tier Unlock: 250 / 500 Aether
Beside me, Valeska stood as still as a statue. Her six-foot-two obsidian frame didn’t even register the cold rain pouring over her armor. The tattered ash cape draped over her shoulders swayed gently in the damp wind, and her crimson visor burned like two dying embers in the dark.
"Why have we stopped, mortal?" Valeska asked, her voice echoing in my skull like grinding iron plates. "The capital is barely two leagues behind us. Their search parties will reach the forest edge within the hour."
"I stopped because I’m a human, Empress," I wheezed, tapping my chest. "I have things called lungs and muscles. They don’t run on infinite dark magic like yours do."
Valeska turned her featureless helmet toward me, her red visor narrowing in disgust. "Pathetic. Your physical conditioning is an insult to the soul-tether that binds us. In my era, even the lowest foot soldiers of the Ashen Legion could run three days through the salt-wastes without water."
"Good for them. Did they also get paid twelve dollars an hour and work night shifts at an antique gallery?" I retorted, resting my hands on my knees. "Didn’t think so."
Valeska’s visor flared bright crimson. "Do not speak to me with such casual insolence! If you cannot even handle a light jog through a forest, how do you expect to survive the imperial executioners heading our way?"
Before I could answer, a low, guttural growl vibrated through the fog.
Grrrrrr...
The yellow, glowing eyes of three massive beasts materialized in the darkness between the trees. They stepped into the dim moonlight—Shadowfen Night-Hounds. They were the size of bulls, covered in matted black fur, with twin tails tipped in jagged bone-blades and jawlines split into four mandibles dripping with corrosive green acid.
[Monster Identified: Shadowfen Night-Hound (C-Rank Beast)]
[Quantity: 3]
I immediately reached for the hilt of my steel dagger, stepping back. "Valeska... handle them."
Valeska didn’t move. She didn’t draw her six-foot black greatsword. She didn’t even raise her hand. She just stood there with her arms crossed over her armored chest, looking down at me through her glowing visor.
"No," Valeska said coldly.
I blinked, looking at her in disbelief. "What do you mean, no? You’re an SSS-Tier Calamity entity! Flick your wrist and turn them into hot dogs!"
"I am the Ashen Monarch. I do not waste my flames on common mongrels," Valeska replied, her tone completely devoid of mercy. "And more importantly... you are too weak. If I incinerate every pebble in your path, your vessel will remain a fragile piece of glass. Fight them yourself, Kaelen Cross. Or die here and free my soul."
’This crazy, arrogant demoness is actually forcing me into a training arc in the middle of an escape!’
The lead Night-Hound didn’t wait for us to finish our argument. It lunged through the fog, its acid-dripping mandibles snapping toward my throat with terrifying speed.
"Damnit!"
I didn’t have time to think. I threw myself sideways onto the muddy ground.
CRASH!
The Night-Hound’s massive body slammed into the oak tree where I had been standing a second ago, shattering the trunk into splinters. The second hound lunged immediately from my left, its bone-tipped tail whipping toward my ribs like a steel cable.
I raised my left arm to block.
CRACK!
The bone-blade smashed directly into my forearm. The sheer force broke my arm in two places, sending a spike of excruciating pain straight to my brain. The impact hurled me ten feet through the mud.
"Gah!" I gasped, rolling through the wet dirt.
[Innate Trait: [Endless Resilience Lv. 1] Active!]
[Sovereign Regeneration Engaged...]
[Forearm Fractures Knitting (20%... 60%... 100%)]
[Pain Suppression Active (50%)]
Inside my arm, the shattered bones forcibly snapped back into place. The muscle tissue reconnected in seconds, the agonizing pain dulling to a manageable throb.
The third Night-Hound leapt onto my chest, pinning me to the mud. Its split jaw opened wide, green acid dripping onto my jacket and sizzling through the fabric.
"Get off me, you ugly mutt!"
[Innate Trait: [Adaptive Resonance Lv. 1] Active!]
[Analyzing Target Attack Vector...]
[Body Adapting to Acidic & Physical Pressure...]
My chest muscles hardened, resisting the beast’s crushing weight. As the hound snapped its jaws down toward my face, my body automatically reacted. I tilted my head sideways, letting the acid-dripping teeth bite into the mud beside my ear.
