Souta stood atop the tree, gazing down at the magnificent sight spread before him.

’A man-made scar...’ Saya’s voice echoed in his mind.

"Yeah," Souta muttered in agreement.

He raised his sword and pointed it toward the massive trench carved into the land, his eyes narrowing. This wasn’t the work of nature. It had been gouged out by a high-level expert. The precision, the sheer destructive force behind it... only someone truly powerful could have left such a mark.

If he were at full strength, he could replicate something like this with ease. But now? Impossible.

"I just hope there isn’t a Hero-rank expert around here," Souta said quietly. "If someone at that level sets their sights on me, things will get troublesome."

Suddenly, he froze.

His body stilled as his instincts sent a faint warning. Souta slowly turned his head and a moment later, the bushes below burst apart.

A massive tiger emerged, its fur wreathed in raging flames. Heat distorted the air around its body, and the pressure radiating from it made the surrounding vegetation wilt.

’A third evolution stage monster...’ Souta instantly judged.

The tiger roared, the sound shaking the forest, before lunging at him. Its paw swept through the air, carrying scorching heat that tore through the space between them.

Souta leaped backward, narrowly evading the strike.

Boom!

The tiger’s claws smashed into the tree, reducing it to splinters. Flames exploded outward, spreading across the ground and igniting grass and nearby trees.

Souta landed lightly on the scorched earth and faced the beast, his grip tightening on his sword.

"Hey," he said calmly, speaking in the monster tongue so it could understand him. "I wasn’t hunting you. But if you’re picking a fight, I don’t have much choice."

"I want you!" the tiger replied, its voice feral and filled with hunger.

It roared once more and charged at him again, flames surging violently around its body.

"Then don’t blame me," Souta said coldly. "Your monster orb... hand it over."

He raised his sword.

In the next instant, he swung.

The blade moved at such terrifying speed that, to the tiger, it was nothing more than a fleeting blur. A sharp chill ran through its instincts, and its body locked up for a split second, the only warning it would ever receive.

Whoosh!

The tiger landed on the ground.

Its massive body trembled violently. A thin, perfectly smooth line appeared across its torso, glowing faintly before spreading wider. Moments later, the two halves slid apart.

The flaming tiger died just like that.

The gap between a fourth evolution stage monster and a third was immeasurable. And Souta was not an ordinary fourth stage.

It was widely acknowledged, among monsters and experts alike, that he was the strongest fourth evolution stage monster in history.

Souta looked down at the severed corpse and shook his head, a trace of pity flashing in his eyes.

"I warned you," he said quietly. "I told you I would fight back."

Even in his unrecovered state, his power was far beyond what a third evolution stage monster could challenge. If this had been four months ago, in the aftermath of that brutal battle, the tiger might have stood a chance.

But now?

It never had one.

Souta searched the tiger’s corpse and pried out its monster orb, the faint warmth of residual energy still pulsing within it.

With this, his recovery would accelerate. As long as he could draw out his douion, the rest would follow... his strength, his speed, his dominance.

He closed his fingers around the orb and turned his gaze back to the deep trench. Without a second thought, he stepped off the edge.

The wind screamed as his body plummeted, pressure slamming into him while the trench walls blurred into streaks of stone and shadow. The temperature dropped rapidly, cold air biting at his skin as he fell deeper and deeper.

Then,

BOOM!

Souta crashed into the ground like a falling meteor. The earth buckled beneath his feet, stone shattering outward as a small crater formed around him. Dust and debris erupted into the air, rolling through the trench in heavy waves.

Light could not reach this depth.

Darkness swallowed everything but it posed no obstacle to him.

Souta straightened and stepped forward, boots crunching against fractured rock as his senses spread outward. The walls were slick with damp green moss, and faint skittering sounds echoed through the gloom. Insects crawled along the stone, vanishing into narrow holes riddled across the trench walls.

From within those openings, he could feel it.

Second evolution stage monsters, hiding. Watching. Waiting.

’Have you sensed anything?’ Saya asked quietly.

