The most enthusiastic event of their expedition began without any omen.
There was no roar of beasts, no violent spatial distortion, and no fluctuation of hostile aura. It began with nothing more than a warm breeze.
The wind brushed past their faces gently, carrying a faint sweetness that did not belong to ordinary air. It seeped into their lungs, into their blood, and even into their consciousness. The tension accumulated from battles, trials, and pursuit gradually loosened.
Their steps slowed.
Their alertness dulled.
Without realizing when it happened, their bodies felt light, as though gravity itself had weakened. It felt as if they were drifting rather than walking.
Like feathers carried by a current.
They descended upon the land.
Beneath their feet spread an endless green expanse. The grass shimmered with life, gently swaying in layered waves. In the distance, hills stretched beneath a pale, glowing sky. Streams flowed quietly through shallow trenches in the earth, reflecting distorted silhouettes of the group.
It was peaceful.
It was beautiful.
Too beautiful.
Happiness rose naturally in everyone's hearts. Even hardened warriors felt their mouths curve upward unconsciously. For a fleeting moment, exhaustion vanished. The pressure of survival faded.
They walked forward without resistance.
And then–
They forgot.
They forgot why they had come.
The mission that once pressed against their chests as a constant burden turned hazy. The danger that should have made their nerves tense faded into background noise. Even their identities as cultivators felt distant.
Time passed.
How long, none of them knew.
Then–
Kiaria's seventh sense trembled violently.
It was not a warning sound.
It was a forceful drag, as if something latched onto his consciousness and ripped it backward.
His vision shattered.
The warmth vanished instantly.
The green land twisted and collapsed into fragments.
Reality surged back like a tidal wave.
The world had never been green.
A thick pinkish red fog of nectar mist blanketed the land. Visibility dropped to a few meters at best. Light itself weakened inside the haze, becoming dull and sickly.
The ground beneath them was not soil.
It was a battlefield.
Corpses were scattered everywhere–layer upon layer. Some belonged to humans, some to beasts, and many to races that no longer existed. Their armor had fused into decaying flesh. Bones protruded through blackened muscle. Many bodies were neither fully alive nor truly dead, suspended in a horrifying state of half-decay.
The smell was unbearable.
It was not merely the odor of rot–it was the stench of soul-corrosion.
Then came the sound.
Buzzing.
Endless, overlapping buzzing that assaulted the ears and nerves alike. It was the sound of wings–countless wings.
Kiaria's pupils shrank.
He took one instinctive step–
And his body stopped.
His foot had been swallowed.
A Soul Eater Creeper had bitten into his leg without making a sound.
Cold surged from the point of contact. Thick invisible tendrils coiled around his limb instantly, wrapping tighter with each heartbeat. The creeper had no visible body–only living stamens that moved through the fog like hidden predators.
He pulled.
The more he struggled, the tighter it became.
His gaze shot up.
"Diala–"
No sound came out.
The nectar mist numbed his mouth and throat completely. His voice was swallowed before it could form.
Panic surged.
His vision strained through the fog, desperately searching for her. He tried to turn–
Another stamen wrapped around his torso.
Something slimy crept against his dragon-scale armored foot. It was not acidic. It was not poisonous.
But something beneath the armor was bubbling slowly, reacting with unstable energy.
Kiaria's breathing grew unsteady.
Not from fear for himself.
From fear for Diala.
No… I can't stay like this.
She is in danger.
All of them are in danger.
The thought repeated endlessly in his mind.
His normally calm consciousness began to fracture under emotional turbulence. His seventh sense, which functioned best under clarity and stillness, weakened under the chaos of worry.
And then something worse happened.
Every time his fear spiked, Diala's image inside his heart faded slightly.
Not in memory.
In presence.
It was as if an external force was trying to erase the imprint she held in his soul.
That realization shook him more than death ever could.
The Zhar Do Globe responded.
A massive pulse of pure energy erupted from Kiaria's body. It was not lightning, nor flame–it was condensed essence of higher-order existence.
The fluctuation expanded outward in a silent storm, dominating a thirteen-meter radius around him. The fog churned violently. Several of the creeper's invisibly coiled stamens were repelled instantly.
But the Soul Eater Creeper did not release him.
The vines only slackened for a fraction of a second before tightening again.
Kiaria ground his teeth.
The burst of energy forced open a brief pocket of mental clarity.
One decision formed instantly.
Sky Crystal Shadow-Severer Sword.
He reached toward his spatial ring.
The Divine Sword manifested in his hand before he could even touch the ring.
The blade absorbed the surging pure energy greedily. Holy radiance and Evil corrosive energy collided around the sword's surface, producing violent distortion.
