"These Divine Trees… other than glowing, they don't look special at all."
"Yeah, but if Eat-Stream Adrian Vale is chasing them, he's got a reason."
"Guess we'll only understand what they're for later."
In Divine Domain: Forbidden Zone, Adrian Vale and Raven Shaw advanced toward the third Divine Tree, both already in combat posture.
But the path was… quiet.
Dry branches crunched underfoot. Leaves sighed in the wind. Somewhere deeper in the forest, distant calls rose and fell—normal sounds for a dense wilderness.
No ambush.
No sudden shadow erupting from the ground.
And that was exactly why neither of them relaxed.
If anything, their vigilance sharpened.
In the livestream, Dragon Nation viewers frowned.
"Why does it feel like there are no Divine Domain creatures this time?"
"Maybe they realized they can't do anything to Adrian and Boss Raven, so they backed off?"
"Since when do Divine Domain creatures 'respect' humans?"
"Don't forget those two from Asan Nation in the desert. The creatures toyed with them before swallowing them whole."
That memory killed the "safe zone" fantasy instantly.
Still, some people tried to be optimistic.
"At least there's nothing on screen right now. Maybe they'll pass smoothly."
"Finally a breather. Let them recover—next wave could be worse."
"Dragon Nation luck is unreal. In a place this dangerous, they still catch a rest window."
Right as those words flooded the chat—
the ground trembled.
Not violently.
Not yet.
Just enough to turn every spine cold.
Ahead, the trees blurred behind a spreading curtain of black fog. Within it, massive silhouettes shifted—tall, upright outlines that didn't look like any normal beast.
The fog rolled forward like a tide.
The chat exploded.
"WHO SAID THERE WOULDN'T BE CREATURES?! CURSED MOUTH!"
"This feels bigger than last time…"
"Is this an SS-rank wave?!"
"Look at that black haze—what's inside?!"
"No breathing room at all… they don't even get one minute!"
Adrian didn't move.
He simply stared into the fog, eyes narrowing as he tracked the shapes sliding through it.
Raven's hand tightened on her combat saber. Her posture turned razor-straight—like a blade being drawn inch by inch.
Then—
the tremor spiked.
Heavy breathing rolled across the clearing, deep and layered, as if a hundred lungs were exhaling in sync.
A beat later, the fog burst.
Dark shapes tore through the haze at high speed, closing the distance in a blink.
And the system voice arrived—cold, flat, undeniable.
[Warning! Dragon Nation competitors Adrian Vale and Raven Shaw are encountering a legendary Divine Domain creature. Analyzing…]
[Analysis complete!]
[Name: Moon-Mirrored Blacktail Cat]
[Threat Rating: SS-rank]
[Traits: An SS-rank Divine Domain creature born in moonlit lands. Once an ordinary otherworld cat-demon, it completed its metamorphosis by bathing in lunar essence. Beware its tail—its sharpest weapon.]
The audience went pale.
"WHAT?! So many SS-rank?! This is bullying!"
"If this hit any other nation, they wouldn't last a minute!"
"Why does Dragon Nation always get nightmare difficulty?!"
Then someone remembered the earlier voice.
"Wait—do you remember that aged voice that spoke before?"
"We thought it was Will of Blue Star at first."
"What if it's not?"
"What if every 'coincidence' in this forest is that hidden bastard pulling strings?"
The theory spread like fire—and made the fog feel colder.
The silhouettes cleared fully.
They weren't wolves.
They weren't panthers.
They were… cats.
Except the word cat didn't fit what stepped into the clearing.
There were hundreds—towering black felines standing upright on their hind legs, bodies packed with muscle, eyes like twin lamps burning in the gloom.
And their tails—
long, heavy, faintly glowing with pale light—swung behind them like chained blades.
Adrian stared… then—shockingly—smiled.
"So it's a pack of kittens," he said, almost pleased. "Think I can tame one and keep it?"
Raven shot him a look that could cut steel.
"Stop dreaming. Those are SS-rank."
"Keep one as a pet and one day you'll wake up inside its stomach."
A low, hollow howl split the air.
One Moon-Mirrored Blacktail Cat stepped forward, then stomped—and launched like an arrow.
It wasn't coming for Adrian.
It went straight for Raven.
The predator had judged the battlefield in a blink: remove the "easier" one first.
Raven's brow twitched.
"Oh?" Her voice turned sharp. "You think I'm the easy kill?"
Her aura snapped colder.
She ignited cell burn—subtle at first, then suddenly dense, like the air itself had gained weight.
Her combat saber flashed.
A black streak met a black shadow.
CLANG—!
A metallic shriek rang out as claw met steel.
Raven slid back half a step, eyes narrowing—because the claw didn't come off.
A shallow cut opened across the cat's paw. Blood beaded.
But the limb stayed intact.
Raven's expression darkened.
"…Damn. I can't sever it."
That single detail told her everything.
These weren't S-rank mobs.
These were SS-rank bodies—reinforced, upgraded, wrong.
Adrian shook his head, amused.
"Boss Raven," he said lightly, "you finally realize you can't brute-force SS-rank bodies?"
He cracked his knuckles.
His left eye bled red.
And his kagune erupted.
Bone-white structure wrapped into dark crimson flesh—his Holy Sword Kagune state surfacing immediately.
No warm-up.
No testing.
Because SS-rank didn't deserve "casual."
"Kittens," Adrian murmured. "Show me what you've got."
His tendrils snapped.
The air screamed.
A single crimson spear shot forward—
and pinned a Blacktail Cat cleanly through the torso.
The creature convulsed, eyes flaring—
then dropped.
Adrian blinked, unimpressed.
"…That's it?"
He didn't wait for an answer.
His Holy Sword Kagune went to work.
Spears. Whips. Blades.
Each strike was efficient—no wasted motion, no theatrics. Just red arcs carving through black bodies.
Cats fell.
One after another.
In seconds, the ground began to fill with huge black corpses.
Meanwhile, Raven fought inside the swarm—her saber now moving with a darker edge as she adjusted: angles, timing, weak points, everything that turned "can't sever" into "can kill."
She was winning—
but she was working for every single one.
Adrian wasn't.
He was harvesting.
And when he finally drew several tendrils back and exhaled slowly, the clearing around him was already carpeted with bodies.
He turned his head slightly toward Raven.
That look said everything.
Not pity.
Not concern.
Just a cold, faint impatience—like he'd finished a chore and was already thinking about what tasted better next.
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