The sun had barely begun to filter through the clouds as the caravan moved along the road toward the imperial capital. Dry earth rose beneath the wagon wheels and horse hooves, mingling with the dust of an endless journey.
But something was wrong.
Lusian sensed it before anyone else. The air was heavy, saturated with corrupted mana. The wind carried a metallic scent—like old blood.
The four heroes marched at the front, leading the protection of soldiers and civilians.
"Something is waiting for us," Lusian murmured, tightening his grip on Dainslein, feeling his shadow fold against his body, ready to devour any threat.
The first warning came in the form of a roar that made the ground tremble.
"A dragon!" Alejandro shouted. "But… not just any dragon."
The beast burst from the trees, its scales gleaming with a black tint, as if night itself had been forged into its skin. Demonic mana poured from its jaws, a dark heat that burned even from a distance. Each beat of its wings raised clouds of dust and corrupted energy.
Kara and Leonardo reacted instantly. Fire and lightning intertwined in the air while the dragon roared, deflecting attacks and spewing corrupted flames that scorched the earth. Emily raised a barrier of light that diverted the frontal assault, shielding the civilians.
The battle was concentrated chaos—four heroes against a monster amplified by demonic mana.
But the dragon was not alone.
From the surrounding forests, twisted creatures began to emerge: a horde of corrupted monsters, half human and half beast, all saturated with demonic energy. Their eyes glowed with a sickly red as they surged toward the caravan.
The soldiers tried to form defensive lines, but the monsters were too fast—too numerous. Every sword strike, every burst of magic barely slowed them.
"Protect Princess Elizabeth!"
The four heroes did not wait for coordination. Each fought according to instinct, attacking and defending with overwhelming force.
Yet even they began to feel the pressure of the corrupted horde.
Dust and dark magic tangled into a suffocating shroud that disoriented even the sharpest eyes.
And then—
The world seemed to stop.
The air turned cold and dense. The ground vibrated with a heartbeat that did not belong to the human world.
Soldiers froze in confusion.Civilians held their breath.
From the distance, a shadow rose above the treetops.
Its human form appeared colossal under the intensity of the energy emanating from it. Every step made the ground tremble. Every gesture warped the light and air around it.
It was Vhar'zhul.
The demon had arrived.
His eyes—red and black like obsidian—swept across the battlefield. The horde and the corrupted dragon instinctively moved aside, recognizing the supremacy of their master.
A graveyard silence fell over the field, broken only by the dragon's roar and the cracking earth.
Lusian tensed, Umber beside him.
I faced him a thousand times in a false world… here, one mistake and there will be no restart.
The shadow surrounding him spread like a living mantle, and the air itself seemed to bow before them.
He knew what was coming would not be an ordinary battle.
Every corrupted monster, every attack until now, had been nothing more than a prelude.
Vhar'zhul stepped forward, and the world seemed to shrink beneath his presence.
"Today the princess will change her destiny," the demon growled.
And so the true ambush began.
The corrupted dragon roared and charged. The monsters surged forward.
And in the midst of it all, Lusian and Umber prepared to face a being no human had ever survived seeing face to face.
The dust raised by the caravan mixed with the dark energy radiating from Vhar'zhul.
Though his humanoid body stood barely two meters tall, the density of demonic mana around him made him appear like a colossus. Each beat of his magical core distorted the air, as if reality itself were trying to reject his existence.
He was not merely an enemy.
He was a rupture in the fabric of the world.
"Out of my way, worm!" the demon roared.
His eyes—dark as a moonless night—surveyed the chaos of the caravan calmly.
He was searching for someone.
Lusian felt it before seeing it clearly.
He was searching for Elizabeth.
He wanted a vessel for the Demon Queen.
Not while I'm still breathing, Lusian thought, tightening his grip on his sword.
Beside him, Umber tensed. Since Sofia's death, the creature had refused to leave his side—even when Lusian ordered it to. It growled, a deep sound born not from a throat, but from mana itself.
Vhar'zhul waved his arm lazily.
A single punch of dark mana unleashed a shockwave that tore through the caravan like a black storm.
Lusian barely had time to turn.
He remembered facing this demon hundreds of times in the game. He knew its patterns by heart.
Despite its monstrous strength, every strike left an opening.
"Now!"
Umber burst forward, attacking from the flank, but the demon absorbed the blow with demonic mana. Even so, the earth cracked beneath his feet from the unleashed force.
Lusian struck from the left, feeling the burning cold radiating from the demon's core. His sword, infused with dark mana, cut the air with precision—
—but it was stopped.
The demon's mana surged from his arm, stretching and shaping itself like a living extension of flesh, forming a fluid barrier that deflected the blade.
The vibration through the sword reminded Lusian that he faced power far beyond human limits.
Still, he did not hesitate.
Hundreds of spikes of dark mana materialized around him, launching like living spears.
The demon suffered no damage.
Without losing momentum, Lusian struck three precise blows at the right shoulder.
Vhar'zhul growled.
Lusian felt it in the air itself—a crack in the titan-like armor of his power.
Brief. Fleeting.
But real.
Umber didn't wait for orders.
