"Hahaha, don't look at me like that," the mayor said as my gaze seemed to pierce straight through him.
"Why didn't anyone do anything about this?" I asked in a tense voice. I wanted to better understand what was happening.
The last thing I wanted was for this peaceful place to be swallowed by chaos.
"Simple. The lord sees us as just another small village in the middle of his territory, one that contributes very little in terms of wealth. In other words, we're not worth the expense of the troops he'd have to send."
"And the demons don't want to get involved in politics," I concluded, recalling Euphy's words.
"Exactly. It would be hard for them to explain why they sent either a demonic army—or a single man worth one—into human territory. And again, all that for what? For a backwater village?"
I sighed deeply. He was right. Defending the village would require many resources that no one was willing to spend.
In a way, that was probably exactly why this brotherhood had targeted the village.
"Is there any chance things will turn out well?"
"No. None. At best, some of us might flee to a large city to start over from scratch—and I mean some of us, and truly from nothing."
I nodded, my expression heavy, as I carefully weighed my next words.
"Listen, kid—may I call you that?" I nodded. "I intend to fight to the end like a real man, as do some of the others, but there's no salvation here except through a miracle. Don't waste your time on us. Just go on your way."
"I understand…"
The mayor saw no salvation and didn't want help either, because anyone who stayed would simply be dragged to death along with them.
With that, I sighed deeply, turned around, and left the house with heavy shoulders.
It was time to meet up with Euphy. Maybe she had a different perspective than the mayor.
Slowly, I walked along the village roads in search of her.
However, my search soon proved fruitless.
'She vanished without leaving traces—no footprints, no scent, no clues of any kind. That's strange, and above all, worrying…'
For a moment, I even thought she might have been kidnapped, but I quickly dismissed the idea.
Perhaps it was presumptuous of me, but I felt I knew Euphy well enough to be certain she simply didn't want to be found.
She had just hidden herself.
'Well… if there are no footprints, no scent, or anything else to give her away, there's still one last way to track her—one she can't protect herself from.'
Once again, I looked around the road, not searching for signs of her, but for rocks.
There were many along the road, as one would expect in a rural village.
Approaching a large, heavy rock, I sharpened my hearing and soon began to hear the familiar murmurs of the earth spirits.
I let myself be carried by them once more, allowing the rock to tell me the secrets of the land.
More than that, the rock had always been there—always silent, but always watching everyone around it.
Through the rock, increasingly clear scenes passed through my mind, depicting who had passed by in the last few hours.
A short while later, I moved on to another rock, and then another, slowly tracking Euphy's whereabouts.
Finally, near a field where children were running back and forth, there was a fruit tree with a low canopy and refreshing shade.
Patiently, I approached the trunk and looked up, where among the branches Euphy rested, a fruit in her hand.
Until the very last moment, she remained silent. I couldn't tell whether she still doubted I had found her or whether she hadn't noticed me yet.
"Euphy."
I called her name, finally provoking a reaction:
A long, drawn-out sigh.
"How did you find me? I'm sure I erased my tracks well."
I laughed in amusement, remembering the time I spent training. Euphy had no idea about that—or about Spiritual Hearing.
"It's not like you to hide without saying a word," I remarked as I lay down beneath the tree.
"…I don't really know. I just felt like disappearing, and I did."
She sighed again.
Silence reigned between us.
Seeing that she didn't seem willing to talk about it, I decided to change the subject.
"I found the Sinners we were looking for. There's a criminal organization made up of them around here, and they'll be attacking the village soon."
"Hmmm… is that so?"
Euphy replied apathetically.
"What should we do in this case? Personally, I want to help the village, but I'm afraid my status as a demon might get in the way."
Euphy bit into the fruit, the sound of her chewing echoing deeply in the quiet surroundings.
Then she swallowed.
"Well… don't worry about your status as an honorary demon. After all, an honorary demon declared by another honorary demon isn't much of a big deal—especially without stronger ties."
She bit into the fruit again, chewed slowly, and swallowed.
"As for the village… I'm sorry, but it's the end for them. The mayor is a cultivator and can deal with several Sinners on his own. Believe me, he's far stronger than you or me. I assume he's the one who told you this, and if that's the case, know that our chances are zero."
She finished and went back to eating her fruit. Euphy didn't think any further explanation was necessary.
