Planet Blontora – The 9th Fledgling Planetary Belt.
Deep within the dark Kyuubo Swamps, where giant "Maja" trees stretch toward the sky like towering pillars, stood a figure clad in a blood-black robe and a demonic red mask. This mysterious being appeared like a stone statue amidst the darkness, indifferent to everything swirling around him.
The night air wrapped the forest in a low hum, and the leaves of the giant trees fell around him in deadly silence. It felt as though every inch of the forest was drenched in dread; even the creatures usually teeming with life and noise were vanishing or retreating in fear of this enigmatic visitor.
Above, where the full moon struggled to pierce through the branches of the colossal trees, the unknown figure watched the scene. The demonic red mask completely concealed his features, leaving only blood-colored eyes that shimmered with malice.
Upon his chest sat the crimson emblem of a serpent encircling a hammer—an unmistakable mark of the "Mask of Ruin" organization, the most feared syndicate in the Star State of Corvin and its neighboring empires.
This was an organization renowned for destroying cities and terrorizing governments in cold blood.
The man stood in silence, lurking from above. The voices of hunters grew louder by the moment, and the echo of their frantic footsteps on the damp earth filled the air with tension. The masked man showed no sign of being affected; rather, he watched the hunters with a gaze tinged with disdain. It was as if he relished their attempt to hunt him, savoring the fear filling their hearts. What a boring game.
Thanks to his exceptional skill, he managed to disguise himself among the endless layers of leaves, while life teemed with activity beneath the brush. Below, there were shouts and cries, broken by the voice of one of the hunters clad in green.
"Got you! I won't let you escape this time either!" the man shouted, running with all his might toward the red cherry bushes. The hunters' attire was dark green, reinforced with anti-corrosion lining to help them camouflage in the natural environment.
Explosive sounds of collisions followed deep within the dense thickets, which rose to a height of 13 meters. Giant mutated plants and monstrous Kaiju filled every corner of the forest, making every movement in this dark environment fraught with peril.
When the masked man saw the scene, he couldn't help but smile behind his mask—a cruel smile, laced with indifference. "What a comedic sight. Humans always believe they are in control of everything." The thought echoed mockingly in his mind as his eyes tracked Brian and his two companions attempting to seize control of the situation.
"Brian! Did you catch it?" one of the women in the group shouted, charging toward a red cherry bush on the other side with frantic momentum.
Opposite her was Sora, a girl with long silver hair, running swiftly toward the creature. Her features reflected a fierce resolve, and in her eyes was a spark of determination that hadn't faded despite everything they had endured.
She was certain that capturing this creature was the key to their survival from this nightmare.
"We have to go back. We can't let this thing escape again. We've wasted enough time already." But deep down, she felt something unfamiliar—a sense of danger lurking behind the shadows.
"Not yet, Sora," replied the boy in the green robe named Brian, panting heavily as he tried to grab the loathsome creature. Brian was lean with sharp features, wearing a shiny green armor that showcased his hunting experience.
"Alright! Keep a good distance from its venomous fangs," Sora called back, continuing her attempt to seize the creature that had caused their suffering, so distracted that she failed to notice the masked figure lurking above them.
In fact, none of the three in green robes noticed the hidden person over their heads at all. This masked man possessed a supernatural ability to infiltrate, thanks to his high skills in concealing himself from sight.
Every movement of his was precisely calculated, rendering him completely invisible to them.
"I got it!" Brian announced enthusiastically, emerging from a nearby bush clutching a small black creature the size of a child's torso. The strange creature had an unusual appearance—a hybrid between a fox and a wild cat.
The body of the cute Kaiju stretched less than 50 cm, while its red tail was slightly longer than 60 cm. The creature possessed stark white whiskers and yellow eyes filled with horizontal patterns around its vertical pupils.
"Huff, huff," Brian wheezed, gripping the creature by the neck with his right hand and holding the base of its red tail with his left. His eyes reflected the exhaustion and fatigue of the chase.
"Wait. Aren't you hurting it like that?" the other girl in green pointed out, noticing the creature's face gradually turning blue.
"Don't worry! This fellow has some special means to overcome that," Brian pointed to the white whiskers under the creature's eyes, which served as a respiratory aid and prevented suffocation. The white whiskers were durable, flexible, and capable of adjusting the creature's airflow.
"Here! Throw it in this cage," Sora said, pulling a yellow device from under her sleeves and tossing it near Brian. The yellow device was equipped with advanced monster-storage technology, designed to be both lightweight and sturdy.
