Eira stood alone in the suffocating darkness.
Her fingers instinctively reached into the air, trying to draw mana from the surrounding world—trying to call upon the wind to sweep away the unnatural night.
But her heartbeat quickened as realization struck.
Nature mana…
It was almost nonexistent here.
The air felt dead. Hollow. Empty.
Like a forest where every living thing had already been buried.
"Pointless effort."
Vorgath's voice echoed from everywhere at once, as if the darkness itself had spoken.
"Why not just surrender?"
Eira tightened her grip on the bow in her hand.
"I will never—"
"—give up!"
SHING! SHING!
The Nightmare Sentinels lunged.
They appeared and vanished through the darkness like flashes of black lightning.
Eira spun, releasing arrows in rapid succession.
Some attacks she blocked with the hardened edge of her bow.
Others were too fast.
Claws tore across her shoulder.
Another across her arm.
Each strike burned.
And worse—
Every wound felt as if something was draining her strength.
Blood slowly soaked into her green garments, dripping onto the dark floor of the domain.
Yet Eira remained standing.
Even as her breathing grew heavier.
Even as her body weakened.
Somewhere within the endless shadows, Vorgath sighed in boredom.
He walked calmly within his own darkness.
"What about a quiz to pass the time?"
His voice carried mocking amusement.
"The question is… why did the Elves have to be exterminated?"
Silence.
Eira said nothing.
Her breathing grew rougher as her eyes searched desperately through the darkness.
"…."
"Ding dong. Correct,"
Vorgath chuckled mockingly.
"There is no reasonable answer."
His laughter echoed unpleasantly across the domain.
"But one thing is certain."
"We fully support it."
"Huh?!" Eira snapped, glaring toward one direction in the darkness.
"Because…"
Vorgath's voice suddenly sharpened.
Cold.
Rotten with ancient hatred.
"WE HATE ELVES."
"The way your kind pretends to be pure… living in harmony with nature."
"Every breath you take from this world makes us sick."
Eira froze for a moment.
The killing intent in the darkness had grown far heavier than before.
"And yes…"
Vorgath's voice lowered into something venomous.
"Your presence right now disgusts me as well."
Then
In a blink—
Vorgath switched places with one of the attacking sentinels.
He appeared directly in front of Eira before she could react.
His hand shot forward.
GRAB!
His fingers clamped tightly around her throat, lifting her high into the air.
"Ugh—!"
Eira choked.
Her bow, Verdant Shard, slipped from her grasp and clattered onto the ground.
"Let's end this."
Vorgath smiled.
A thin, terrible smile stretched across his pale face.
He raised his right hand.
With a simple gesture—
The shadows beneath his feet surged upward violently.
They stretched…
Hardened…
Sharpened.
Forming a long, hiltless black blade.
A weapon born purely from hatred.
SCHLICK!
The shadow blade pierced straight through Eira's abdomen.
Instantly—
The Domain of Eternal Night shattered like glass struck by a giant hammer.
Darkness cracked apart.
Light returned to the ruined northern plaza of Oakhaven.
At the moment.
Kaera slowly opened her eyes.
Her vision blurred as consciousness struggled to return.
And the first thing she saw—
Was that horrifying moment.
Eira's body impaled on the black blade, suspended in the air as blood spilled from the wound and dripped onto the broken stone below.
Kaera froze.
Her heart seemed to stop.
The world went silent.
Only the thunder of her heartbeat echoed inside her ears.
"…Oi…"
Her voice broke into a faint whisper.
Vorgath turned slightly.
Noticing his main target had awakened.
"Oh. You're awake."
With casual indifference, he pulled the shadow blade free.
Blood burst from the wound as Eira's body collapsed forward.
Then he tossed her aside like discarded prey.
The elf's body landed several steps before Kaera, dust scattering around her unmoving form.
Kaera forced herself to stand.
Every joint screamed in agony.
But she dragged her feet forward anyway.
"E… Eira…"
She knelt and pulled the elf into her arms.
Warm blood flowed immediately.
Soaking her hands.
Her clothes.
Her skin.
The warmth of that blood felt like poison burning through Kaera's sanity.
Eira's breathing was faint.
Shallow.
Barely there.
But she was still alive.
Her eyes fluttered open weakly, struggling to focus.
For a brief moment—
They met Kaera's gaze.
Dull.
Fading.
Looking at Kaera one final time.
The world stopped.
No words came from Kaera's throat as she held the slowly cooling body.
The smell of blood was no longer just the scent of death.
It was the key.
The key to a door inside her soul that had been locked for ten years.
Her emotions shattered completely.
Grief.
Fear.
Trauma.
All of it collapsed inward—
Leaving only an empty void.
And from that void…
Darkness was born.
The memories came flooding back.
Burning homes.
The laughter of demons.
The lifeless face of her mother.
Everything collapsed into a single point.
Then exploded.
"Aargh… AAAAAAARRRGHHHH!!!"
A horrifying scream tore across the plains of Oakhaven.
Kaera clutched her head violently.
Pain beyond comprehension ripped through her mind.
As if thousands of blades were tearing her brain apart.
Blood began streaming from her eyes.
Thick red tears.
More blood poured from her nose.
The demon blood within her veins boiled violently.
It awakened.
Not to protect.
But to destroy.
A crushing aura erupted from Kaera's body.
The pressure was so overwhelming that Vorgath instinctively raised his arm to shield his face.
The force pushed against him.
For the first time—
He planted his cleaver into the ground just to keep himself from being forced to his knees.
' This power…'
Vorgath's eyes widened.
' Chaos Energy.
An enormous amount of it.
This pressure… it's almost equal to a General…'
"Impossible…"
"This girl…"
Thick red mist engulfed Kaera.
The blood flowing from her wounds no longer fell to the ground.
Instead—
It began floating.
Spinning around her body like a horrifying cocoon.
The blood wrapped around her form, consuming it entirely.
When the crimson mist finally parted—
The human named Kaera was gone.
In her place stood a monstrous figure made entirely of dense blood.
Its shape barely resembled a human.
Three massive blood tails sprouted from its back, whipping through the air like starving serpents.
Its face was blank.
No mouth.
No nose.
Only two blazing red eyes burning through the liquid mask.
Its claws elongated, dripping corrosive blood that hissed the moment it touched the ground.
Her humanity had vanished.
Only the instincts of a predator remained.
"Grrh… HRRRRR!"
The sound that escaped its throat was not human.
It was the growl of a beast born from hell.
The creature stared directly at Vorgath.
Its aura distorted the air itself.
Reality trembled.
"Hoo…"
"So this is what you were hiding."
Vorgath narrowed his eyes.
He tightened his grip on the cleaver.
He understood now.
He was no longer facing an angry girl.
He was facing a disaster.
"Looks like…"
"This game just got interesting."
BOOM!
Without warning—
The blood creature launched forward.
Its speed shattered the limits of sight.
The empty plaza exploded beneath its step, leaving a deep crater behind.
An impossible battle was about to begin.