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  The early morning had been normal up to that point. Then, without any warning, a suffocating pressure fell over the entire kingdom, heavy enough to make the air feel denser.

  In the castle, Hogan felt it instantly.

  Without wasting time, he ordered the soldiers to stand guard. He approached the window and stared at the sky, a deep darkness stretched above the city, as if a black curtain had been drawn over the world.

  Something was wrong.

  His first impulse was to contact Sentil. The apprentice should have been in the city at that moment, handling the protests. But Hogan held back the thought. His role there was clear.

  Serve as a shield for the royal family.

  As long as Victor was nearby, he could afford to act alone.

  ‘This darkness… Strange.’

  Hogan tried to sense the mana flow around him. The response came weak, muffled, as if passing through an invisible veil.

  ‘It’s blocking mana…’

  With years of experience, he had witnessed unusual phenomena before. That in itself wasn’t impossible. What bothered him was the scale. A “curtain” that size didn’t appear without a clear reason.

  The conclusion hit too heavily to ignore.

  ‘A spatial domain… It can’t be.’

  His gaze hardened in an instant.

  Only one kind of person could do something like that. A space manipulator.

  Telos.

  Only a few minutes had passed since Telos and Honda’s transformation. Hogan had no idea of the kingdom’s current state, but the bad premonition put him on high alert.

  The prisoners were in the third district.

  He needed to see what was happening.

  Moving quickly through the corridors, he reached the side of the castle that overlooked that area. The moment he arrived, his attention was captured by a single sight.

  A gigantic figure floated over the district.

  There was no time to process it.

  Something smashed through the window at high speed. Hogan dodged by a hair, feeling the impact pass centimeters from his body.

  It was a soldier. Or what was left of him.

  The armor was completely crushed, deformed like crumpled paper. Hogan advanced to the window and looked outside. Snow fell heavily, swirling in the air and obscuring vision, but the scene was still too clear.

  Soldiers lay scattered everywhere.

  Entire structures floated chaotically, as if gravity itself had been broken. The third district had become a field of destruction.

  Then, from the midst of the blizzard, something began to move.

  A massive silhouette emerged slowly. As it approached, its form became clearer, a hulking body resembling a gorilla, covered in a silvery hue.

  But the face was completely deformed.

  A chill ran down Hogan’s spine.

  Hogan drew his sword in a fluid motion, the blade singing as it left the sheath. There was no time for hesitation.

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  The silver gorilla—Honda—charged with a guttural roar, each step cracking the snow-covered ground. Its fist, barrel-sized, came down like a hammer as it leaped toward the window. Hogan rolled aside, feeling the wind of the strike graze his face. The impact pulverized the window ledge, sending shards flying.

  ‘First test: brute force. Predictable, but its size makes dodging hard if I lose focus.’

  Hogan counterattacked, channeling mana into the blade. The “curtain” muffled the flow, but he knew tricks—condensing mana into precise points, like needles piercing fabric. The sword glowed faint blue and sliced the air in an upward arc, targeting the gorilla’s arm joint.

  Clang!

  The blade ricocheted, sparks flying. Honda’s silvery skin hardened like steel, mana visibly pulsing on the surface—a reinforced fortification layer.

  ‘Resistant. Uses reactive mana against attacks. Very good.’

  Honda spun, its other fist sweeping horizontally. Hogan leaped back, but the blow clipped his cloak, tearing fabric and hurling him against the castle’s inner wall. Pain exploded in his shoulder, but he rolled to his feet, ignoring it.

  ‘Its speed is greater than its size suggests. Need to watch for charges, better keep distance.'

  “You’re no longer human, Honda?” Hogan shouted, testing its reaction.

  The gorilla roared, leaping through the shattered window straight at Hogan. The general dodged with a spin, using the momentum to counter-slash the hind leg. This time, he layered his mana: outer to pierce the fortification, inner to corrode.

  Silvery blood sprayed. Honda howled, staggering, but the wound bubbled—mana regenerating tissue in seconds.

  ‘Accelerated regeneration. This transformation boosted its mana use to true monster level.’

