Liora knew her son better than anyone else in this world… she had watched him grow, observed his strengths, and understood what he was truly capable of.
She knew deep down how much potential he had, how powerful he could become. But the problem was—he never pushed himself.
Not even once.
The only time he ever advanced, ever stepped forward, was when she forced him to. It was never out of his own will or desire… always because of her, or because someone else demanded it from him.
Even though everything she did was meant to help him grow, to bring out his hidden potential, she never really knew how to express it properly. Maybe… no one in the tribe did. None of them were ever good at expressing love.
It was like how a mother eagle raised her young—pushing them off a cliff so they could either fly… or perish.
That was the way Liora had always believed one should grow… And that was exactly how she had raised Kaelen.
But no matter what she did, no matter how hard she pushed, Kaelen had never taken a step forward on his own. He only ever moved because of others—because of her.
Never for himself.
Until now…
“Grrrrllllll!!!”
Kaelen, now in his full wolf form, let out a deep, menacing growl. His ebony-black fur rippled against the wind as his powerful limbs carried him forward in slow, calculated steps. His yellow, slitted eyes gleamed with a sharp, predatory glow as he circled Alaric, who was struggling just to keep himself upright.
Alaric could barely move. His body trembled uncontrollably. His breathing had become ragged.
Kaelen let out a low, amused sound. “Grr… Grr…” It was almost a chuckle—low and taunting. He was enjoying this moment. Despite the pain from the spikes still embedded in his mouth from his previous attack, there was a glint of savage delight in his expression.
He was savouring the sight before him.
Alaric’s throat felt dry as he struggled to speak. “Y-You… f-fucker… What the hell… did you do to me…?” His voice was weak, barely above a whisper. His limbs refused to respond. He couldn’t move. His entire body felt… wrong.
Broken?
Just lying there, motionless, like a discarded, broken doll.
“Wooo… Woo… woo…ggrrrr…”
Kaelen let out a strange, guttural sound, something incomprehensible and eerie.
Alaric gritted his teeth. He needed to move. Right now. But no matter how much he willed his body to obey, it refused. His legs wouldn’t budge. His arms felt heavy. His organs…
His organs were failing.
‘W-What… what’s going on…?’ His mind was turning numb, his consciousness slipping.
He was supposed to be stronger. He was supposed to be smarter.
He was on a whole different level compared to these people.
And yet…
And yet, he was lying there like wounded prey?
Why?
“Kaelen?”
Aria’s voice finally broke through the eerie silence. She had arrived, her expression filled with a mix of relief and concern. But before she could say anything more—
“GRRRRRR!!”
Kaelen let out a vicious snarl, his growl deep and threatening as he took a stance in front of Alaric. His sharp, predatory gaze locked onto Aria, his entire body tense as if he was ready to attack.
Aria instinctively halted in her tracks, her brows furrowing. “Kaelen…? Are you okay?” She lowered her weapon slightly, observing him carefully. But Kaelen didn’t respond to her words. He didn’t react the way he normally would.
His eyes… the way he was looking at her…
It wasn’t the gaze of a rational being.
It was the gaze of a beast!!
The moment she took another cautious step forward—
“Grrrrrr!!”
Kaelen’s growl deepened, his fur bristling. His expression darkened with fury.
Aria tensed but kept her voice calm. “Easy… easy there, boy. Alright? I’m not gonna do anything.” She raised her hands slightly, trying to soothe him.
But Kaelen’s instincts screamed otherwise. Someone was approaching. Someone was coming for his prey.
His prey.
His growl turned feral, his stance shifting lower as if ready to pounce.
Then—
He lunged.
Aria barely had time to react. She flinched back, immediately crouching down to grab her bow, and swiftly nocking an arrow. But before she could even pull the string—
“WRFAAFF!!”
A massive, reddish-black wolf-like form flashed through the air, slamming Kaelen down onto the ground.
Thud!
Aria’s sharp gaze darted to the side.
