"Don’t kill !" Kevin’s voice cracked with desperation as his knees hit the ground. His once arrogant face had collapsed into raw panic. "If—if you let go, I won’t tell anyone about the demonic blood! I swear it! I’ll disappear—I’ll never co after you again!"
Max sneered, his expression cold and rciless. "Have you ever heard the phrase... dead n tell no tales?" His voice was quiet, but it cut through Kevin like a blade.
Kevin’s pupils constricted as sheer terror washed over him. His body trembled, his breath turned ragged, and without any care for dignity, he began to sob. "No, no, please—don’t kill ! I don’t want to die! I—I’ll do anything!"
Tears and snot flowed freely down his pale face, mixing with the dirt and blood. He had once been a proud genius of the Void Soul Tower, feared and respected—but now, he was nothing more than a sniveling wreck, begging for his life.
But then, just as he looked up, expecting another sneer or perhaps the final strike, he saw sothing unexpected. Max stepped back. Then again. And again. Until he stood several paces away, far out of Kevin’s reach.
Kevin blinked, confusion replacing panic. Had Max changed his mind? Had his begging worked? "You... you’re sparing ?" he whispered, voice trembling with hope.
But what Kevin didn’t notice—what he was too blinded by relief to see—was the look on Max’s face. That wasn’t pity. That wasn’t rcy. That was horror.
From the bubbling lava pool behind Kevin, a gray shadow silently slithered upward like smoke with weight. It moved unnaturally, its presence cold and suffocating, as if reality bent slightly around it. Before Kevin could even turn, the shadow lunged forward and latched onto his back.
"AHHH!" Kevin scread, the sound tearing from his throat with soul-deep agony. His body convulsed violently, blood spurting from his limbs—but none of it splattered the ground. Instead, it was absorbed... into the gray figure, which clung to him like a parasite.
Then ca a scene Max would never forget.
The shadow... rged with Kevin.
Not possessed him. Not killed him.
It beca him.
Blood-red flowers burst across Kevin’s skin as if blooming from within, grotesque and alien. His screams continued, each one weaker than the last, until they dissolved into low, guttural groans. His eyes, once black with fear, turned into an eerie silver-gray, lifeless yet glowing with a strange light. His already pale skin shifted color—silver now, like molten tal cooled into human form. A faint but horrifying silver aura pulsed around him.
Max’s heart skipped a beat. His instincts roared with alarm.
This wasn’t so hidden trump card. This wasn’t so technique Kevin had summoned.
This was sothing else entirely.
Sothing ancient. Sothing wrong.
Chills shot down Max’s spine as he turned and ran without a word. He didn’t care to find out what that thing was. Whatever had co from that lava pool was not ant to exist in this world. His instincts scread it louder than any reasoning ever could.
Run.
He shot out of the Ice Valley like a streak of light, crossing the Azure Cloud Mountain range without pause. His breath was heavy, his heart pounding. Only after flying for hundreds of miles without looking back did Max finally stop in a secluded, shadowed forest. He landed on a moss-covered stone, hands on his knees, chest rising and falling rapidly.
Cold sweat dripped from his forehead. The wind rustled the leaves overhead, but to Max, it felt like whispers. His muscles tensed with every sound.
Even now, his scalp tingled with unease. His mind replayed the horrific scene over and over—the gray shadow, the rging, the glowing silver skin, Kevin’s transformation.
He had faced death before. Fought Legend Ranks. Killed his enemies without blinking.
But this...
This was sothing else.
After resting for a while and letting the chilling fear in his chest slowly settle, Max finally stood up and set out once more. There was no point in lingering in that cursed valley, not after witnessing such a twisted scene.
The sky above remained dim and tinted with gray clouds, giving little indication of ti, but by his internal sense, Max could tell it was already the third day since entering the secret domain. To his surprise, the outer region alone was incomprehensibly vast—like an independent world forged from powerful spatial arts.
The sheer magnitude of power it would take to open such a secret domain made even Max pause. It wasn’t sothing ordinary experts could hope to create. Half a day passed before a new landscape ca into view—an entire stretch of rugged land covered in sharp black peaks, with plus of smoke rising high into the sky.
A cluster of volcanoes. The ground trembled faintly with each step, and distant roars of molten activity echoed like thunder.
Max narrowed his eyes as he reached for the half-burned map he’d obtained earlier. "The map ntioned possible treasures in the volcanic regions," he muttered, staring into the thick heat haze that distorted the air.
He wasn’t entirely sure what kind of treasure, but instinct and experience told him that any place this dangerous had to hold sothing valuable. After a mont of thought, he made his decision and flew toward the volcanic cluster.
As he got closer, the temperature rose drastically, the air itself glowing faintly red as shimring heatwaves danced across his vision. He imdiately summoned his vital essence and ford a shell around his body, shielding himself from the unbearable heat. Lava flowed down so of the distant mountains like rivers of fla, and the scent of sulfur filled the air, stinging his nose.
With careful steps, Max climbed one of the smaller volcanoes. The steep incline was littered with hazards—coiled poisonous snakes flicking their tongues from under rocks, massive black scorpions scuttling along the jagged terrain, and even the dried skeletons of beasts and unfortunate warriors who had t their end here.
Their bones were scorched black, charred by the volcanic heat. It was clear this place was far from peaceful. The further he climbed, the more cautious he beca, keeping his senses sharp. About halfway up the mountain, Max paused as sothing caught his eye. On the western side of the slope, nestled against a natural terrace, was an open clearing shaded by an odd red hue.
The source? Fiery-red trees with glowing bark and leaves like burning feathers. They looked ethereal—clearly not ordinary flora. As he moved closer, the ground trembled lightly beneath him, and he spotted movent among the trees.
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