Nova arrived at the outer gates of the Bluestone Mansion in mere seconds, the deafening BOOM of a sonic shockwave announcing his arrival to the world.
Inside the mansion, the sudden tremor jolted Nix from her rest. She sat up in her bed, eyes narrowing.
"…What was that sound?" she muttered.
With a faint sigh, she called for her attendant. "Mina, go check outside. I'm not allowed to leave this room without permission."
Her attendant, a small mouse beast-woman with white fur and gentle eyes, nodded with concern. Mina looked at Nix with a complex mix of admiration and pity.
Nix, a pale-haired woman standing at 5'9", possessed an hourglass figure and piercing blue eyes that sparkled like gemstones beneath her long lashes. Her beauty was undeniable—elegant, breathtaking, and untouchable.
Yet it was marred by the many bandages wrapped around her arms and neck, concealing the scars from the brutal lashes she'd endured.
When she was first brought to the mansion, Nix had resisted. She tried to flee, tried to avoid the clutches of the man who claimed to be her husband. But the Bluestone family had only one goal: a powerful heir. And if she wouldn't give it to them willingly, they were more than ready to use force.
They had broken her body, and tried to shatter her spirit.
But even then, she never looked down on those weaker than her. Unlike the Bluestones, who treated others like dirt beneath their heels, Nix held her dignity—and her kindness.
Mina bowed respectfully. "Yes, Miss Nix. I'll find out what caused that noise and report back to you immediately."
Nix gave a small, tired smile. "Thank you, Mina."
Nova stood at the edge of the mansion yard, eyes narrowing at the sight before him. A translucent dome of violet energy shimmered like a massive rosebud, encasing the entire Bluestone estate.
"Ah, of course this thing is still up," he muttered, sighing like it was just a minor annoyance.
A flickering violet flame sparked to life on his shoulder—Kan Sha's spectral form, small and smirking.
"So," the voice echoed slyly, "you gonna handle this the smart way or the flashy way?"
Nova tilted his head, a smirk curling at his lips. "Do you even have to ask?"
With a pulse of power, he activated—
[MAD DOG: SOUL FLARE]
A towering energy avatar surged into existence behind him—its form an echo of Nova's hybrid beast shape, cloaked in black and purple flame.
The avatar let out a distorted howl as it lunged forward, sinking its massive claws into the barrier. Sparks erupted on contact. With a feral tear, the energy dome was ripped wide open.
Nova strolled through the gaping hole, the avatar vanishing into wisps behind him as he shifted fully into beast mode.
Each step he took toward the mansion, his breath grew heavier. His growl deepened.
Memories struck him like lashes.
His sister—bloody and bruised—for simply asking to sleep away from her so-called husband.
Mina, tail severed and forced to eat it, all because she dared sneak him food when they were starving him.
And him... stabbed in the kidney, healed with magic—only to be stabbed again. Over and over. Just for trying to protect her.
His heart twisted.
His vision blurred red.
Malice devoured him.
[SANITY DROPPED TO 35% — POWER INCREASED BY 75%]
"Hey, kid!" Kan Sha's voice rang with sudden urgency. "Be careful! If your sanity drops too low, we both lose!"
Nova didn't answer. He was already sprinting forward, claws tearing into the ground as he charged for the mansion.
Explosions rocked the yard.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Fireballs rained down from the sky, slamming into the earth around him. Nova twisted mid-air, barely avoiding one that scorched past his shoulder.
He landed in a crouch.
Ahead, a group of armed adventurers stepped into formation. Twenty-five in total, hired swords bearing the Bluestone crest, weapons drawn.
One of them barked, "Halt, monster! I don't know where you came from—but come any closer, and we'll be forced to put you down!"
Nova's growl echoed in the air like thunder.
Nova's voice rumbled, distorted and guttural through his beastly form.
"Leave. Now. I have no quarrel with you. Turn back... and you'll live to see your families."
A heavy silence fell.
Even Kan Sha blinked in surprise from his perch on Nova's shoulder. "Well, well... when did you get so eloquent, kid?"
But the moment passed quickly—shattered by mocking laughter.
"Hahaha! A threat, boys! He thinks he's giving us a choice!" the squad leader sneered, raising his sword. "You heard him! Fire and Wind users—blow this mutt to bits!"
Their hands lit up with arcana.
[FIRE ARCANA: BLAZING INFERNO]
[WIND ARCANA: DRAGON TWISTER]
A roar of heat and wind tore through the air as three massive flaming tornadoes took shape, spinning violently. They carved into the earth, tearing up the courtyard like a battlefield. Trees snapped, stones flung into the sky as the twisted infernos barreled toward Nova.
Kan Sha muttered, "Tch, flashy and reckless... typical merc work."
Nova didn't move.
Not an inch.
Then—
[MAD DOG HOWL]
He opened his jaws wide. A swirling orb of black and violet energy gathered in his mouth, pulsating with raw hatred.
He unleashed it.
BOOOOOOM!
A massive wave of chaotic energy exploded forward, howling like a cursed beast. It collided with the tornadoes mid-spin—and in a blinding flash of purple light, obliterated them in one devastating blow.
The fire dissipated.
The wind was silenced.
