Noctis's tone remained casual, but the meaning behind it was not small.
"You enjoyed that fight because it pushed you," Noctis continued. "It made your blood boil because for the first time after your evolution, you had to use your new body, your instincts, and your new power against something that could actually force you to improve. That feeling is useful. Remember it, but do not become addicted to it. A good fight can sharpen you. A bad obsession with battle can get you killed."
Rengar nodded slowly. "I understand, Master."
Noctis smirked. "Good. Because if you start chasing fights like a lunatic, I will throw you into a hole until you calm down."
Rengar stared at him for a moment, then laughed despite the fatigue.
The sound echoed faintly through the passage as they left the titan chamber behind.
The deeper dungeon no longer felt the same. When they first entered, the frost energy had been dense and aggressive, and every chamber had carried pressure from the titan's presence. Now that pressure was gone. The walls still glowed faintly with blue light beneath the ice, but the movement had slowed. The air no longer pressed against their bodies. Some of the frost formations along the passage had begun dulling, and the construct patterns embedded in the walls flickered irregularly as if the dungeon system had lost one of its central anchors. They passed several side passages that had previously pulsed with energy, but now those routes were silent. No new golems formed. No frost beasts emerged. Nothing challenged them.
Rengar noticed the change quickly. "The dungeon feels weaker."
"The titan was likely one of its main guardians," Noctis said. "Once its core disappeared, the area lost a major source of energy."
"Will the dungeon die?"
"Probably not immediately," Noctis replied. "Places like this usually have deeper sources or older foundations. But this section will not recover quickly."
Rengar looked at the walls as they moved. The silence felt almost strange after so much battle. Every step away from the titan chamber created more distance from the fight, yet the fight remained in his body. He could still feel the impact of the spear, the pressure of the arrows, the recoil of his final Twin Wolf Fang Slash, and the moment the armor healed him by absorbing his blood and returning the vitality back into his body. He looked down at the black armor covering him, and although he said nothing, his thoughts lingered on the fact that Noctis had given it to him before the battle. At the time, he had only understood it as equipment. Now he understood it as trust and preparation.
Noctis seemed to know what he was thinking, but he did not explain further. He simply continued walking.
The path gradually returned them toward the region beneath the ice ape cave. The smooth ancient structure gave way to rougher frozen rock, and the air shifted from construct-cold to natural cave-cold. The light from the dungeon walls faded behind them until only the glow of ice crystals remained ahead. The passage narrowed, twisted, and eventually opened into the large cavern where the ice ape tribe had hidden after Rengar killed their king.
The moment Noctis and Rengar stepped out of the inner passage, several ice apes noticed them.
The apes had gathered near the far side of the cavern with their young, and the moment they saw Rengar, their bodies stiffened. When they saw Noctis beside him, the fear became immediate. Several of the larger females stepped back instinctively, pulling the smaller apes behind them. A few low growls began but died almost as soon as they formed. The entire group retreated toward the deeper shadows of the cavern, not daring to approach, not daring to challenge, and not daring to block the path.
Rengar watched them quietly.
Once, these creatures had belonged to the enemy tribe under the Ice Giant Ape's rule. Before his evolution, they had been part of the force that pressured his own wolf tribe for years. After everything that had happened, they now looked small and frightened. Not harmless, but no longer important. He did not feel the same burning hatred he once expected himself to feel. The king ape was dead. The titan had fallen. He had changed too much to waste energy on creatures already broken by fear.
Noctis noticed but did not comment.
They crossed the cavern without touching the apes. The ice crystals overhead cast pale light across the ground, and the remaining apes continued retreating until their backs nearly reached the walls. One young ape whimpered softly, but the mother beside it covered its mouth and pulled it down behind a larger stone formation. Noctis walked through the cave as if none of them existed, and Rengar followed at his side without loosening his grip on the daggers but without raising them either.
The cave exit appeared ahead, leading back toward the outer mountain air.