  Something like this shouldn’t be possible. What could force a human to become a monster like this? A mystery.

  Hogan retreated to the castle’s inner courtyard, accumulated snow cushioning his steps. Surviving soldiers formed lines behind him, but he gestured sharply:

  “Spread out and protect the royal family! I’ll handle this!’

  Honda charged again, fists bombarding like meteors. Hogan danced between the blows—up the left hand, stepping on the forearm, leaping to the shoulder and thrusting the sword into the nape. The blade penetrated shallowly, but the mana interfered, pushing it out.

  The gorilla spun violently, flinging Hogan into the air. He twisted mid-flight, landing on his feet, but the impact jarred his heel out of place.

  ‘Damn! This old body can’t handle these kinds of fights anymore!’

  A memory came unbidden: young Hogan, rusty sword in hand, swearing loyalty to King Zered. “I’ll protect this family until my last breath.”

  Years later, his son, bright eyes, wielding a wooden sword like his father, smiling before the illness took him.

  ‘If you were here, kid… you’d tell me not to be stubborn, wouldn’t you?’

  Hogan smiled bitterly. ‘You’d be proud of me?’

  He closed his eyes for a fraction of a second, ignoring the “curtain.” He condensed everything into the blade, not a flow, but an explosion. The sword vibrated, intense blue tearing through the local spatial veil.

  ‘Now.’

  Honda leaped, final fist descending to crush. Hogan charged into the blow, sword raised. The blade sliced through silvery flesh like butter, rising from fist to shoulder, detonating internal mana.

  The creature roared, severed arm crashing down. But the other fist connected squarely, ribs cracking, body flying through a castle wall.

  Hogan crashed into the hall, coughing blood, sword embedded in the floor beside him. Vision blurred: Honda limping, regenerating slowly, red eyes locked on him.

  ‘Son… I… did my best. Sorry.’

  Honda raised its remaining fist, shadows dancing across its silvery skin. Hogan tried to stand, the leg failed, bones screaming in agony. ‘So this is it…’ he thought, accepting the darkness the final impact would bring.

  But the blow didn’t come.

  Honda froze, red eyes fixed on the top of the stairs to the second floor. A low rumble escaped its deformed throat.

  Hogan lifted his gaze, gasping. There he was: young man with black hair to his shoulders, white tank top and loose black pants, golden eyes scanning the ruined hall like blades. Victor leaped from the stairs, landing beside Hogan with feline grace.

  “You’re Honda, right?” Victor said, voice too calm for the chaos. “What happened to you? Turn into a monkey?”

  Honda grinned, teeth bared in a blood-red, macabre rictus. “GRRRRAAAH!” It slammed its palm against its mutilated chest, thundering. It had found what it wanted.

  “It’s you!” The voice came distorted, guttural, like stones tumbling into an abyss. “I came to kill you!”

  It paused, fist trembling. “I should kill the princess and king now… follow the plan. But I can’t… without crushing you first! For the humiliation!”

  A soldier rushed to Hogan, helping him rise with reverent care.

  “Mr. Hogan, thank you for the protection. Leave this to me now. Please, go upstairs.”

  Hogan, vision blurred and body screaming, didn’t question it. He grabbed his fallen blade and extended it to Victor, hilt first, final gesture of trust.

  “Here. Use it. Hope it serves.”

  Victor took it reluctantly, sheathing it back. His golden eyes returned to Honda, analysis racing:

  ? Sir. This man, Honda, has evolved into a monster somehow. I’d say it’s a big threat. ?

  Victor sighed, pondering his next move.

  ‘Hogan decides what’s next. I focus on the monkey first.’

  “You sure about that, Honda?” Victor asked, hand on the hilt. “You know you’re not leaving here alive, right?”

  “Of course!” Honda snarled, mana pulsing across its silvery skin. “I always knew the cost… but it was worth it! Killing you is enough!”

  An enigmatic expression crossed Victor’s face. He gripped the hilt tighter, stance shifting, restrained yet lethal.

  “Then I have no choice. This is troublesome.”

  With that, the first monster-versus-monster battle erupted.

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