Once again, the sun rose over the horizon, casting golden light across the vast plains. Dong and his guards continued their journey toward Dragon. Inside the carriage, Dong sat calmly, his sharp gaze fixed outside the window as the landscape rolled by.
> "The strongest monster I might face along this route should only be of SA rank," he thought, "but I can't afford to lower my guard. Anything can happen."
Hours passed in silence until the group reached a small, quiet village nestled at the edge of the forest. Dong stepped out of the carriage, his black coat swaying lightly in the morning breeze.
One of the guards approached and said respectfully, "Young Master, we should rest here for the night. The horses and men need time to recover."
Dong nodded. "Very well. But stay alert. I have a strange feeling about this place."
As they entered the village, several villagers gathered, whispering among themselves. The guard stepped forward and addressed the village head.
"Village Head, we'd like to rest here tonight. Do you have any rooms available?"
The old man smiled nervously. "Of course, Young Master. For someone of your status, we can even clear an entire building if you wish."
Dong shook his head lightly. "That won't be necessary. One room is enough."
At that moment, a small girl approached him. She had striking red hair and clear blue eyes that shone like gemstones.
"Big brother, you look strong!" she said cheerfully. "Your clothes are so cool!"
Dong smiled faintly, placing a hand on her head. "Thank you, little one. How old are you?"
"I'm eight!" she replied proudly.
"A good age," Dong said gently. "Lead the way then."
The girl grinned and motioned for him to follow. "Come, I'll show you your room!"
As Dong followed her through the narrow village path, he glanced back at his guards. "Stay alert," he ordered in a calm but firm voice.
The guards nodded and spread out, keeping their eyes on the villagers as the quiet evening descended upon them.
Dong entered the small wooden room the girl had led him to. It was simple but clean one bed, a table, and a single lantern flickering softly against the walls.
The girl smiled sweetly. "Okay, this is your room, young master. If you need any help, just call me."
Dong nodded calmly. "Alright. You can go now."
She bowed slightly and left. Dong closed the door behind her and sat on the edge of the bed, closing his eyes for a moment to rest.
A few minutes later, a gentle knock echoed on the door.
Knock… knock…
"Who is it?" Dong asked without moving.
"It's me," came the soft voice of the girl.
"Come in," Dong replied.
The door creaked open, and the girl stepped inside, holding a wooden tray with steaming food. "My lord, this is your dinner. Please eat while it's warm."
Dong accepted it with a faint nod. "Thank you… what's your name?"
The girl smiled shyly. "My name is Alica."
"Alright, Alica. You may go now."
"Yes, my lord." She bowed once more and quietly left the room.
Moments later, Dong finished his dinner and lay down to rest. The silence of the village wrapped around him, but as he began to drift into sleep
A sudden uproar shattered the calm.
Screams.
Crackling flames.
Chaos.
Dong's eyes snapped open. He leaped from the bed, his instincts sharpening instantly. Throwing open the door, he was met with a horrifying sight
the entire village was ablaze, and the night sky glowed red from the spreading fire.
The villagers were running in panic. Amid the flames, Dong's gaze fell upon his guards lifeless bodies scattered across the ground.
He clenched his fists. As expected… the king sent me weak guards on purpose. If anyone attacked, these men wouldn't be able to protect me.
Dong's expression turned cold. He looked up at the tallest building in the village and swiftly jumped to its rooftop. Stretching out his hand, he murmured a short incantation.
A faint blue glow surrounded him as he invoked a low-level water spell.
Dark, heavy clouds began to swirl above the burning village black as midnight. Within seconds, a torrential rain poured down, hissing as it struck the flames.
The fire weakened, then slowly died, leaving behind steam and silence under the rain-soaked sky.
As the last ember faded beneath the rain, the village was left in ruins charred homes, broken cries, and smoke curling into the night sky. Dong stepped down from the rooftop, his wet hair clinging to his face.
He moved swiftly among the debris, using his power to lift fallen beams and clear rubble. One by one, he pulled survivors from the wreckage injured men, trembling children, crying women.
Minutes passed.
By the time he stopped, he had already rescued ninety-three people.
Dong turned toward the exhausted village head, who was kneeling in the mud, tears mixing with the rain. "How many… how many have died?" Dong asked, his tone calm but cold.
The old man swallowed hard. "Thirteen, young master. Thirteen souls… gone."
A sudden cry broke through the silence. A woman, drenched and shaking, stumbled toward Dong. She fell to her knees and clutched his robe desperately.
"Lord! Please! Please save my daughter!" she screamed, voice trembling. "That monster… it took her away from me!"
Dong bent slightly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down. Tell me your daughter's name."
Through sobs, she whispered, "Alica… her name is Alica…"
Dong froze. His eyes widened slightly, disbelief flashing across his face.
Alica?
His expression darkened, fury flickering in his purple eyes. "What…?" he muttered. "That monster dared to take her?"
He straightened and asked sharply, "Tell me. What did that creature look like?"
The woman described it. its long, clawed arms, twisted horns, and the black mist that surrounded its body. The description matched perfectly with the monster Dong had sensed earlier on his journey.
Dong's jaw tightened. "So it was the same one…"
He turned to the village head. "Which way did it go?"