As they stepped outside, the difference struck immediately. The cold wind of the mountain moved across them, carrying the scent of snow, stone, beast blood, and distant wilderness. The sun had already sunk lower, leaving the sky dimmer than when Rengar first chased the Ice Giant Ape back to its cave. The battlefield outside still held traces of the earlier massacre. Broken ice, shattered stone, ape corpses, and old blood remained scattered near the cave entrance, but the open air made everything feel less oppressive than the dungeon below.
Noctis stretched his shoulders lightly. "That took longer than expected."
Rengar looked toward him. "Master, are we returning to Kaiser now?"
"Yeah," Noctis replied. "He should still be evolving. I want to see how far he has progressed."
Rengar nodded. The thought of Kaiser's evolution made his own blood stir slightly with curiosity. He had seen the serpent before the transformation began, and he had felt the pressure from Kaiser even then. If Noctis had placed a Crimson Ward around him for protection, then whatever was happening inside that barrier was not ordinary.
Noctis placed one hand on Rengar's shoulder. "Hold steady."
Rengar had already experienced Genesis Step before, but even now the skill still felt strange. Space did not move like normal movement. It folded, skipped, and obeyed Noctis's will in a way that made distance feel meaningless. The mountain cave, the cold wind, and the frozen battlefield vanished around them in the next instant.
When the world settled again, they stood at the entrance of the gorge that had once belonged to Rengar's wolf tribe.
The familiar terrain returned around him immediately: the steep stone walls, the cold air flowing between the cliffs, the old scent of wolves buried beneath newer traces of blood and Noctis's crimson power. Rengar's ears lifted as he recognized the place, but before he could fully take in the return, Noctis stopped.
Noctis's gaze shifted toward the center of the gorge.
Rengar followed his line of sight and immediately saw why.
The Crimson Ward Noctis had placed around Kaiser still stood, covering the area where the massive serpent was undergoing evolution. The ward pulsed with deep crimson light, forming a protective barrier that distorted the air around it like blood-colored glass. Dense pressure radiated from within, and although the ward prevented the internal energy from spreading too far, even from the entrance Rengar could feel something enormous changing inside.
But Kaiser was not the only presence there.
The vampire escorts had arrived.
They stood at a careful distance from the Crimson Ward, not too close to challenge it and not too far to miss what was happening. Their postures were controlled, but their attention was entirely fixed on the barrier. Some watched silently with narrowed eyes. Others exchanged quiet looks filled with uncertainty. None of them attempted to cross the ward. None of them touched it. They simply observed, waiting near the edge of the protected area as the crimson light pulsed over their faces.
Noctis raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Well," he said casually, "that's unexpected."
Rengar looked between the vampire escorts and the Crimson Ward. The escorts had likely arrived while Noctis and Rengar were inside the dungeon, and now they were standing before a barrier they could not understand, watching the evolution of a creature powerful enough to make the entire gorge feel unstable.
Inside the Crimson Ward, Kaiser's aura pulsed again.
The ground beneath the ward trembled faintly.
The vampire escorts stiffened.
Noctis smiled.
Noctis smiled faintly after Kaiser's aura pulsed from within the Crimson Ward, and the subtle tremor spreading through the gorge immediately drew the attention of the vampire escorts away from the barrier and toward the two figures standing near the entrance of the territory. Until that moment, the escorts had remained focused entirely on the massive blood-red dome surrounding the evolution area, carefully maintaining distance from the circulating blood energy while quietly observing the immense pressure spreading throughout the surrounding cliffs and frozen terrain. None of them had attempted to approach too closely during Noctis's absence because instinct alone warned them that the existence inside the barrier was dangerous enough that even standing near the ward for prolonged periods felt oppressive.
The atmosphere among the escorts noticeably settled after sensing Noctis's return. The tension surrounding the Crimson Ward itself never disappeared, but the uncertainty lingering throughout the gorge naturally eased once the creator of the barrier finally returned.