The ground was scorched and cracked, but Nova still stood—unchained, unshaken.
He raised his head, glowing eyes fixed on the stunned soldiers.
"You should've left when you had the chance."
Nova dashed forward like a demon unchained.
The moment his claws touched the ground, he was already inside their formation—fangs bared, eyes burning with violet fury.
Blood sprayed into the air as he tore through the first adventurer, ripping him apart with savage precision.
One fighter lunged at him, sword drawn in desperation.
CLANG!
Nova parried the strike with his claws, then twisted around with unnatural speed. His arm whipped forward—SLASH!—dismembering the man mid-swing. Without hesitation, Nova grabbed the fallen adventurer's sword, flipped it into a reverse grip, and charged again.
SHING! SHING! SHING!
Three more adventurers were beheaded in one fluid motion. Their bodies crumpled before their weapons even touched the ground.
From above, a shout rang out.
[ICE ARCANA: CRYO LANCE RAIN]
Dozens of jagged ice spears hailed down from the sky, glinting like frozen death.
Nova didn't flinch.
He grabbed a half-dead adventurer off the ground and held him overhead—THWACK! THWACK! THUNK!—using him as a human shield. The ice lances pierced flesh and bone, but Nova remained untouched beneath the corpse.
He tossed the body aside.
[BERSERKER HOUND CRY]
Nova let out a monstrous, blood-curdling howl that echoed like a death bell across the estate.
The sound tore through the minds of the adventurers—pure, paralyzing fear. Their knees buckled. Hands trembled. Some dropped their weapons outright, unable to breathe under the weight of that unholy growl.
Nova vanished.
Or so they thought.
He was already among them.
One by one, they fell—throats torn, limbs crushed, hearts pierced before a single scream could escape. His movements blurred like shadows, impossible to track. By the time one adventurer turned his head, Nova had already passed him—and his head hit the ground half a second later.
Blood soaked the earth.
The last few surviving adventurers could only tremble as the beast drew closer, their minds too shattered to even run.
Nova, soaked in blood and trembling with rage, dashed toward the towering doors of the Bluestone mansion.
BOOOOOM!
With one brutal kick, the doors exploded inward—splinters flying like shrapnel—as he crashed through, claws digging into the marble floors. His monstrous form streaked through the hallways like a bullet, eyes glowing with violet fury.
Maids screamed in terror, scrambling to get out of the way as the beast tore past them, his breath heavy, his growl constant. Paintings shattered from the shockwaves of his movement. Vases toppled. Chandelier crystals trembled above.
He climbed the staircase in a single leap.
Through halls, up more stairs, Nova surged like a storm with one target in mind—Balrack. The man who made his life hell. The man who broke his sister. The one who needed to die.
He reached the mansion's grand ballroom and skidded to a stop, claws carving trenches into the polished floor.
But the man he sought wasn't there.
Instead, standing at the center of the room with a goblet of wine in hand was a woman—regal, cold, and draped in blood-red silks. Her platinum hair was tied back in a tight braid, her amber eyes sharp and cruel.
Iris Bluestone.
Balrack's niece.
A Denflare half-breed.
Denflares—beastkin descended from dragons—were feared for good reason. Her four arms flexed, each one adorned with armored bangles. White fur lined her neck like a collar, and her muscular forearms shimmered with hardened, white dragon-scale. A long, reptilian tail swayed behind her, twitching like a whip about to snap.
She looked at Nova with a mix of pity and disgust.
"Tch. Twenty-five guards, and not a single one could handle a dog?" She sighed theatrically. "Honestly... how pathetic."
She set down the wine. Her voice dropped an octave, now laced with killing intent.
"Well. I guess I'll have to handle you myself."
The air crackled.
[DRAGON RUNE ARCANA: DRACONIC GRAVEYARD]
With a snap of her fingers, red and black butterflies erupted from her body—hundreds, thousands, glowing with eerie light. They swarmed around Nova like a storm of embers before exploding in a burst of cursed energy.
WHOOSH!
In an instant, the world warped.
The ballroom vanished—replaced by a death-soaked hellscape.
Nova found himself standing in a vast wasteland beneath a sky of smog and ash. Jagged mountains loomed in the distance. All around him, the skeletons of fallen dragons—some the size of airships—pierced the earth like giant, bleached monuments to death.
Bones crackled underfoot.
A crimson moon hung overhead, leaking blood into the sky.
Iris hovered several feet in the air, draconic wings of crimson flame spreading from her back, her eyes gleaming.
"This place," she said, smirking, "is a pocket dimension I crafted myself."
She spread her four arms wide, each palm glowing with a different rune.
"A battlefield made from the bones of extinct gods. A fitting grave for a mad mutt like you… don't you think?"
She laughed, the sound echoing across the empty graveyard of dragons.
Nova's claws flexed.
His eyes never left her.
His breath came in ragged huffs as violet energy coiled around his body, rising like steam from a boiling kettle.
Kan Sha's voice echoed from his shoulder, tense.
"Watch out, kid. She's no joke. Denflare blood is no joke—and if she crafted a personal dimension arcana, she's at least SS-Rank."
Nova didn't blink.
"Good," he growled.
"She dies first."