The upper half of his body floated, detached from the lower half, as if held by invisible strings. There was no pain. No blood.
Only absolute silence and dread.
The only reason he hadn't fallen yet…
Was this gray premonition, this unreal state of suspended death.
And then, behind him, someone breathed.
But Glenn still couldn't turn to see.
The world had frozen…
Yet something, or someone, was moving within that dead moment.
From the black-and-white world, where Glenn had seen his body split in two, a snap of fingers echoed.
Dry.
Simple.
Final.
As if someone had painted the last stroke on a living canvas, the frozen scene dissolved like smoke, colors returning in an explosion, reality collapsing back into the present.
Glenn fell to his knees, gasping.
A gush of dark blood spilled from his mouth, splattering the ground before him like ink on raw canvas. His entire body ached, every cell feeling as if it had been forcibly rearranged.
In front of him, the mutant ape convulsed.
Impaled by the hundreds of spears that had pierced its body, the creature thrashed in violent spasms, as if being fried alive from the inside.
Blood poured from its eyes and ears, dark and thick like boiling oil.
The monster's ragged breaths mixed with the sound of its bones breaking.
Glenn tried to stand, but a wave of dizziness sent him collapsing to his side, propping himself up on one elbow.
His vision was tinged in crimson.
The edges of the world pulsed red, as if he were looking through a lens soaked in blood.
That was when he heard the footsteps.
Slow. Heavy. Measured.
He lifted his eyes with effort…
And saw them.
Silas.
His tunic scorched, hair disheveled from the rush, a black blindfold covering his eyes. Beside him, the two Sleipnirs stood clearly in battle stance, majestic and fierce, bracing themselves against something Glenn still couldn't make out.
"Stay where you are, boy…" Silas said in a low voice, yet firm as a blade. "And don't even think about using another rift. That thing feels everything."
Glenn tried to speak, but his throat refused to work.
The energy in his magical core felt… shaky, as if it had been shattered and pieced back together.
The entire atmosphere was heavy.
The forest was silent.
The waterfalls… had stopped falling.
Droplets of water hung frozen in the air, suspended like crystalline beads.
The wind had ceased to stir the treetops.
The birds had silenced their songs.
It was as if the world itself was holding its breath.
And yet, in the midst of that divine stillness, Glenn felt the presence.
Something stood ahead of Silas, only a few meters away.
Something veiled, yet impossible to ignore.
Something that made his mana shiver like a child before a predator.
A guttural voice reverberated through the trees, as if a primal beast had learned the tongue of men:
"The path of the disturber must end here."
The sound hadn't come from a single point.
It resonated inside his skull, like thunder whispered directly into the bone.
It was deep, vibrant, filthy with ancient power.
Glenn narrowed his eyes, fighting the pain, until he finally saw…
There.
Through the legs of the Sleipnirs, emerging like a mirage, a colossal silhouette took shape.
From the very veil of the world, tearing through the lines of reality with staggering elegance, came a creature of absolute beauty:
A black panther, the size of a rhinoceros. Fur like shards of glass, paws tipped with claws that radiated an aura of death, and vapor flowing from its nostrils.
Its body moved like liquid silk, wrapped in a dark glow that warped the air around it. Two dark wings, folded at its sides, looked as though they were made of living shadow.
And the eyes…
Golden. Divine. Unfathomable.
Like two suns buried in an endless night.
With a single step forward, the ground trembled faintly.
And Glenn…
Glenn felt his body crushed against the earth, as if a colossal gravitational force had suddenly appeared.
Not a muscle could move.
Not a drop of energy could flow.
It was as if the universe itself had decided he should bow.
Silas lowered his head in respect, speaking in a calm tone:
"I greet the Protector of the Valley."
The creature looked at him.
Not as a predator looks at prey…
But as a god looks at an ant trampling sacred temples.
"The little worm who drags space and bends paths…" it growled, taking another step as the air crackled around it, "...has been causing imbalances. Annoying buzzes have reached my ears…"
Glenn, pinned to the ground, could only move his eyes, trembling as he tried to follow the silhouette of the panther staring at him like a body about to be dissected.
"Other beasts… my sisters, my brothers… writhe in their dens because of you. The valley trembles with your presence, rootless child."
Silas took half a step forward, but did not dare raise his voice:
"He is still young. He does not understand the weight of the footprints he leaves."
The panther let out a low growl. A sound that made the trees bend around them.
"Ignorance does not absolve. He tears the fabric of the world with each leap. He defies the veins of the valley. His trail reeks of rupture."
The golden eyes fixed on Glenn again.
For a second, all pain vanished. All vision too.
And he saw himself, like a marionette suspended by silver strings, each spatial rift he had created vibrating like out-of-tune cords, echoing with an unbearable static.
"Before he destroys the sacred… tell me, Silas… why should I not devour you and the irritating fly right now?"
The panther took another step. The gravity around Glenn increased again, making his body tremble—and his soul as well.
"And you, blind old man…" the beast growled, its tone turning acidic, almost repulsive, "…do you think you can fool me?"
The golden gaze slowly shifted toward Silas, even under the blindfold that covered the elder's eyes.