Cold mountain wind continued moving through the cliffs while Rengar stood beside Noctis in silence. The black armor covering his evolved body reflected faint crimson light coming from the barrier while traces of exhaustion still lingered beneath his posture after the prolonged titan battle deep within the frozen dungeon. Although the armor Noctis had given him had already healed most of the visible damage throughout his body, the strain from continuously circulating blood energy and lightning during battle had not vanished completely. Even so, the pressure naturally radiating from him remained sharp enough that the escorts immediately noticed him the moment their attention shifted toward the gorge entrance.
Not because they recognized him.
The vampires had never seen Rengar before. During daylight hours they had remained asleep, and by the time they became active again, Rengar had already completed his evolution and followed Noctis into the depths beneath the ice ape cave. To them, the wolf-like humanoid standing beside Noctis was an entirely unfamiliar existence carrying predatory bloodline pressure unlike anything they had encountered previously.
What unsettled them slightly was not simply his appearance.
It was the bloodline aura naturally circulating from him.
The escorts immediately recognized traces of Noctis's bloodline pressure within Rengar's presence.
Their eyes subtly sharpened afterward while carefully observing him.
Noctis's bloodline aura itself felt impossibly vast and deep, like endless crimson pressure hidden beneath calm stillness. Rengar's aura, meanwhile, felt entirely different despite carrying clear similarities. His pressure felt sharper, more instinctive, and openly predatory in a way that resembled a newly evolved apex beast still adapting naturally to its transformed existence.
Several escorts exchanged subtle glances while Noctis casually walked toward the Crimson Ward.
Rengar followed naturally beside him.
The escorts immediately lowered their heads respectfully.
Emeralda stood nearest to the barrier itself, and after noticing Noctis approach, she stepped forward slightly before speaking.
"Lord Noctis."
Noctis nodded casually in acknowledgment while continuing toward the ward.
"Looks like you all got here earlier than expected."
Emeralda briefly glanced back toward the Crimson Ward while answering.
"We sensed the pressure spreading through the mountains and followed it here," she explained calmly. "But none of us could identify exactly what was happening inside the barrier."
Her gaze shifted naturally toward Rengar afterward.
The remaining escorts also continued subtly observing him despite trying not to stare too openly.
Noctis noticed immediately.
"This is Rengar," he said casually while briefly placing one hand against Rengar's shoulder. "He's my battle companion."
The atmosphere surrounding the escorts subtly changed afterward.
The title itself carried immediate meaning within vampire hierarchy.
Noctis had not introduced Rengar as a servant, transformed beast, subordinate, or follower.
He introduced him as a battle companion.
That distinction alone immediately elevated Rengar's standing far above ordinary retainers.
Emeralda understood the implication immediately.
She lowered her head respectfully toward Rengar afterward.
"Lord Rengar."
The remaining escorts quickly followed.
"Lord Rengar."
Rengar's ears twitched slightly after hearing the formal address repeated throughout the group.
The sudden shift in treatment still felt somewhat unfamiliar to him. Before meeting Noctis, respect among beasts came naturally through instinct, territory, and dominance. Structured acknowledgment through hierarchy felt different from the direct instinctive order beasts followed naturally.
Rengar briefly glanced sideways toward Noctis afterward.
Noctis simply grinned casually in response.
Rengar eventually nodded lightly toward the escorts in acknowledgment while the atmosphere among the group gradually eased afterward.
Noctis continued approaching the Crimson Ward while the escorts naturally stepped aside to allow him passage. Rengar followed beside him while quietly observing the barrier more closely now that they had fully returned to the gorge.
The Crimson Ward remained completely stable.
Dense currents of blood energy circulated smoothly throughout the translucent dome while layered crimson streams continuously flowed across the surface like living veins beneath crimson glass. Every pulse spreading outward from Kaiser's evolving body traveled naturally through the barrier before redistributing itself throughout the ward in calm circulation patterns.
