It was not a sudden change, but a subtle pressure—as if nature itself had noticed their presence. The air grew heavier, vibrant, thick with primordial energy. With every step they took, the ground seemed to breathe beneath the black hooves of Thunder, whose silver coat bristled with faint electrical sparks. Lusian kept one hand on the stallion's neck, feeling the creature restrain its wild instinct.
"We've entered," the duke murmured.
His voice was barely audible, yet the forest answered with a thousand whispers… like countless leaves speaking in unison.
Emily paused. The light that naturally radiated from her body flickered, extinguishing and reigniting with effort, as though the forest's mana tried to devour it to claim its purity. Elizabeth, meanwhile, drew a deep breath; her demonic mana flared instinctively, a dark flame defending her against absorption.
The human took longer to react.
"This place… it's trying to read us," the princess said quietly. "As if it knows who we are."
"It does," Lusian replied without turning. "Everything here is alive."
Less than fifty kilometers from the forest's absolute core, the trees already rose over a hundred meters high. Some bore crystalline bark; others bled luminous sap that fell like liquid tears. Above them, aerial roots pulsed with mana, connecting one tree to another like a vast vegetal nervous system.
Thunder let out a low, tense snort.
Ahead of them, a valley of bioluminescent ferns spread open like an electric-green sea. A herd of Lumina Bison grazed there upon mana-rich grass. Their massive bodies radiated a soft blue glow, and each breath they exhaled made the air hum.
Then the wind changed.
Silence.
The bison lifted their heads.
Too late.
A shadow slid between the trees.
Then another.
And another.
Eight crystalline felines descended from the heights in perfect coordination, falling like fragments of shattered moonlight. They hunted with surgical precision—no roars, only impact. One of the bison tried to flee, but living roots coiled around its legs, offering it to the forest's relentless cycle.
"The forest feeds on what it refuses," Emily whispered, horrified.
Lusian did not answer.
The thought pulled him elsewhere—toward Sofia… and beside her, the memory of Lariet surfaced like a distant echo. His fingers instinctively sought the necklace at his chest—the last gift she had given him—and before he could stop himself, a quiet sigh escaped him.
In moments like that, absence weighed heavier than any weapon.
Elizabeth shivered. For an instant, something inside her answered those words… something not entirely human.
"Do we belong here?" she asked.
The duke did not respond. He simply moved forward, guiding Thunder along a path that had opened before them as though the forest itself granted passage.
Only to them.
Only for now.
Dayana di Angelo Roseti crouched within her refuge, hidden among the twisted roots of the forest. She had just finished hunting. The blood of the creature still warm ran down her throat, but it brought no satisfaction anymore.
It merely kept her alive.
Since the death of her father, Count Dimitri—slain by the demon Bragoz—the world had lost its color. Rage had become her only nourishment, and hatred for demons the only reason she continued to breathe.
Avenging him was the last flame left in her eyes.
But animal blood was not enough. It was foreign to her. Impure.
Each drop reminded her she was stagnating when she should be ascending. If she ever wanted to face Bragoz, she would need to grow stronger.
And a vampire grows only on human blood.
The purer the blood, the greater the power.
As that thought echoed through her mind like a drumbeat, a scent pierced her senses.
Sweet.
Intense.
Perfect.
A racing heartbeat. A luminous soul.
"Human… pure blood," she murmured, closing her eyes and extending her senses.
He was not alone.
Two women accompanied him. One carried a distorted trace touched by inhuman darkness. The other radiated a light that could challenge even the forest itself.
Then she understood.
This was no mere instinct.
It was a sign.
She left the cave instantly, her eyes burning with newfound purpose.
Night fell like a silent veil over the forest.
Lusian decided it was time to rest. They set up a small tent among colossal roots, and after a brief exchange of protective spells, Thunder stepped ahead and stood guard beneath the pale silver glow of the moon.
Lusian glanced sideways.
Elizabeth and Emily were arguing quietly—though loudly enough to reveal the subject.
Who would share the shelter with him.
Never before had such a diplomatic disagreement sounded so lethal.
He sighed, more tired than embarrassed.
Then darkness began spreading through the trees, a gentle tide surrounding him.
For most, it was a warning of unseen dangers.
For him… it felt like home.
The night belonged to him.
Since Umber's death, something inside him had changed. He could feel the pulse of darkness as if it were his own. His night vision had sharpened until it bordered on predatory, and the strength left behind by Umber's final gift pulsed through every fiber of his being.
Umber—the magical wolf who had watched him grow up, silent guardian of his childhood, his last connection to his mother.
In his final moments, before surrendering to death, he had offered Lusian his core.
His essence.
And something else.
His instinct.
His rage.
His shadow.
Now, gazing through the ancient trunks of the forest, Lusian felt Umber whisper within him.
Careful.
A figure stepped out of the darkness.
Delicate. Ethereal. Barefoot upon the living ground. Young.
Her skin was pale as moon-carved marble.
Her eyes burned red like contained embers.
Beautiful.
Dangerous.
A vampire.
Lusian narrowed his eyes.
That face…
He had seen it before.
His memory stirred—a fragmented recollection from the records of the game.
The servant of the demon Bragoz.
He did not remember her story.
Perhaps he had ignored it once, as one ignores a minor piece on a chessboard.
But in this world…
Those pieces breathe.
And they bite.
Before the thought finished forming, Lusian vanished into the shadows.
Dayana blinked.
She had not felt his presence disappear.
Only the cold kiss of steel against her throat.
A faint vibration ran through the blade resting against her skin. Her eyes widened as if she had seen a sun rise in the night.
"What are you doing here?" Lusian asked calmly, as if questioning a tree.
Dayana blinked once. Twice.
