"ROAR—!!!"
A world-shaking beast roar exploded from the distance.
Everyone knew what that meant—
Divine Domain creatures were finally launching their attack.
The livestream instantly went feral.
"Holy—here it comes! It's coming!!"
"An SS-rank Divine Domain creature… it's actually arriving!!"
"Just the entrance alone is this terrifying… can Adrian really handle it?!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Before the shouting could even settle, the ground trembled again, snapping everyone back to reality.
The environment was still hellish.
The meteor had ignited the forest—flames crawling everywhere like living things, surging toward Adrian and Raven in waves.
Heat rolled in layers, so intense it made people wonder—
How can anything even survive in this inferno?
Or… maybe it didn't need to survive it.
Maybe it was born from it.
"ROAR!"
"ROAR!!"
Another chain of roars followed—closer this time.
With every roar, the earth shook harder.
In the studio of I Watch the Divine Domain, the guests couldn't sit still anymore.
"SS-rank… that has to be the peak of the entire Divine Domain, right?" Sienna Blake said, her voice trembling.
Captain Ryan Cole frowned at the screen, noticing something off.
"…And look at this. I don't think it's just one."
Dr. Elias Hart swallowed.
"Captain Cole… you mean—"
As if answering him—
the creatures finally surged into view.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Heavy steps like iron hammers.
The ground throbbed under the pressure.
And then—
the Will of Blue Star spoke.
[Congratulations! Dragonia contestants Adrian Vale and Raven Shaw have encountered Divine Domain creatures… analyzing… analysis complete!]
[Name: Ridgeback Rockbeast]
[Rank: C]
[Traits: C-rank Divine Domain creature. Omnivorous, pack-living. Thick armor makes them extremely hard to break. Agile bodies allow lightning-fast movement. Fangs and claws are their deadliest weapons. Additionally, their fire resistance is absurdly high.]
The chat went silent for half a second—
then exploded.
Not because they were C-rank.
Because of the number.
They poured out of the fire like a tide.
Black bodies wrapped in sparks, charging through burning trees.
In the crimson inferno, they looked like monsters born from flame itself.
Tiger-and-panther-sized, low to the ground—armored shells black as coal, glowing with scattered embers.
And they didn't flinch from the heat.
Not even a little.
In seconds, the screen became almost nothing but black and red.
The stampede shook the earth.
The livestream got hit with instant dread.
"My god… there are WAY too many!!"
"This is like a plague—my skin is crawling!"
"If that hits you head-on, you'll get buried alive!"
"If they breach the gate… Dragonia's finished. The sheer number is insane!"
"Relax! They're only C-rank. Adrian and Raven can handle it!"
"…Yeah, but the number—"
And that "but" was real.
The Ridgeback Rockbeasts were countless.
Still—
Adrian and Raven didn't panic.
Raven glanced at the wave of armored bodies and actually chuckled.
"Kid… don't let a single one slip past."
SHK—!
Her body blurred.
Gone.
Adrian didn't answer.
He simply adjusted the bridge of his glasses—
and a dark crimson tint slowly bled into his left eye.
Raven Shaw: C-rank like slicing paper
SHK! SHK! SHK!
Raven cut into the stampede like a silver ghost.
Her combat saber flashed up and down, her body twisting through the pack like she belonged in the storm.
Every clean arc of steel stole a life.
C-rank creatures?
To Raven now, they were nothing.
The beasts couldn't even track her.
She used their bodies as stepping stones—springing off armored backs, pivoting midair, cutting again before she landed.
Blue blade-light carved the firelit world.
In a blink, corpses were everywhere.
And the announcements began to spam.
[Congratulations! Dragonia contestant Raven Shaw has slain a C-rank Divine Domain creature! Points awarded: 4,500!]
[Congratulations! Dragonia contestant Raven Shaw has slain a C-rank Divine Domain creature! Points awarded: 4,500!]
[Congratulations! Dragonia contestant Raven Shaw has slain a C-rank Divine Domain creature! Points awarded: 4,500!]
The chat lost its mind.
"WHITE BOSS IS INSANE!! One slash, one kill!"
"She's too cool—this is illegal!!"
"C-rank is literally chickens to her!"
"Watching the points jump like this is weirdly satisfying!"
"With this many? Points are about to explode into the hundreds of thousands!"
"But… but the number is still too much—she can't stop the whole tide!"
They weren't wrong.
Raven was slaughtering fast.
Ridiculously fast.
Sometimes two—three—before a single second finished.
Dragonia's points were skyrocketing.
But the tide kept coming.
And then the Rockbeasts did something smart.
They began to ignore Raven entirely.
They realized she wasn't someone they could fight.
So they chose the only thing they could do.
They charged the gate at full speed.
Straight for the breach.
Adrian Vale moves: Holy Sword Form awakens
And then—
in all that chaos—
a sound cut through everything.
Crack.
Adrian snapped his fingers.
The same old habit.
The broken skin healed instantly.
Like pain didn't exist.
He stepped forward calmly, facing the stampede like he was looking at rain.
The beasts thundered closer—
claws tearing dirt,
armor scraping rubble,
heat and ash rolling in waves.
Adrian let out a soft, amused laugh.
Then, in full view of the world—
Holy Sword Form unfolded.
ZZZT—!!
His Kagune burst open.
Bone-like structures extended from his back and wrapped around him, building a frame—
then dark red flesh grew over it like armor, sealing him in layered protection.