"Not yet," Souta replied, his voice steady. "But my instincts are screaming at me. There’s something down here."

Growl!!

Several monsters lunged out from the darkness, emboldened by numbers and desperation.

They never stood a chance.

Steel flashed. Flesh parted. One by one, the monsters fell beneath Souta’s sword, their attacks crushed before they could even take form. Most were only second evolution stage. They were barely worthy of his attention. Against him, they were nothing more than nuisances.

Too weak.

Souta didn’t even slow his pace.

As he moved deeper, he deliberately released a thin strand of murderous intent. It spread like an invisible pressure wave, cold and suffocating. From the shadows, startled cries echoed as monsters retreated into their holes, fear overriding hunger.

None of them dared approach again.

Souta suddenly halted.

"There are people ahead," he said.

If there are people here, then there’s a good chance there are valuable resources, Saya replied.

Souta nodded. That had been his thought as well.

He bent his knees and shot forward.

The ground cracked beneath his feet as he surged ahead at terrifying speed, his body cutting through the darkness like a phantom.

After traveling more than a kilometer, he finally slowed.

A group of twenty people came into view.

Souta clung effortlessly to the trench wall, his fingers digging into stone as he observed them from above, his presence perfectly concealed. Their movements, formations, and breathing patterns were laid bare under his gaze.

Then he looked past them.

A slow smile crept across his face.

"There really is something here..."

He could feel it, a faint but unmistakable fluctuation of energy, pulsing from somewhere roughly three kilometers ahead. It was subtle, almost buried beneath layers of interference.

Under normal circumstances, he would have sensed it instantly.

But ever since he woke up, his perception had been dulled.

Even so... this presence was strong enough to make itself known.

And whatever it was, it wasn’t ordinary. It should be valuable.

...

The Royal Capital of the Everlasting Kingdom.

The capital sprawled across an immense expanse of land. From east to west, it stretched nearly five hundred kilometers, a colossal city that dominated the heart of the Land of Fire Light. It was not merely a seat of governance, but the convergence point of power itself, where the strongest experts of the kingdom gathered.

At its center stood the Royal Palace.

Within its grand halls, a tall man with short blond hair and sharp, disciplined features knelt on one knee before a young noble.

This man was Devon, Captain of the Royal Guard.

Standing before him was a young man of striking appearance. Long black hair cascaded down his back, framing a muscular physique honed through both training and battle. Though he stood casually, an oppressive, ruthless aura radiated from his body, one that made even seasoned warriors unconsciously hold their breath.

He was the Crown Prince of the Everlasting Kingdom.

Angus Ross Everlasting.

"You encountered an unknown Ascension Knight?" Angus asked, his brows lifting slightly in surprise as he processed Devon’s report.

Devon hesitated before answering. "I don’t believe it was an Ascension Knight," he said carefully. After a brief pause, he continued, his voice low. "I believe it was a monster."

Angus’s expression hardened.

"He spoke in the monster language," Devon explained. "I couldn’t accurately gauge his strength. In fact, I couldn’t sense his energy at all." He drew in a breath. "But based on the pressure he gave off... that monster should be at least at the fifth evolution stage."

"A monster...?" Angus frowned, his fingers tightening slightly at his side. After a moment, he asked, "What makes you so certain it has reached the fifth stage?"

"The sense of danger," Devon replied without hesitation. "I don’t believe any fourth evolution stage monster could make me feel that way." His gaze lowered slightly. "That is also why I chose not to pursue it."

Angus nodded slowly, understanding the weight behind those words.

Captain Devon was a Fourth Degree Ascension Knight, a man who had already shattered his Seventh Shackle. Within the Everlasting Kingdom, that alone placed him among the upper echelons of power.

A Fourth Degree Ascension Knight was formidable.

But even that was not enough when facing a fifth evolution stage monster.

To pursue such a being without absolute certainty was no different from courting death.

If Devon had known that Souta had yet to recover his full strength, he would likely have made a very different choice.