The night split apart in a storm of sound and violence.
The Direfang Sovereign lunged again, faster than its size should have allowed. Its claws ripped furrows into the earth, each swipe wide enough to bisect a man. The hunters scrambled to keep distance, shouting orders that sounded like the thin voices of men clinging to hope.
Aiden stood firm.
Every fiber of his body screamed that he should run, that no sane man faced a Rank 6. Yet his feet rooted to the ground, as if his body already understood something his mind couldn't admit: there was no one else. If he fled, the village would burn.
The beast's maw opened wide, breath hot with the stink of blood and decay. It lunged, jaws snapping shut toward him.
Aiden ducked low, his body moving before thought, his arm lashing out in a blur. His fist slammed upward into the monster's chin, snapping its jaw shut with a crunch that rattled the trees. The impact sent a shockwave rippling through the village square—windows cracked, wooden beams groaned, and hunters clutched their weapons tighter, disbelief painted across their faces.
But the Sovereign only reeled back for a heartbeat before its paw descended like a hammer.
Aiden braced—too slow.
The world spun as the blow smashed into his side, sending him tumbling through the dirt. He rolled hard, dust and blood choking him, before crashing against the base of a half-shattered cart. His ribs burned, fire lanced through his chest, and he coughed wetly.
The Sovereign stalked toward him, the earth trembling under its steps.
---
From the crowd, terrified whispers rose.
"He stopped it… he actually struck it…"
"No, no human can fight a Rank 6—what is he?"
"Monster…"
The word was faint, but it carried. Aiden's heart clenched. Even now, even as he fought for them, suspicion was spreading like fire through dry grass.
Miriam's voice cut through.
"Silence!" she barked, her staff striking the ground with a burst of light. "Open your eyes. Without him, you'd already be dead!"
Her words stilled the crowd, but not their fear. Their gazes clung to Aiden, torn between hope and dread.
---
Aiden pulled himself up, wiping blood from his mouth. His vision swam, but his body… his body was alive with fire. The hunger surged, twisting his pain into strength, whispering promises of power if he only gave in.
Bite it. Tear it open. Drink its strength.
His teeth ached, sharpened, his nails darkening like claws. His breath came ragged. For a terrifying heartbeat, he wanted it. Wanted to leap onto the Sovereign's back, sink his teeth into its flesh, rip and devour until nothing remained.
But then he saw them—the villagers pressed together in fear, Miriam's steady gaze, the hunters standing with bloodied weapons despite knowing how hopeless they were.
Not yet, he told himself. Not this way.
The Sovereign roared and leapt, jaws wide.
Aiden moved to meet it.
He dropped low, thrust his shoulder forward, and slammed into its chest with a force that cracked bone. The beast howled in fury, tumbling backward into a cluster of trees, snapping them like twigs.
The ground shook. Silence hung. Then—the Sovereign rose, shaking itself, more enraged than wounded.
---
The battle raged across the square.
Hunters joined the fray, though they knew their weapons could barely scratch the beast. Arrows clattered against its hide. Spears jabbed at its legs, distracting it for seconds at a time before they were swatted aside. One man screamed as he was flung across the dirt, his arm twisted at an unnatural angle.
"Fall back!" another cried. "Don't cluster, spread out!"
But their voices quavered.
It was Aiden who held the monster's gaze, who kept drawing it back, who bore the brunt of its fury. Blow after blow, claw after claw, he deflected, dodged, countered—but each exchange shredded him more. His arms trembled from strain, his blood painted the earth, his breaths came in ragged bursts.
And still, the hunger whispered.
You're too weak. You'll die. Unless…
His hands shook as another strike slammed into him, driving him to his knees. The Sovereign loomed overhead, claw raised to carve him apart.
Unless you let me in.
---
Time slowed.
Aiden stared up at the descending claw, the moonlight glinting off bone, the shadow swallowing him whole. In that instant, he felt it—the edge of his limit. He could break, or he could embrace what he was.
"Not yet…" he growled through clenched teeth. His eyes flared, red burning at the edges. He gripped the hunger, forcing it to bend, forcing it to feed his strength without consuming him.
The claw fell.
Aiden caught it.
The impact cracked the earth beneath him, but he held fast. Veins bulged across his arms, power surging through every fiber of his being. The hunger roared inside, but this time—it was his roar too.
He twisted, dragging the Sovereign down. With a shout that tore his throat raw, he slammed the beast into the ground. Dust and debris exploded outward, hunters stumbling back in shock.
The Sovereign thrashed, but Aiden mounted its chest, his fists raining down. Each strike boomed like thunder, the air splitting with every impact. Bone cracked, blood sprayed. The villagers watched in horrified awe as a young man, barely more than a boy, pummeled a Rank 6 monster into the dirt.
But his face—his eyes burned red, his teeth bared too sharp, his voice not entirely human.
"Monster…" someone whispered again.
This time, the word spread.
---
The Sovereign roared, its body convulsing with desperate strength. It flung Aiden back, sending him skidding across the earth. The beast staggered up, jaw broken, blood dripping from its maw—but alive, burning with fury.
Aiden lay panting, trembling, his body wracked with pain. He'd nearly lost himself. The villagers' fearful gazes pierced deeper than any wound.
He looked down at his hands—bloodied, trembling, claws faintly visible before they retracted.
The hunger laughed inside him.
And the Sovereign howled again, the sound shaking the night, promising that this battle was far from over.
---