After that incident, they began to ignore me. As the days passed, they managed to defeat even rank five and six beasts, though the latter required considerable effort and planning.
It was exactly what I needed so that, on the night of the third day, no one would notice if I wasn't with them.
I already knew where I would go: first, I would deal with the Valois who kept bothering Sera; then, I would venture deeper into the forest in search of any beast showing signs of corrosion.
I headed east through the forest, where I had already marked the direction Sera's group had taken.
When I silently reached their camp, I saw Damian Valois moving like an animal between the tents. He stopped right in front of Sera's tent, looking around with a revolting smile.
His hand trembled slightly as he reached out and carefully began to pull open the entrance, making sure not to make a sound. It was clear he wasn't there to talk—his intentions were as low as one could imagine.
I approached him from behind without even disturbing the air. Just as he was about to step inside, I placed a hand on his shoulder and transported us to another place.
"I told you, Damian," I whispered, making him jump as if struck by lightning. "I told you not to mess with Sera."
He looked around with confusion, and like realizing who I was and what I was planning he said:
"Wait—wait!" Damian shouted, dropping to his knees on the damp forest floor. "I won't go near Seraphine again, I swear. I won't bother them. There's no need to go this far, Cassian…"
I looked at him in silence. Seeing him there, begging for a life he had ruined through his own arrogance, was almost pathetic. I felt no hatred—only absolute indifference, like moving a stone out of the way to avoid tripping.
"You know, maybe before today I might have let you go with those words," I said, walking slowly toward him, "but you've crossed too many lines, Damian. And the truth is… I don't feel like hearing your name again."
He tried to crawl backward, but froze when he felt a heavy presence behind him. From between the trees, shrouded in a dark mist, something began to emerge.
It was a beast—but not a normal one. Its fur was falling apart, and its eyes oozed a black liquid that burned the grass where it dripped.
Corrosion.
Exactly what I had been looking for.
"Let me introduce you to your new playmate," I declared, turning my back on him as his scream died in his throat.
I walked away, letting the darkness of the forest swallow his cries. There was no need to use magic or dirty my hands. I simply let corrupted nature do the work.
I looked at the beast, which now trembled under my pressure, unable to move a single muscle. Its eyes, filled with that black hatred, were a window into something I had seen before in other corners of the universe.
"So it really is them," I whispered, extending my hand to touch the corrosive energy without suffering the slightest harm. "The Black Widow Clan."
It brought back memories from millennia ago, from a time when I still cared about what happened across the galaxies. They were like parasites: they arrived in weak worlds like this one, infected them with demonic energy, and when the world lost the will to defend itself, they devoured it whole.
"I met their leader once," I thought, with a bitter smile. "An ambitious woman who didn't know when to stop. Back then, I simply ignored her—I had more important matters."
The beast let out a low whimper, its body beginning to collapse under the strain of the corrosion and my presence.
"If they're here, it means it was my fault that more of these beasts suddenly appeared," I concluded, letting the creature crumble into ashes under my will. "They're probably already infiltrating the Empire and its surroundings."
I stared at the remnants of the creature. The Impure had tried to consume this world's will before; legends and scars upon the land proved their presence was ancient—a slow, patient infiltration that had been brewing in the shadows for centuries. However, my intervention had changed everything.
By using the Law of Fate to eliminate the members of the Lumen Cult and alter the threads of causality, I didn't just cleanse the Empire—I sent a shockwave through the fabric of reality. For the Black Widow Clan, that vibration was like a bell calling them to feast.
What had once been a thousand-year infiltration plan had now turned into a desperate invasion. Sensing a superior authority moving across this planet, the Clan chose to accelerate their plans.
"I'm the one who gave them the push they needed," I admitted, letting out a sigh as I began walking back toward the camp.
…
Galaxies away, wrapped in an aura of cold malevolence, a woman sat upon a throne built from human remains.
"My lady," a voice announced from the shadows, "World two hundred thirty-seven is finally showing signs of maturity. It will soon be ready for you to consume."
She smiled—a smile of devastating beauty.
"Close… I'm getting closer and closer," she whispered with feverish intensity. "Soon, the man who dared to ignore me will have no choice but to submit to me. The most perfect being in existence… will be mine."
An ancient and profound obsession flickered in her eyes, whose pupils seemed to contain the abyss of entire galaxies.
…
While the protagonist remained occupied, the situation at Cassane's camp had become critical.
A corrupted beast had ambushed them during their rest—a sixth-rank specimen that, breaking its own limits, had reached the seventh. Between the surprise attack and the overwhelming difference in power, Julius and Cassane could barely hold on, while the others struggled just to survive.
"Are you serious? Where's Cassian?" Leia snapped in clear frustration. "Not even at a moment like this does he show up—even just to encourage us."
"He probably ran away," Nicolas replied coldly. "At this rate, we should do the same."
"But…" Leia hesitated, her gaze fixed on the desperate struggle of Cassane and Julius.
They couldn't abandon them—it would be inhuman. And yet, the thought had already taken root among the three of them: they knew perfectly well that once Julius and Cassane fell, they would be next.
Margareth, making a decision with icy resolve, looked at those still fighting.
"I'm sorry," she said firmly, "but if we stay here, we'll all die."
Julius and Cassane stared at her in disbelief. Without Margareth's support, and with Leia's distraction magic, it wouldn't take long before they were devoured by the beast.
After those words, they didn't hesitate for a second. They turned and ran down the same path they had come from, silently praying they wouldn't encounter another beast before reaching the safety of the instructors.
Julius roared, unleashing a desperate burst of flames that barely singed the creature's fur. The seventh-rank beast didn't even flinch; with a sideways motion, it struck him with brutal force, sending him flying. Julius hit the ground with a dull thud, his flames extinguishing instantly as he fell unconscious.
"Julius!" Cassane screamed.
She tried to raise a wall of ice, but her hands trembled so badly that the structure formed cracked. The beast, with a roar that shook the air, shattered the wall with a single headbutt and lunged at her.
Cassane fell backward, watching as the monster's jaws opened above her head, dripping corrosive saliva that burned the grass beneath it.
She closed her eyes, waiting for the final impact.
CLANG!
The sound of metal striking something solid forced her to look.
In front of her stood Cassian, blocking the attack. He had stopped the beast with a single hand gripping his sword, his expression one of pure annoyance.
"Run! Get away while you still can!" Cassane managed to shout, her voice breaking with panic. "It's seventh rank—it'll kill you!"
Cassian didn't even bother to respond. He simply clicked his tongue, irritated by the noise.
"You're so loud," he muttered, completely ignoring the danger.
With a fluid motion that Cassane couldn't even follow, Cassian's sword flashed.
There were no explosions, no screams—just a clean, perfect slash that seemed to divide reality itself. The beast's head separated from its body before it could even close its jaws.
The corpse collapsed at Cassane's feet, dark blood spilling across the ground, freezing on contact with the remnants of her ice magic.