With my regenerated left arm, I grabbed the hound’s throat. With my right hand, I drove my steel dagger straight up through the soft tissue beneath its jaw.
THWACK!
The blade punched through its skull. The Night-Hound let out a muffled whimper, thrashing wildly for two seconds before its body went limp, black blood pooling into the mud.
[Target Neutralized: Shadowfen Night-Hound (C-Rank)]
[Combat Experience Gained!]
[Max Aether Capacity Increased: 250 -> 320!]
"One down!" I grunted, shoving the heavy carcass off my chest and scrambling back to my feet.
The remaining two Night-Hounds circled me cautiously, their yellow eyes flashing with newfound aggression. They had realized that the "fragile peasant" wasn’t dying when his bones broke.
Valeska watched from twenty feet away, perched casually on a mossy boulder, her arms crossed. "Hmph. Sloppy footwork. You relied on your regeneration rather than dodging the tail sweep. If that beast had aimed for your skull instead of your arm, your brain would be painting the grass."
"Easy for you to say from the peanut gallery!" I yelled, dodging another whip of a bone-tail.
The second hound lunged at my legs. Thanks to [Adaptive Resonance], my eyes were already tracking its muscle contractions before it even left the ground. I stepped inward instead of backward, bypassing the reach of its mandibles, and slashed my dagger cleanly across its exposed throat.
Black blood sprayed across my face as the second hound collapsed into the mud.
[Target Neutralized: Shadowfen Night-Hound (C-Rank)]
[Max Aether Capacity Increased: 320 -> 400!]
The final hound let out a fearful whimper. It looked at its two dead companions, then looked at me, covered in black blood with my broken bones knitting back together in real-time. It turned around and tried to bolt into the thick fog.
SWOOSH!
A streak of black fire cut through the mist. The final hound was instantly reduced to a pile of glowing cinders before it could take three steps.
Valeska lowered her hand, her visor glowing coldly. "A coward that flees from battle does not deserve to die by a master’s blade. Consider that a mercy."
I collapsed onto a nearby rock, panting heavily. My entire body was covered in mud, acid burns, and black monster blood, but my broken bones were fully healed.
[Current Aether Capacity: 400 / 500]
[Aether Pool Draining... Current Level: 30 / 400]
"Hey... Empress," I wheezed, resting my elbows on my knees. "Maintaining your physical manifestation in this world is draining my Aether like a broken pipe. I’m almost running on empty again."
Valeska stepped off the boulder and walked over to me, her heavy armored boots sinking slightly into the mud. She stood over me, looking down with her usual arrogant posture.
"Then collapse, mortal," Valeska said coldly. "But, I won’t go hiding in your soul."
"Yeah... see, I’m not really a fan of collapsing in a monster-infested forest," I said, standing up from the rock.
"What do you intend to do, insect? You have no Aether potions, no mana crystals—"
Before she could finish her sentence, I stepped right into her personal space.
Valeska’s visor flared, but before she could raise her armored hand to strike me, I reached out and grabbed the exposed, pale skin of her neck right above her obsidian collarplate.
[Innate Trait: [Somatic Overload Lv. 1] Activated!]
BZZZZT!
A heavy, concentrated pulse of purple Aether erupted from my palm directly into the sensitive skin of her throat.
"Ah...! Hah...!"
Valeska’s arrogant words instantly turned into a breathless, broken gasp.
Her six-foot-two frame shuddered from top to bottom. Her visor flared from a dark, menacing red into a blinding, vivid pink. The terrifying, dark pressure she always radiated completely collapsed in a split second.
"Y-You... degenerate...!" Valeska gasped, her hands flying up to grab my wrist, but her fingers were trembling so violently she couldn’t exert any strength. "Remove... your hand... from my neck...!"
"Can’t do that, Empress," I smirked, tightening my grip slightly while the trait continued to flood her senses with overstimulating Aether feedback. "I need my energy refill."
Valeska’s back hit the trunk of a massive oak tree. Her knees buckled slightly, her armored shoulders slumping as she tried—and failed—to fight off the intense sensory feedback. Through her translucent visor, her pale cheeks were burning a crimson red, her breathing coming out in fast, shallow moans.
