The sky was beautiful.
An almost unreal blue stretched endlessly overhead, vast and pure, brushed by thin white clouds drifting lazily as if they had nowhere to be. Birds traced slow circles in the air, their clear songs echoing freely above the canopy.
A peaceful world.
Almost innocent.
A perfect lie.
Beneath that serene sky, the forest was holding its breath. The trees stood unnaturally still, their leaves frozen despite the breeze. Even the light seemed hesitant to touch the ground, as though it knew it was not welcome here.
Rael felt sweat trickle down the back of his neck.
"Rael, step back."
Blanek's voice was low. Serious. Stripped of its usual edge and mockery.
"Stay behind me. He's dangerous. I'll handle him."
Rael clenched his teeth but obeyed. His body screamed at him to run, every instinct urging him to flee, yet something stronger kept his eyes locked forward.
THE DEATH was watching them.
He did not move. Not a step. Not a visible muscle. His scythe rested against his shoulder as if it weighed nothing, even though the dark energy seeping from it warped the air itself.
He tilted his head slightly… and smiled.
"Handle me? You? Me?"
A laugh slipped from his throat.
Light. High-pitched. Deeply unsettling.
"Heehehehehehehe…"
The sound slid between the trees, seeping into every corner of the forest like a whisper that refused to fade.
"When I was told some adventurers had entered the forest, I expected something at least passable."
His violet eyes settled on Blanek. Then shifted to Rael.
"But you're just kids."
His smile widened.
"This will be quick."
He never got to finish.
Blanek lunged.
The ground exploded beneath the force of his legs. His sword was already drawn, carving a brutal, precise arc filled with all his strength. No hesitation. No speeches. A strike meant to kill.
THE DEATH barely raised his scythe.
The impact was cataclysmic.
Blanek's blade crashed into the scythe's shaft, and the collision unleashed a monstrous shockwave. Bark was torn from trees, leaves and splinters of wood hurled violently in every direction.
Rael drove his sword into the ground to keep from being blown away.
Blanek skidded backward several steps, teeth clenched, arms trembling from the recoil.
He's strong.
No.
He's abnormally strong.
THE DEATH hadn't even changed his expression.
"Oh?"
He tilted his head, intrigued.
"Not bad… for a child."
Blanek drew a deep breath, his muscles pulled tight like cables on the verge of snapping. He could feel it now. The difference. The pressure. The crushing certainty that every exchange would be a potentially fatal miscalculation.
Rael still refused to believe it.
But his body did not lie.
His hands were shaking. His heart was pounding far too fast, far too hard. THE DEATH's aura made him feel as if he were being drawn in, as though staying too close would erase him entirely.
Blanek took a step forward.
"Rael, don't move."
He was about to charge again.
"Are you really sure you want to attack once more?"
THE DEATH's voice had lowered. Grown colder.
"I'd advise you to stay where you are."
He straightened his scythe slightly.
"I have a rule. I don't kill children."
A chill ran down Rael's spine.
"Then run."
THE DEATH raised one hand, palm open.
"I'll give you five minutes."
Time itself seemed to freeze.
The birds stopped singing.
The wind died.
His eyes hardened, hollow, and all mockery drained from his voice.
"After that…"
A crushing pressure slammed down on the forest. Even the trees seemed to groan.
"…the hunt will begin."
Silence fell.
Heavy.
Absolute.
Blanek didn't move. Rael felt his throat tighten.
Five minutes.
Not a fight. Not a negotiation.
A delayed execution.
And deep beneath the earth, under their very feet, Selena and Lyo stood alone before a sleeping horror.
The forest had closed its jaws.
And the sky, still impossibly beautiful, watched without blinking.
---
In the underground chamber, the air had changed.
Selena felt it before she saw anything. A diffuse pressure, as if space itself were contracting. Dust suspended in the air trembled, then drifted down in fine spirals around them.
"Lyo…" she whispered.
She didn't need to finish.
The monster was waking.
At the center of the chamber, the enormous spider stirred. Slowly. Far too slowly. One leg folded in on itself, scraping against stone with a wet, visceral sound. Then another. The hanging webs shuddered, making the trapped bodies sway above the abyss.
And then—
The eyes opened.
Red.
Not a natural red, but a deep, burning crimson, as though something were smoldering behind those monstrous orbs. They fixed on Selena and Lyo with disturbing intelligence.
"It's… looking at us," Lyo breathed.
The creature rose, revealing its full size.
It was massive. Far larger than any spider they had faced before. Its carapace was neither black nor brown, but laced with scarlet veins, as if blood flowed just beneath the surface. Every movement radiated contained, unnatural power.
"This isn't an ordinary monster," Selena said quietly.
Her neck prickled.
"There's something… wrong."
The spider tilted its head.
Almost curious.
Then it moved.
A leg slammed into the ground. Stone cracked instantly.
"Left!" Selena shouted.
Lyo unleashed his magic. Gravity twisted violently, pinning one of the monster's legs to the floor with a deafening crash. The creature released a shrill, metallic screech that made the entire chamber vibrate.
Cracks spread across the ceiling.
"Bad idea," Selena muttered.
Stones fell. The suspended bodies swayed dangerously.
The spider tore itself free with a brutal motion, hurling Lyo into a pillar. He slammed into it hard, the air knocked from his lungs.
"Lyo!"
Selena launched a concentrated wave of flames. Fire coiled around the creature's torso, scorching its crimson shell.
But instead of retreating—
It advanced.
Straight through the flames.
Its eyes burned brighter.
"It… it doesn't feel pain normally," Lyo gasped as he forced himself upright.
Selena understood.
"This isn't just a monster."
Her gaze hardened.
"It's an experiment."
---
Above ground, the countdown continued.
"One minute has already passed," THE DEATH remarked lightly.
He glanced up at the sky.
"The world keeps moving. Fascinating."
Blanek inhaled deeply.
"Rael," he murmured. "If I tell you to run… you run."
Rael clenched his fists.
"And you?"
"I'll catch up."
The lie was obvious.
"Three minutes," THE DEATH continued.
His aura grew heavier.
Rael finally understood.
This wasn't an enemy they could face.
Not now.
Maybe not ever.
---
At the village, Eran sensed the unease before he understood why.
The man standing before him was too calm. Too clean.
"Who are you?" Eran demanded.
"An adventurer."
The man's smile never reached his eyes.
"I'm looking for two kids. A red-haired girl. A guy with a big sword. And two others."
The chill was immediate.
When the man turned and walked toward the forest, Eran understood.
They hadn't come to help.
They had come to retrieve.
Underground, the chamber was still trembling.
The creature stood tall, unscathed, watching Selena and Lyo.
As if it were waiting.
And somewhere beneath a sky that was far too blue, the hunt was about to begin.