The beast leapt in a perfect arc, releasing a vortex of darkness that forced the demon to raise both arms to shield himself.
Under that cover, Lusian slid forward with feline grace, aligning his body with his blade.
"Perfect Shadow Thrust."
The blade pierced the defense.
The demon staggered, his core vibrating chaotically for the first time.
He had bled internally.
And if he could bleed—
he could die.
"Cursed insects!" Vhar'zhul roared.
He extended both hands, unleashing a rain of mana blasts. The air screamed like metal shattering under pressure.
Umber charged without hesitation, absorbing the most devastating part of the attack.
Lusian stepped back.
The demon's area attack was brutal, but thanks to Umber and his Ætherion armor, he remained standing.
Even so, blood spilled from his lips.
In the distance, Elizabeth cried out, her concern cutting through the chaos.
But the fight continued.
This will be difficult, Lusian realized.
He glanced at Umber and, with a single thought, ordered the next attack.
At the same time, he channeled all his power into Dainslein, letting darkness flow through every inch of the blade.
"Greater Darkness Cut."
The sword struck like a surgeon's scalpel—precise, direct to the fluctuating core.
Vhar'zhul staggered.
At that same instant, Umber sealed the demon's back with an amplified darkness sigil.
The demon's core was finally exposed.
Pulsating.
Vulnerable.
Lusian watched carefully.
Now the real battle began.
Vhar'zhul unleashed destructive spells with relentless fury. Each blast could pulverize a human in seconds.
Lusian barely dodged them, feeling the heat and pressure of every explosion.
Umber became decisive.
His attacks and evasions kept the offensive alive while forcing the demon to divide his attention. If Vhar'zhul had focused entirely on Lusian, the fight would have ended long ago.
Thanks to Umber's distraction, Lusian found openings.
Each strike of dark mana weakened the demon's defense.
The coordinated assault had begun.
Demons, no matter how powerful, obeyed one absolute rule:
Destroy their vessel—the body—and their soul is expelled back to the demon world.
They didn't need to die.
Only the container had to break.
Lusian knew that.
Blood ran from his lips, yet he smiled fiercely.
"Even if I can't destroy you completely… today I'm kicking your ass."
Vhar'zhul went mad.
A final eruption of demonic mana burst from him, tearing the air like a volcanic explosion.
"Back!" Lusian shouted—then ran straight into the destruction.
Umber ignored the order.
The beast leapt forward, intercepting the deadliest fragments with instinctive precision.
And finally—
…the demon's muffled cry.
It wasn't truly a scream.
More like a whisper.
A thread of despair that vanished instantly.
The sword pierced the core.
The explosion was brutal but contained, as if the darkness itself acknowledged the end.
The valley fell silent.
Lightning tore the distant sky.
From the rear lines, Elizabeth unleashed an electrical strike that dispersed the final remnants of demonic energy.
There was no escape.
No regeneration.
Lusian planted his sword into the ground. Umber approached, wounded, and stopped beside him.
He looked at the fallen demon.
It had not been strength.
It had been precision.
It had been will.
The echo of the corrupted dragon's final roar faded into smoke and ruin.
Lusian leaned against a rock, breathing heavily, his sword resting beside him, still saturated with dark mana.
Elizabeth knelt before him, gently wiping the blood from his lips.
"You're… insane," she whispered, her voice trembling between relief and concern. "You can't keep doing this."
Emily rushed toward him, grabbing his shoulders with a relieved sigh.
"Lusian!" she exclaimed breathlessly. "Damn it, you can't risk yourself like that!"
"I'm fine," he replied calmly, as if fatigue meant nothing to him. "Better than fine."
A few steps away, Alejandro and Leonardo arrived running, their faces red with fury and exhaustion.
Alejandro spoke first.
"Where the hell were you!?" he roared. "While we were fighting that dragon, you disappeared!"
Leonardo, electricity still dancing in his hands, added quietly:
"I don't like the way you handle things," he said, low enough for only Lusian to hear. "Every time you decide to protect people your own way, someone ends up paying for it."
It wasn't an open threat—but the tension was unmistakable.
Lusian said nothing.
He knew Leonardo far too well to underestimate the hatred hidden behind his words.
Kara arrived then, breathing hard after shoving a monster away from the civilians.
"Enough!" she said sharply, glaring at Alejandro and Leonardo. "Didn't you see what Lusian was fighting? That wasn't just monsters—he was facing a demon no human could even imagine."
"He wasn't just protecting the caravan," she continued firmly. "He was protecting all of us. So save your accusations."
Elizabeth remained kneeling, her eyes fixed on Lusian.
Her calm could not hide her pride.
But when she saw Emily holding him so closely, something flickered across her expression.
Jealousy.
Subtle.
Real.
"You are all brave," Elizabeth said steadily, "but do not judge the one who carries the impossible. Lusian… he doesn't need approval. He simply needed to do what had to be done."
Without taking her eyes off him, Elizabeth stepped back, controlling the anger stirring within her as Emily clung to Lusian.
Every touch irritated her like a thorn.
But she said nothing.
Her pride would not allow her to show it openly.
So she simply watched him in silence, her emotions tangled between admiration… concern… and something far more dangerous.