The forest surrounding Asgard was alive that morning. Sunlight stread through the tall treetops in irregular beams, illuminating patches of moss, thick roots, and the thin mist that hadn’t yet completely dissipated from the damp ground. The air carried the scent of earth, crushed leaves, and fresh blood.
Shura moved among the trees with the silent grace of an absolute predator.
The enormous body of the white tigress glided through the vegetation almost silently. Her muscles rippled beneath her white fur, marked by black stripes that seed like living shadows following her every movent.
Her golden eyes were alert.
She had already hunted quite a bit that morning.
A few ters behind her, three smaller tigers—mbers of her small pack—carried recent prey in their jaws. A large deer, two boars, and the body of a young elk were being slowly dragged across the forest floor.
It would be taken to Asgard.
The city needed at.
Shura liked to make sure the supplies never ran low.
She stopped on a wide rock and raised her snout to the wind.
The air carried various scents.
Small rodents hiding under the leaves. A group of deer further away. A bear that had passed through the area a few hours before.
Nothing out of the ordinary.
She jumped off the rock and resud walking, the tigers behind her obediently following, accustod to the rhythm of the hunt.
The silence of the forest was broken when a large boar rushed out of a nearby bush.
Shura reacted instantly.
Her body exploded into motion.
She advanced like a white lightning bolt between the trees, cutting through the vegetation with brutal force. The boar ran desperately for a few ters, but there was no real chance.
Shura leaped.
Her front paws crushed the animal against the ground, and her tusks found its throat with deadly precision.
The sound was quick.
The boar died in seconds.
She released the body and took a few steps back as two of her tigers approached to carry off their new prey.
Then sothing changed.
Shura slowly raised her head.
Her gaze narrowed.
There was sothing strange in the air.
It wasn’t a typical forest scent. It wasn’t a natural predator, nor a wounded animal, nor the tallic odor of fresh blood.
It was different.
She walked a few steps in the direction from which the wind was coming, her ears pricked up and her body tense.
The tigers behind her also stopped.
Shura advanced between two large trees and then reached a small clearing.
There, in the center of the open space, the ground was marked.
There was no blood.
There was no corpse.
But there was sothing.
Marks.
Deep furrows in the ground, as if sothing extrely heavy had touched the ground there.
Shura approached slowly, sniffing the air.
The sll was strange.
Weak.
But it definitely didn’t belong to anything natural in that forest.
She carefully surveyed the terrain, circling the marks. So nearby trees had scratched bark, as if sothing large had passed through forcefully.
Shura looked up.
The branches were broken.
Sothing large had crossed that area.
Very large.
The tigress let out a small, thoughtful growl.
It didn’t seem like the work of an ordinary creature.
She looked towards the city.
And then she made a decision.
Shura turned sharply.
Her tigers imdiately understood the silent command and began dragging their prey again.
But this ti they weren’t just returning from a hunt.
They were going to warn soone.
So ti later, the gates of Asgard opened to let in the white tigress.
The guards were already accustod to her presence.
So soldiers stepped aside as Shura passed through the city entrance, her tigers carrying prey behind her while workers quickly approached to collect the hunted animals.
Shura didn’t stop.
She traversed the city streets without slowing down.
So people looked on with curiosity or respect as she passed. The figure of a gigantic white tiger walking through the city still drew attention, even though it was already relatively common.
Her destination was clear.
The main residence.
But when she reached the central courtyard, she noticed sothing.
Strax wasn’t there.
Shura sniffed the air again.
And then turned her head towards the training wing.
In the residence’s training area, Strax was busy.
The polished stone floor reflected the light streaming through the tall windows as he perford an absurd series of exercises.
He was upside down.
Supported by only one hand.
His body perfectly aligned as he perford slow, controlled push-ups in that impossible position.
Each repetition was perfect.
The muscles in his arms and back contracted under the effort as he maintained his balance with almost irritating ease.
It was during the fifteenth repetition that he noticed movent in the doorway.
Strax finished the movent and pushed his body upwards, spinning in the air before landing softly on his feet.
His eyes imdiately t the enormous figure of the white tigress standing in the doorway.
A smile appeared on his face.
"Shura."
The tigress walked into the room with tranquil steps.
Strax crossed his arms.