At the same time, the extended Kagune warped and hardened.
KAK. KAK. KAK.
Cross-shaped blades formed one after another.
A ring of holy swords.
Pale-white blades with deep crimson patterns running through their cores like veins.
They sang with metallic resonance—sharp, chilling, sacred and wrong all at once.
Adrian's ghoul eye ignited—
a violent red glow.
The chat screamed.
"What the hell—WHAT IS THAT?!"
"A new form?! This is too cool!"
"He just keeps getting more insane!"
"Okay but how strong is it—"
"Bro… it's HOLY SWORD FORM. Of course it's broken!!"
Even the charging Rockbeasts slowed.
Pack instinct screamed danger.
They felt it—
from Adrian's body, a pressure that didn't belong to prey.
It belonged to a king.
The stampede stuttered and growled, suddenly unsure.
Even Raven stopped cutting for a moment, eyes narrowing.
"…Kid. How many secrets are you hiding?"
Adrian ignored everything.
Fear didn't earn mercy.
The massacre begins
WHOOSH—!
Adrian leapt skyward.
The holy swords spiraled around him like orbiting executioners.
They cut the air so cleanly it felt like the world itself was being shaved thin.
HUM… HUM… HUM…
The blades vibrated, answering his will.
Adrian hovered above the black tide.
His red gaze flared.
Then—
SHK! SHK! SHK!
The holy swords shot down.
So fast the eye couldn't catch the blade paths—
only the result.
Blood erupted.
Bodies split.
Armor cracked like cheap stone.
[Congratulations! Dragonia contestant Adrian Vale has slain a C-rank Divine Domain creature! Points awarded: 4,500!]
SHK! SHK! SHK!
The swords didn't "hit."
They passed through.
A crimson flash—
a beast collapses.
Another flash—
two heads fall.
Another—
torsos shear open.
Some Rockbeasts didn't even get to scream.
They were dead before their brains understood pain.
[Congratulations! Dragonia contestant Adrian Vale has slain a C-rank Divine Domain creature! Points awarded: 4,500!]
[Congratulations! Dragonia contestant Adrian Vale has slain a C-rank Divine Domain creature! Points awarded: 4,500!]
The notifications became a flood.
Foreign executives watching the stream went stiff.
At first, they'd actually felt relief.
C-rank? Great. Even if they breach, it won't wipe the world.
They'd even been smug.
Look—Raven can't stop them all. Look—numbers win.
Dragonia will get crushed eventually.
And then Adrian started cutting.
And every one of those thoughts died.
"Oh my God… I can't even see his attacks!"
"Is that really C-rank? Why do they look weaker than stray dogs?!"
"That armor… that armor should be a nightmare—why is it useless?!"
"This Adrian Vale… he's…"
They trailed off.
Because there wasn't a word left that made sense.
Raven steps back: even she is stunned
The ground became a graveyard.
Corpses stacked.
Limbs everywhere.
Blood ran into streams, soaking ash into black mud.
The air turned thick with iron.
The entire forest looked stained red.
Raven—who had been cutting like a hurricane—
had unconsciously retreated to the side.
Not because she was tired.
But because Adrian's efficiency was outrageous.
She could massacre.
She could dominate.
But she couldn't do this.
Adrian wasn't fighting C-rank creatures.
He was deleting them.
Like they were insects.
Like those holy swords were a tool designed to clear a battlefield in a single sweep.
And the tide—once endless—
began shrinking at a visible rate.
Ground dive: the blood ring
Adrian's body flickered.
He dove.
SHK!
Even mid-fall, the swords continued harvesting—flashing around him in a rotating slaughter.
He landed—
and crushed one Rockbeast underfoot like stepping on rotten fruit.
No pause.
No breath.
He swept his holy swords outward in a circle.
SHK—!!
A gigantic red ring burst across the battlefield.
Every creature the ring touched—
was cut clean in half.
The livestream went numb.
"I'm done. I'm actually done."
"He's still killing—he's STILL killing!! He's gone insane!"
"Why does this look… beautiful? Am I broken?"
"You're not alone—this is violence with aesthetics!"
"Those thousands… he's about to kill them all by himself!!"
"Wait—bro—he's eating again??!"
Yes.
He was.
Eat… and kill… at the same time
Just like before—
Adrian walked forward slowly.
Calmly.
As if the battlefield belonged to him.
With one hand, he grabbed fresh flesh.
Bit down.
Chewed.
Swallowed.
With the other—
the holy swords kept moving.
SHK. A beast dies.
SHK. Another dies.
SHK. Another.
Blood splashed his armor—
and was swallowed by the Kagune layers like it never existed.
The remaining Rockbeasts broke.
Some turned and fled.
Some froze.
Some howled like they were calling for salvation.
And then—
the firewind shifted.
A deeper roar rolled out from the blaze.
Not the Rockbeasts.
Something else.
Something that made the air tremble.
Even the Rockbeasts snapped their heads toward it like disciples hearing their god.
They began howling together, riling themselves up.
Like welcoming their king.
A gust exploded through the inferno.
Flames bent sideways.
Heat slammed into the camera.
And—
the Will of Blue Star spoke again.
[WARNING!! Dragonia contestants Adrian Vale and Raven Shaw are about to encounter an SS-rank Divine Domain creature… scanning… scan complete!]
The screen seemed to tremble under the weight of what was coming.
And behind the firelight—
the true predator was finally stepping out.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/StrawHatStudios