Chapter 3: Battle Instinct
Damon froze.
The girl with emerald hair clung to him.
"No way…" His voice cracked. "How do you possess the Seven Emotion Body?"
Blaire's eyes narrowed. "What did this child just say?"
He moved. One step and suddenly, he was before Damon. His aura exploded, shaking the floor and crushing the air around them.
"Boy, who the hell are you?!"
Thomas felt the atmosphere tighten. That pressure unmistakable.
"The power of a Kai Realm Walker."
Yet Damon didn't flinch. His red eyes burned like embers in a storm. He gently pulled the girl from his waist and gripped her neck.
Blaire stopped mid-step. "Boy… do you even understand what you hold?"
"You heard me," Damon said, voice cold. "The Seven Emotion Body."
Thomas appeared behind him in an instant. "Damon. Enough."
The girl gasped, her face draining of color. Damon saw the fear in his grandfather's eyes and released her. She stumbled back, running to her father's side, trembling.
Blaire studied Damon closely.
"That gaze… this boy hides too much."
Damon smiled faintly the kind of smile that unsettled warriors. His tone turned mocking.
"Ora ora… why the serious faces?"
He stepped toward the girl. She didn't retreat. Damon leaned closer, eyes glinting with amusement.
"You're intoxicating."
He licked his lips, then turned to Thomas.
"I'm not leaving. The Void will rise again."
Then he walked out calm, confident, unbothered.
Thomas stared after him, stunned.
"A boy without cultivation… standing against a Kai Walker?" He murmured, "What a monster."
Blaire burst out laughing. "Old demon! Your grandson has the arrogance of a dragon. I like him. I'd kidnap him if I thought I could."
Yuri, still trembling, knelt beside her father. Her cheeks burned.
"Calm down… he's only a child," she whispered.
But her heart betrayed her.
Yuri, the Child of the Poison Swamp, felt something new.
Desire. Possession.
She leaned close to her father and whispered something. Blaire's grin widened instantly.
"Old man Thomas!" he shouted. "Your grandson has tainted my daughter! How will she ever find a suitor now?"
A vein pulsed on Thomas's forehead. "Wild beast?!"
"Yes, a wild beast!" Blaire roared back, grinning. "He must take responsibility!"
"Father, you idiot!" Yuri yelled, face crimson, before running from the room.
The two old men stared at each other for a moment then burst out laughing.
"Old man," Blaire chuckled, "it's good to see you healthy."
He raised his hand, and his storage ring gleamed. A large black box appeared on the floor with a dull thud.
"He gave me this to keep for that child," Blaire said softly. "It suits him perfectly."
Thomas's expression softened. A shadow of sorrow crossed his face as he remembered his son, Gerald.
Blaire's tone shifted. "That boy's body… it's built for every battle art I know. What perverted talent."
He looked Thomas in the eye. "Old man, i have an offer between Yuri and Damon, as long as the terms are met the Heavenly Demon Sect will support the Void Mansion in every way two days after the contract is signed we will wash the northan Lord Jamar neck."
Thomas laughed, loud and wild. "Blaire your offer is quite tempting, but you mistake one thing we are at the strongest we have ever been. Did you not see that child's eyes? He walks the path of bloodshed that's why you want him so bad."
He grabbed a calabash of palm wine and downed it in one go.
Blaire removed his mask, revealing a handsome yet scarred face a deep mark running from his temple down to his eye.
"Old man," he said with a grin, "I can provide you with everything you need. Just join those two young ones in marriage."
Thomas blinked then roared with laughter. "Ombio! Why didn't you say so earlier?"
In a blink, he appeared beside Blaire. "Damn! I've found myself a sugar daddy!" He licked his lips dramatically.
Blaire grimaced, half amused, half disgusted. He picked up the calabash, curious, and took a sip. His eyes widened at the sharp, sour flavor but the cold burn down his throat made him smile. He drank deeply.
"Am I getting drunk from this?" he asked in disbelief.
"Don't look at me," Thomas chuckled. "That child brewed it in his state of madness."
Blaire nearly choked. "What?!"
Meanwhile, inside the Void Mansion, Damon walked through the silent halls, lost in thought.
"They severed me from my treasures," he muttered. "But I can still feel divinity within… like someone prays to me from afar."
He reached the balcony. The sky had returned to calm, but with each breath, the wind seemed to dance around him.
"Ontru zambala, unsha," Damon whispered the tongue of the mad. He began to dance, slow and fluid. The same ritual he had performed every day in his madness.
But now, his expression was serene. His eyes glowed with strange wisdom. His movements painted whispers in the air.
Far below, deep in the lands of Raksha where the Void Mansion stood something stirred.
A creature awoke. A single eye opened, glowing with malice. Two horns curved from its skull. Its arms were black as night, its body pale as ash.
"This bastard… why do you taunt my mind with those mantras?" it growled.
It looked toward the mansion. At that same moment, Damon stopped dancing. He stared into the distance toward Raksha.
The creature hissed. "Good. High-quality meat."
Then it moved, covering miles in mere minutes.
Damon smiled faintly. "I accept your challenge, worm."
He vanished into the halls and before him appeared two figures
Von Rim and Draco Rim, sons of Alfi Rim.
"Well, if it isn't our little mad dog," Von called out, smirking.
Draco laughed, but Damon didn't respond. He knew these two well rebels of the Void Family, geniuses at that.
Von's smile faded as Damon's gaze met his.
That look… something was different.
"His sanity," Von whispered. "It's returned."
"How dare you look at my brother like that!" Draco shouted, lunging forward. But before he could strike, Damon's speed tripled. Draco's attack missed completely.
"Damn when did that brat become that fast?" he hissed.
Von followed instinctively, curiosity burning in his chest.
"I have a feeling I'm about to witness something… something I've been waiting for."
Ahead, Damon leaped from a balcony overlooking the grand gardens. The brothers froze.
"Is he insane?" Von shouted.
Damon descended, accelerating then suddenly, his fall softened.
"Feather Step," Von breathed, eyes wide. "But… there was no energy flow!"
Damon landed gently among the flowers. His expression darkened.
"You vile creature," he said. "How dare you wither my plants?"
At the center of the garden floated the monster its veins pulsing with deathly aura.
"Ahh… high-quality meat," it rasped.
Then it screamed a piercing, bone-deep sound that echoed through the entire mansion, alerting every single soul present in the mansion of it's arrival.