Hatred Towards the World

Jin stood still without a word.

However, a chant soon broke the silence of the surroundings.

[Art of Vampirism]

As soon as the chant sounded, something happened.

Lord Axton, Director Ver, as well as all the corpses in the demon beast's stomach rapidly dried up.

With his unparalleled talent, Jin was able to perfectly master the cursed art.

Now, he didn't need to touch the corpses before he could absorb their blood and turn it into his own power.

However, he didn't stop there.

Blood could be seen seeping through the ceiling of the demon beast's stomach.

That's right, not only was he absorbing the blood of the corpses inside the demon beast, he was also absorbing the demon beast itself.

This was only possible through his perfect mastery of the cursed art that he comprehended a few years ago.

***

"P-Please… hic… someone… save me…"

A little girl with black hair and black eyes was crying as she held her dead mother.

However, the pitch black Shadewraith Tigris only had a vicious light in its eyes as it licked its lips at the sight of a prey.

Seeing the demon beast's face that was slowly nearing her, the little girl tried to crawl backwards, only to find her back against a wall of a ruined house.

Now with nowhere to go, she could only close her eyes, wishing that the large mouth of the demon beast before her would never arrive.

And it didn't.

Gripping the corpse of her mother tightly, the little girl opened her eyes slightly.

GRRRRR—

What greeted her sight was the Shadewraith Tigris making weird expressions.

It was like a cat that was gagging due to a hairball. Its eyes widened as it repeatedly tried to get something out of its stomach.

Then, with a grotesque sound, it vomitted something covered in green fluid.

The little girl was flabbergasted at the sight. She looked closer and recognized that it was a boy with a head full of white hair.

Furthermore, he looked to be no older by one or two years than her.

The little girl's eyes widened in surprise as she saw the boy stand up and stared straight towards the demon beast.

Grrrrrr…

The Shadewraith Tigris let out a low growl as wariness filled its eyes.

As a demon beast, all it was following was its instinct. And right now, its instinct was screaming danger at the sight of the boy.

It felt confused as it remembered that it had already eaten the boy earlier.

Therefore, why was the prey suddenly emitting danger?

It didn't know, but it trusted its instincts.

It only knew that the pair of golden eyes that stared at it emotionlessly was dangerous.

At this moment, Jin felt something he hadn't felt before. No, he had felt it before- The only difference was the intensity.

He had once been angry at the world for being born the way he was.

He had once been angry at his inability to wield worldly energies.

However, he hadn't been this angry.

The anger that filled his heart did not make him explode.

Instead, it made him calm.

The helplessness and powerlessness was still vivid in his mind.

He had power, but he was unable to use it.

The frustration made him feel extreme hatred towards the world.

'I could have saved them if this power obeyed me…' Thinking this, Jin slowly closed his eyes.

He could feel the myriad of energies that wreaked havoc within his body. The aura of the various warriors that he absorbed earlier.

As well as the cursed energy that he absorbed through the Art of Vampirism.

They chaotically circulated in his body.

However, they showed no signs of obeying nor being controlled by him.

'This again…'

Overwhelming hatred filled his heart as he opened his eyes.

He stopped holding himself back.

The world rapidly slowed as the particles of omnipresent energies laid themselves before his sight.

However, this time, he didn't just stop there.

Normally, this would have been the normal way he perceived the world.

Jin "holds back" in order to see the world normally just like how others perceive the world.

But now, instead of just not holding himself back, he "pushed himself further".

And just like that, the world didn't just slow down- It stopped.

The particles of mana, aura, space, time, all the elements that made up the world revealed themselves before his golden eyes.

"Obey me."

Jin spoke with a voice filled with overwhelming hatred towards the world.

He felt the energies inside his body instantly calm down, feeling as if he could will it to do his bidding.

It wasn't just that. 

In fact, he felt that with just a wave of his hand, he could make the world prostrate itself before him.

An overwhelming feeling of power and authority filled his entire being.

Then he noticed something- white particles that made up the Shadewraith Tigris.

Jin then glanced behind him and saw that the little girl was also made up of white particles while the corpse she was holding was filled with black ones.

He had an inkling as to what the particles meant.

Turning his head over towards the Shadewraith Tigris who killed many of his loved ones, he raised his right hand.

Then, he willed it.

For the white particles that made up the demon beast's body to scatter.

POP—!

"Eh?"

The little girl let out a surprised sound as she looked at what happened.

All it took was a raise of the boy's hand before the powerful demon beast that stood imposingly a while ago, suddenly bursted.

***

"Faster! Faster!"

Clyde urged as he hurriedly made the people enter a hidden underground tunnel.

He could feel the aura of the Shadewraith Tigris, making him extremely nervous.

In fact, he could clearly sense that besides the Shadewraith Tigris, there were more General Class demon beasts wreaking havoc in the fortress.

However, the one that was closest to them was the Shadewraith Tigris.

"Faster! We need to at least make it out alive! The castellan has long contacted the other nearby cities and fortresses so there will be reinforcements waiting for us at the end!"

As he made sure that all the people had successfully entered the tunnel, Clyde finally entered.

However, just as he was about to close the door, he felt something.

"Huh? The aura of the Shadewraith Tigris… disappeared!?"