[Warning! A large portion of the body is damaged.]

[You have reached the maximum level. It is advised to evolve.]

[Do you want to start the evolution?]

[Yes/No]

Something ancient whispered, forcing Lucian to regain a bit of his conciseness. Opening his eyes, he turned his gaze around, trying to remember what had happened.

[Warnin--]

’Not not.. now..’

Ignoring the notification, he blinked, trying to stand up. The sun shone brightly in the sky, forcing him to close his eyes.

’Wha—’ He was about to question the situation around him when the reality hit him.

"MASTER..." Crying out in panic, Lucian remembered how, in the final moment, the hunter had turned its spell at the master.

"Hunter...? Wh—" Fear gripped his chest as Lucian snapped his head around, searching frantically for the lunatic. There to his left, still standing his ground, was the hunter staring in his master’s direction.

’No...’

Before he could think about it, Lucian’s mana moved on its own. Woven in a complex pattern, he imbued life in the blood. Just as he was about to cast the spell something caught his attention.

Squinting, he let go of the mana holding the blood and heaved a sigh of relief.

’It’s dead...’

The hunter was dead; there wasn’t an ounce of mana in his body. Its being was nothing more than the husk of its past glory.

One obstacle was clear, but it still wasn’t the time to celebrate it. Turning around, he looked at the jungle.

Everything was scorched; the earth was charred, and trees had blackened. Their leaves are turning into ashes before drifting in the sky by the howling wind. The birds are singing in the sky, waiting for the heat to calm down.

Fearing the worst, Lucian tried standing up but couldn’t. Perplexed, he looked down but found that his left legs missing, bone protruding out of his thigh.

Arghhh!!

Something broke inside of him as the pain came crashing down. Looking down, he inspected his body.

Along with the leg, one of his hands was missing. His entire back was burned, flesh mangled with the burnt cloth.

Moving a single muscle felt like taking a dive in hellfire, but Lucian didn’t cower. Determined to reach his master, he grabs a handful of grass and drags himself toward the warlord... or at least what is left of him.

Faced with the full impact of the spell, the warlord was beyond recognition. Not a single bit of green was left on its body as most of its body turned charred black.

Even from this far, Lucian could see the monster’s ribs and the heart that had stopped beating.

"Nooo nooo... MASTER.." Hoping his fear was wrong, the demon cried with all his might.

"MASTER..."

"...."

"MASTER, DO YOU HEAR ME.." He did it again and again. Except for the howling wind and the burning flame, nothing was talking back to him.

Suddenly, Lucian began dragging himself with a ruined body. The ground beneath him burned hot, but he kept crawling. His hand dug into the ground as he pulled himself inch by inch. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Each step was slow, painful, but he did not stop. His eyes were fixed ahead... toward his master.

He would reach him, even if it meant going through hell.

Lucian moved and crawled toward the one he had vowed to serve. Toward his master, who had given him a second life. To a being who had given him a place to live.

The heat twisted the air, and the world blurred, but his focus never wavered. His breath came out in weak, and his body screamed to stop, but the demon moved.

As his strength faded, Lucian reached his master.

Moving to his side, it took all his strength to move the warlord aside. There, hidden behind the body of the monster, was his master.

"Master..." Lucian cried in pain, his world turned upside down in an instant.

Dhruv had hidden behind the monster, but the inferno still reached him.

His skin was badly burned, looking like cracked, dry earth. Some parts of his body were peeling, showing raw flesh beneath. His hair was gone, and his face was hard to recognize.

One eye was swollen shut, the other barely open, no light in it. His lips were dry and split. Smoke still rose faintly from his body.

Fortunately, he breathed but in short, painful gasps, his chest shaking with each breath.

"Nooo noo noo."

Fearing the truth, Lucian instantly weaved blood in his hand. Altering its property, he began to pour blood between his lips. Some of it trickled in, then suddenly Dhruv jerked, coughing violently.

Blood spilled out of his mouth as he began choking, gasping for air.

Looking at his situation turning for the worse, Lucian stopped pouring blood and gripped his head in panic.

’What to doo... what what!!.’ In a state of panic, he frantically looked around, trying to find anything that could be of his help.

’Yes!! Hunters... they had items.... Potion, yes... they drank something.’ Soon, he remembered the potions they drank midway through their battle.

A shroud of hope seemed to awaken inside of him as Lucian began crawling toward the corpse.

Argh!!

Each step felt like torture when the wound around his body began to open. Dirt and ash rubbed into his burnt flesh, flaying the remaining skin from his chest, but Lucian pushed forward

After what felt like an eternity, he reached the first corpse.

With trembling hands, he tore through its first pocket. There was nothing inside it. Then comes the second, the third, and all the pockets.

The potion was nowhere in sight.

In desperation, Lucian ripped all the cloth out, but all of it for nothing. With no way out of it, Lucian’s mind slipped to the worst

He saw himself wandering around the barren dungeon, completely alone. The goblins were dead, and so was his master.

Their corpses lay torn apart, slowly being devoured by the beasts. The hunters stood beside the corpse, pointing their fingers at him. Their voices filled with mockery, ridiculing him for his incompetence.

’Noo.. noo.. thhhaat can’t be there more of them...’ Covering in fear, turned looking at other corpses.

Lucian’s heart sank into cold despair as it searched the hunters’ corpses, only to find no potions in any of them.