The growl tore through the night like thunder splitting the sky.
It wasn't the kind of sound a normal creature made it was too deep, too layered.
Like something that didn't belong to this world.
The mercenaries froze.
Even the chains between us stopped clinking, the forest itself holding its breath.
Then the sound came again.
Closer.
Hungrier.
Leaves trembled overhead as something massive moved through the trees. The shadows bent, the roots groaned, and then—out from the darkness—it emerged.
A beast stepped into the flickering light of the mercenaries' torches.
It was at this moment that I recognized the monster before us.
Its body was that of a wolf, but far larger—its back brushing the low branches, its claws carving into the soil with each step. Its fur was a patchwork of shadow and flesh, shifting like smoke and light at war with one another. From its ribs seeped tendrils of black mist, pulsing as if alive. And its eyes… its eyes glowed red, not with rage, but with something colder. Something aware.
'A werewolf's' I thought to myself
This mana beast wasn't supposed to be here right now.
Normally it was supposed to be in the deep of the forest far from here.
And from the data of the game the werewolf never attack alone there were always a pack and right I was more terrified at the ideas that it wasn't alone.
"The hell is that thing!?" one mercenary shouted.
"Mana beast!" barked the leader. His crimson hair gleamed in the torchlight as he drew his sword—the one that shimmered unnaturally at its edge. "Form up!"
The beast's head tilted slightly, almost curious.He keep fixating the areas like he was analyzing something.
Then it moved at a speed that my eyes couldn't follow.
It crossed the clearing in an instant.
A blur.
A shadow that cut flesh as it passed.
The first mercenary didn't even have time to scream. One swipe of its claws and his chest exploded open, blood spraying across the roots and chains.
Chaos followed.
Men shouted, tripped over each other, swung blindly. The air filled with steel and terror. The beast moved between them like water, its claws slicing through armor, its jaws crushing skulls. Every strike left trails of black smoke curling from the wounds like corruption spreading through the corpses.
I stand up rapidly. I needed to run right now because that that smoke—it wasn't normal. I could feel it.It was something heavier, colder, wrong.
It clung to the bodies, devoured them from the inside out.
"By the goddess"The old men screamed.
The gaunt prisoner beside me fell to his knees, dragging me down with him as the chains tightened.
"Move!" I hissed, tugging, yanking, but it was useless. The chains wouldn't give.
'God damnit' I cursed internally.
Those old man were dragging me with them.
The prisoners panicked. Some tried to run, only to be yanked back. Others stumbled into the mercenaries' fight and were cut down without a second thought.
"Stay together!" someone shouted maybe the red-haired leader but I couldn't know because his voice was drowned by another roar.
The beast leapt, crashing into the center of their formation. Three men went flying, bones snapping like branches. Blood misted the air.
I fell backward, my face hitting the dirt. My hands burned where the metal dug deeper into my wrists. I could barely breathe. Every instinct screamed at me to run, but the chain mocked me, cold and unyielding.
"Come on, come on," I muttered, trying to wedge the broken link between two stones. My palms slipped on my own blood. "Please move!"
Around me, the forest burned red with torchlight and death.
One mercenary screamed as he was ripped in half. Another tried to crawl away, dragging what was left of his leg.
The smell of blood was overwhelming.
Someone slammed into me—a prisoner, his eyes wide with madness.
"Help me!" he screamed, clutching at my arm. "Please! Don't let it—"
His words ended in a wet crunch. The beast's jaw closed around him, tearing him away, his screams fading into a gurgle.
My heart hammered in my chest. I couldn't think, couldn't breathe—only move.
I pulled harder. The chain bit into my skin, splitting flesh. Pain flared, bright and hot.
The metal groaned, but didn't break.
"Please—just—break!" I hissed through gritted teeth.
Then, silence.
I looked up.
The beast had stopped moving. It stood only a few meters away, towering over the corpses.
Its eyes met mine.
Everything in me froze.
The world shrank until there was only me, the cold air, and those eyes like dying stars.
Black smoke curled from its wounds, thickening, forming shapes—hands, faces, whispers.
It tilted its head, studying me like prey that somehow refused to die.
And then it lunged.
Instinct took over. I threw myself sideways, twisting with all the strength I had.
The beast's claw missed my body—but slammed into the chain instead.
CRACK!
The sound was deafening. The metal shattered.
I hit the ground hard, rolling through blood and mud, my wrists free for the first time.
The beast roared in pain or fury I couldn't tell and turned toward the red-haired mercenary, who stood his ground, his sword blazing faintly with light.
He looked toward me his eyes full of rage and ...determination.
Without hesitation he lunged toward the beast his blade igniting.
He surged forward, his sword blazing like a comet. The runes erupted, flooding the clearing with silver light. The air cracked as mana discharged, the smell of ozone mixing with blood and smoke.
The blade met flesh — this time, truly. The beast howled, staggering back as the light tore through its side, burning a hole straight through the smoky mass. For the first time, I saw blood — black, thick, boiling as it hit the ground.
The leader didn't stop. He swung again, the sword singing with power. Each strike forced the beast back, scattering chunks of dark mist. The runes pulsed with every blow, brighter, louder, hungrier.
But something didn't feel right the mercenaries was winning and that was the problem he wasn't suppose to win.
No normal people should be able to fight a mana beast and even if he have a magical weapon it didn't give him a slight chance.
I couldn't understand it until I see something that made me understand why.