Mulock opened his eyes in a pitch black space, as if he were drifting weightlessly through water. There was no light, no sound, no sensation at all. He tried to scream, but no voice came out. Mulock was terrified of this endless prison, his mind trapped within a body that had lost all perception. Then, suddenly, he struggled violently, his eyes widening in defiance.

  “No. I can still see. You cannot take me away. I can still see, I can still hear. This is all an illusion.”

  Countless eyes slowly emerged within the darkness. Their dim glow illuminated fragments of the space, making the image of the monster slightly clearer, though it remained vague and indistinct. Those eyes seemed to be laughing, mocking Mulock’s words. Its tentacles stretched out, slithering around his body, then quickly tightened, crushing the pirate.

  “It will not take long.”

  Mulock jolted awake from the nightmare, gasping in fear. Even while transformed into a bird, his eye still throbbed with pain. Perhaps the power of Caelthrys could not overcome Oxxhurael upon the sea.

  The nightmares were growing longer, more vivid, more real. His vision was gradually blurring, hallucinations appearing from time to time, while strange whispers constantly echoed in his ears.

  “It is using this to drive me mad. To make me offer up my remaining senses as sacrifice.”

  “What a rushed bastard.”

  Mulock preened the ruffled feathers of his body. He liked taking the form of a parrot, as it suited his personality rather well. As the pain in his eye slowly subsided, he guided the puppet and stepped out of the room at an unhurried pace.

  “Looking sharp, Mulock.”

  Rowling hovered in midair. She could freely enter and leave The First Place at will, without passing through Mulock. This made the pirate deeply displeased. After everything they had endured, she could simply hide inside that room and then emerge safely.

  “Now now. I did not want my body sullied by seawater. Besides, that was a Kraken. An existence second only to a god. What did you expect from a gentle and beautiful woman like me?”

  Rowling seemed to understand what Mulock was thinking. She explained that if Mulock had truly died during that incident, she would only have been able to leave by conventional means, which would have meant being trapped on Fallen Island.

  “Where are we going now?” Shelley asked softly, holding Tris in her arms. She had already fulfilled her agreement with Mulock. At this moment, he should keep his promise.

  “Do not needle me, Shelley. I will not break my word,” Mulock snapped. His mood was genuinely foul.

  “We are returning to Hesmor, my suspicious lady. I myself have quite a few things I wish to discuss with that damned old man.”

  Mulock’s time was running out. Oxxhurael was growing impatient, and he needed something to keep his mind clear and resist the influence of that bastard.

  “Before that, we need to make a stop at Coinreach. We will take the shortest route back to Hesmor. Hopefully the gold we have left will be enough to fill the greedy bellies of those dwarves.”

  The residential quarter of Siver Town had become livelier and noisier than ever. People whispered among themselves about Terax’s greed and how he had fled to avoid being hunted down by the kingdom’s soldiers.

  Terax had never been a good man. He ruled this place with brutality and oppression. Beautiful girls were forced to slash their own faces to escape the clutches of that pervert. Instead of spending money to hire capable laborers, he burned it away on alcohol, gambling, and nights of endless feasting.

  “What a bastard. He ran fast. Most should have killed him.”

  One resident spat in fury. They were immigrants from Hesmor. His son had been taken by Terax to harvest Cerebus dung and had died in Infernic. He was not the only one. Many families here had suffered the same fate. Terax preferred cheap labor over those with real ability from the Adventurers Guild. Perhaps that was also one of the reasons the Cerebus dung yield had been so poor.

  Teddy glanced around, weaving through several different paths, and finally disappeared into an abandoned underground sewer.

  “Leader. Everything you said was right. Terax has truly fled.”

  Teddy shouted excitedly as he delivered the news.

  Ullar nodded calmly. Once again, she was astonished by Thane’s judgment and intelligence. The boy’s past was certainly not ordinary. If you were good at enduring pain, it meant you had suffered greatly before. If you were cunning and sharp, it also meant you had been deceived many times.

  This was not true for everyone, but it was painfully true for Thane. He had indeed been deceived countless times through nightmares, each one leading to a tragic end.

  Fortunately for Ullar, Thane had brought back her severed limbs. Her arms and legs had been reattached, but movement was difficult and far from as delicate as before.

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  “Everything is safe now. Perhaps you no longer need to worry about Terax. What do you think about leaving this place?” Thane asked softly.

  “Of course. The children need a better place to grow. Besides, we have found a successor. There is no need for us to remain here any longer.”

  Ullar smiled gently. These children were the future core of SilverFang. They bore the responsibility of rebuilding the tribe’s former glory. Though they were leaving now, when the time came, they would return to Infernic once more.

  “However, before we depart, perhaps we should perform the coming of age rite for you, Leader.”

  …

  Ullar painted strange sigils across Thane’s body. Their shapes bore similarities to the markings Ulmar had drawn on the children of BloodClaw. This appeared to be a special type of sigil unique to the Ossa tribes, known only to tribal priests.

  She then set up a small altar and murmured complex incantations under her breath. It was both a blessing and a form of tribal magic capable of awakening the bloodline within the recipient.

  “Ossa is a gathering of warrior tribes. The most important quality of a warrior is courage. Every Ossa child must face fear, death, and overcome their own limits.”

  “Your task is to go deep into Infernic and accept the baptism of fire. The deeper you go, the denser the fire element becomes, and the greater the danger. Be wise.”