"It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other." Shura stopped a few feet ahead of him.
Her enormous body moved smoothly as she assud a more relaxed posture.
When she spoke, her voice took on the humanoid form she used when communicating.
"Lord Strax."
She inclined her head slightly in greeting.
"It’s been a while."
Strax tilted his head to the side, still smiling slightly.
"How was the hunt?"
Shura replied simply.
"Productive."
She paused briefly before continuing.
"But I found sothing."
Strax raised an eyebrow.
"Sothing?"
Shura nodded.
"In the forest."
She looked directly into his eyes.
"Sothing you’ll probably want to see."
Strax was about to ask more when sothing caught his attention.
His eyes briefly drifted behind Shura.
Soone was entering through the side corridor door.
A tall female figure with long black hair and demonic wings folded on her back walked calmly toward them.
Albedo.
Strax smiled wider.
"Look who it is."
Albedo stopped a few steps away and bowed elegantly.
"Lord Strax."
Her voice was soft and respectful.
"It’s been a while since I’ve seen you," Strax comnted.
Albedo slowly looked up.
"I was busy taking care of so matters."
She straightened her posture.
"But now I’m back."
Strax inclined his head slightly.
"And you ca to see ?"
Albedo nodded.
"Yes."
She clasped her hands in front of her.
"I found sothing I believe you would like to see."
Strax blinked a few tis.
Then he looked at Shura.
Then at Albedo.
Then back at Shura.
A smile slowly appeared on his face.
"Wow."
He ran a hand through his hair.
"Looks like I’m going to be busy."
Shura imdiately spoke.
"Mine is more important."
Albedo slowly turned his face to the tigress.
"Excuse ?"
Shura kept her gaze steady.
"I found sothing in the forest."
Albedo crossed his arms.
"And I found sothing involving demons."
Shura replied without hesitation.
"The forest is part of Asgard’s territory."
Albedo raised an eyebrow.
"Demons are also a bigger problem."
Shura took a step forward.
"Unknown predators are a priority."
Albedo took a small step as well.
"Demonic problems are a priority."
Strax looked at the two of them.
The smile on his face was growing increasingly amused.
Shura continued.
"I found marks of sothing big."
Albedo replied imdiately.
"I found suspicious demonic activity."
Shura growled softly.
"Sothing entered the forest."
Albedo crossed her arms again.
"Sothing entered demonic territory as well."
Shura narrowed her eyes.
"That’s different."
Albedo tilted her head.
"Why?"
Shura replied imdiately.
"Because the forest is my area."
Albedo replied without missing a beat.
"And demons are my specialty."
Strax raised a hand in the air as if trying to organize the chaos.
But the two were already completely engrossed in the discussion.
Shura spoke again.
"I found the marks first."
Albedo replied.
"But my case is potentially more dangerous."
Shura scoffed.
"You don’t even know what you’ve found."
Albedo smiled slightly.
"And you do?"
Shura was silent for a second.
"...Not yet."
Albedo gave a small, victorious smile.
"Exactly."
Shura narrowed her eyes again.
"But I know where it is."
Albedo replied.
"And I know who might be involved."
Strax finally spoke.
"You two just showed up at the sa ti."
Shura turned to face him imdiately.
"Because my case is urgent."
Albedo also turned to face him.
"Mine too."
Strax looked at one.
Then at the other.
Then he sighed.
"I just wanted to finish my training."
...
Far below the roots of the mortal world, beyond the layers where even natural magic beca rarefied, existed a realm where the air was heavy and hot like the breath of an eternal furnace.
The Underworld.
There, the sky was neither blue nor black.
It was a deep, pulsating red, as if the firmant itself were made of living flesh illuminated by distant flas. Mountains of black stone rose on the horizon, cut by rivers of lava that slowly descended the slopes, illuminating everything with an infernal glow.
The ground was cracked.
Deep fissures released toxic fus and occasional flares, while grotesque creatures moved among the shadows of the rock formations.
But in that particular region, there was silence.
A heavy silence.
Before a colossal fortress built of gigantic bones and molten volcanic rock, several demonic figures were gathered.
The structure seed less a building and more a petrified organism. Columns made of the vertebrae of titanic creatures supported dark arches, while black tal gates were marked with ancient symbols of containnt.
