The first strike came with impossible speed.
Louskas felt his bones crack before he even realized he'd been launched into the air.
Blow after blow followed—he slammed into the ground with bone-shattering force. He tried to rise, but his body simply refused to respond.
"Damn it… not now."
He collapsed, powerless.
The ape was already on him, attacking like a beast possessed.
Blood sprayed in every direction.
The creature seized his arm, lifted him high… and slammed him into the earth again and again.
The sound of splintering bones was like the twisted symphony of hell.
Then—
It tore off his right arm.
A scream unlike anything human erupted from Louskas' throat.
Blood gushed violently, painting the ground red.
The ape casually tossed the severed arm into its mouth… and began to chew. Slowly. As if savoring every bite.
But it wasn't done.
It grabbed his left leg… and tore it off the same way.
His face was unrecognizable—his teeth shattered, one eye missing, his long black hair soaked in blood and mud.
It was over.
He couldn't move.
He couldn't even feel pain anymore.
With his one remaining, blood-clouded eye, he watched the ape gnaw on his leg. The crunch of bones echoed in his skull.
Everything was slowing down.
"So… this is death?"
Regret seeped into his heart.
"I tried… I really tried. But it still wasn't enough."
And then—he felt something.
Not with his remaining senses, but with something deeper.
The world itself was… changing.
The air grew heavier.
The trees and beasts fell silent, as if sensing a force they did not dare to confront.
Then—
BOOM.
A sudden explosion of blood erupted.
The ape… detonated like an overfilled balloon, bursting into a crimson storm.
Louskas floated upward—gently, as though the world itself had caught him—and was seated softly atop a tree branch.
But the pain returned… a merciless wave. He had minutes—perhaps seconds—left to live.
He lifted his one remaining eye.
A woman stood before him—no, not a woman… a presence.
He couldn't see her face. She wore a cloak of transparent midnight and deep azure, veiling her form in shadows and fog. Only her neck was visible, marked with a strange glowing sigil.
"So… she finally came out," Louskas thought, though his voice never left his lips.
He had felt eyes on him for weeks now.
In truth, since entering this world, he'd always felt watched. Observed. As if the world itself was waiting for him.
The woman leaned forward slightly, her voice directed at him.
But Louskas couldn't hear. His eardrums had been shattered by the ape's earlier scream.
He tried to open his mouth… but even that was agony.
Then—
Another figure appeared.
This time, not veiled or hidden—she was radiant, terrifyingly beautiful.
Long black hair, crimson eyes glowing like twin suns of blood.
And on her face… fury.
The veiled woman turned to her, and the two began to speak in voices Louskas couldn't comprehend. Time seemed to stretch, pain keeping him conscious.
At last, the veiled one turned back to him.
She bowed… whispered something…
…and vanished with the wind.
The beautiful woman approached. She stared at him for a long moment, then gently cupped her chin as if recalling something forgotten.
Suddenly—A surge of blue light enveloped Louskas.
And that feeling—
A wave of overwhelming calm.
A warmth that flooded his soul.
Pure energy coursed through every cell of his body… rebuilding him. Restoring him.
It was familiar—similar to what he'd felt once before with the Demon Worshippers…
But this time, it was stronger.
A hundred times stronger. No… a thousand. Or more.
His body didn't just heal.
It transformed.
Inside him, his Core advanced.
From Yellow… to orange.
His spiritual energy had grown twentyfold—dense, powerful, radiant.
A few more minutes passed.
Then he felt it.
A presence—no, a pressure—that dwarfed anything he had ever known.
Even the Ten Greats… none of them came close. Even together, they couldn't reach this level.
He turned slowly toward its source.
The woman.
She stood there, smiling at him—warmly, almost gently.
To some, her beauty might drive them mad.
But to Louskas…It wasn't beauty.
It was an absolute threat.
His blood ran cold. His newly restored body screamed at him to run.
But he couldn't move.
Not even a finger.