As Ravien advanced, the sky slowly darkened. The black figure looming on the horizon grew more colossal with each step, its shadowy silhouette becoming clearer by the second.
Though its body seemed still, the shadows around it trembled and shifted constantly—as if its form was about to morph into something else entirely. No matter how close Ravien got, he couldn't quite grasp what he was looking at.
"If this world harbors beings like that," he muttered through gritted teeth, "then this can't be just an ordinary novel anymore."
At that moment, Asogi came to a halt at a rise just ahead of the village. His face was unreadable, but a subtle flicker stirred behind his eyes. Something was rising from within—foreign, yet strangely familiar. The energy tearing through the sky felt different, but the vibration inside... it was identical to what he had felt from Juuhra.
