Deep in the heart of the Fallen Zone, the ruins looked nothing like the shattered outskirts.
The buildings here had survived with eerie completeness.
Every skyscraper stood intact, yet dark red vines crawled across their walls, pulsing faintly beneath the night like veins.
No low rank Voidbeast could be seen for fifty miles.
This was the domain of kings.
"They are dead."
A hoarse voice drifted through a vast underground cavern.
The earth trembled.
Soil rolled aside as an enormous tail covered in obsidian scales emerged from below.
The Abyssal Blackscale Python.
Its eyes burned in the darkness like twin green ghost flames.
"Those two useless creatures are dead."
Far above, a streak of gold crossed the sky and landed atop a hundred story tower.
Huge wings folded inward. The wind they raised whipped the surrounding vines into violent motion.
The Golden Dragon Falcon lowered its gaze toward the distant glow of the human camp. Brutality flickered in its sharp eyes, tempered by something heavier.
"I sensed it."
"Humans."
In one corner, a mass of darkness shifted without revealing any clear form.
The Shadow Fiend’s voice came from everywhere and nowhere.
"And thunder."
The three peak Rank Five beast kings of Norcrest had gathered in one place.
A rare sight.
"One hundred years."
Dangerous light gleamed in the Golden Dragon Falcon’s eyes.
"For a century, the humans of Norcrest have hidden inside their shell like insects."
"They tremble behind that ridiculous wall. Even when we launch a Beast Tide, they only dare defend."
Its voice rose, carrying a note of disbelief.
"And now they enter this forbidden land on their own?"
"They are even roasting meat."
It was no different from slapping them across the face, then asking whether it had hurt.
"See who leads them."
The Abyssal Blackscale Python flicked its tongue.
Darkness spilled from the Shadow Fiend and crossed dozens of miles in an instant. Mist gathered before the three beast kings, forming an image above the cavern.
The abandoned stadium appeared.
Bonfires burned brightly.
Human soldiers sat around them, flushed with excitement as they divided their rewards.
At the center of it all sat a young man.
As though he had noticed the distant gaze, the youth suddenly lifted his head and grinned straight at the void.
Bright.
Open.
Almost cheerful.
"It is him!"
The Shadow Fiend’s voice sharpened.
During the Beast Tide outside Norcrest, there had been a Rank Two human carrying a blade.
He had chased more than a dozen Rank Four lords across the battlefield as though driving rabbits over a hill.
At the time, the beast kings had found him interesting.
A rare human genius.
Nothing more.
Not someone worthy of their full attention.
"That brat has reached Rank Four."
"How long has it been?"
"Should we kill him?"
The Abyssal Blackscale Python raised its upper body, poisonous mist gathering between its jaws.
"Now."
"Before he becomes our equal."
"If the three of us strike together, that entire area will become a dead zone tonight."
Killing intent thickened through the cavern until even the air seemed ready to freeze.
The Golden Dragon Falcon spread its wings.
Then the Shadow Fiend stopped it.
"Idiot."
"Why do you think he dared come here so openly?"
The mist shifted.
Not far from Joren, a middle aged man in a battered coat leaned against a wall and smoked.
He was doing nothing.
He did not need to.
The faint blood colored sword intent drifting around him made all three beast kings feel cold along their spines.
Kyo.
"Of course."
The Abyssal Blackscale Python gave a low, bitter laugh and sank partway back underground.
"I knew it."
"Humans live for schemes."
"Kyo has not left yet."
"And that treacherous Manester may be hiding in some sewer nearby, waiting for us to charge in."
A trap.
All three beast kings reached the same conclusion at once.
Their intelligence network could not match humanity’s, but they knew the important secrets.
Kyo would soon be transferred away from Norcrest.
"They are desperate."
The Golden Dragon Falcon folded its wings again.
The violence in its eyes faded, replaced by the confidence of someone who had seen through everything.
"Kyo is leaving, and the humans are afraid."
"That is why they created such a spectacle."
"They sent that brat as bait to provoke us."
"They want us to attack before Kyo leaves and force a final battle on their terms."
"Once we die, Norcrest will be safe."
The logic fit perfectly.
Every detail matched.
In their eyes, Joren’s arrogance was clearly an act.
Why else would a Rank Four human dare flaunt himself before Rank Five beast kings?
He had powerful protectors behind him.
It could only be a trap.
"Heh."
The Shadow Fiend gave a strange laugh.
"Such a childish provocation."
"Humans always believe they are clever."
"Do they think we will lose our reason at the sight of blood like common beasts?"
"Send the order."
The Golden Dragon Falcon’s command came cold and clear.
"All beast packs withdraw fifty miles."
"Even if the humans defecate inside our nests, no one is to attack."
Endure.
They had to endure.
"How many days can Kyo remain?"
"Three?"
"Five?"
Their attention returned to Joren.
The young man was still wiping down his blade.
Confident.
Fearless.
"Enjoy your arrogance for a few more days."
The Abyssal Blackscale Python’s tongue moved slowly between its teeth.
Expectation filled its eyes.
"When Kyo leaves, I will crush your bones one by one."
"Then we will see whether you can still smile."
Joren’s strength seemed strange.
He could even kill Rank Four enemies in an instant.
But to the three beast kings, he remained an insect.
The gulf between Rank Four and Rank Five was a difference in the level of life itself.
Without Kyo, Joren was nothing more than food.
"Withdraw."
At the command of the beast kings, countless high rank Voidbeasts that had been stirring in the darkness began to retreat.
They slipped deeper into the core of the Fallen Zone like a receding tide.
Soon, the entire region fell into an unnatural silence.