Today was another regular day in my little corner of the Star Dou Forest.
I had just returned from hunting a millennium spirit beast for its meat, which I sold at the market.
I was saving money to buy a halberd.
The idea came from the Gods and their divine weapons. I'm pretty sure that when I become a God, my halberd martial spirit will evolve into a divine weapon. So I thought of buying a real halberd now—to use in public when I eventually leave the forest and to fight spirit masters, since all of Fafnir's skills are lethal. It might also give me a head start when I begin researching how to use both of my spirits at once.
I reached my hideout not long after. I placed the coins I earned into the drawer of my desk and sat down, opening the book I was currently reading.
This particular piece of writing was one I'd kept on the back burner, avoiding it since I assumed it wouldn't be useful. It was a book about politics and managing people—something Grandpa Wudi probably gave me to prepare for becoming Sect Master.
Why read it now?
Because an idea had struck me earlier when I was thinking about the Spirit Hall and its faith system.
Why gather so much faith?
How important is faith compared to normal cultivation?
The God of Evil had explained that god kings like him possess nine divine rings, which is why only five of them exist—and why they rule over the others.
But the God of Evil isn't worshipped. He doesn't have followers. Many gods are the same. So I asked him about it. His reply?
"Faith is like gold. It doesn't determine your cultivation, but it can enhance it."
That line helped me understand why Tang San and Qian Renxue got rewards for their god trials—while Bibi Dong didn't. Her god, the Rakshasa, has no followers.
The God of Evil can increase the age of my spirit rings in the future as a reward—not because he has enough faith to do so, but because his status lets him bargain with other gods who do hold large reserves of it. It also turns out evil spirit masters on the continent unknowingly worship evil gods that don't even exist. All that faith? It goes to my dear patron and that's just enough for him to be able to grant me pretty good rewards.
But I wanted more.
Which lead me to an idea: what if I spread faith in the God of Evil?
But I couldn't do it openly. His name alone is far less appealing than the Sea God or Angel God.
That's when it clicked.
Let Spirit Hall be the face of law and justice.
As for me? I'd move through the underground. I'd spread the name of the God of Evil as a patron of sin—lust, greed, ambition. Desires people try to suppress. In doing so, I could build up his faith and, by extension, my own strength.
The God of Evil approved of the idea but advised me to focus on cultivation and only begin that plan when I start my divine trials.
I agreed. After all, only the strong can carry out such plans.
As I kept reading, a sudden pulse shot through the evil mark on my brow.
A distress signal.
I leapt from my chair, activating my first two spirit skills in an instant, then sprinted out of the cave and used Evil Dragon's Ascent, channeling spirit power into my wings and flapping hard to launch myself into the sky.
I'd learned months ago that the evil mark was a two-way link. If Byakko was in danger, I'd sense it—just like he could sense my distress.
I soared through the sky, flying at top speed toward the general direction the mark led me. I activated Fafnir's second innate ability, sharpening my sensitivity to spirit power. The forest below lit up in my mind, each aura clear and distinct.
Then I saw it.
The evil attribute—Byakko's aura.
But it was weak.
Extremely weak.
And surrounding him was a dark purple energy—thick, invasive, unmistakably toxic.
"Byakko!!" I roared, diving to the ground and landing in front of the bleeding, barely breathing tiger with a burst of dust.
As I stared at him, pain flashing in his half-lidded eyes, a familiar but long-suppressed emotion surged up inside me.
Rage.
I was furious.
I wanted to rip apart whoever did this.
I slowly turned my head—and there it was.
Of course.
How cliche.
A Man-Faced Demon Spider.
And it was a ten-thousand-year-old one.
A powerful, terrifying opponent. Even at my best, I'd be hard-pressed to win. And now, with only half of my spirit power left, the odds were against me.
I didn't hesitate.
My third purple spirit ring lit up.
Third Spirit Skill: Dragon Fear.
My body numbed, pain fading. My mind accelerated. The world slowed around me. The spider would be stunned for just one second—but that's all I needed.
A fear effect would also kick in, disrupting its control over its spirit power.
Not the most effective against those that are stronger, but just enough for my plan to work
My heart pounded in my chest as I watched the creature.
I was scared.
Angry.
A storm of emotions swirled in my head.
But now wasn't the time to feel.
I could break later.
Now, I had to move.
The spider froze—just for a moment.
That was all I needed.
I darted forward and touched Byakko, channeling my soul power to store him in my necklace. ThenI turned and ran.
I dismissed my spirit skills, retracting Fafnir, and summoned the Clear Sky Halberd instead.
