Damien moved swiftly, his boots barely making a sound as he re-entered the underground base.
The scent of blood and burnt metal still lingered in the air, a reminder of the slaughter he had left behind.
As he descended deeper, he extended his hand and canceled the summon on Luton. “Cancel Luton’s summon.”
The Stellar Slime had been with Aquila, guarding the group of people he had saved earlier with Lizella. But now, he needed it here.
“Summon Luton.” With a faint pulse of Essence, a blue portal shimmered above Damien’s head, and from it—Luton dropped down.
The red, gelatinous creature plopped onto his head immediately, its round, amorphous body adjusting slightly as if it had never left.
Damien let out a small sigh. “Comfortable?”
Luton jiggled in response.
Shaking his head, Damien continued downward, retracing his steps until he reached the lower holding area—where the last of the captives were still locked inside their rusted cages.
The moment Damien stepped into view, the prisoners spotted him.
Their reaction was instant.
They rushed to the bars, their eyes wide with hope and desperation, their hands clutching the iron as they begged for release.
“Please, let us out!”
“Are you here to free us?!”
“Don’t leave us here!”
Their voices overlapped, frantic and pleading, their desperation only growing as Damien moved closer.
Some fell to their knees, sobbing, while others shouted louder, their voices raw from weeks—perhaps months—of screaming in the darkness.
Damien stopped a few feet away, his expression unreadable.
Then, in a calm, steady voice, he gave one simple command.
“Luton, store them.”
The prisoners froze.
Their panic turned into pure confusion as they watched the small red slime leap from Damien’s head and land inside one of the cages.
It wriggled for a moment—then expanded.
The first person it touched vanished.
Swallowed whole.
Then another.
And another.
The screaming began.
“Noo!”
The captives lost it.
They screamed in terror, backing away from the slime, pressing themselves against the far ends of their cages as they watched their fellow prisoners disappear.
“WHAT IS THAT?!”
“HE’S FEEDING US TO A MONSTER!”
“STOP! STOP!”
Some of them tried to pry the cage doors open, but their weak, malnourished bodies were too feeble to break the locks. Others collapsed in shock, their minds unable to process what they were seeing.
The ones still standing began begging Damien instead.
“Please! Stop!”
“Take that thing away!”
“Just let us go!”
They didn’t know who he was. Didn’t care.
To them, he was a captor, not a savior.
Damien sighed.
He had expected this.
“Calm down,” he said, his tone even. “You’re not dying. Luton is just storing you so I can take you out of here.”
They did not calm down.
Their pleas only grew louder, their terror deepening with each new person Luton absorbed into its (Universal Space).
Damien’s eye twitched.
He could deal with battle. With war. With monsters, demons, and killers.
But screaming, panicked civilians?
Annoying.
“Fine,” he muttered.
He glanced at Luton.
“Do it faster.”
Luton obeyed immediately.
Its body expanded further, its movements growing quicker, swallowing multiple people at once.
The panic reached its peak.
Some prisoners fainted on the spot. Others gave up, sobbing in silence, waiting for their turn.
It was a mess.
Damien folded his arms, watching the chaos unfold with an expression of mild impatience.
“I could’ve explained this to you,” he muttered under his breath, “but no. You had to make it difficult.”
One by one, Luton finished storing them all.
And finally—silence.
Damien let out a slow breath. “Much better.”
With everyone secured, Luton bounced back to Damien’s side, making a content gurgling sound.
Damien patted its squishy form.
“Good job.”
Luton wiggled in response before hopping back onto Damien’s head, where it settled comfortably once more.
Now, it was time to leave.
Damien turned and made his way back up the hidden tunnel, retracing his steps to the surface.
The moment Damien emerged from the underground, he inhaled deeply, the cool night air of the forest filling his lungs.
Then—he felt it.
A powerful essence, familiar and unmistakable, lurking around.
Damien smirked.
Fenrir.
A few moments later, a massive black beast crashed through the trees, its glowing eyes locked onto him.
Fenrir stopped just inches away, lowering its head slightly in greeting.
Damien raised a hand and patted the wolf’s thick fur.
“Missed me?”
Fenrir let out a deep rumble, pressing its head against Damien’s palm before stepping aside to let him mount.
Damien swung himself onto Fenrir’s back, adjusting slightly before turning his gaze toward the distant hills.
He still needed to meet with Lizella and the others.
But now that the prisoners were secured, there was no rush.
He exhaled, looking toward the sky, where the Bloodied Sky Transformation still loomed, the war drawing ever closer.
Then, gripping Fenrir’s fur, he gave the command.
“Let’s go.”
Fenrir leaped forward, the wind rushing past them as they disappeared into the night.
As they rode through the darkened forest, Damien frowned slightly.
Could he have handled that better?
The screaming, the panic, the absolute chaos that erupted when the captives saw Luton at work…
Maybe he could have softened his approach?
Maybe he could have explained things before letting Luton devour them?
