The village of Oakhaven was not a military target. It was a community of three hundred farmers, weavers, and children. Now, it was a pyre.
Under the Decree of Ash, the King's "Culling Squads"—elite soldiers who had traded their honor for the rapid Level-ups provided by the Pits—had descended like locusts. They didn't just burn the granaries; they heralded the arrival of something far worse.
Kaelen surged through the high grass of the southern plains, his twenty-foot frame a rhythmic blur of copper and emerald. Behind him, the Aurelian Scale-Guards ran with tireless, reptilian endurance, while the defected human cavalry struggled to keep pace.
The scent of burning thatch and copper-heavy blood hit Kaelen's sensitive tongue. He crested the final ridge overlooking Oakhaven and skidded to a halt, his tail carving a deep trench in the dry earth.
"By the Gods..." Commander Valen whispered, pulling his horse up beside Kaelen.
In the center of the village square, a horrific ritual was unfolding. A Culling Squad of twenty Level 30 knights stood in a circle, their swords pointed inward. In the center, bound and gagged, were dozens of villagers. But they weren't being killed by swords.
They were being fed to a Blood-Gorged Chimera.
[Target Identified: Blood-Gorged Chimera (Tier 2 - Mutant)] [Level: 45] [Status: Frenzied. Feeding on Life-Force to accelerate Host's EXP gain.]
The beast was a nightmare of mismatched parts—a lion's torso stitched with leathery bat wings and a serpentine tail that ended in a goat's head spitting corrosive bile. Its fur was matted with fresh gore, and its eyes glowed with the same sickly orange light as King Valerius's failing aura.
"They're harvesting them," Kaelen hissed, his humanoid torso trembling with a cold, royal fury. "Valerius is using the beast as a conduit. Every soul it consumes, he gains a fraction of the EXP."
"Lord, we must strike now!" Prime growled, his Aurelian-Steel spear humming.
"No," Kaelen commanded, his golden eyes scanning the perimeter. "The knights are positioned to intercept a frontal charge. Prime, take the Scale-Guards and circle to the eastern granaries. Use the smoke as cover. Valen, take your men and secure the western wells. If they try to burn the remaining houses, drown the flames."
"And the Chimera?" Valen asked, glancing at the Level 45 monstrosity.
Kaelen gripped his black-steel glaive, the violet mana-veins in the blade pulsing like a heartbeat.
"The beast belongs to me."
The Battle of Oakhaven
Kaelen didn't charge. He hunted.
He activated [Camouflage Lvl 3], his scales shifting to mimic the charred timber and swirling gray smoke of the burning village. He slithered through the shadows of a collapsed barn, moving in absolute silence despite his massive weight.
The Chimera let out a bone-chilling roar, its lion-head snapping at a kneeling villager.
Now.
Kaelen burst from the smoke like a coiled spring. He didn't lead with his blade; he led with his mass. He slammed his twenty-foot body into the Chimera's flank, the impact sounding like two boulders colliding.
The beast shrieked, its bat-wings flapping frantically as it was bowled over.
"The Naga! The Ghost Prince is here!" one of the Culling knights screamed, leveling his crossbow.
"Focus on the villagers!" Kaelen roared to his troops.
Prime and the Scale-Guards erupted from the eastern smoke, their matte-black shields locking into a Serpent-Shield Phalanx. They ignored the Chimera, driving their spears into the Culling knights with mechanical, lethal efficiency. They weren't fighting for glory; they were clearing a path for the civilians to escape.
The Chimera scrambled to its feet, its goat-head hissing as it sprayed a stream of emerald bile at Kaelen.
Kaelen twisted his humanoid torso with impossible flexibility, the bile sizzling harmlessly against the stone behind him. He spun his glaive, a blur of Aurelian-Steel, and carved a deep line across the beast's lion-chest.
[Skill Activated: Venom-Blade Synthesis]
The wound didn't just bleed; it turned black. The Level 2 Neurotoxin began to seize the Chimera's Tier 2 nervous system.
The beast lashed out with its serpent-tail, catching Kaelen across the ribs. The force of the blow sent him crashing through a cottage wall, stone and timber raining down on his copper scales.
[Warning: Health at 65%. Internal trauma detected.]
Kaelen shook the debris from his head. Through the dust, he saw the Chimera lunging toward a group of cowering children near the village well.
The cold ember in Kaelen's chest exploded into a sun.
He didn't just move; he warped.
[New Skill Unlocked: Sovereign's Leap]
Kaelen used his tail to launch himself fifty feet through the air. He soared over the Chimera, his glaive held high. As he descended, he channeled every ounce of his mana into the strike.
"For every life you stole," Kaelen's dual-toned voice thundered, "I claim yours!"
The glaive drove straight through the Chimera's spine, pinning the beast to the scorched earth. Kaelen landed on the creature's back, his talons digging into its mutated flesh. He didn't pull the blade out. He twisted it, releasing a massive discharge of caustic mana directly into the beast's core.
The Chimera let out a final, gurgling wheeze and dissolved into a puddle of black, foul-smelling ichor.
[Boss Defeated: Blood-Gorged Chimera (Level 45)] [Massive Experience Gained... Level Up! You are now Level 22.] [Level Up! You are now Level 23.]
Kaelen stood amidst the ruins, his chest heaving, his armor slick with black blood. Around him, the Scale-Guards and human defectors had finished the Culling Squad. The surviving villagers looked up from the mud, their eyes wide with a mix of terror and profound gratitude.
One old man, the village elder, stepped forward and knelt in the ash. "The Naga... he saved us. The Prince has returned."
Kaelen looked at his clawed hands, then at the distant red glow of the next burning village. He could feel Valerius's fury through the System—the King had just lost a massive amount of "invested" EXP.
"This was just the first," Kaelen said, his voice carrying through the quieted village. "Valen, Prime—gather the survivors. We take them back to Iron-Gate. Then, we ride for the next fire."
Kaelen looked at the sky. The moon was setting, but the dawn would be red.
"Valerius wants a desert of bone," Kaelen hissed, his golden eyes glowing. "But I will turn every ash-heap into a fortress.