Liora.
It was Liora who had pinned Kaelen down, her powerful legs keeping him beneath her.
“GRRRRR!!!”
Kaelen let out a feral, enraged snarl—his teeth bared, his expression wild with fury. He glared up at his mother with a look he had never given her before. It was a look that said—
Move… or I will tear you apart.
Liora remained silent, her gaze locked onto her son.
Then, after a long moment, her lips curled slightly.
Pride.
She was proud of him.
For the first time in his life… he had growled at her like a true beast.
For the first time… he had shown real instincts.
Her son had finally grown.
But still—
“Hey…” Liora’s voice was impossibly calm, eerily blank. Her piercing gaze bore into Kaelen as she spoke. “Who do you think you are?”
Kaelen’s entire body tensed. A sudden shiver ran down his spine.
His fur stood on end.
And then—
“Nnnggggg!”
His once-fierce yellow eyes softened, shifting into something rounder. A small, pitiful whimper escaped his throat. His once-massive form shrank like a puppy, his tail drooping.
Aria, watching the entire scene unfold, couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle. She shook her head, amused, before turning her attention to the unmoving Alaric.
“What the hell happened to him…?” she muttered, stepping closer.
Alaric’s skin had turned red. His mouth twitched, his jaw spasming, white foam gathering at the corners of his lips. His body trembled violently as he struggled to maintain his consciousness.
Liora sighed, her expression calm yet thoughtful as she cradled a small, ebony-haired wolf in her arms. Kaelen, now in his puppy form, His fur was soft, his body warm, and the exhaustion evident on his face.
“His he alright?” Aria asked curiously seeing Kaelen.
She shifted her gaze toward Aria and explained, “He just unleashed his instincts—raw, untamed emotions that don’t recognize allies or enemies. You saw it yourself… he even turned against me. But don’t worry, this will only happen once. It’s his first time accepting this part of himself, so… yeah.”
Aria’s gaze softened as she studied the sleeping wolf… But when she turned to glance at Alaric, her expression darkened.
Liora followed her line of sight, then casually pointed at Alaric’s hip. A thick, purplish-black liquid oozed from the deep puncture wound where Kaelen had bitten him.
It looked vile, the substance pulsating faintly as it spread beneath his skin.
“Kaelen was different from the rest of our tribe… No, His fangs are different!… The venom from his bite…” Liora murmured, her multicoloured eyes narrowing slightly as she observed the damage.
Aria’s brows furrowed and thought for a moment remembering nobody in Liora’s tribe had the same fang as Kaelen and… “Venom?” she echoed, her voice carrying a hint of unease.
Liora nodded. “It contains both a paralyzing effect and a corrosive acid. The moment it enters the prey’s bloodstream, it shuts down their body functions and destroys them—slowly but surely. It doesn’t matter how strong they are or how many levels apart they might be… The result is inevitable.”
Aria’s expression flickered with surprise. She glanced down at Kaelen again.
“He… is really dangerous, isn’t he?” she muttered, as realization dawned on her.
All this time, Kaelen had carried such a lethal power within him.
Liora chuckled, amusement laced in her tone as she smirked, “Oh, you have no idea. What’s more… his claws can slice through a thousand-year-old dragon’s hide like butter.” There was a sense of pride in her voice, an almost smug satisfaction.
She vividly remembered the day when Kaelen, barely a year old, had sunk his venomous fangs into a beast nearly Level 90. It had been a shocking and terrifying sight—something no one had expected from such a young pup. But after that day, that incredible power she had never seen… until now.
Aria raised an eyebrow, intrigued. It was rare to see Liora openly praising her son like this. She gave a small nod before shifting her focus back to Alaric.
He had stopped moving entirely.
She stared at him blankly for a moment, her expression unreadable, before turning away without a word.
Liora tilted her head. “Hmm? You’re not going to finish him yourself?” she asked curiously. She knew very well how much Aria had wanted to kill him with her own hands, to watch him suffer as he begged for mercy.
