The Forest of Twin Disasters did not forgive carelessness. It simply devoured the weak.

It erased the careless. And it hid the strong.

For days now, two demon strongholds had been searching the forest with growing urgency. Scouts had spread across dozens of kilometers of wilderness, combing through ravines, cliffs, ancient ruins, and dense woodland where even sunlight struggled to reach.

But the forest was vast.

And the human they were hunting had proven far more elusive than expected.

Most patrols had returned with nothing.

A few had not returned at all.

Now three demons moved through a deep corridor of twisted trees, their bodies low to the ground as they advanced silently between the roots.

They were not ordinary soldiers.

Each one carried the sharp, refined aura of high-grade demons.

Hunters... Trackers.

Executioners.

They had been sent with a clear objective.

Find the human. Capture him if possible.

Kill him if necessary.

The first demon stopped abruptly. Its head lifted slightly. The creature inhaled deeply through its jagged nostrils.

The forest air carried dozens of scents — rotting wood, damp soil, distant mana beasts, and lingering blood from older hunts.

But beneath all of it... 'There!'

A faint trace.

Human.

The demon's lips peeled back slowly, revealing rows of serrated teeth.

"Found it."

The other two demons stopped immediately.

One of them stepped forward, its tall body covered in overlapping black scales that reflected faint purple light beneath the forest shadows.

"You're certain?"

The tracker demon crouched lower, its clawed fingers brushing lightly across the soil.

The ground looked ordinary.

But to something like it, the forest floor spoke.

"Two days old," it muttered.

Its tongue flicked out briefly, tasting the air.

"And recent movement."

The third demon moved closer.

This one was leaner, its body long and flexible with several blade-like growths protruding from its shoulders and elbows.

It scanned the surrounding trees carefully.

"No ambush signs."

The tracker nodded.

"He moved through here."

The scaled demon frowned slightly.

"Alone?"

The tracker paused.

Its nose twitched again.

Then it shook its head.

"No."

It pointed deeper into the forest.

"Beasts."

The other two demons exchanged glances.

Of course.

The reports had mentioned it.

The human controlled several powerful creatures.

The tracker stood slowly.

"But the trail continues."

It turned its head slightly, staring deeper into the forest.

"And it's fresh enough."

The blade-backed demon's eyes narrowed.

"Meaning he's still nearby."

The tracker nodded once.

The scaled demon flexed its claws slowly.

"Good."

For days they had been searching empty forest paths and abandoned battlefields. The remains of slaughtered patrols had been the only proof that the human even existed.

Now they finally had something real.

A direction.

A trail.

The tracker began moving again, carefully following the scent as it wound through the trees.

The others followed closely behind.

They moved like shadows through the forest.

Fast.

Quiet.

Deadly.

Every few hundred meters the tracker stopped briefly, confirming the trail before continuing.

The human had not tried to hide it completely.

But he had moved carefully. Sometimes doubling back, sometimes crossing streams.

Sometimes moving across rocky terrain where tracks were harder to follow.

It was clever.

But not perfect.

After nearly an hour of pursuit, the blade-backed demon spoke again.

"Do you feel it?"

The scaled demon nodded slowly.

"Yes."

The air had changed.

There was a faint pressure now.

The lingering residue of battles.

Mana disturbances.

The smell of blood.

Lots of blood.

The tracker crouched again beside a shattered tree trunk.

The bark had been pulverized inward as if struck by a massive hammer.

It ran its claw across the broken wood.

"Fight."

The other demons approached.

The clearing ahead looked like a war zone.

Several trees had been snapped completely in half.

Large craters scarred the ground.

And blood stains marked several places across the soil.

The blade-backed demon knelt beside one of them.

It dipped a finger into the dried blood.

Then smelled it.

"Mana beast."

Another stain.

"Mana beast."

Then another.

It paused.

Its eyes narrowed.

"One of us."

The scaled demon stepped into the center of the clearing.

It could see the marks clearly now.

Claw gouges.

Burn marks.

Deep impact craters.

"This wasn't one battle."

The tracker nodded.

"Multiple."

Its nose twitched again.

"The human was here."

It pointed toward a wide patch of disturbed soil where something enormous had fallen.

"A large beast died here."

The scaled demon studied the crater.

Peak Grade Three.

Maybe stronger.

And yet, no body remained.

No core.

Nothing.

Just destruction.

The blade-backed demon stood slowly.

"And he killed it."

The tracker's lips curled again.

"Yes."

Silence settled over the clearing.

The implications were obvious.

This human was strong.

Stronger than most reports had suggested. But that didn't discourage them. If anything, it excited them.

The scaled demon turned toward the tracker.

"How long ago?"

The tracker inhaled again.

Its nostrils flared.

"Less than a day."

The blade-backed demon grinned.

"Then we're close."

The scaled demon's eyes burned faintly red.

"Continue."

The tracker nodded.