  Thane nodded. The deeper one went, the more Cerebus there were. Wild Cerebus living in their natural environment were far stronger than those captured and farmed. They were violent, frenzied, and allowed no one to approach the domain of their lord.

  Thane felt no fear, only excitement. His body seemed to yearn for something deep within the volcanic range. It was like an instinct, a seductive call. Just as in BloodClaw, Thane was required to strip naked, wearing only a loincloth. According to Ullar, this allowed his body to better absorb the fire element.

  Thane ran deeper into the mountains. The ground began to crack, the air filled with dust and ash. The sky burned crimson, and the heat felt as though it were roasting his flesh. Distant, chilling howls echoed, heralding something dreadful.

  Thane’s body gradually began to burn, his blood boiling. He felt both agony and exhilaration. It was a strange sensation, as if his body were being destroyed and evolving at the same time to withstand the heat.

  “Not enough.”

  Something within him was trying to awaken, but the pressure of this area was insufficient. Seeing the distant rivers of blazing magma, Thane clenched his teeth and took the risk. He had to go deeper.

  Boom.

  Suddenly, Thane leapt sharply to the side as a massive fireball slammed down, shattering the ground where he had just stood. From the drifting smoke, a gigantic Cerebus emerged, its thick black fur bristling, three heads dripping with searing saliva. It roared and charged forward, three jaws gaping wide to tear the boy apart.

  Thane dodged left and right in rapid succession. The three heads moved with terrifying flexibility, forcing him into a desperate struggle. In a moment of carelessness, the beast’s claws tore deeply into his abdomen. The claws burned his flesh, inflicting scorching pain that made Thane tremble violently.

  Yet the more dangerous it became, the calmer Thane grew. In his nightmares, he had died countless times, some in unimaginably horrific ways. Even then, he had remained conscious, forced to feel the pain as monsters gnawed at his flesh.

  Gradually, Thane adapted to the Cerebus’s fighting style. Its ears would prick up whenever it was about to breathe fire. Perhaps a bad habit. But it allowed Thane to predict its next move. More than that, his body was becoming increasingly agile, increasingly fast.

  Before long, Thane matched the rhythm of the Cerebus, evading its attacks perfectly. The beast grew confused, unable to understand why its prey was becoming faster and faster. Seizing the opportunity, Thane darted beneath its belly, his hand forming a blade. The BloodClaw emblem activated, glowing red. In that moment, his body overflowed with power.

  He stabbed fiercely into its abdomen and carved a long gash downward. Scalding blood poured out like a torrent, dragging its entrails with it.

  “Graoo.”

  The Cerebus roared in agony and fury. Its cry echoed throughout Infernic, awakening a powerful existence from slumber.

  Under the influence of the BloodClaw emblem, Thane became no less frenzied. Hot blood splashed across his body, driving his excitement higher. He continued to assault the Cerebus like a savage beast. The hunter was reversed into prey. The Cerebus struggled unwillingly, but soon grew exhausted.

  Its ragged breathing, trailing black smoke, signaled its end. Thane staggered toward the dying Cerebus. He activated the technique Gather Will that Exitus had taught him. A faint energy wrapped around his hand. He thrust straight into the monster’s heaving chest, shattering its heart.

  “It is finally over.”

  Thane collapsed to the ground after the battle. This was the most brutal real fight he had ever faced. He had skirted the edge of death countless times, the beast’s fangs brushing past his neck again and again. Fortunately, he had the BloodClaw emblem. Without it, he could only have fled.

  Thane looked proudly at the Cerebus’s corpse. Not just anyone could defeat such a monster. Even a warlord might have fallen.

  But his joy was short lived. Dust clouds surged from afar like a sandstorm. Thane’s scalp prickled in terror. Within that cloud were countless Cerebus. The dying roar of the beast had likely summoned its kin.

  “Run.”

  The first thought in Thane’s mind was to run. He could not win. One had already pushed him to his limits. Facing such numbers meant certain death.

  The dust cloud closed in, leaving only a single path of escape. Forward, deeper, into the domain of the lord. The SilverFang emblem emitted a faint glow. Thane sprinted inward. His speed was slightly enhanced, but still no match for the enraged Cerebus behind him.

  The chase went on for an unknown length of time. The thunderous footsteps behind him grew louder, closer, until they abruptly stopped.

  All the Cerebus stood still, staring at him with hatred, yet none dared cross the boundary. Ahead lay the resting place of their emperor, where the largest volcano reigned, Mount HellHowl.

  “Nothing burns hotter than HellHowl. A place that melts both the most precious and the most unyielding. Absolute fairness. Absolute destruction.” Unknown Writer.

  The ground here was scattered with earthen bulges like unexploded mines. Occasionally, some burst open, splashing magma in all directions. Small fissures crisscrossed the land, emitting a dim red glow of magma mixed with dense fire element.

  The higher Thane climbed, the flatter the ground became. It was clear that some kind of structure had once existed here. Smooth steps paved with fire stone, pillars containing floating mana stones.

  Thane ascended step by step without guidance, without echoes, without warnings. There was only his bodily instinct and his trust in his own intuition.

  The stairway was interrupted by a vast open area containing a massive lava lake. The continuation of the stairs lay on the far side of the molten expanse. Thane was curious about what awaited at the summit above the lava, but it was not what his body craved. What Thane sought lay somewhere within this sea of magma.