"Oh! A monster storage device. I didn't think we had one! You always surprise me, Sora," Brian expressed his surprise, praising his sister Sora incessantly. The yellow device unfolded rapidly, revealing three hundred yellow metal protrusions that began to stretch and fuse at the device's top center, making it look like a spiderweb with a yellow pearl at its heart.
"Oh! Can you help me, Tara? As you can see, my hands are a bit full, hahaha," Brian laughed lightly, unable to open the cage with both hands. His expression was full of joy and optimism, adding a touch of positivity to the tense situation.
"Huh? Ah, sure," the girl startled slightly, not yet accustomed to the boisterous siblings. Tara, with her long blue hair and light clothing, moved quickly and skillfully toward the yellow device.
Hiss—! Hiss—! The creature let out a hiss similar to a snake's, warning the three against approaching, as it sensed extreme danger from the group of humans—especially from the blue-haired girl named Tara.
"So, can we consider this mission a success?" Sora asked, directing the question to Tara Duncan who was before her. Sora wore a robe decorated with defensive elements, her bearing professional, highlighting her role as the mission leader.
"Hmm, regarding that, the mission can be considered half-finished," blue-haired Tara noted with a half-smile toward the lean Brian. There was a flicker of confusion in her features, as she realized the threat was not yet over.
At that moment, a small black thread flew from her hands toward the frightened Kaiju cub with lightning speed. The distance between them was less than four meters, so it took less than half a second for the black thread to reach the cub's exposed neck. Yet, neither of the siblings felt a thing; the hidden movement was executed with brilliant subtlety.
"So?"
Sora continued the conversation, wanting to complete the mission quickly to raise her rank in the Stellar Adventurers Association. The task of capturing this creature was incredibly difficult; they not only had to venture into the inner region of the Blontora Forest but also attempt to capture a mature black "Goria" cub, which was akin to an impossible task.
A mature black "Goria" beast wasn't just an immediate death-terror; it was one of the most powerful creatures in the entire inner region.
To face such a mature beast, one would need a full party of "Adept" rank—meaning those in at least the Third Awakening stage—which was not available to Tara Duncan's fractured party. Therefore, the party had resorted to special means to lure the beast into the territory of another monster, sparking a small territorial war.
The party's sacrifices were staggering; more than ten people at Level 130 lost their lives to achieve this goal!
In the end, the party succeeded in capturing the creature's cub and ran unscrupulously to this spot. However, the surviving party did not expect a newborn cub to be able to escape three high-level Awakened like them, so, in a way, they neglected their defense.
While Brian was celebrating the capture, Tara, the girl with long blue hair, began to feel an inexplicable tension.
"Something is wrong..."
Thoughts crept into her mind, but she was unable to pinpoint the source of this strange anxiety. She began to look around nervously, as if something was watching them from afar.
Whoosh—!
"Oh! I can answer that question," came the sudden reply, accompanied by the sound of Swoosh-Swoosh! in the forest. The leaves gathered together and transformed into a masked man in a blood-black robe. The man looked like a demon in the heart of the forest, as killing intent leaked from him uncontrollably. In the eyes of the trio, the masked man appeared powerful and cunning, making him look like a true threat.
"Huh?" The three-member group was stunned by this sudden intervention. The bloody masked man appeared before them without them sensing his approach, sparking intense terror in their hearts. The masked man possessed an extraordinary ability to sneak; no one except a darkness specialist or someone with an Assassin class could perform such a trick.
"Damn! Why is a follower of the Mask of Ruin cult after us?" Sora wondered, her mind working hard to find a reason for the presence of such an uninvited guest. She was extremely anxious about his presence, guessing that he might be after the "Goria" cub or something even more dangerous.
Swoosh, swoosh! In a single moment, the masked man reached Sora's side, then placed his right hand on the stunned Sora's shoulder, rendering her unable to make any movement. "You are smart enough to figure that out, unfortunately," the masked man whispered in her ear, before waving his hand high.
Slash—!
"Sora!! My sister!!" Brian screamed at the top of his lungs until his throat almost tore, watching his sister's severed head fly through the air. The blood spraying from Sora's neck formed a bloody waterfall, and her body fell roughly to the ground.
< Warning: Host has died! >
< Initiating Self-Destruct Protocol... >
The Alliance bracelet on Sora's wrist began to wither gradually, scattering into the air like dust. It was a painful scene as the elements binding Sora to life were dispersed, causing her to scatter and dissolve into the grim forest.
Tara Duncan looked at Sora's body with a deep sense of guilt, feeling a heavy responsibility for what had happened. Despite the extreme exhaustion the party had suffered so far, they should have been able to fend off a minor threat.
There were no signs of a [Dominance Field] activation anywhere nearby, which meant one thing.