Jeather stood at the edge of the Beast Habitat Realm, staring at nothing in particular.
Which was strange.
Because normally when someone tells you that your noble family might not have been entirely innocent, that your bloodline carries secrets, that your past was soaked in betrayal and fire — you feel something.
Rage.
Grief.
A violent pulse in your chest.
Something.
But there was nothing.
No tightening in his ribs.
No heat behind his eyes.
No violent surge of that inherited hatred that sometimes crept into his veins like a venomous memory.
Just… quiet.
He frowned.
"That's weird."
Astrael stood a few paces away in his Bronze-evolved form, dark forest aura coiling lazily around him. Velkaria remained upright and elegant as always, her silver armor gleaming faintly beneath the filtered light of the realm. Saxum clung to Jeather's leg in his small earth-form, humming happily.
Jeather crossed his arms.
"I should be angrier."
Silence.
He paced once.
"Or at least conflicted."
Still nothing.
He exhaled sharply.
"Unless they're lying."
That thought lingered.
Kael's story.
The butler's version.
The burned villages.
The purge.
The betrayal.
All of it aligned too neatly.
Too clean.
As if someone curated the narrative.
Jeather rubbed his temple.
"If you're feeding me a polished version of events," he muttered under his breath, "I'll find out."
His gaze sharpened slightly.
"Sooner or later."
He rolled his shoulders and forced himself to relax.
"Whatever."
He waved it off.
"I just wanted to enjoy my second life. You know? Collect cool beasts. Maybe get stronger. Maybe casually dominate the world later."
He looked up at the sky of the Beast Habitat Realm.
"And now family drama is popping up like side quests I didn't accept."
Saxum tilted his rocky head.
"Jett angy?"
Jeather blinked.
"No. I'm confused."
Pause.
"…Which is worse."
Astrael's deep voice rumbled faintly.
"Confusion precedes revelation."
Jeather shot him a look.
"Can you not sound like a fortune cookie carved from obsidian?"
Astrael did not react.
Velkaria gave the faintest twitch of amusement.
Jeather sighed.
"Anyway."
He turned toward a cluster of sealed assassin cards stacked neatly on a floating stone pedestal.
Fifty assassins.
All sealed.
All useless.
He walked toward them.
"…You know what? This is a waste."
Velkaria tilted her head slightly.
"My Lord?"
"These humans."
He picked one card up.
"They're not beasts. They don't grow. They don't integrate. They just take up space."
He stared at the card's surface.
"…And I don't feel anything about them."
No guilt.
No weight.
Nothing.
He frowned slightly.
"That's also weird."
Astrael's aura pulsed faintly.
"Compassion is selective."
Jeather exhaled.
"Yeah, well, storage space isn't."
He flicked the card upward.
Dark mana surged.
The seal shattered.
The contained human dissolved into mana fragments, dispersing harmlessly within the Realm's energy flow.
One by one, he destroyed them.
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
Velkaria watched silently.
Kael, standing near the Realm's entrance portal, observed carefully but said nothing.
When the last card shattered, Jeather dusted his hands.
"Better."
He glanced around.
"More room for actual hobbies."
He turned toward the distant mountains beyond the Realm's horizon — the place where the Diamond-tier beast had once manifested.
"I still can't find it."
He had searched for days.
Scouted ridge after ridge.
Tracked mana trails.
Nothing.
It was like the creature had never existed.
Jeather narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Oh well."
He gave a faint smirk.
"I'll meet you in the future."
The wind shifted slightly.
"And if I find out you're using me for some grand plan…"
His eyes darkened.
"…I'll make you regret your decision."
For a split second—
His irises vanished.
Completely black.
No sclera.
No pupil.
Just endless void.
Black wisps began to leak from his skin,
curling upward like smoke made of resentment and ancient hunger.
Velkaria immediately stepped forward.
"My Lord—"
Astrael's aura flared sharply, forest energy pressing outward in warning.
Saxum clung tighter.
"Jett scary…"
Jeather's breathing grew heavier.
The black wisps thickened.
The ground beneath him trembled faintly.
Kael's grip tightened on his cane.