It turned again and followed the trail as it left the clearing.

The scent was clearer now.

Stronger.

Fresh.

They moved faster.

Their pursuit turned into a silent chase as they traced Damien's movements through the forest.

Over hills.

Across streams.

Through dense patches of ancient roots.

The forest grew darker as evening slowly approached.

But the demons did not slow down.

They were hunters.

And their prey was finally within reach.

Several kilometers ahead, Damien stood near a riverbank with Fenrir beside him, completely unaware that three of the forest's most dangerous trackers were now following his trail.

The hunt had entered a new phase.

The demons had found the scent.

And they were getting closer.

~~~~~

The river flowed quietly through the forest.

Clear water slipped between smooth stones, reflecting fragments of the dim evening sky above. The air near the riverbank was cooler, carrying the fresh scent of wet soil and moss.

Damien crouched beside the water, washing the blood from his hands.

The cold current carried the red stains away instantly.

Behind him, Fenrir drank deeply from the river while Cerbe rested a few meters away, its three heads lazily observing the surroundings. Luton floated near Damien's side, occasionally dipping part of its body into the water as if curious about the flowing current.

For a few minutes everything felt calm.

Peaceful.

Then Damien's hand froze inside the water.

His eyes shifted slightly.

Something was wrong.

He stood slowly and turned away from the river.

Fenrir noticed immediately.

The wolf raised its head, droplets of water falling from its jaws.

Cerbe also rose to its feet.

Damien walked several steps away from the riverbank and knelt beside a patch of disturbed soil.

At first glance, nothing looked unusual.

But to someone who had survived this forest as long as he had, it stood out.

A faint indentation.

Claw marks.

Subtle pressure on the soil that didn't belong to any natural creature of this area.

Damien studied the marks silently.

Then he exhaled slowly.

"So…"

His fingers brushed across the ground.

Three separate sets of tracks.

All recent.

Very recent.

The patterns told him everything he needed to know.

They were following him.

Fenrir approached quietly, its red eyes glowing faintly.

Damien pointed toward the ground.

"Three of them."

The wolf's ears twitched.

Cerbe walked closer as well.

One of its heads growled softly.

Damien stood and stretched his neck slightly.

The demons had finally found his trail.

It had been inevitable.

He had destroyed a stronghold.

Killed dozens of their soldiers.

Hunted across their territory for days.

Of course they would send trackers eventually.

The question wasn't if.

It was when.

Damien looked deeper into the forest.

The demons weren't far.

The freshness of the tracks told him that much.

Maybe a few hours behind.

Maybe less.

He smiled faintly.

"Good."

Fenrir tilted its head slightly.

Most people would panic.

Three high-grade demons hunting them through a forest already filled with deadly creatures was not a situation many would survive.

But Damien wasn't most people.

If anything, he looked amused.

He crouched again, examining the tracks more closely.

"These aren't normal scouts."

The claw marks were too precise. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Too disciplined.

These demons were trained hunters.

Trackers.

The kind sent specifically to find and capture targets.

One of the tracks was lighter than the others.

Faster.

Another one was heavier.

Stronger.

The third...

Damien paused.

That one had stopped several times.

Examining the ground.

Smelling the air.

The tracker.

He nodded slowly.

"So that's how you found me."

Fenrir growled quietly.

Damien stood again.

His eyes sharpened slightly.

"Well…"

He dusted the dirt from his hands.

"Now I know you're coming."

Luton bounced lightly beside him.

Cerbe's tails flicked slowly behind it.

Damien looked around the surrounding terrain.

The forest here was dense but not impossible to maneuver through.

Large roots twisted across the ground.

Several rock formations rose from the soil nearby.

And the river curved through the terrain, creating natural choke points.

A perfect place for something interesting.

Damien turned to Fenrir.

"You remember the hunt earlier?"

Fenrir's eyes gleamed.

The wolf understood immediately.

They were no longer prey.

They were predators setting a trap.

Damien crouched and drew a quick outline in the dirt with his finger.

"Three of them."

He marked their likely approach route.

"They'll come from here."

Fenrir watched carefully.

Cerbe leaned closer as well.

Damien continued drawing.

"If they're good trackers, they won't rush."

His finger traced a curved line around the riverbank.

"They'll try to circle."

He tapped three different points around the area.

"So we don't wait in the open."

Luton bubbled slightly.

Damien smiled.

"No."

His eyes gleamed.

"We make them come to us."

He stood up again and looked toward the darkening forest.

The demons thought they were hunting a human.

But they had just stepped into something far more dangerous.

The hunter had noticed them.

And now, he was preparing to hunt back.

Fenrir let out a low, eager growl.

Cerbe's flames flickered along its fur.

Luton's body rippled with quiet excitement.

Damien rolled his shoulders once.

"Let's welcome our guests properly."

Somewhere behind them, three demons were still following the trail.

Unaware that their prey had already discovered them.

And was now waiting.