"You know very well what you are. You've always known. A disturber, yes… but also a greedy thief. A devourer of my brothers' sustenance."
The panther snarled, its fangs glinting.
"Your pupil rips the guts out of the valley for his experiments. And you pretend it's out of necessity. Pretend it's to teach."
The ground cracked beneath the creature's paws. The sky seemed to grow darker, the clouds parting as if they feared its presence.
"I swear, I think that old body of yours would taste like worms and dung. But for the sake of justice, I'd devour you anyway."
Silas stayed silent for a moment.
Then, he smiled.
Not a merciful smile.
But that crooked smile of someone who's about to dig a finger right into a wound with relish.
His posture loosened. His hands slipped into the pockets of his worn tunic.
The aura he had kept contained began to rise like a silver whirlwind.
In that instant, Glenn gasped as the invisible shackles over his body shattered like thin glass, and he could finally breathe again.
Silas lifted his chin toward the panther, and even blindfolded, he seemed to see into the creature's very soul.
"Ahh, Rezon… Your mood has clearly soured over the last fifty years. You're nothing like that scrawny little creature who once ate and drank from my hand, trembling with fever and broken bones."
Silence.
The forest held its breath.
The floating waterfalls around them quivered, as though time itself hesitated.
Rezon's aura expanded all at once, exploding in concentric circles.
The trees bent.
The rivers rose.
The sky roared.
And then—impact.
The two presences clashed in a spiritual collision that shook the entire Valley of the Floating Waterfalls.
The earth groaned.
The birds fled.
A black bolt tore through the sky.
Rezon didn't roar.
He spoke quietly.
Quiet—and more threatening than any explosion:
"Don't fool yourself, old man. One good deed in a sea of madness doesn't give you credit for what you've been doing in my home."
The golden eyes blazed again.
"I am no longer that stupid cub who trembled at your side."
Silas smiled, but this time with a trace of sorrow.
"I know… But maybe there's still a little of him left in there. Somewhere between the pride and the teeth."
Before the confrontation could escalate any further, another presence emerged.
From within Rezon's shadow, as if the world itself were revealing a hidden secret, stepped a second panther.
Majestic, silent, and with fur completely white—pure as freshly fallen snow.
If Rezon was the valley's primal shadow, this new creature was its ancestral light.
With a single strike of her paw against the ground, both colossal auras were instantly dispersed.
The sky calmed. The wind returned. The waters fell again.
The suspended world of the floating waterfalls began to breathe once more.
And then, the voice.
Ironclad. Fierce.
Ancient.
"Enough, you spoiled children."
The tone rumbled like thunder muffled by the trees, a roar carrying centuries.
"Keep up this foolishness and the children of the valley will die with you."
Rezon folded his ears back, visibly affected.
Silas immediately bowed, this time with genuine respect, a stark contrast to his usual mockery.
"Shaeleg, mother of the valley…" he murmured with reverence.
The white panther brushed her muzzle against Rezon's neck, like a mother scolding a cub far too grown for tantrums.
"We've already talked about this, Rezon…" her voice was like snow melting over hot stone "…about visitors. About balance. About hasty judgment."
Rezon let out a surprised rumble. Sulking, but clearly submissive, he rubbed his head against Shaeleg's neck like a massive cat seeking approval.
She, however, had already turned her gaze to Silas.
"And you…" she began, her tone now cold as a wet blade "…have you forgotten you were banished from this valley? Or do you simply have no love for your own life?"
Her words cut like razors.
The panther's aura itself seemed sharp enough to split the air.
Glenn swallowed hard.
His skin tingled.
His soul felt on the verge of tearing apart under that presence.
But Silas only laughed.
"Of course I remember, my dear white mother…" he said, nonchalant. "But my years of exile ended twenty years ago."
Shaeleg lifted her head toward the sky.
She watched the clouds, the flight of the birds, the rhythm of the trees.
"The years of the humanoid races pass like sighs… and I didn't even notice."
Silas smiled, then tossed out a remark that, in any other moment, might have sounded charming—but here, it was nothing more than shameless provocation:
"You're even more radiant than the last time. If I had eyes that could see, I'd be crying at your beauty right now."
Shaeleg didn't respond.
She ignored the compliment entirely.
Her feline steps carried her slowly toward Glenn.
Curiously, Silas and the Sleipnirs stepped aside without a word.
Shaeleg stopped before the young man.
Just inches away.
And then she looked into him.
The panther's eyes were liquid silver mirrors where time stood still.
Glenn felt as if he were being read, searched, stripped down to his essence.
It was more intimate than death.
Deeper than any connection.
It was the Mother looking at a stranger.
Shaeleg gave a soft growl. And said:
"They found a… peculiar demon."
Her gaze narrowed.
"A small anomaly of nature…"
She slowly turned her head toward Silas.
"Where did you find this aberration?"
Silas crossed his arms, shrugged, and replied.
"Work of the Queen," he said casually, as if he hadn't said anything noteworthy.
At the sound of that name, Shaeleg's entire body bristled.
Her fur stood on end like needles.
Her claws touched the ground.
The world seemed to freeze once more.
Rezon stepped back half a pace.
Shaeleg only whispered.
"Selene…"