---
There were few places in the world where silence felt hostile.
The Eastern Mistwood was one of them.
Thick silver fog coiled between towering black-barked trees, swallowing light, muffling sound. What sunlight pierced through arrived pale and trembling, as though afraid to set foot here. The air hummed with dread-alive, heavy, waiting.
Yuto and his party landed lightly on moss that drank sound like a starving thing. No birds. No insects. No breath of wind.
Elira shivered.
"It's like the air itself's scared."
Zarek placed a hand on his blade, eyes narrowed. "Beasts don't get this quiet unless something higher's hunting."
Mimi swallowed and adjusted her posture, beside Serphina. "Reminder to self: invent anti-panic charms."
Yuto said nothing. Every instinct in him pulsed warning, but beneath that… excitement.
A spark that wasn't fear,...hunger.
He could feel mana signatures in the distance. Dozens. No, hundreds.
Fear. Pain. Predatory glee.
The corrupted had already begun.
He looked over his shoulder.
This city, this path… I won't let them touch it.
"Stay close," Yuto murmured. "This one won't be like before."
---
The first sign was a tree split clean through, trunk charred black like it had been melted and frozen in the same breath. Then bodies,spirits, beasts, even armored human scouts. Not torn apart.
Drained. Hollow. Lifeless shells.
Elira exhaled shakily. "This corruption is… dangerous."
Mimi's voice quivered. "It didn't even eat them. It just, just sucked them empty."
Zarek clenched his jaw. "That's not normal for chimeras. What the hell are we fighting?"
A growl rolled through the mist, deep and wet, vibrating the earth like distant thunder. Something moved above them, fast. Trees trembled one after another, as if something enormous leapt through the canopy at inhuman speed.
Yuto's body tensed.
Then the fog parted.
It emerged slow and deliberate, each step crackling the air with wrongness. A monstrous body twisted from three apex predators: lion torso, serpent tail dripping venom, eagle talons wreathed in black ooze. Its eyes glowed a sickly violet, veins pulsing with corruption like molten tar.
But its most horrifying feature was its maw too wide, too many teeth, some still growing, others broken and regenerating mid-snarl.
And it spoke, voice wet and fractured:
"F͘e͞èd͡.͝"
Mimi immediately regretted being here.
"Well this is officially nightmare fuel for the next five years."
Zarek unsheathed his blade; the metal vibrated, eager for blood. "Finally. Something worth cutting."
Elira summoned her bow and staff , light gathering into shimmering spirit-steel. "Protect the rear, support fire ready."
Yuto stepped forward.
Power rippled from him like silent lightning.
His first real test since the former battle.
The chimera tilted its head and a strange recognition flickered in its corrupted gaze.
"S͠pi͡r̸it… ǫf̀ su͘n… fe͝e͠d͠ on̡ yo̵u."
Yuto's eyes narrowed. "Try."
Almost immediately...
The chimera blurred.
A shockwave exploded outward as it launched, claws raking through the mist like a living guillotine. Yuto barely had time to raise an arm, mana barrier flared and cracked like glass under a hammer.
Fast, faster than the werewolf.
Yuto's voice echoed with spirit command.
"Spirit Pulse: Convergence Form!"
Energy condensed around him, burning bright gold. The chimera slammed him through two trees, earth exploding beneath them. Yuto flipped midair, blasted forward, palm glowing.
"Solar Burst!"
Light erupted point-blank, searing corrupted flesh. The chimera shrieked, tail lashing. Venom sprayed, Kairo intercepted, blade swinging in a wide arc, wind slicing the venom mist into harmless droplets.
"Stay sharp!" Zarek shouted.
Elira fired, arrows of condensed mana energy piercing limbs, pinning the beast momentarily, while Serphina jumped and fired mana blasts from her blade.
Mimi waved her staff. "Field barrier! Support boost, Bravery surge! Try not to die!"
The chimera ripped free, regenerating with bubbling flesh.
It lunged again.
Yuto blocked, arms shuddering, sparks of spirit mana crashing like thunder. The creature's power was immense..its presence pushed on him like crushing atmospheric pressure.
So this is corrupted evolution…
The chimera roared in his face, breath rotten and hot.
Yuto answered with a snarl of his own.
"You think you can devour me?"
He punched.
Light detonated.
The chimera flew backward, tearing through stone, earth shaking on impact. Before it could rise, Zarek blurred forward, blade screaming.
"Tempest Fang!"
Wind exploded, carving deep gashes into the beast. Elira followed with rapid-fire bolts of pure light, each shot homing with surgical precision.
The chimera screeched, tail whipping in wild fury, venom raining like molten acid. Mimi slammed her staff down.
"Aegis Dome!"
A sapphire barrier snapped in place, venom splashing harmlessly.
Zarek whistled. "You're improving."
"I panic-study under stress!" Mimi barked back
----
The chimera, wounded and enraged, let out a howl that vibrated bone. Corruption poured off it like smoke, earth blackening. Its muscles swelled, eyes turning pitch black.
Yuto sensed it instantly...
It's evolving mid-battle?
It wasn't mindless.
It was adapting.
Learning.
A chill crept down his spine.
Just like the Vampire Overlord had warned.
The world is changing.
Corruption is rising.
And monsters are awakening.
The chimera lowered its stance, hunger blazing, no longer for flesh.
For power.
Yuto whispered to himself, voice hard.
"So even corrupted beasts… chase strength."
He remembered the Overlord's fist breaking his ribs. His own blood on the ground. The cold dismissal.
He would never feel that helpless again.
Never.
Spirit energy surged around him like a forming sun.
Serphina watched in awe.
Zarek grinned. "He's charging up."
Elira smiled softly. "Go show it who you are."
Mimi raised her staff. "Boosting magic on you, try not to explode!"
---
Yuto Charges up For a Moment
"Spirit Domain...
Solar Ascendance!"
The world shifted.
Fog evaporated.
Earth glowed gold.
Their surroundings bowed to his mana.
The chimera recoiled, instincts screaming.
Yuto's voice thundered, calm but undeniable:
"Fall."
He moved, no, disappeared...reappearing point-blank. His kick shattered bone, sending the monster airborne. Golden chains of spirit light erupted from the ground, binding it mid-air.
"Solar Judgement."
A colossal beam descended like a divine verdict.
The chimera's roar cut short, its body burned, purified, collapsing in ash.
Silence.
The Domain faded. Colors returned. The woods exhaled.
Yuto stood breathing hard, sweat beading. That technique strained him..shorter, sharper, more furious than before.
But this time…
He won cleanly.
He looked at his hands.
Strong, yet trembling.
Still not enough. Not nearly enough.
---
Zarek sheathed his blade. "Good fight."
Mimi jumped into Serphina and punched the air. "Victory! Minimal panic attack!"
Elira rested a hand on Yuto's shoulder, gentle. "You're getting stronger."
Yuto stared into the sky where the chimera had fallen.
Thinking Where the Overlord had stood before.
"I have to," he whispered. "This world won't wait."
Far above, unseen by them, a distant presence stirred. A dark silhouette watched through layers of space, cloak of blood-mist, eyes like rubies.
"He grows. How… entertaining."
The Vampire Overlord smirked.
"Ascend quickly, little spirit. I want our next dance to be worth savoring."
---
End of Chapter .
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Seriously guys, this is nothing close to what the next volume will bring for you, just wait and see. As I told you before, this first volume is the briefing of the beginning of the story, my main aim is the true story now. Please guys, support me in any way possible