Night had fallen.
The faint glow of fireflies drifted through the darkness, and from far away the sounds of insects echoed like a slow, continuous melody. The sky was filled with stars, and looking at the moon it felt as if tomorrow would be the full moon—and today's night clearly wasn't an ordinary one.
I sat inside the carriage, feeling that calm.
Just a short while ago—there had been screams, explosions, the smell of death. And now—it felt as if nothing had happened at all.
This calm… was fake.
My eyes were on the window, but my mind was stuck in Blackwood Palace.
Had things stabilized there?
Or had another hell opened even after Roshan?
My chest felt strangely heavy.
Paragon.
That word echoed inside me.
Their power…
their terror…
their impossible abilities.
I slowly clenched my fist.
"I want that too."
Power.
Then a thought struck me—
Our house's basement.
The place beneath our home where old, useless, or hidden things were stored.
A place hardly anyone entered without Narco's permission.
If there was anything in this world about Paragon power,
and if it was hidden…
it would be there.
I took a slow breath.
Not today.
My body was exhausted.
But tomorrow night—
when everyone was asleep—
I would go there.
Quietly.
Secretly.
And if luck was even a little kind…
I would step one step closer to the true secret of this world's power.
---
Blackwood Palace was still trapped inside that second, cold and stable Domain.
Ash from burned zombies was scattered across the ground.
The air still carried the stench of burnt flesh and magic.
And in the middle of it—
Roshan.
Or what had once been Roshan.
Now he had become an 18-foot-tall, one-eyed, red-skinned monster.
Steam poured from his breath, as if a furnace burned inside him.
Black and red flames slid beneath his skin.
His mind…
was broken.
He no longer thought of strategy—only destruction.
Then—
a shadow moved forward inside the Domain.
A man in white clothes, with moonlight-cold glow in his eyes.
Vyuk Dalho.
Paragon of the Church of the Moon.
One of the most powerful beings present on this battlefield.
The air itself changed with his presence,
as if a different set of rules had taken effect.
Alexander Stuart looked at all the Royal Knights.
"Strike his legs," he ordered coldly.
"Bring him down. If he stays standing, we all die."
At that moment, the black-armored Royal Knight came beside Alexander.
He removed his helmet.
Inside was a young woman.
Silver hair, tired but sharp eyes.
Victoria Demetri.
High-level Paragon.
She was the one who had been causing all the explosions during the fight.
Alexander looked at her.
"How did this happen?"
Victoria explained quickly—
Roshan's rituals,
the Red Moon,
the black vines,
and the moment when a human broke and became a monster.
Alexander's eyes hardened.
At the same time, he looked to the other side—
Narco was walking toward them, covered in blood but still standing.
"We have to end this here," Narco said.
"Now."
But before that—
Vyuk had already moved.
Light burst from his body,
and in the next moment dozens of his clones spread across the Domain.
Roshan roared.
His tentacles whipped around.
Many clones were destroyed.
But—
they were only shadows.
The real Vyuk had already reached him.
His eyes flashed.
Red light burst out.
A thin but deadly laser shot straight at Roshan's face—
piercing his only eye
and sinking into his right hand.
The monster's scream echoed through the entire Domain.
This wasn't just an attack.
It was a declaration.
The hunt had begun.
---
Roshan suddenly threw his head back and let out a sharp scream.
It wasn't a sound.
It was an absorption technique.
The moment it activated, the Aurum—the life energy of this world—began to be ripped out of every Paragon inside the Domain.
It was as if light was being squeezed from their veins.
One by one, Royal Knights and Paragons fell to their knees.
Their bodies grew heavy.
Hands trembled.
Vision blurred.
Even Vyuk fell to the ground.
His breathing became ragged.
"No…"
"I misjudged his rank…"
Roshan was no longer just a monster.
He had become stronger than every Paragon inside this Domain.
Because of this attack, even Darius was affected.
Cracks began to appear in the Domain's walls.
Black energy started leaking out.
The structure was barely holding together.
Alexander was still standing.
His mind was racing.
Then his eyes went to Narco.
A small signal.