It was a prison.
Or at least it was supposed to be.
A tall demon walked slowly before a group of kneeling creatures.
Its skin was a dark, almost black red, marked by ancient scars that seed to have been engraved with ritual blades. Two curved horns protruded from the back of its head, and its eyes glead with a predatory yellow light.
He stopped before a massive, broken stone door.
The seal engraved on it was shattered in two.
Demonic chains were scattered across the floor.
So were still smoking.
The demon stared at it silently for a few seconds.
The air around him seed to vibrate with contained rage.
Finally, he spoke. "That abomination was summoned to the mortal world and hasn’t returned... That ans it’s in a living body. Furthermore, the other one escaped..."
His voice was deep and distorted, echoing like the sound of rocks being crushed.
The creatures kneeling before him cowered even further.
One of the lesser demons slowly raised his head.
"Lord Kharzoth... we... we reinforced the chains. The seal should have held longer."
Kharzoth turned his face slowly toward him.
The look was enough to make the lesser demon tremble.
"It should have." He walked a few steps to the center of the circular room where they were gathered. "You said that last ti too."
The lesser demon imdiately lowered his head.
Another spoke, his voice thick with tension.
"The creature was weakened. The containnt ritual was constantly draining its energy."
Kharzoth let out a low sound that could be mistaken for laughter... if it weren’t so laden with contempt.
"And yet she escaped."
He turned to face the dark opening of the broken prison.
Inside, there was only darkness now.
But deep marks on the walls indicated a violent escape.
Stone had been torn.
Ancient runes were destroyed.
Demonic chains had been snapped as if they were fragile threads.
Kharzoth slowly ran his hand through his short, black beard.
"That thing should never have existed."
None of the other demons answered.
They all knew it.
The creature that had been kept there was not just an ordinary monster.
It was a mistake.
A twisted creation born of forbidden experints.
Sothing that not even the Underworld considered safe to keep loose.
Kharzoth turned again to his subordinates.
"How long?"
A grey-skinned demon answered quickly.
"A few hours, sir." Kharzoth’s gaze narrowed.
"Then she’s already far away."
Another demon spoke.
"She may have risen to the surface."
This made the air in the room seem even heavier.
Kharzoth remained silent for a few seconds.
Then his lips curved into sothing that wasn’t exactly a smile.
"Of course she rose."
He walked to the entrance of the fortress and looked at the flaming horizon of the Underworld.
"The surface always attracts this kind of creature."
Behind him, sothing moved.
Shadows began to gather near the walls of the fortress.
A dozen creatures slowly erged from the darkness.
They were dogs.
Or at least sothing resembling dogs.
Their bodies were enormous, covered in black fur that seed made of solid smoke. Ribs were visible beneath the flesh, and red eyes glead within elongated skulls filled with sharp teeth.
Each breath released small flas from their nostrils.
Demonic dogs.
Perfect trackers.
Kharzoth looked at them approvingly.
"You know her scent."
The creatures growled in response.
A low, deep sound echoed off the walls of the fortress.
The demon slowly raised a hand.
"Find her."
The dogs imdiately began to move, sniffing the air as the shadows around them distorted.
So leaped high and disappeared into gaps in space itself.
Others scurried towards the edges of the Underworld where natural portals connected different planes of existence.
Kharzoth watched everything in silence.
One of the smaller demons approached cautiously.
"Lord... what if she reaches the mortal world?"
Kharzoth replied without even looking at him.
"She already has."
The demon swallowed hard.
"So... should we send hunters?"
Kharzoth finally turned his face.
His eyes glead now. "The dogs are just the beginning."
He looked at the horizon again. "If that thing is really loose..."
His voice grew lower. "...then soon everyone will know."
Another demon asked. "What should we do when we find it?"
Kharzoth was silent for a mont.
Then he answered.
"Don’t confront it." The creatures behind him exchanged glances.
"Follow." "Observe." "Mark." He slowly opened his hand, letting a small black fla dance across his palm. "And tell where it is."
The smaller demon frowned. "And then?"
Kharzoth crushed the fla with his fingers.
"Then..." His smile finally appeared. "...I myself will go get it."
At that sa instant, high above those infernal depths, in a silent forest near Asgard, sothing enormous was moving among the broken trees.
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