In other words, I could do whatever I wanted, but it would all be meaningless effort.
That wasn't the answer I wanted.
"And us?"
I asked, seeing Euphy's inertia. The village would soon be annihilated, and she seemed indifferent to it all.
If we didn't leave soon, we'd be caught in the chaos one way or another.
"I need some time. After that, we leave…" she said curtly and went back to eating.
I sighed before getting up, irritated.
I hated this inertia of hers—and the mayor's.
The mayor even wanted to die fighting like a real man! What a joke! All of that just to feel like he had done everything he could, instead of actually doing everything he could.
Both of them were just standing still while a calamity approached through the forest.
Everyone was far too concerned with emotional talk instead of preparing for a fucking battle!
But the question that kept repeating in my mind was: Am I capable of changing anything?
Did I have enough power to stop a calamity?
Once again, I walked through the village roads, watching children play, women gossip, and the elderly laugh over card games.
But soon I noticed there were few men in sight, and those few looked grim.
'It seems the mayor didn't want to warn them so as not to disturb them. That way, until the very end, everyone would smile innocently while only a few bore the burden of many.'
I simply observed for a while, until…
I smiled in amusement.
Euphy would find what I was about to do reckless.
I returned once more to the mayor's house. He watched me with interest as I walked toward the unusual fireplace of a cultivator.
The flame burning there didn't whisper—it screamed for attention.
[ Consume Aura (100 → 0) to evolve your Claws from [Wild] to [Ferocious (Legendary)]? ]
'Yes.'
The aura spread through my body as usual and slowly began to touch my claws, muscles, bones, nerves, and other structures.
Normally, the aura acts so instinctively that it seems to operate beyond control.
After all, evolution is a straight path guided by instinct and paved with aura.
In a way, it is a corruption of nature—but also a corruption that is expected and planned.
Nature is far too powerful for something to slip so easily out of its control.
Therefore, evolution is the illusion of an individual's control over their own nature.
It is living while believing you control your own destiny, while merely dancing in the palm of its hand like a marionette.
But the path I chose to walk was the path of true evolution.
The path of true corruption.
So…
I would not think I had challenged nature.
I would truly challenge it, even if it cost me dearly.
Ignoring instinct.
I took control of my own aura like someone who spits in a blacksmith's face, steals his hammer, and says he can do better.
My claws are mine and no one else's. I will be the one to reforge them, in the way I prefer.
I extended my paw over the flames, the whispers of the fire spirits becoming increasingly clear.
I had forgotten the many whispers they had told me, but this time I would hear them clearly
I bit off my nails one by one, ripping them out, then bit into my paw, aiding my aura in destruction.
The scene was not beautiful—it was, in fact, the most grotesque so far.
But this is the true challenge!
Then, using immaterial aura, I gathered the immortal flame and infused it not only into my paws, but into my entire being through them.
The flames entered through my wounds.
Living fire burned me from within, coursing through all my veins, then exploded with power.
My heart erupted in flames as fire escaped through my seven orifices.
My face became that of a true demon, filled with fire.
I calmly guided the aura, reconstructing the first paw with my knowledge of anatomy and tissues, aided by the fire spirits themselves, part of the energy also being used to regenerate my previous wounds.
The first paw emerged from the fire, no longer orange, but black as charcoal, while my veins stood out like magma flowing through an active volcano.
The forge was complete.
I smiled in satisfaction, feeling the power of the flames flow through me.
Then, I repeated the process three more times. Each one was a powerful affirmation against nature itself.
This time, I had truly become a deviant.
I was a true demon.
Every structure of my paws was unnatural, filled with an intelligence unique to me.
I was no longer completely a tiger.
I was something new.
More than just the claws, with the same amount of aura and energy, more and more structures were affected—heart, veins, and arteries.
Only now did I realize that the evolution I had carried out until then was flawed.
It wasted my power.
"I know what you intend, but this isn't enough," the mayor said harshly, pulling me back to reality.
Immediately, I smiled like a demon and said mockingly:
"Shut up, you fucking idiot. If I think it's enough, then it will be enough." I looked at him, slightly irritated. "It's never about how much power you have, but how you use it. Didn't anyone teach you that?"
I snorted before adding,
"I can see you've never fought in a war before. I guess I misjudged you."