Self-Created Skill: Flash.
The world blurred.
By the time my vision cleared, I was ten meters away from where I'd stood seconds ago.
I switched again—something I had trained on a whim.
Who would've thought it would come in handy this fast?
I reactivated the same self-created skill that had brought me here, trying to launch myself into the sky to escape. But just as I began to gain altitude, I felt it.
A pull.
Something was dragging me back down.
I looked down at my leg and saw it—a strand of purple web, already starting to corrode my clothes.
Smoke began to rise from where it had latched onto my ankle. The corrosive poison was kicking in.
Pain was seconds away.
Before it hit, my third spirit ring lit up again, and my sense of touch dulled—just in time.
Only 20% of my spirit power left.
I surged forward with all my strength, claws slashing to cut the web—but it was too viscous. Too tough.
So I made a split-second decision.
One that could easily get me killed.
I retracted my wings, letting gravity and the web guide me down—straight toward the spider.
I raised my trapped leg as high as I could, flooding it with spirit power.
The spider noticed and hissed, the sound oozing with mockery. It raised its two front limbs, ready to block.
But I was already descending.
And I swung.
Self-Created Skill: Evil Dragon Pendulum Tail.
BOOM.
A deafening impact.
Dust exploded into the forest, easily five times the size of the cloud I'd made upon arrival.
Pain stabbed through me. I coughed blood as I was launched backward, crashing hard against a tree.
My body screamed.
But the spider?
It was buried. Slammed into the dirt, struggling to rise from the crater I'd left it in.
10% left.
I canceled my third spirit skill, and all the pain I had dulled came crashing back.
I gritted my teeth.
But pain is better than death.
I pushed myself up, stumbled, then forced my legs into a run—or something close to it. I poured the last drops of spirit power into my body to reinforce it.
I didn't look back.
But I could already hear it.
Skittering. Screeching. Getting closer.
Three minutes. That's all I'd bought myself.
Why won't it just give up?
Why won't it leave us alone?!
My eyes darted through the trees, searching—anything that could help.
And then I saw them.
Claw marks.
Deep, brutal, gouged into the trunks around me.
Territory.
This land belonged to another beast.
If I could lure the spider far enough into this area… maybe, just maybe, the territory's ruler would confront it. And I could use that chance to slip away.
I kept running.
Every breath, every step—pure willpower.
I had no spirit power left. No strength. No backup.
Just one thing.
I want to live.
I will survive.
No matter what.
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New chapter just dropped!
This is officially my first cliffhanger, so I hope it left you all hanging (in a good way). If it didn't quite land the way I wanted, no worries—I'll keep improving with your feedback.
Big shoutout to VoidHorizon! I tried to apply your comments from the last chapter's fight scene into this one. I think it reads way better now, so thanks for that.
Now, onto what this chapter actually aimed to do—because the chase scene wasn't really the core point. It's more of a lead-in to what's coming next. I could've kept going, but I didn't want to make it a double-length chapter… and I need to sleep, so here we are—cliffhanger it is.
The real focus of this chapter was twofold:
-Introducing the concept of faith and showing just how important it is in the worldbuilding I'm developing.
-Establishing the MC's mentality—he's not some naive brute who thinks strength is everything. Even Bibi Dong, with all her power and crazy plans, still played the political game. So of course, the MC knows he'll need more than raw power to achieve his goals.
Also, quick reminder for anyone who might've missed it: Fafnir has three innate abilities (mentioned back in Chapter 13) which are sensing mostly negative emotions, hypersensitivity to spirit power and enhanced senses (which can be toggled on and off)
Now for the announcement!
Drumroll please 🥁 (yeah yeah, it's cringe—I'm sleep-deprived and slightly delirious, cut me some slack 😵💫)
THE SECOND FANFIC I'LL BE WRITING IS:
✨ DANMACHI ✨
Yup! Congrats to everyone who voted for it—you got your wish.For those of you hoping for the other ideas, don't worry. I haven't forgotten you. Once this fic wraps, I'll be diving into those next so if you stick around, you just might get your wish.
Here's how the votes played out based on paragraph comments and likes:
DxD x Assassin's Creed – 0 votes (😭 was it that bad an idea?)
Black Clover – 6 votes
Danmachi – 7 votes
Super close call. Also tells me my audience is still pretty small, but honestly? That's fine. Writing is fun for me, even if just a handful of people are reading.
I'll be dropping 10 chapters of the Danmachi fic all at once sometime this week or early next week. Stay tuned.
That's all from me.
See you in the next chapter.