The old man pointed with a trembling hand. "T-The west, my lord… toward the western woods."
Dong didn't waste another breath. He clenched his fists, the ground cracking slightly beneath his feet.
"Stay together," he ordered coldly. "I'll bring her back."
Then, without hesitation, Dong dashed into the stormy night
toward the west, where the monster awaited.
A jagged silhouette moved between the trees then the monster stepped into view, Alica bound at its side, small and terrified. For a moment Dong hesitated; then, steeling himself, he raised his palm and whispered the incantation for a stone spell.
The earth answered. Ten massive boulders erupted from the ground and hurtled toward the creature. It twisted with unnatural speed, evading most of them, but one struck true smashing into its back and staggering it.
The thing hissed, voice like gravel. "You humans… I will kill you all."
Dong's jaw clenched. "How can it speak?" he murmured, more to himself than to the monster.
The creature lashed out with a brutal, sweeping hand and slammed Dong into midair. Dong spun, then drove his heel into the monster's skull. A wet, choking sound escaped the thing; its tongue was wounded, and it reeled.
With a roar of fury the monster seized Dong and crushed his arm. Pain flared—Bones snapped and hot blood ran from Dong's nose but he forced himself free, teeth gritted against the agony.
"Not… yet," Dong said through the pain. He steadied himself and unleashed another technique: the Lion's Fear. The spell struck like a thunderclap of authority; the creature's knees buckled, terror breaking its will. It sank to the ground, trembling.
Dong hovered above it, eyes hard. "Before I end this," he said, "tell me why you took Alica."
The monster's breath came ragged. "Her blood… it's different. Rare. Delicious. If I feed, I grow stronger."
Cold and decisive, Dong ended it. The creature collapsed. From its body, a dark, smooth stone fell and struck the earth with a dull thud.
Dong hesitated for only a second, then reached out and drew the stone to himself. As the strange grain sank into his palm, images flooded his mind flashes of a life that had once been human.
He saw a man with a family: a wife laughing, a child at play. Then the invasion masked figures emerging from the dark, tearing that life apart. He felt the terror as the man was captured, felt the pain of cruel experiments and endless torment, a slow corruption until flesh and mind gave way to something else. The memories ended in a scream, and the thing that remained had become what it had been: a broken, vengeful creature.
Dong lowered the stone, the weight of those stolen memories pressing at his chest. Around him, the forest was silent but for Alica's small sobs and the drip of rain from the leaves. He had saved her but the answer only deepened the wound: this monster's hatred had once been human grief, and somewhere beyond those woods, more darkness might be waiting.
Dong staggered beneath the weight of the memories as if the stone itself had become a living thing in his palm. He swore under his breath, the word tearing out of him. "What the" The vision still clung to his mind: the laughter, the screams, the cold, clinical cruelty. It was horrific in a way that made his blood run cold.
Alica lay limp in his arms, breath shallow and face pale. Dong moved without wasting thought there was no room for pity now, only action. He hurried back through the rain-slick paths toward the village, each step measured, each muscle coiled. In the back of his mind the image of the wolf-symbol from the memory kept looping. A human-wolf symbol an emblem of some organization. That realization flared hot anger through him.
An organization like that, he thought, they do worse than monsters. If they are behind this… they will pay.
When he reached the village square, the sight of the ruined houses and the villagers huddled together made him tighten his jaw. He carried Alica to the small house where the child's mother waited, trembling and stricken with hope.
"No" she began when she saw him, then broke into tears and flung herself at Dong, gripping Alica as if afraid the child might vanish again. "My daughter! Thank you, my lord oh, I will worship you like a god!" Her voice was choked with sobs of relief and awe.
Dong set Alica gently in her mother's arms and stepped back, rainwater dripping from his cloak. "She'll live," he said flatly. There was no need to persuade them his certainty served as its own comfort.
The village head hobbled forward, bowing clumsily. "Young Lord this monster
"It's dead," Dong interrupted. "I killed it." His words were small, but they carried. The villagers' gratitude rose like a wave; some began to cry, others spoke of building a statue in his honor.
"We will make a statue of you, Young Lord," the village head announced, voice trembling between gratitude and reverence.
Dong only gave a curt nod. Praise and statues meant nothing to him now; his mind was still shadowed by the stone and the organization behind the grotesque experiments he had witnessed.
Before dawn's light could be swallowed entirely by smoke and damp, Dong reached for his communicator crystal and sent a sharp message to the capital direct, uncompromising:
"An organization using the human wolf symbol is operating near the western woods. They kidnap, experiment, and create abominations. I will find them. Send reinforcements and inform the King."
The village head stammered, "Yes yes, Young Lord. We will spread the word and help however we can."
Dong turned away from the grateful crowd and walked to the edge of the village. The rain had slowed to a mist. Somewhere beyond the treeline, the laboratory, the kidnappers, and the emblem of that cruel order waited. The stone in his hand still thrummed faintly, a reminder of what had been stolen and of what he now owed the world in return.
( "Once I had a family… now I only have hunger")
(Every creature has a story. Mine was just rewritten with blood.)
(If monsters are born from pain, then humanity is the greatest creator.)