The wind howled through the barren hills, sweeping dust and ash across the cracked earth. Ray stood at the edge of a cliff, gazing down at the world below. The sun was red here—bloated and heavy, forever choking behind smoky clouds that never moved.
He was larger now. His body had grown nearly three times the size it once was. Powerful legs. Hardened muscles. His fur had darkened to a deep obsidian shade with streaks of molten red burning along his spine. His eyes no longer held the uncertainty of a lost human soul. Now they burned with quiet, focused rage.
---
Species: Demon Wolf – Tier: Medium-Level Demon
Level: 16
Titles: "One Fang Against the Abyss", "The Bonebreaker", "Shadow of the Hills", "Crawler's Bane", "Feaster of Flame"
Abilities:
Feral Prowess Lv.3
Venom Resistance Lv.2
Blood Howl Lv.1
Shadow Step Lv.1
Lupine Regeneration Lv.2
---
It had taken him months—maybe more. Time was strange in this place. There was no clear day or night, only the changing moods of the cursed sky. But Ray remembered every battle. Every kill. Every scar.
And now, standing on the edge of his newly claimed territory, he thought back to the five fights that had changed everything.
---
1. The Duel in the Hollow – His Rise to a Low-Level Demon
Ray's first real evolution came after he stumbled into a territory battle between two demon jackals. They were larger than him, faster, and already low-tier demons. He'd only survived by hiding in the hollowed trunk of a demon tree and picking off the loser while the victor was still bleeding.
But it was what he did next that earned him his rise.
He howled—called the victor out. And fought.
Tooth against fang. Claw against fire. The jackal demon's body had been laced with flame, and Ray still bore the scars on his left shoulder. But he'd learned. He used the terrain, the roots, the smoke. He bit into the jackal's throat and held on until it stopped moving.
---
System Message: You have slain a Low-Level Demon. Your power has grown.
Evolution Unlocked: Lower Demon Wolf → Low-Level Demon Wolf
---
He remembered lying in the ashes, his body breaking and remaking itself.
That pain was the first of many.
---
2. The Spider Queen's Brood – The Day of the Burn
Later, still weakened, he had entered a ravine seeking water. What he found was a nest—larger than the first Demon Spider's.
These weren't hatchlings. They were drones.
And at the center was their queen.
The battle stretched over hours. Ray used hit-and-run tactics, leading drones into traps, collapsing stone pillars, and finally luring the queen into the volcanic vents at the ravine's base.
It was the first time he'd used his environment as a weapon, and the first time he killed something that truly terrified him.
When the queen died, her venom flooded the vents and caused a reaction. An explosion of green flame erupted through the ravine.
Ray survived it by leaping into a fissure.
He emerged a week later, scarred, half-burnt, but alive.
---
System Message: Title Earned – "Crawler's Bane"
Skill Gained: Venom Resistance Lv.2
Trait Gained: Adaptive Combat Instinct
---
He limped for days afterward. But something had changed.
Others began to fear him.
---
3. The Bonebreaker's Pass – The Challenge for Territory
There was a mountain pass where dozens of lesser demons roamed, constantly fighting for dominance. Ray had no choice but to cross through—he was starving, and the western lands beyond promised better prey.
There, he encountered the Bonebreaker: a hulking boar demon, larger than any beast Ray had seen.
Its skull was armored. Its tusks were blackened bone, said to crack boulders. It charged with the force of a landslide.
Ray fought it in the open for all of two minutes—and nearly died. Then he changed tactics. He led it into a narrow pass, baited it with a trail of his own blood.
Then he waited.
The moment it charged in the tight corridor, Ray climbed the walls, launching from stone to stone like a shadow.
He landed on the boar's back and tore through its neck.
---
System Message: Territory Boss Defeated.
Title Earned: "Bonebreaker"
Skill Unlocked: Blood Howl Lv.1 – Instills fear in lower-level enemies
---
He ruled that pass for a time. He never stayed long. But others remembered.
And whispered his name.
---
4. The Wolf of the Crimson Moon – His Evolution to Small-Level Demon
It was another wolf.
A demon like him. But stronger. Faster. Older.
The Crimson Moon was an event that happened only once every cycle—when the sun bled fully, and the sky turned red. During that time, wolves grew frenzied. Feral.
Ray had tried to avoid the call.
But the other wolf found him.
It wasn't a battle for survival.
It was personal.
The Crimson Wolf stalked him, challenged him, and waited until Ray could no longer run. They fought under the glowing sky, teeth flashing like stars.
Ray had trained for this. Every battle before had been leading to this one.
They fought for hours.
The final blow came when Ray used Shadow Step, a skill he had only just begun to understand.
He vanished in a blink—and reappeared behind the Crimson Wolf, jaws tearing into its spine.
---
System Message: You have slain a Feral Crimson Wolf – Rare Evolution Triggered.
Evolution: Low-Level Demon Wolf → Small-Level Demon Wolf
Skill Gained: Shadow Step Lv.1
---
Ray howled that night.
And the forest answered in silence.
---
5. The Flame Tyrant – His Ascent to Medium-Level Demon
The fifth battle.
The one that nearly killed him for good.
He had ventured too far, into the Blistered Lands—a dead region scorched by volcanic heat and ruled by the Flame Tyrant, a lion-like demon wreathed in eternal fire.
Ray hadn't meant to challenge it. But hunger and desperation drove him close.
The Tyrant found him.
Their battle melted stone. Fire and shadow collided in a brutal dance. Ray learned pain that day. Fire that clung to his bones. Roars that shook his mind. The Tyrant was faster. Stronger. Smarter.
Ray lost.
Twice.
He ran. Hid. Watched. Learned.
Then he came back.
He baited the Tyrant into the lava springs—slippery ground. Laced the path with poisoned corpses. He howled. Challenged. Provoked.
The Tyrant attacked.
Ray dodged, and this time, he wasn't fighting fair. He bit at the eyes, clawed at the throat, then used Shadow Step again and again until he struck deep.
He didn't kill the Tyrant.
He crippled it.
Then the land finished the job. The lava swallowed the Tyrant whole.
Ray limped away, half-dead.
But victorious.
---
System Message: Boss-Class Demon Defeated – Evolution Achieved
Small-Level Demon Wolf → Medium-Level Demon Wolf
Skill Gained: Lupine Regeneration Lv.2
Title Earned: "Feaster of Flame"
---
Ray exhaled slowly, the wind brushing through his fur.
He had come far.
From a terrified human soul, reborn in the body of a dying cub.
To this.
A predator. A survivor.
But he wasn't content.
This world was still bigger. Stronger. Darker.
He had glimpsed greater demons—creatures with wings of shadow and blood-soaked crowns. He had smelled the scent of demonic kings.
And worst of all, he had heard of a being who could tear open the sky with a single roar.
He wasn't there yet.
But he would be.
---
System Notification – Hidden Evolution Path Progress: 42%
Current Status: Medium-Level Demon Wolf
Progress Toward Next Evolution: 0%
Requirement: Absorb one of the 1000 evil sin (Unassisted)
---
Ray growled low.
"Now things just get complicated. "
---