"How… did you catch me?" she murmured, more fascinated than afraid.
Lusian withdrew the sword a single millimeter.
"I asked first."
Dayana smiled slowly.
Hunger and flirtation in equal measure.
"And I'm trying to process it," she said, gesturing faintly to her neck… then to his chest. "But it's difficult when I have this in front of me."
Lusian did not move.
"Your perfume?" he asked.
"It's not perfume," she whispered. "It's your blood."
Her voice dropped into something reverent.
"Pure blood. I've never smelled anything like it."
A tremor passed through her gaze, and the crooked smile returned.
She stepped closer.
"If you let me taste just one drop…" she murmured hoarsely. "Just one… I'll give you anything you want."
Silence hung between them.
"Anything?" Lusian repeated.
She nodded.
"Your woman. Your servant. Your toy. Whatever you wish. Just let me feel life again."
Lusian sighed.
Not from temptation.
From irritation.
"You have a very questionable idea of negotiation."
Dayana laughed softly.
"I'm hungry," she said. "And your blood shines like a star."
Before he could respond, the darkness around him stirred. A voice deep within him—lupine, instinctive—whispered:
Careful. She's hungrier than she is sane.
Lusian tilted his head slightly.
"Where is he?"
"Who?" Dayana asked.
"Bragoz."
The blade brushed her throat.
Her eyes trembled—then filled with hatred.
"Bragoz?" she spat. "That bastard killed my father."
She lowered her voice.
"I've been hiding in this forest ever since."
Animal blood keeps me alive… but it doesn't let me live.
Lusian frowned.
He should have read her story in the game.
Dayana smiled faintly again.
"If you let me taste your blood… I could serve you well."
Lusian studied her silently.
Then, with the calm of someone brushing aside a poisonous flower, he said:
"No."
At that moment, Elizabeth stepped out of the tent.
"Lusian?" she called softly.
Dayana's gaze snapped toward her.
Her expression changed instantly.
"How…?" she whispered.
Her pupils narrowed.
"Why are you with a demon?"
"She's my woman," Lusian said coldly. "And you're mistaken. My magical affinity is epsilon."
Dayana sniffed the air slowly.
"Don't lie," she said quietly. "It's one of my abilities. I can sense the magical affinity of any human."
Her eyes sharpened.
"And you… are not epsilon."
Lusian exhaled tiredly.
"Wonderful. But if you want to survive, start by not smelling me like dessert."
To his surprise, Dayana laughed.
"Come with me instead," she said lightly. "I'm better than that demon."
Elizabeth approached, uneasy.
"Lusian… what's happening?"
Dayana recoiled slightly.
"Stay away from me, demon."
"She isn't a demon," Lusian said sharply.
He explained briefly what had happened—the interrupted ritual, the demonic mana trapped within Elizabeth.
Dayana listened in silence.
Then she asked quietly:
"So you live with that mana burning inside you every day?"
Elizabeth met her gaze.
"I don't live with it," she said calmly.
"I control it."
Emily stepped out of the tent just then, fastening her cloak.
She stopped cold when she saw Lusian's sword at the vampire's throat.
"What is going on?" she asked.
Dayana studied her carefully.
Then she smiled.
"Now it makes sense."
"The light," she murmured softly.
"No one with energy like yours enters the heart of this forest… unless they're trying to heal something that's devouring them from within."
Her gaze shifted to Elizabeth.
"You're looking for the Mother Tree."
Emily exchanged a glance with Lusian.
"If there's even a chance to purify her mana," she said quietly, "we'll take it."
Dayana nodded slowly.
"Then I understand why you're here."
She stepped back slightly from Lusian's blade.
"I've survived in this forest for a year. I know it the way a predator knows its cage."
She looked at them all.
"If you want to reach the Mother Tree… I can guide you."
Emily narrowed her eyes.
"And why would you help us?"
Dayana gave a tired laugh.
"Because she carries something she never chose."
Her eyes flicked toward Elizabeth.
"Just like me."
Lusian spoke coldly.
"And your price?"
Dayana did not hesitate.
"Your blood."
The tension in the air sharpened instantly.
"Just once," she said hoarsely. "Just enough so the forest doesn't devour me before we reach its heart."
Thunder snorted uneasily.
After a long moment, Lusian lowered his sword slightly.
"One drop," he said.
"Under my conditions."
Dayana bowed her head.
"One drop… and I will guide you where even the forest closes its eyes."
Lusian raised his hand.
Without ceremony, he made a clean cut across his palm.
A single drop fell.
Dayana caught it with her lips before it reached the ground.
The effect was immediate.
She did not drink blood.
She drank living mana.
Her body convulsed as the power surged through her veins like wildfire. Her eyes flew open, crimson irises dilating.
Instinct took over.
Her hands seized Lusian's coat, gripping him as though anchoring herself to reality.
Emily stepped forward sharply.
"Get away from him!"
Elizabeth whispered uneasily:
"That's not feeding… that's surrendering to something else."
Dayana could not hear them.
The mana surged through her like rebirth.
Thunder suddenly released a burst of electricity.
The vampire was thrown backward.
She fell to her knees, breathing like someone who had just shattered chains that had bound her for centuries.
Silence fell.
"Level… seventy-five…" she murmured weakly.
Her eyes opened slowly.
"Now… eighty."
No smile came.
Only a single silent tear.
Lusian watched her coldly.
"Control yourself. That drop was deliberate. There will not be another."
Dayana nodded slowly.
"I know."
Emily crossed her arms.
"And what do you think you are now?"
Dayana inhaled deeply.
"A creature," she said softly,
"who today… found a reason to try to live."
The night said nothing.
But the forest did.
As if acknowledging that this—
was only the beginning.