Narco understood.
Alexander roared—
"Royal Knights! Behind his neck—now!"
All the Knights moved with everything they had.
At that moment, Narco activated his technique.
"Leave."
His eyes turned blood-red.
When Roshan's gaze met Narco's eyes,
his movement suddenly broke.
One second.
Two seconds.
Alexander had calculated the effect would last five.
But in the third second, Roshan's movement returned.
And that was enough.
Roshan turned like lightning
and lunged toward the Royal Knights.
Alexander's mind went cold.
We're too late.
At that moment, Narco reached the broken fountain.
The water on the ground began to tremble.
He raised his palms.
The water rose and took shape.
One…
two…
ten…
One-meter-long Water Dragons formed—
complete, but terrifying.
Narco knew they couldn't kill Roshan.
But—
Roshan opened his mouth.
A storm of fire erupted—
a wave of flames rushing toward the Royal Knights.
Narco's Water Dragons surged forward.
Fire and water collided.
Steam filled the entire Domain.
The Royal Knights were saved.
Then Alexander looked at Vyuk.
Vyuk, rising from his knees, whispered—
"None of us can kill him directly… we'll have to use something that eats him. I have a plan."
Alexander's eyes lit up.
Underworld.
He understood.
"Victoria," he said quietly,
"be ready."
Then he looked at Vyuk.
"Aurum Eater Fox.
Can you summon it?"
Vyuk's smile was cold.
"If it comes…"
"not just Roshan—
even the entire Domain won't be safe."
Alexander hesitated.
Not because of fear—
but because he knew too much.
The first time he had looked at Roshan, he had used his technique—
X-Ray Vision.
He hadn't seen Roshan's body.
He had seen his structure.
Bones.
Flesh.
Energy flow.
And his weaknesses.
Inside his stomach—
there was something.
The eight-Rudraksha Hallowed.
The true core.
The heart of his power.
Alexander knew—
if the Underworld's Aurum Eater Fox was summoned,
it would drag Roshan's entire body into its world.
And with him—
that Hallowed would go too.
A thing that might exist only once in the entire world.
But—
Roshan was out of control.
Every second, he was becoming more dangerous.
Alexander clenched his teeth.
"We have no other choice."
He gave the order—
"Begin the ritual."
Such a summon was impossible without four high-level Paragons.
There were five present.
A Royal Knight rushed to Narco and whispered.
Narco's eyes hardened.
"You hold the monster," he told the Knights.
"I'm going to the ritual with Alexander."
Narco turned and joined Alexander.
Alexander explained quickly.
"Four people.
Square formation.
No mistakes."
They took their positions—
Alexander.
Narco.
Vyuk.
Victoria.
Vyuk raised his right arm.
There were tattoos on his hand—
symbols.
On his palm was a moon-shaped black mark.
On the back of his hand were eight moons, all different shapes.
And two figures facing each other with raised hands, as if singing—
like the dark shadow of a full moon.
Behind those symbols, images of stars and unknown shapes drifted.
This wasn't ordinary ink—
it was a Symbolic Hallowed, like a tattoo.
All four knelt together.
They placed their palms on the ground.
And the chant began.
The ground started shaking.
Between them, a huge circular pattern emerged—
complex designs, rotating symbols,
like the language of another world.
Then—
the earth split open.
A black door
slowly rose.
Its edges were like thorns,
and from inside
cold deathly air flowed.
The door opened.
And from it—
something came out.
A massive fox.
Black fur.
Deep violet glow.
Red, shining eyes.
Blood stained its fangs.
Heavy iron chains were wrapped around its four legs and neck—
chains of the Underworld.
This was no ordinary creature.
It itself was a Hallowed.
Aurum Eater Fox.
It first looked at Alexander.
A hungry, violent gaze.
But in the next moment—
it sensed something else.
Far away…
an endless, dense, twisted Aurum.
Roshan.
The Fox's eyes glowed even brighter.
Hunger twisted it.
Its gaze was no longer on Alexander—
it was on the monster
shaking the entire Domain.
And Alexander knew—
there was no turning back now.