Monsters Die When Killed

’Of course, this is nothing but an escape, and escaping in itself means failure.’

’The End is our destination—hunted down and annihilated like stray dogs. This is the fate of the Spirit Summoning Association and of myself. I know this all too well.’

’But not now.’

’Before my own End arrives, I will bring about the End for many, many more... All things in this world are in such pain, even the Gods. They are all waiting for me to grant them liberation.’

The red-haired Slav stood at the very front of the camp. His build was powerful, his aura profound, and he was as silent as a stone statue.

In the camp behind him, the other Leaders of the Spirit Summoning Association were discussing in low voices.

"Bornev’s condition hasn’t been right lately... He’s the one among us who has listened to Tianqi the most."

This so-called Tianqi was an echo of the Void Celestial God’s power. It was like the force transmitted from the far reaches of spacetime during the Spiritual Energy Revival and its subsequent Burst. In a sense, all the Leaders of the Spirit Summoning Association were either exceptionally talented in this regard or exhibited an ’abnormality’ far beyond ordinary people. This was how they could hear the voices of those entities and even draw power from them.

The Spirit Summoner, a woman with a fiery figure and a bewitching face, fanned herself, obscuring the lower half of her face. "The last operation in Europe helped him accumulate enough factors for advancement... Although he claims he hasn’t lost control, I feel..."

Before she could finish, a series of furious roars echoed from the distant Black Forest.

A great beast, returning from its hunt, had noticed the intruders in its territory. The roar was both a warning and an attack—a terrifying wave of spiritual power, mixed with an aura of primal will, crashed toward the camp like a meteor.

And Bornev, standing at the forefront of the camp, bore the brunt of it.

The Silent remained still.

But just as the meteor-like wave of spiritual power was about to touch him, a sound like an erupting flame suddenly rang out.

BOOM—

Suddenly, the phantom of a Crimson Demon, over thirty meters tall, appeared before him.

It was a giant, horned Demon, like a living Volcano, its entire body wreathed in crimson flames. It had no eyes; in their sockets burned blood-red hellfire, fueled by blood from some unknown source and countless Souls wailing in agony.

The massive Demon stared at the formless wave of spiritual power. Under its gaze, the impact of will, once brimming with boundless Life Force, instantly grew feeble. It became like the gasping breath of a decrepit old man, or a withered blade of grass, before finally dissipating into nothing.

The massive Demon hadn’t moved a muscle. It had done this with its gaze alone.

In the distance, the Magical Beast, its Soul grievously wounded, let out a cry of pain. But this didn’t dampen its aggression; instead, it stoked the fury of the king of this part of the Black Forest.

A vicious gust of wind swept through, and the surrounding trees and grass swayed violently as if in a typhoon. A giant Black Tiger, over twenty meters long and pitch-black save for its blazing scarlet eyes, shot out from the mountain woods. Without giving anyone time to react, with a deafening CRACK that split the air, the massive Black Tiger became a dark shadow. In an instant, it crossed several hundred meters and pounced on the Crimson Demon.

Such a Supersonic burst of speed, such a ferocious pounce with the force of over a thousand tons—even a Cultivator at the Extraordinary Peak would have difficulty taking it head-on!

But Bornev remained motionless.

The Crimson Demon, however, raised its fist. Moving even faster than the tiger, it threw a single punch forward, then retracted its hand.

"BOOM!"

The air instantly exploded. The tiger was sent flying backward even faster than it had charged, tumbling deep into the forest.

"HUFF!"

But this didn’t kill the beast. Its powerful Life Force allowed it to get back on its feet. All Magical Beasts in the Demon Realm originate from the cursed legacy and bloodline of the ancient Titan God, Typhon. They all possess a measure of ’Divine Blood,’ making them far more powerful than ordinary Spirit Beasts in every aspect, be it body or Soul!

In the next moment, the tiger looked ready to roar again and launch another attack. Layers of shadow were already beginning to swirl around its body. It seemed as if it could slip into the Shadow Realm at any moment and launch a fatal strike against the bizarre enemy before it.

But in the next instant, the shadows coiling around its claws and body shattered like broken glass.

The enraged Black Tiger’s body froze as if it were a paused photograph. Then, a visible decay began to set in all over its form.

Its muscles atrophied, its fur fell out, its teeth aged, its sharp claws went soft, and its eyes grew cloudy. Even its very Soul began to emit a ’rotting’ spiritual power.

It was as if it had aged several hundred years in a single instant.

POP POP POP— And that wasn’t all. Countless old wounds suddenly appeared on the tiger’s body. These were all injuries sustained in the past while hunting and fighting other Magical Beasts for territory. Since becoming the king of this region, it had never been injured again.

But now, these wounds, some decades old, had seemingly been revived, bursting open all at once... and finishing off the shadow-wreathed Black Tiger for good.