"…Young master."
Jeather inhaled sharply.
Then exhaled.
The black smoke hesitated.
His beasts' gazes were on him.
Watching.
Concerned.
He blinked.
The void receded.
His eyes returned to normal.
He forced a smile.
"…I'm fine."
Silence lingered.
He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Wow. That was dramatic."
Velkaria did not relax immediately.
Astrael's gaze remained piercing.
Jeather coughed lightly.
"Anyway."
He suddenly froze.
"…Wait."
He turned slowly toward the pedestal.
"…Did I seal those mountain beasts earlier?"
Silence.
Astrael said nothing.
Velkaria glanced aside.
Saxum blinked innocently.
Jeather's face slowly drained of color.
"…I didn't."
He staggered backward slightly.
"No."
He grabbed his hair.
"No no no no—"
His eyes turned bloodshot.
He dropped to his knees.
And screamed toward the sky of the Beast Realm.
"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"
The echo reverberated across the artificial horizon.
Saxum flinched.
Astrael closed his eyes slowly.
Velkaria maintained composure.
Jeather slammed his fists into the ground.
"Do you know how much those Diamond-tier cores are worth?!"
He rolled onto his back dramatically.
"I FOUGHT FOR MY LIFE."
He pointed upward accusingly at the sky.
"And I forgot to seal them."
He sat up abruptly.
"I'm an idiot."
Saxum crawled onto his chest.
"Jett smort."
Jeather stared at him.
"…You're too young to lie."
He sighed deeply.
"Alright."
He stood.
Dusting himself off.
"New plan."
Astrael watched.
"We travel."
Velkaria's gaze sharpened.
"My Lord?"
"If Diamond won't come to me," Jeather said lightly, "I'll go to Diamond."
He stretched casually.
"Mountains, oceans, deserts."
His lips curved slightly.
"I'm collecting."
Kael approached quietly.
"You intend to leave the region entirely."
"Yes."
He turned toward Kael.
"You coming?"
Kael blinked slightly.
Jeather shrugged.
"I found out I can bring one person into the Beast Realm."
He gestured around.
"Someone needs to supervise these idiots when I'm unconscious."
Astrael did not react.
Velkaria's expression did not change.
Saxum proudly puffed his rocky chest.
Kael studied Jeather's face carefully.
"You would trust me with that responsibility?"
Jeather shrugged.
"You're old."
Pause.
"…Experienced."
Kael almost smiled.
"And?"
"You look like you'd scold Astrael properly."
Astrael narrowed his eyes faintly.
Kael exhaled slowly.
"…Very well."
He looked up at the sky.
The artificial sky of the Realm shimmered softly.
His voice lowered.
"Madame."
A faint breeze passed.
"Master."
His eyes softened.
"Your son is growing up fine."
Silence.
Then, barely audible—
"Forgive me… for lying."
Jeather didn't hear that part.
He was already planning.
Outside the mountains.
Beyond the forest.
Jeather stood atop a cliff overlooking endless blue.
His coat fluttered dramatically.
He spread his arms wide.
"I want to collect some beasts~"
He began singing loudly.
"From the mountains to the sea~"
Saxum clapped off-beat.
Astrael closed his eyes.
Velkaria pretended not to know him.
Jeather continued proudly.
"I'll seal them all and sell them all and build my treasury~"
He pointed dramatically toward the horizon.
"Ocean beasts! I'm coming for youuuuu~"
Kael pinched the bridge of his nose.
"…Young master."
Jeather grinned.
"What?"
"You are attracting attention."
"That's fine."
"Let's see what the ocean has."
Saxum bounced excitedly.
"Fight! Fight!"
Velkaria stepped beside him.
"My Lord, aquatic beasts possess
unpredictable movement patterns."
Jeather cracked his neck lightly.
"Good."
He smiled.
"I was getting bored."
His family's secrets lingered in the background.
The hatred within him stirred unpredictably.
The truth was still incomplete.
But for now—
There was salt in the air.
Monsters beneath the waves.
And a collector's hunger in his chest.
He grinned toward the horizon.
"Alright ocean."
"Let's see what you've got."