Opposing energies clashed without either being able to devour the other.
"Holy Radiance Form–One."
"Zhar Do Globe–synchronize."
The fusion formed.
Shadow-Severing Holy Radiance.
A cross-shaped arc of blinding light tore outward.
The invisible bindings around his body were severed instantly.
Yet–
No scream.
No violent reaction.
The mystery deepened.
The Soul Eater Creeper was neither plant nor beast. Its true form consisted entirely of living stamens. Being severed did not register as pain.
The Sky Crystal Shadow-Severer Sword trembled violently in Kiaria's grip.
Its current state was not yet strong enough to channel sustained tyrannical-level energy.
The buzzing around him ceased abruptly.
Then–
The radiance was swallowed.
The nectar fog surged back thicker than ever, blocking vision completely.
"What…?"
Kiaria steadied his breathing.
Raw destruction would not work.
So he changed direction.
He activated the Purifier of Shadows, forcibly dissolving the fusion state and restructuring the pure energy flowing through his meridians.
The violent essence transformed into a massive Water Dragon.
He slashed upward.
The dragon roared toward the sky.
Dark clouds gathered unnaturally fast.
Torrential rain poured down.
The falling rain diluted the nectar fog, forcing it to sink toward the ground.
Visibility returned bit by bit.
The buzzing came back.
But this time, it was no longer scattered.
Countless necromantic insects surged together, merging midair.
A gigantic form took shape.
A Behemoth of insects.
Its body blotted out the rain clouds. Its wings generated violent gusts of poisonous wind. Corpse-light burned in its countless compound eyes.
Kiaria stared at it calmly.
Compared to the Evil Spider he had once faced–
This creature's aura was weaker.
But in raw power–
It was far from insignificant.
"Water alone won't be enough."
The SpiritualSpringEmbryo having relic rotated.
Lightening attribute–
But this was not ordinary lightning.
It was Tribulation Lightning.
Condensed.
Hunger Dragon-forged.
Explosive by nature.
A forbidden research product he had cultivated in secrecy ever since ascension.
His second self-created technique:
Shadow Lightning – Hungry Dragon.
Kiaria raised his sword.
Two fingers slid along the blade.
A deep blue lightning orb flowed wherever his fingers passed, wrapped inside a translucent Water Dragon sheath.
At the sword tip, the orb condensed to a deadly point.
He tilted the sword vertically.
His eyes reflected cold azure light.
He slashed.
There was no wave.
No outward sign of attack.
The Behemoth charged instantly.
Malicious intent in Behemoth activated charged Shadow Lightning – Hungry Dragon in the form Water Dragon again.
In visible look, ordinary like the one which caused rain before, but something inside it in a small pea size rested.
Behemoth swallowed the Water Dragon whole.
For an instant–
Nothing happened.
"Plasma Expansion." Kiaria murmured.
The condensed dragon collapsed inward.
Then detonated.
Thirty thousand degrees of heat erupted.
The Behemoth disintegrated instantly–turned into vapor and charred fragments.
Yet the exploding water vapor formed a perfect lattice around the reaction core, sealing the catastrophic heat inside and preventing it from spreading outward.
Silence fell across the battlefield.
The buzzing vanished.
The nectar mist thinned rapidly.
Deep within a higher domain beyond mortal perception–
An ancient will stirred.
The Goddess of Nemesis opened her eyes.
The destruction of the necromantic swarm did not anger her.
It amused her.
It pleased her.
Reality warped.
The remaining fog dissipated completely.
Kiaria turned instantly.
"Diala!"
Everyone except her lay bound once more by Soul Eater Creepers.
Then–
Space folded.
A figure manifested before him.
A woman clad in black, interwoven with crimson fatal patterns. Her gauntlets, shoulder armor, and knee guards were all carved in skull-shaped sigils. Her pitch-black hair fell freely, held only by two white, beak-shaped hair-slides.
A shattered mirror-like nimbus rotated slowly behind her.
The Goddess of Nemesis.
With a single gesture, the creepers released the others.
All of them collapsed into unconsciousness.
Only Kiaria remained awake.
"Child," she said calmly,
"Do you wish to become my disciple?"
Kiaria did not step back.
"I don't even know what you are," he replied steadily.
"And why would a goddess choose me?"
Nemesis laughed softly.
"Arrogance. Persistence. Courage. Will."
"You possess all four."
She took a step forward.
"You are a perfect vessel."
Her finger extended toward his forehead.
The moment her divine mark touched his skin–
A terrifying repulsive force erupted from his scar.
Nemesis was thrown backward.
Her pupils shrank.
"This…"
Her expression shattered.
"I'm done…"
"I'm done…"