Aria snorted, gesturing toward Alaric. “Look at him…”
Alaric lay motionless, his body trembling, his mouth twitching slightly, but he couldn’t even open it to scream. The venom was burning him from the inside out, melting his insides at an agonizingly slow pace.
“This is worse than death,” Aria said coldly, her lips curling into a smirk. “At least this way, he’ll suffer before he dies.”
With that, she turned away, not sparing him another glance.
Liora cast one last look at Alaric before following her.
When they reached the others, Aria blinked in mild surprise, seeing Thalia and Aqualina sitting on the ground, panting heavily. Their faces were flushed, sweat dripping down their foreheads, their breaths ragged from exhaustion.
“Where’s the enemy? Did it run away?” she asked, a slight hint of concern in her voice.
Thalia let out a tired chuckle, wiping her forehead. “Well… you could say that,” she muttered between heavy breaths, barely able to lift her arm as she pointed ahead.
Aria’s gaze followed—only for her eyes to widen in shock.
A hooded figure, One, was still moving.
Its eyes were riddled with countless swords, and yet… it refused to die, it just punched around like an idiot who lost its eyes trying to destroy whoever standing before it.
“Fuck! Its still alive?” Liora muttered in disbelief.
“We… We really don’t know…” Aqualina mumbled, her voice hollow with defeat. She clenched her fists tightly, her knuckles turning white. “Just when I thought I found its weakness, and yet…!” Her voice trembled with frustration, her hands shaking.
She felt like screaming in frustration.
That bastard just wouldn’t die!
Aria exhaled heavily, too exhausted to fight again. “I suppose we wait for Aether…”
Aqualina suddenly fell silent for a second before asking, “Where is he now?”
“We don’t know,” Aria admitted truthfully. Liora nodded in agreement, arms crossed.
Aqualina bit her lip, her voice filled with something deeper than just anger, “What? He doesn’t trust us anymore? After fucking around with so many women?”
Liora arched a brow, immediately catching the undertone in Aqualina’s voice. It wasn’t just anger… It was something else… Pain?
Still, it wasn’t her place to comment. But even so—
“He wasn’t fucking around with many women,” Liora stated, matter-of-factly.
She was right in a way, he wasn’t fucking around… he was just seducing around!
Sensing the tension, Thalia coughed awkwardly and quickly changed the subject. “So… what are we going to do now?”
“For now… we wait,” Aria muttered, her gaze drifting up toward the sky.
Meanwhile—
Alaric lay still, unable to move, unable to even scream. But in his mind—hatred burned.
‘I will… I will kill them all…’
His vision blurred as he glared up at the sky, his mind swirling with rage.
A slut and a useless dog… did this to him?
How?
How in the world had this happened?
How had he allowed it to happen?
Even if the slut was skilled… that dog? That pathetic mutt who once wagged its tail for him—had now dared to look down on him?
This was beyond humiliation. It was unforgivable.
As he struggled against his paralysis, a soft, thin tendril slowly wrapped around his wounds, attempting to ease the pain. His body twitched slightly.
‘For now… I need to leave. I need to hide…’
Focusing every ounce of his remaining strength, Alaric began to move. Inch by inch, his tendrils dragged his battered body along the ground, pulling him toward safety.
Once he recovered… Once he was strong again…
He would show them.
He would show them what real hell looked like—
THUD!
Something struck his head.
His dazed eyes barely registered the hooded figure that suddenly loomed over him.
‘Master…?’ His mind raced with desperate hope. ‘Master must have sent someone…! That’s great! Master, you really are the best!’
He had already begun forming his revenge…. His plans…. His next move!
He gonna show them a fucking hel–
“Hehehe~ Hello, Alaric~”
A voice.
A wicked, spine-chilling voice.
The figure crouched down, lowering their hood.
And the moment Alaric saw their face…
He knew.
He was fucked!!
Like in the horror movies… Alaric dragged out!!