The beast leaned in slowly as if demonstrating that it wasn’t a threat. Naturally, Killian shrank back, heart pounding but keeping eye contact with the beast that stopped an inch away from his nose.

It tilted its neck, looking into his eyes intently. Then a cold deep voice echoed within Killian’s consciousness.

"Void-Born, how do you have a fire that burns like the Holy Fire?"

Killian swallowed hard, blinking once. The realism of the beast’s question made his heartbeat less frantic, but he didn’t look away.

"How do you also control the Sound Element?"

Killian finally moved his head away when the beast leaned forward again. His fingers reached for his Void-Bat that had loosened from his grip but the beast pinned its hind leg on the weapon.

It was thrice the weight of a natural tiger even if it looked the size of one. Its hot breathing fanned against Killian’s skin, even when it lowered its head.

"So you do hear me, Void-Born? How do you hear me? Why? What are you? Answer me, Void-Born."

When Killian said nothing, it slowly pulled away, squinting its eyes till they were almost closed slits of glowing ember. Its angled neck straightened.

"Are you... Him?"

The question rested between them.

Killian’s eyes flickered, and he averted his gaze. With the beast’s canines in close distance, his survival instincts were going haywire, screaming to run, to fight, or just scream, but he did none of it.

The only thing in his head was panic about his face being snatched off his neck, yet his face did nothing to show his internal panic.

His expression remained a mask of eerie calmness, as his nerves had been dulled by the pain he experienced.

"Get back," he muttered, the words barely audible. "Now."

The beast’s eyes snapped open. Its nose scrunched as it snarled, shifting the energy in the air and making Killian’s heart skip many beats at once.

The barrages were coming back around, as well as the purple fur beast that had been engulfed in its own holy flames and sped the forest like a blazing chariot— heading straight towards Killian..

"Enough of this."

The dark-red beast jumped in front of Killian, just as the purple beast crashed into them.

A flare of flames burst out from their impact, burning off almost half of the Shadow Barrage. The shockwave sent Killian crashing against a tree. He rolled to the ground, the tendrils hurrying to cushion his fall, and moving with a fluidity that felt weird.

He stayed there, feeling nothing, staring at the tendrils. The pain had receded to numbness and released his nervous system to its body. He bent his neck towards the two beasts.

The purple-fur beast was on the ground, underneath the paw of the dark-red fur-beast, passed out cold.

"We will meet again, Void-Born."

Those words sounded hopeful from the beasts, even if Killian wanted nothing of it. "For now, thank you for releasing us. Even if you didn’t plan to."

The dark red fur-beast pushed its head under its unconscious kin, lifting the massive creature with effortless strength. It stopped at the entrance before leaving.

"You may die before your evolution completes, Void-Born. The inferior beasts approach. Survive this and we may meet again."

Then the beast sauntered away, making no sound, and soon sprinting into oblivion.

Silence returned to the surroundings but only for a while.

Killian felt a slight relief as strength returned to his hands. And that was just when he heard the familiar growls of the panthers of the regions.

They rushed towards him, drawn by the sound of the explosion and scent of primal rage. Dozens of them, their eyes glowing dimly with their teeth bared.

They moved confidently as if they could smell his weakness, and easy prey. Killian let his head fall softly to the side. He couldn’t raise his arm to command a ball of fire, and Fire Skills weren’t instinctual like the Void’s.

’I am going to die here. After everything.’

Without a command, his tendrils surrounded him, forming a coffin-shaped protective barrier around him.

He never needed to command them anymore. With a mere thought— or perhaps without any thought at all— they could attack and activate his skills.

Yet his grip never left his Void-Bat, and his pale knuckles ached to act. "I’m empty," he mouthed weakly. "I want to feed myself."

His red eyes stared blankly at the beast’s marching towards him, and he couldn’t process if he wanted to feed off them, or his tiredness made his reasoning blur. He blinked once.

Within the same second, the panthers were already above him, trapped within his tendrils and hung like socks on a tree.

They wriggled helplessly, frustrated and confused at the sudden movement. More charged forward from the forests, and above the trees.

Tendrils wrapped around Killian’s frame, raising him gently above the ground and carefully bringing him to his feet.

He stood there, swaying slightly, surrounded by hanging predators, none of which he had consciously caught.

A soft smile spread to his lips, staring down at the meal he would consume. The pain was gone, and the burning in his veins had settled into a low-pressure vibration that felt like restrained power.

[FIRST STAGE EVOLUTION - COMPLETE]

[Host Status: Ascended]

[Affinity Alert]↓

[New Skill Unlocked (Evolution Skill)]

[Dawn Of Death]↓

Killian smiled faintly, staring at the text, then at the carnage surrounding him. He hadn’t moved. He hadn’t fought. He had simply existed and that became a weapon on its own.

From his understanding, once again, it was only when he was near death did the Void skills ever come.

’It is more sadistic than I could ever be.’ he stared down at his hands, and couldn’t shake the feeling that something human had behind the pain and burning.

Killian sighed softly, returning his eyes to the prey hung before him.

He initiated the attack. <Dawn Of Death>

He felt the presence before it happened. A dark vortex growing out of nothing behind him, stretching till it covered twice the perimeter of his back.

An entity raised its hands from the vortex, inky black and cold to the touch, wrapping its arms around Killian’s waist.

Dark aura emitted from its figure but the feeling was akin to when he had met the Void in the void space and Killian felt safe.