The sky above Norn City dimmed into a cool violet when Drax finally reached home. The familiar walkway, the cracked stone path, the faint scent of his mother's herbal tea drifting from the window—it all felt painfully normal after everything he had done.
He pushed open the door.
Inside, the living room glowed warm and soft. His mother, Lyra, turned first. Her silver-black hair fell over her shoulder, and for a second, Drax forgot the abyss roaring inside him.
"Drax? You're home early today."
Her voice was gentle—too gentle for the world he walked in.
Before he could answer, a blur slammed into him.
"Brother!!"
His little sister, Mira, wrapped her arms around him. Only fifteen, bright-eyed, always smiling, always believing her big brother was invincible.
Behind her, leaning against the wall with crossed arms, was his seventeen-year-old younger brother, Ellis—though everyone called him Orion now. His hair was messy, his posture lazy, but his eyes were sharp. He was quiet in a way that made people underestimate him.
"You look like hell," Orion muttered.
Drax smirked. "I've looked worse."
Mira puffed her cheeks. "Don't say that! You should be resting more!"
Drax placed a hand on her head, ruffling her hair.
But before he could say anything else, he sensed it—energy signatures outside the house.
He glanced at the window.
Two Association guards stood across the street, pretending to be casual while their eyes constantly scanned the surroundings.
Lyra followed his gaze. "The Association said… after the incident outside the gate, they wanted to ensure our safety." She sounded calm, but the slight tremble in her fingers betrayed her worry.
Drax nodded. "It's fine. It means they know what they're dealing with."
His phone buzzed.
"Tess," he murmured before answering.
"Took you long enough," Tess's voice came sharp and tired. "Drax, we have a situation."
"I assumed so," he replied. "What happened?"
"A rogue inner world faction… they've slaughtered a village on the outskirts of Norn. Completely wiped out. Not even bones left." Her tone darkened. "The location is within The Dreadmire Forest."
Drax's eyes narrowed.
The Dreadmire Forest—one of the worst places near Norn. A place ruled by an A-rank monster so old its presence warped the land.
Tess continued:
"Drax, the forest crawls with catastrophic-rank and abyssal-rank monsters. And its ruler… you know the name."
"Velgrid," he said.
The Black Dragon of the Dreadmire.
A creature so powerful that even the Association avoided confrontation unless necessary.
"That's not the worst part," Tess said. "We believe the rogue group is using the forest as their base of operations."
Drax's brows furrowed. "Impossible. No one survives in Velgrid's territory."
"That's what we thought too," Tess replied. "Meaning…"
Drax finished the sentence for her:
"They have an inner world user who can control the mind… and the senses."
A long silence.
"Exactly," Tess said quietly. "Drax… the Association is requesting you specifically. But it's going to be dangerous. Very dangerous."
Drax looked at his family. Mira laughing as she tried to steal a piece of candy from Orion. Lyra quietly watching them with a soft smile.
He exhaled.
"I'll take it."
Tess didn't sound surprised.
But she did sound relieved.
"Then move fast. The forest's aura is growing unstable."
He hung up.
He stepped into the living room again. Lyra silently approached him, eyes full of something fragile.
"You're leaving again, aren't you?" she asked.
Drax didn't lie. "Yes."
Mira grabbed his sleeve. "Do you really have to?"
Orion didn't speak. He only stared at Drax—the stare of someone who already knew the answer.
Lyra touched his cheek, her hand warm and trembling.
"Drax… just promise me you'll come back."
He paused.
Then he smiled—not the cold, emotionless smile he showed enemies, but the soft one he only ever gave her.
"I promise, Mom."
Lyra closed her eyes in relief.
He stepped outside, the guards nodding sharply as he passed.
The wind picked up.
The sky darkened.
And Drax walked toward the forest.
Hours later, the air changed.
The trees became darker.
The ground pulsed with a strange aura, a mix of death and distorted vitality.
Monsters growled in the distance—deep, monstrous sounds that rattled the bones.
Drax's eyes glowed faintly.
The Abyss stirred.
"This place…" he whispered. "Is practically screaming."
The fog parted.
A massive shadow moved.
Then—
BOOOOOM!
A colossal orc, easily thirty feet tall, dropped from a cliffside and crashed into the ground before him, cracking the earth in a shockwave.
The monster raised its head.
Blood-red eyes.
Thick, hardened hide.
Teeth like jagged stone.
A roar that shook the forest.
Drax didn't flinch.
Instead…
A slow smile tugged at his lips.
"Perfect."
He raised his hand—
SHHHK!
A blade of pure darkness materialized in his grasp.
The Abyssal Blade, forged from the same black tree that towered inside his inner world.
Its edge devoured the light around it.
Drax pointed it forward.
"Let's begin."