Then again…
His gaze shifted slightly upward, feeling the gentle, rhythmic weight of the slime on his head.
He sighed. “Nah.”
This was easier.
And it worked.
He patted Fenrir’s neck again. “Faster. Let’s get this over with.”
Fenrir growled in agreement, picking up the pace, his large frame disappearing into the trees like a shadow in the night.
The wind howled through the darkened forest, rustling the leaves of ancient trees as Damien rode Fenrir through the wilderness.
His silver hair flowed behind him, illuminated by the faint glow of the Bloodied Sky, which still loomed ominously above. The war was drawing closer, but for now, his focus was on returning to the others.
Fenrir knew the way.
His massive paws barely made a sound against the forest floor as he navigated the terrain with ease, weaving past thick roots and jagged rocks without slowing down.
Damien sat comfortably on the beast’s back, one hand gripping Fenrir’s thick fur while the other rested on the hilt of his sword.
The map he had taken from Pendalf was tucked safely in his clothes.
He had what he needed.
Now, it was time to regroup.
~~~~~
Lizella sat beneath a towering tree, arms crossed, watching the people Damien had rescued.
The group was huddled together, exhaustion evident in their postures. Some sat on the ground, their expressions blank with fatigue.
Others whispered among themselves, likely trying to make sense of everything that had happened.
They were being watched over by two of Damien’s mana beasts:
Aquila, the majestic Griffin, perched nearby, its large golden wings partially tucked.
Luton, the Stellar Slime, which wobbled lazily on a rock close to Aquila, occasionally shifting its shape like a creature with no real concept of time.
Lizella rested her chin on her knees, her eyes flicking between the two beasts.
Aquila’s sharp, intelligent gaze flickered toward her every now and then, as if silently acknowledging her presence. Luton, on the other hand, seemed completely uninterested in everything around it.
Her lips curled slightly.
She had always been fascinated by mana beasts.
Powerful, legendary creatures bound to warriors through skill and willpower.
She had seen countless Dunters fight alongside contracted beasts, but Damien’s beasts were on an entirely different level.
A Monstrous Wolf. A Stellar Slime. A Griffin. A Three-Headed Hound.
And he controlled all of them effortlessly.
She wanted that.
More than anything.
She wanted to command creatures of her own.
But for now—she had to keep that desire hidden.
Lizella tapped her fingers against her knee, her mind wandering.
She hadn’t told Damien about her talent.
Or rather, she had gatekept it.
He didn’t ask, so she didn’t tell.
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him or anything.
But Damien had a way of taking control of everything, making sure all the moving pieces of a mission were in place.
If he knew she had awakened an A-Rank Beast Tamer Talent, he would have adjusted his approach—and she wasn’t ready for that.
Not yet.
Beast Tamers were rare.
A-Rank ones? Even rarer.
And until she understood her own abilities fully, she would keep it to herself.
For now, she would wait.
Lizella’s gaze drifted back to Luton, watching the Stellar Slime as it expanded and shrank lazily, making small, slow movements on the rock where it had been sitting.
Then—it disappeared.
In an instant, a blue portal opened, and the slime was sucked into it, vanishing completely from sight.
Lizella shot to her feet immediately.
Her first thought was an attack.
Had something happened? Had someone interfered?
She rushed forward, heading toward Aquila, her heartbeat quickening.
But the Griffin barely reacted.
Instead, Aquila simply shifted its weight, adjusting its wings slightly before settling back down, its demeanor completely unbothered.
Lizella hesitated, her brow furrowing.
She looked around, half-expecting something to lunge out from the trees.
Nothing.
Just the quiet rustling of leaves in the wind.
Slowly, she exhaled.
Right.
If Aquila wasn’t alarmed, then there was no threat.
And since Luton was bound to Damien, it must have been summoned.
Which meant—Damien was alive.
Relief washed over her, and she slowly returned to where she had been sitting.
She slid back down, pressing her back against Aquila’s warm feathers, letting herself relax once more.
Damien had told them to wait for him.
And so—they would.
Time passed slowly.
The sky remained a deep crimson, the eerie glow of the Bloodied Sky casting shadows through the forest.
Lizella didn’t know how much time had gone by, but after a while, she heard it.
Heavy steps.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
A deep, rhythmic pounding against the earth, growing louder.
The sound of something large approaching.
She pushed herself up from the ground, her head snapping toward the noise.
The rescued captives stirred as well, their exhausted expressions shifting into something else—hope.
And then—Damien emerged from the trees.
Riding atop Fenrir, his Monstrous Wolf.
His silver hair glowed faintly under the red sky, his blue eyes sharp and focused as he guided the massive beast forward.
Lizella let out a slow breath.
He was back.
And judging by the lack of injuries and the calm expression on his face—
He had won.
_________________
_________________
A/N: Dear readers!! I apologise for the lack of recent updates. I promise to upload two more chapters today to make up for the previous missed days.
I am still recovering but you all matter to me too!! Thank you guys!! I love you all!!!