The Iron Fang Legion was infamous for its unyielding brutality; to suppress monsters, they would go to any lengths, no matter how ruthless. The soldiers stood motionless, their iron armor reflecting the flickering moonlight, an eerie contrast to the rivers of blood soaking the earth beneath them.
Commander Noel Nrack's face remained expressionless, his pale blue eyes narrowing into sharp slits. His grip on the hilt of his sword tightened subtly, the worn leather warm against his palm.
He didn't understand why the Saintess of the Radiant Knight Order had flared up so suddenly, nor how the Legion had provoked her ire—but to him, it didn't matter. The Iron Fang Legion owed no explanations to anyone but the Supreme Commander.
"Calm yourself, Saintess Seraphina. If there is any misunderstanding, we can resolve it through open dialogue."
Noel's voice was firm, like steel striking stone, cold and unyielding. Others might tremble before the Saintess of the Radiant Knight Order, but he did not. He stared at her piercingly, awaiting her reaction.
Seraphina Valcrest's frown deepened. Her luminous silver eyes darkened, emotions fading into an abyssal coldness. Then, as if the very air around her had been ignited, an invisible force surged from her body.
The atmosphere trembled—crackling, distorting—like reality itself feared her wrath. The air turned heavy, thick with pressure, pressing down upon the soldiers' chests like an anvil.
Noel's face, unreadable until now, flickered with shock. His breath hitched as realization dawned upon him.
"Stage Two…?"
No. That was impossible.
"No..she is not there yet.."
Althoug he knew Seraphina was insanely talnted given the fact that she was able to become the Siantnes of one of the strongest force in the Eldros kingdom..
Just how young was Seraphina, even if she training in her mother's womb it would take her atleast another's decade before she had the hopes of reaching rank 2.
His mind reeled as he analyzed the suffocating aura she exuded. Even among prodigies, reaching Stage Two at her age was absurd. A feat like this had only been achieved by the monstrous genius from the capital—and even he had been nearly thirty at the time of his ascension.
But before Noel could untangle his thoughts, Seraphina's voice cut through the suffocating silence, laced with venom.
"The Iron Fang Legion has grown far too arrogant."
Her words reverberated like a death sentence.
"You ask me to calm down? When my brother might be lying dead because of your filthy actions?"
Her eyes, once luminous, bled crimson as her rage crystallized into something raw and primal. A thin, pulsing vein appeared on her forehead. Power surged within her, desperate for release.
Noel felt it before he saw it.
The moment before the storm.
"HOLY BLADE."
Just as Seraphina was about to strike, her entire body froze. Her expression twisted, as if something foul had just defiled her very soul.
Noel, who had instinctively braced for battle, also felt it.
The air itself curdled, thickening into something putrid. An unholy stench spread through the atmosphere, a scent so vile that it made even seasoned warriors flinch. Their collective gazes snapped toward a decrepit, abandoned house.
Above them, dark clouds slithered across the sky, swallowing the moon. The once tranquil night turned ominous, and the ground trembled—not from any natural force, but from something far more insidious. A chill, foreign and suffocating, slithered through the battlefield like a whisper of death.
Seraphina's entire being screamed in protest.
Something inside that house… something ancient, something foul, was awakening.
Boom.
The walls of the old house exploded outward in a shower of splinters and dust. A deafening shockwave tore through the surroundings, sending armored soldiers sprawling like ragdolls. Noel barely had time to brace himself before the gust slammed into him, his boots digging into the blood-soaked earth.
His gaze snapped forward, searching, scanning.
And then he saw it.
From within the debris, a figure emerged—a nightmare given form.
Its scaly exoskeleton shimmered an unnatural, sickly green, as if its very flesh pulsed with something toxic. Veins of filled marred the surface, writhing with each subtle movement. Its wings, translucent yet edged with something razor-sharp, beat in a slow, rhythmic hum—an eerie, hypnotic sound that clawed at the edges of the mind.