The barrier itself did not feel violent despite the immense pressure radiating from it.
Instead, the Crimson Ward carried overwhelming calmness beneath its weight.
The surrounding gorge itself had gradually adapted to the pressure during Noctis's absence. Snow nearest to the barrier had repeatedly melted and refrozen beneath the circulating blood energy while crimson reflections spread faintly across nearby cliff walls and frozen terrain. Even the cold mountain wind moving naturally throughout the gorge weakened whenever approaching the ward itself, as though the surrounding environment instinctively avoided disturbing the sleeping existence protected within.
Noctis approached the barrier without hesitation.
The Crimson Ward immediately responded to him.
The circulating currents shifted subtly throughout the surface while smooth crimson ripples spread outward across the dome before naturally stabilizing once more.
Rengar quietly observed the reaction while walking beside him.
Even after witnessing Noctis's overwhelming abilities repeatedly, moments like this still reminded him just how absurd Noctis truly was.
Inside the Crimson Ward, Kaiser remained asleep.
The massive serpent's body coiled throughout the protected area while faint crimson patterns spread naturally across sections of his evolving scales beneath the blood-red light circulating through the barrier. Compared to before beginning evolution, Kaiser's body had clearly become larger and denser. His scales appeared darker now, almost metallic beneath certain angles of the crimson glow surrounding him.
Most noticeable, however, was the atmosphere radiating from the sleeping serpent.
Kaiser's presence no longer resembled ordinary magical beast pressure.
The aura surrounding him carried ancient heaviness dense enough that even standing near the barrier caused faint pressure to spread naturally throughout the gorge. Yet despite the overwhelming presence radiating from Kaiser's body, the atmosphere surrounding the evolution remained strangely peaceful.
His breathing stayed slow and steady.
Each breath caused the air inside the ward to thicken slightly before settling naturally once more into calm circulation.
The escorts quietly observed the sleeping serpent while maintaining respectful distance from the barrier. Even Emeralda's normally composed expression carried visible caution while studying Kaiser through the Crimson Ward.
Noctis subtly activated Omni Eyes while observing the evolution process.
Within his vision, Kaiser's progression continued climbing steadily.
97%.
The evolution remained perfectly stable.
At this stage, the transformation no longer resembled violent reconstruction or unstable mutation. Kaiser's bloodline integration had already completed almost entirely. The remaining progression felt more like the final settling of an evolved existence naturally adapting to its completed form.
"Almost done," Noctis said casually.
The escorts immediately became more attentive after hearing those words.
They had already sensed the overwhelming pressure leaking from the barrier earlier, but knowing the process was nearing completion caused the atmosphere surrounding the group to tighten naturally once more.
One of the younger escorts hesitated briefly before speaking carefully.
"Lord Noctis… is the serpent connected to your bloodline as well?"
Noctis glanced toward him calmly.
"Kaiser is evolving," he replied simply. "That's all you need to worry about right now."
The escort immediately lowered his head respectfully.
"Understood."
No further questions followed afterward.
The simple answer itself already carried enough meaning.
Rengar quietly continued observing Kaiser through the barrier while standing beside Noctis.
Before entering the titan dungeon, Kaiser already possessed frightening pressure.
Now the serpent felt entirely different.
The aura radiating from him no longer resembled merely a powerful magical beast. Kaiser's existence now carried deeper bloodline heaviness intertwined with predatory instinct and ancient pressure dense enough to suppress the surrounding gorge naturally beneath its presence.
The Crimson Ward continued circulating smoothly around him while faint crimson mist drifted near sections of the serpent's massive body before naturally rejoining the flowing blood energy throughout the barrier itself.
Rengar could feel the difference clearly now after experiencing his own evolution.
Kaiser's transformation was not chaotic mutation.
It was controlled ascension.
The escorts themselves gradually realized something important while observing the sleeping serpent.
The Crimson Ward was not suppressing Kaiser forcefully.
It was protecting him.
