Renan, after five seconds of silence, finally let go of the man’s head and severed his hand from his grasp, allowing them to fall freely to the ground.
*THUD*
The detached parts landed heavily with a dull, lifeless sound, sinking slightly into the dirt. The silence that followed was thick, unbroken by even the rustling of the trees. Renan remained still, his body relaxed, but his mind was racing as he tilted his head up, gazing at the vast sky above him. The darkness stretched endlessly, illuminated by a myriad of stars and moon, their soft glow casting pale light upon the world. It was a peaceful sight, an ironic contrast to the scene that had just unfolded beneath it.
’I don’t feel anything,’ he thought to himself as his gaze remained fixed on the sky. He had just torn a man’s head away from his body with his bare hands, sothing that should have evoked so kind of reaction, so kind of emotion—fear, guilt, regret, satisfaction. But there was nothing. No remorse, no triumph, not even disgust. Just emptiness.
’is it because I’m no longer human but a dragon?’ he wondered, trying to find a reason behind his lack of emotions.
’Or is it because he was the one who tried to kill first, and I just defended myself?’ He mulled over the thought, trying to understand why this act of killing, his first real kill, felt so insignificant.
He suddenly grew quiet, his internal monologue ceasing as he looked away from the sky and slowly lowered his gaze to his hands. His fingers were coated in the dark, thick blood of the man he had just killed. His hands, which had once belonged to a simple human boy, now bore the evidence of his Reincarnation into sothing much more.
’But is that really true?’ he questioned, staring at his own bloodstained hands.
He remained silent again, not even thinking, simply existing in the mont. But suddenly, another thought erged, breaking the stillness within him—a question, one that had lingered in his subconscious for a long ti but was only now being fully acknowledged.
’What was the reason that I started wanting to beco stronger, and what was my end goal?’
The question felt significant, as if it was sothing he should have asked himself long ago.
’Maybe it was because I had to spend one hundred thousand years in this world, and that’s why I started wanting to beco stronger. So I would have sothing to do, sothing to focus on, a purpose that would keep from going insane during such a long existence. And the end goal... it was to et my parents again,’ he thought, recalling the faces of those he had left behind in his previous life.
’Or maybe it was after learning how dangerous this world is and experiencing it that I started wanting to beco stronger. The end goal was to survive—to stay alive long enough to et my parents again,’ he reasoned further, his fingers unconsciously twitching as the weight of his thoughts settled over him.
’Or was it because I started to truly see my new family as a family? Maybe I wanted to protect them from the war, a war where the chances of them dying were too high, a war that is soon about to happen... and my end goal, still, was to et my old parents again,’ he mused, his expression remaining neutral despite the turmoil within him.
He exhaled softly, feeling as though he had unraveled sothing important.
’So what changed in ? Nothing. Only the reason behind my desire to grow stronger has shifted from one thing to another. But the end goal... the end goal has always remained the sa.’
A realization settled in his heart like a final puzzle piece clicking into place.
’I never changed. I was always the sa.’
A slow, wide smile began to spread across his face as he repeated his conclusion inwardly.
’It wasn’t who changed. It was the world that changed around .’
’I was always the sa Ryan who is now called Renan.’
The certainty of this thought filled him with an unexpected sense of peace. It was as if he had finally grasped an answer that had been eluding him for so long.
Still smiling, he lifted his hand slightly, and with a simple thought, he activated his space elent. In an instant, a door ford from black lines around it materialized in front of him, humming faintly with energy. He was about to step into it, ready to return, but then—
Sothing.
A disturbance.
A sudden shift in the mana around him.
His smile faded as his mana senses picked up on sothing strange. His eyes narrowed slightly as he focused, scanning the area with his senses.
Then, he saw it.
The dead body of the man he had just killed was sohow... transmitting mana signals. It was as if the corpse itself was reaching out into the surroundings before dying, sending signals like telepathic pulses.
Renan frowned. The signals lasted for about five seconds before abruptly stopping.
And then—
He sensed them.
Multiple presences.
A large group, approximately thirty to thirty-five individuals, were approaching him at full speed. Judging by their movent, they were coming straight for him, their trajectory unmistakable.
Renan, still standing in front of the teleportation door, remained still. He didn’t react with panic or urgency; instead, he humd quietly.
"Hmmm..."
It was a sound of contemplation, not fear.
Then, with a quiet sigh, he made a decision.
The teleportation door in front of him slowly began to fade away, disappearing as effortlessly as it had appeared. And just as the last remnants of its glow vanished, the group arrived.
Figures dressed in identical black garnts erged from the darkness, surrounding him. They all wore the sa attire as the man he had just killed.
One of them, standing at the front, finally spoke. His voice was completely devoid of emotion.
"Capture the young dragon alive if you can," he ordered. "If not, capture his corpse."
Just as the words left his mouth—
His vision was suddenly consud by sothing.
*CRACK*
*WOOSH*
*BOOM*
Before the man could even register what was happening, Renan had already appeared in front of him, his fist pulled back.
"A re six-star warrior thinks he can capture ," Renan scoffed. "With a bunch of four and five-star warriors? How funny."
And then, he struck.
The force of his punch obliterated the man’s upper half instantly, reducing it to nothing. Only the lower half of his body remained, standing for a re second before collapsing lifelessly to the ground. The entire sequence had happened so quickly that the others hadn’t even processed it yet.
A second of silence.
Then, when they finally saw their companion’s lower half fall, the remaining warriors reacted.
But instead of reacting with anger or fear, they simply adjusted their stances. Their faces remained devoid of emotion, their movents calculated. They didn’t grieve, didn’t hesitate.
It was unnatural.
Renan observed them carefully before making a comnt.
"Are you all really humans?"
No response.
Instead, they attacked.
From all sides.
"Well, it really doesn’t matter to either way," Renan said, his voice calm as suddenly, without warning, spikes of ice materialized, hovering in the air around him, glistening nacingly in the moonlight.
Then, with a single downward motion of his hand—
The spikes moved.
Each one shot forward, nailing every single enemy directly through the heart.
And just like that, Renan’s night was painted in blood.
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