Its proboscis, needle-thin and menacing, glistened with a colorless, viscous liquid that sizzled upon contact with the ground, eating away at the dirt like acid.
Then, its six obsidian eyes locked onto them.
Unblinking. Calculating.
And hungry.
Noel's entire body tensed. The aura radiating from the creature triggered something deep within him—a primal alarm that roared to life. His breath turned sharp, every instinct screaming at him.
This thing…
It wasn't just a monster.
Seraphina clenched her jaw. It took everything in her not to recoil, not to succumb to the irrational rage clawing at her insides.
Her blood boiled, every fiber of her being demanding action, screaming at her to eradicate this creature.
A whisper of recognition stirred in her heart.
This… this aura…
Her grip tightened around her sword's hilt, her fingers turning bone-white.
"Aura of the Demon King…" she muttered, voice barely above a whisper, yet carrying the weight of a thousand battles.
Her gaze sharpened, like a blade honed for war.
It didn't matter what this thing was.
It needed to die.
---
Moments earlier…
Within the cocoon, something stirred.
Cracks webbed across its surface, faint at first, then deepening, widening. The structure pulsated, an eerie blue glow seeping through the fractures.
Inside, Ricky's consciousness slowly returned. His body felt foreign—alien, yet powerful. A sensation unlike anything he had ever known coursed through him, an intoxicating blend of raw strength and something darker, more insidious.
Every fiber of his being shuddered in pleasure, his cells humming with newfound energy.
Was this… evolution?
Every single fibre in his body seemed to scream in Joy.
An otherworldly aura like a mother loving embrace hugged his body tightly.
He didn't have time to ponder further.
Because outside, he felt them.
Two presences.
One of them… vaguely familiar.
Then, in a single, violent motion, the cocoon shattered, and the world bore witness to something new.
Just then--
His entire vision was filled with blue.
[Host Energy levels are stable].
[Evolution to stage 2 Rank 1 Successfully completed].
[Host is now Venom Fang Mosquito].
[New skills unlocked].
[EE Grade - Weak Paralysis Venom, A bite can slow down or stun stage 2 creatures].
[EEE Grade - Toxic Blood, with each bite the a toxin will me transfered into the prey blood stream].
[EEE Grade - Venom Glands, Allows Host to produce multiple types of poison with myriad effects (paralysis, blood clotting, or necrosis)].
[D Grade - Mother And Son Poison, Any creature infected this poison will become host eternal servant with their life and death in your hands.
Warning - The skill can be used once in year and will only work if the spiritual force of the target is weaker than the host.]
[Here is the updated status].
[STATUS WINDOW]
[Stage 2, Rank 1]
[Name: Ricky Stormwind]
[Bloodline: Venon Fang Mosquito
[Lifespan: 200 years]
[Evolution Progress: 0%]
[Spiritual Force: 1.5]
[Abilities]
[Mother And Son Poison (D-Rank)] - Any creature infected this poison will become your eternal servant with their life and death in your hands].
[Toxic Blood (EEE-Rank)] - with each bite the a toxin will me transfered it the prey blood stream].
[Venom Glands (EEE-Rank)] - Allows Host to produce multiple types of poison with sudden effects (paralysis, blood clotting, or necrosis)].
[Resourceful Drain (EE-Rank, Innate)] – Absorbs Weeks of lifespan per bite].
[Weak Paralysis Venom (EE-Rank)] - A bite can slow down or stun stage 2 creatures].
[Shadow Perch (E-Rank)] – Can blend into dark areas for safety.
[Robust Iron Frame (FFF-Rank, Active)] – Temporarily hardens the body like steel.
[Lifespan Sense (FFF-Rank, Passive)] – Can vaguely detect lifespan-rich beings within 100 meters.
[Blood Infusion (FFF-Rank)] – Converts lifespan into temporary power boosts.]