SSS-Grade Acceleration Talent made me Fastest Lord of Apocalypse-Chapter 20: He’s not the same anymore.

"It's time..."

Damien muttered under his breath, his voice barely audible over the faint crackle of static that lingered in the air.

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Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger on the crossbow. The string snapped forward with a satisfying twang, unleashing a deadly arrow that tore through the air like a flash of lightning.

The Lightning Wolf—sensing imminent danger—moved. It ignored the soldiers clutching at its legs and surged forward, a storm of yellow electricity erupting around it. Sparks danced across its fur, momentarily lighting up the forest like flickering fireflies.

But it was too late.

The air in front of the beast quaked subtly. An arrow, glimmering with a faint silver aura and laced with sinister energy, sliced through the space like a spear thrown by a god. With pinpoint precision, it punctured the wolf's eye, boring through its skull and emerging clean out the other side.

Momentum carried the beast forward a few more steps, its body staggering awkwardly before collapsing with a thunderous thud.

Dead silence followed.

The forest, which moments ago echoed with growls and battle cries, went completely still. Even the breeze seemed to halt.

The soldiers stood frozen, their mouths slightly agape. Devrok's eyes slowly shifted from the fallen beast to his younger brother, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

What the hell...

The scene had unfolded so fast, so efficiently, that even battle-hardened warriors failed to process it.

But there was no time to dawdle.

Devrok, snapping back to reality, raised his voice. "Extract the core. Fast. We leave in five minutes!"

"Yes, Prince!" the soldiers echoed in unison, scrambling into action. Their shock hadn't entirely worn off, but the command gave them purpose.

Damien's eyes drifted back to the corpse of the Lightning Wolf, his expression unreadable. Then he raised a hand to his forehead.

"...So hot."

His fingers brushed against his skin—it was scorching. His temples pulsed like war drums, the throbbing pain reminding him of the price of using his talent.

Inside his mind, he had processed far too much data in mere seconds. Sensory overload, calculations, predictions—it all took its toll.

Suddenly, a translucent screen flickered into view:

[Mastery of Acceleration Talent increased.]

[New skill unlocked.]

[Accelerated Cognition: Level 1]

[Acceleration Exp gained: +50]

More notifications buzzed at the edges of his vision, but his head throbbed too much to register them all.

"Argh..." Damien groaned, squinting against the glowing windows. Each alert felt like a spike to his already aching skull.

With trembling fingers, he reached into his chest pocket and pulled out a small glass vial filled with pale green pills—Vitality Pills.

As these pills proved ineffective in treating Roosevelt Harrier, he brout them along in case of emergency.

Damien uncorked the bottle and tossed one into his mouth. It dissolved instantly, flowing down his throat like liquid fire.

Without delay, he activated Accelerated Healing, channeling the pill's effects through the marble embedded in his spiritual core.

A thin sheen of silver light spread across his skin. Within seconds, the pounding headache dulled, then vanished entirely.

Damien opened his eyes, refreshed, and glanced down at the final screen:

[Acceleration Talent Exp: 340 / 10,000]

There were no detailed explanations of what would happen upon reaching the cap, but something deep inside him—his instincts, perhaps—told him that this "Talent" was far from done evolving.

"It shouldn't evolve again... right?" Damien muttered warily, though he didn't sound convinced.

Meanwhile, the soldiers had expertly butchered the Lightning Wolf's corpse, carving it into neat segments. One of them approached Devrok, holding a glowing, golf-ball-sized Beast Core in his gloved palm.

"Prince."

Devrok accepted the core without ceremony and immediately issued his next command. "Pack up. We're moving."

The soldiers snapped into motion. Within moments, the site was cleared of all traces of combat.

Devrok walked over to Damien, just in time to see him tuck the glass vial back into his coat.

His eyes narrowed.

"Are those the same pills Priest Theodore gave us...?" Devrok asked, suspicion creeping into his tone.

Damien raised an eyebrow, unsure what his brother was getting at. "Yeah. Why?"

Devrok's brows furrowed. "Those are emergency reserves. If something happens to us out here, and Father needs them..."

He trailed off, the implication hanging heavy in the air.

Damien remained calm. "I only brought a few for myself. I'll return the rest."

Devrok didn't seem satisfied. Although he wanted to argue further but the situation didn't allow, so He turned to the soldiers and barked, "You two—take the pills back to the castle. Deliver them only to Lord Roan."

After contemplating for a moment, Damien handed over the vial, keeping only three pills. The designated soldiers mounted their horses and rode off swiftly.

A moment of silence passed as the team gave a brief burial to their fallen comrade. Then, regrouping, the remaining six plunged deeper into the forest.

Two hours later...

The thick canopy above barely let any sunlight through, casting the path ahead in perpetual twilight. The air was damp and thick with the scent of moss and blood.

Devrok raised his hand, signaling a halt.

Yet no one immediately responded. The soldiers looked exhausted—pale, their expressions dull and spiritless. Damien's own face had taken on a slightly ashen color, his breath coming in short, quiet intervals.

Devrok scanned the group, puzzled. Something was off.

We shouldn't have reached this deep so quickly...

They had somehow made it to the border between the First and Second Layers of the Ten Thousand Beast Forest in record time. But the path here had been littered with danger.

Too much danger.

They had encountered Iron-ranked monsters every few minutes. Some beasts even attempted group ambushes. Yet each time, Damien had stepped forward like a reaper.

Arrow after arrow, each strike had been swift, precise—lethal.

He hadn't wasted a single shot.

Devrok's eyes narrowed as he studied his younger brother.

Something had changed.

The once unpredictable but hesitant boy now wielded death like a finely honed blade. There was no fear in his strikes, no hesitation in his choices. He acted with cold precision—ruthless and unflinching.

The kind of decisiveness that only came from brushing close with death, over and over.

No, Devrok thought. He's not the same anymore.

And in that moment, he realized—this journey into the forest wasn't just dangerous for their mission.

It was transforming them, testing them.