Nurturing him.
Allowing the evolution to complete naturally without outside interference.
That realization somehow made the barrier itself feel even more terrifying.
Noctis crossed his arms casually while continuing to observe Kaiser through Omni Eyes.
97%.
98%.
The progress continued climbing steadily.
Kaiser eventually stirred slightly inside the ward.
The movement remained slow and natural.
One section of the serpent's enormous coiled body shifted softly against the ground while scales scraped faintly across frozen stone beneath him. The movement caused a deeper pulse to spread naturally throughout the Crimson Ward afterward while crimson currents along the barrier momentarily brightened before settling once more.
Several escorts unconsciously stiffened slightly after feeling the pulse spread through the gorge.
But Noctis remained completely relaxed.
Rengar also remained calm while continuing to observe carefully.
Kaiser shifted again.
This time the serpent adjusted his coils more noticeably while his breathing gradually deepened afterward. Crimson patterns along sections of his body brightened faintly before stabilizing once more beneath the circulating blood energy throughout the ward.
The pressure throughout the gorge gradually became denser.
The surrounding wind weakened further while distant sounds throughout the cliffs gradually quieted beneath the growing bloodline pressure naturally spreading from Kaiser's nearing completion.
The escorts slowly repositioned themselves farther from the Crimson Ward afterward without needing instructions. None of them spoke unnecessarily anymore because the atmosphere throughout the gorge itself had become too heavy for casual conversation.
Noctis quietly continued watching Kaiser while the evolution progress steadily climbed.
98%.
99%.
A faint smile appeared across his face afterward.
Kaiser's tail shifted slowly through the crimson mist inside the ward while the serpent's massive body gradually continued waking from evolutionary sleep. The blood-red currents circulating across the barrier itself became richer now while deeper pulses spread outward through the dome at slower but heavier intervals.
Rengar quietly observed everything unfolding before him.
After surviving the titan battle and experiencing his own evolution, he now stood beside Noctis while another companion approached awakening.
The realization stirred something subtle inside him.
For the first time since losing his tribe, Rengar no longer felt isolated.
Noctis remained standing calmly before the Crimson Ward while Emeralda and the escorts waited silently behind him.
Inside the barrier, Kaiser shifted once more while the enormous serpent's body tightened briefly through the coils before relaxing again into steadier breathing.
The progress continued rising.
99%.
The Crimson Ward pulsed softly throughout the gorge while the surrounding cliffs reflected crimson light across the frozen terrain.
Kaiser's head eventually moved slightly against the ground afterward.
The motion itself remained slow, almost lazy, like a creature gradually waking from deep sleep rather than struggling through unstable transformation. Sections of the serpent's body shifted naturally through the coiled mass while scales scraped quietly against frozen stone beneath him.
The pressure throughout the gorge deepened once more.
Even the escorts could now feel the difference clearly.
Earlier, Kaiser's aura resembled dormant pressure hidden beneath sleep.
Now the serpent's existence itself gradually began asserting presence throughout the surrounding environment.
The remaining snow throughout the gorge subtly trembled beneath the spreading bloodline pressure while fine crimson mist circulated naturally around the Crimson Ward like slow-moving breath.
Noctis's smile widened slightly afterward.
Nearly complete.
Through Omni Eyes, the final percentage continued steadily progressing upward without instability or interruption.
Kaiser's evolution had succeeded.
The only thing remaining now was awakening completely into the evolved form his body had already accepted.
Rengar quietly stared toward the sleeping serpent while subconsciously gripping his daggers slightly tighter from anticipation. He wanted to see what kind of existence would emerge from the Crimson Ward once Kaiser fully awakened.
Behind them, the escorts maintained complete silence while observing the barrier carefully.
Even Emeralda no longer spoke.
The atmosphere throughout the gorge itself had become too heavy for unnecessary conversation.
The Crimson Ward continued circulating smoothly while the sleeping apex slowly approached awakening beneath its protection.