[Entity ’Valeska’ Experienced Extreme Sensory Overload!]
[Affection/Receptivity: +10% (Total: 20%)]
[Aether Pool Restored (+200)!]
[Max Aether Capacity Increased: 400 -> 520!]
[THRESHOLD REACHED!]
[MAX AETHER CAPACITY SURPASSED 500!]
[UNLOCKING SECOND SSS-TIER VILLAINESS DATABASE...]
The moment the notification flashed in front of my eyes, the air in the forest went dead silent.
The rain stopped falling mid-air. The foggy wind froze.
A massive, pitch-black portal—resembling a tear in the fabric of reality itself—erupted in the space right next to us. Dark purple void-flames hissed from the edges of the portal, dissolving the trees and mud nearby into nothingness.
Valeska’s visor immediately snapped back to a sharp, deadly crimson. She pushed my hand off her neck, stepping in front of me with her greatsword drawn, her flustered state instantly replaced by pure, defensive hostility.
"This energy..." Valeska growled, her visor glowing with intense hatred. "The Void..."
From the center of the pitch-black portal, a slender, pale leg wearing a thigh-high silk boot stepped out onto the muddy ground.
Out walked a woman with long, midnight-black hair that reached past her waist. She wore revealing, dark purple silk robes decorated with silver runes, revealing a toned, pale midriff and a cleavage that put most fantasy maidens to shame. Two sleek, curved dragon horns jutted from her forehead, and a long, slender succubus-like tail tipped with a spade flickered behind her.
Her eyes were glowing, golden reptilian slits that radiated ancient, cosmic malice. In her right hand, she held a massive, double-bladed void scythe that hummed with dark energy.
[Entity Unlocked: Lilith, The Abyssal Sovereign (Calamity Rank 9)]
Lilith stretched her arms, letting out a soft, seductive yawn that sent a ripple of dark purple energy through the air.
"Fufufu... ah, how long has it been since I breathed the air of the mortal realm?" Lilith purred, her golden eyes slowly drifting down to me.
She glided forward, her tail flickering playfully as she leaned down, bringing her face inches from mine. The scent of sweet lavender and dark magic washed over me.
"So... you are my new master?" Lilith purred, running a single, razor-sharp black fingernail along my jawline. "A frail, muddy little human with a tiny Aether pool? How adorable. I think I’m going to break your limbs first and keep you as my personal pet."
CLANG!
A massive black greatsword intercepted Lilith’s hand mid-air, black flames clashing against purple void energy with a deafening ring.
Valeska stepped between me and Lilith, her greatsword locked against Lilith’s scythe, her visor burning with apocalyptic rage.
"Get your filthy hands off my vessel, void witch," Valeska growled, her voice shaking the trees. "I got here first!"
Lilith tilted her head, her golden eyes narrowing into wicked slits as her smile turned razor-sharp. "Oh? The Ashen Monarch is playing protective bodyguard for a human insect? How pathetic. Why don’t I break both of you instead?"
I stood between the two six-foot-tall, continent-destroying disaster maidens who were currently locking weapons three inches above my head.
I looked at the System HUD floating in front of me, then at the two SSS-Tier Villainesses who were about to turn the forest into a crater.
"Great," I muttered, rubbing my temples. "Now there are two of them."
Suddenly, the bushes at the edge of the clearing rustled.
A squad of twenty elite Imperial Bounty Hunters, led by a heavily armored B-Rank Commander, burst through the trees with weapons drawn.
"Kaelen Cross! We found you, Heretic—"
The Commander froze mid-sentence.
The entire twenty-man bounty hunter squad stood completely paralyzed in the mud, staring at the TWO SSS-Tier Calamity entities who had both slowly turned their glowing eyes toward the intrusion.
Valeska’s visor burned red. Lilith’s golden eyes flared with purple void-fire.
"Mortal," Valeska said to me, her voice cold. "May I incinerate these loud insects?"
"Fufufu, no, let me slice them into pieces first, master~" Lilith purred sweetly.
The Imperial Commander looked at Valeska, then looked at Lilith, and slowly lowered his sword.
"Men..." the Commander whispered, his voice trembling uncontrollably. "I think... I think we picked the wrong bounty."