A massive demon loomed closer, its body nearly three times the size of Aurion's. Its hardened muscles bulged like boulders, and its scaled skin was riddled with gruesome scars, some still oozing bck blood. Each step it took radiated suffocating pressure, the ground trembling faintly beneath its weight. Sharp bone spikes protruded from its back like terrifying weapons, and its fanged, savage face exuded nothing but brutality and wildness.

  Its blood-red eyes gleamed with a predatory hunger, as if any creature that dared approach would become its prey. The air was thick with the stench of blood emanating from its body, making it hard to breathe.

  Aurion narrowed his eyes. He realized he had accidentally stumbled into this demon's hunting ground. This colossal beast had clearly been born in the most violent part of the demonic sughter, having devoured countless souls. Its strength was formidable.

  "Can't fight it head-on," Aurion quickly assessed the situation. He hid behind a rock, holding his breath, his eyes locked on the demon's every move, ready to strike.

  Suddenly, the demon turned its head sharply, its piercing gaze locking onto Aurion's hiding spot. It had sensed something. Its cws smmed into the ground, letting out a low, menacing growl. Aurion's heart sank—he had been discovered.

  Without hesitation, Aurion leapt out from behind the rock, his cws slicing through the air toward the demon's throat. But the massive demon was just as quick. It twisted its body to the side, dodging Aurion's attack. Then, its cws, shimmering with a dark glow, swung toward Aurion's head with lightning speed.

  Aurion bent backward, using his tail to bance himself. He barely avoided the deadly strike, but the sheer force of the attack sent him stumbling back several steps, nearly losing his footing. His body ached faintly—if he had been a second slower, his head would have been torn off.

  "What kind of power is this?" Aurion's heart tightened as he stared at the demon's cws. The bck glow surrounding them pulsed with energy, filling the air with a dangerous, oppressive aura.

  Aurion realized it was the bck glow that had elevated the demon's strength to a terrifying level. Just the force of its cws slicing through the air was enough to make the atmosphere tremble. The pressure alone felt like bdes cutting into his skin, leaving a stinging pain.

  "Just the force from its cws can hurt me..." Aurion flicked his tail, realizing this demon was far more dangerous than he had anticipated.

  "Roar—!" The demon didn't give Aurion a moment to recover. With a furious bellow, it charged forward, its massive cws swinging down again.

  Aurion knew a direct confrontation would be suicide. He dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack. But the demon's speed matched his own. It lunged at him with overwhelming force, smming into Aurion's chest and sending him flying. He crashed into a rock, pain shooting through his back. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to stand, ignoring the agony coursing through his body.

  The demon was already closing in again. Aurion knew if he didn't act fast, he would die here.

  Just as the demon's cws were about to strike, Aurion felt a surge of power deep within his soul—a force tinged with the essence of the Abyss, capable of twisting reality and void in an instant.

  "Shadow Step." Aurion's body lightened, transforming into a shadow as he vanished from the demon's attack. In the next moment, he reappeared behind the beast. The massive demon seemed momentarily stunned. Aurion's eyes fshed coldly as his cws drove into the back of its neck.

  The demon reacted quickly, though slightly deyed. It lunged forward instinctively, causing Aurion's strike to only graze its shoulder, blood spraying. But Aurion didn't stop. He used the momentum to kick the back of the demon's knee, tearing off a chunk of flesh while using the force to create distance between them.

  Aurion was stunned. For a brief moment, his body had turned into shadow, allowing him to vanish and reappear elsewhere. "Is this... my special ability?" It seemed he could only teleport short distances for now. He didn't have time to dwell on it—the demon was already attacking again.

  Ignoring the wound on its shoulder, the demon roared with fury, its eyes bzing with rage. It charged at Aurion, cws tearing through the air with deadly force, aimed straight for his head.

  Aurion reacted swiftly. With a thought, his body turned into shadow once more, narrowly evading the attack and reappearing at the demon's side.

  This time, he didn't hesitate. His cws, sharpened through multiple enhancements, pierced the demon's side with precision, slicing through its tough scales and digging deep into its flesh.

  Bck blood gushed out as the demon let out a blood-curdling scream. Its massive body convulsed, losing bance and crashing to the ground.

  The demon's life force was tenacious. It thrashed wildly, cws filing in desperation as it tried to grab Aurion. Its breathing grew bored, its eyes burning with madness. Every swing of its cws shimmered with bck light, sending shockwaves through the air.

  Aurion dodged the demon's desperate attacks, his muscles taut, every sense alert. Though the demon's strength was waning, each strike still posed a threat.

  "Not over yet." Aurion seized an opening, darting around to the demon's back. With a swift motion, his cws plunged into the base of its neck.

  This time, the strike hit its mark. Bck blood sprayed as the demon let out one final, agonized roar before colpsing lifelessly to the ground.

  Aurion stood beside the demon's corpse, breathing heavily. His muscles were taut from the intense battle, and the emptiness in his soul gnawed at him. His new ability, Shadow Step, consumed his soul energy for each teleportation. Though his soul energy would recover over time, he couldn’t use Shadow Step repeatedly in quick succession. He gnced down at the lifeless beast, his guard still up.

  He crouched quickly, driving his cws into the demon’s heart until the bck mist of its soul energy flowed into him. Aurion felt the changes in his body—his soul energy surged, and his newly awakened Shadow Step ability now allowed for greater distances while consuming slightly less energy.

  Without lingering, Aurion scraped the blood off his cws and looked up, his gaze locking onto the distant battlefield. He needed more souls to grow stronger.

  With his newfound power, Shadow Step, and the enhancements from the bck stone, Aurion no longer moved with the same caution as before. His physical strength had surpassed most of the other demon spawn. He no longer hid or waited; instead, he took the initiative, using Shadow Step to move like a ghost across the battlefield, cunning and deadly.

  In the chaos of the battlefield, Aurion moved like an elegant dancer, weaving through the bloodshed and madness. His movements were light and fluid, his demeanor calm and composed, a stark contrast to the twisted, frenzied world around him.

  The rger demon spawn, though powerful, were slow and clumsy in Aurion’s eyes, like lumbering beasts. The more agile enemies, while faster than their peers, were helpless against his unpredictable Shadow Step.

  He emerged from the shadows without a sound, always appearing where his enemies least expected. Each strike of his cws was precise, slicing through vulnerable throats or piercing hearts with effortless grace. Bck blood sprayed, lives extinguished without a wasted motion. Amidst the endless sughter, Aurion remained calm, as if performing a macabre dance of death.

  Time and again, Aurion appeared on different parts of the battlefield, reaping the lives of demons. He effortlessly gathered more souls, each absorption fueling his growing power. His muscles grew denser and stronger, his bck scales gradually lightening, his twisted form becoming more streamlined. He realized his body was evolving in the direction he desired.

  But as he consumed more souls, Aurion began to notice something strange. The energy from the souls he absorbed no longer integrated into his body as quickly as before. Instead, it pooled in a corner of his mind, stored away. His soul had reached a saturation point, and now he could only absorb energy at an excruciatingly slow pace.

  This sudden slowdown puzzled him. It felt as if an invisible force was restraining him, faint and almost imperceptible. At first, Aurion wondered if it was just his imagination. But after prolonged observation, he recognized a familiar presence within this restraint—the Will of the Abyss. It was as if an unseen hand was subtly controlling his growth, holding him back from reaching the next stage.

  Aurion was baffled. Why would the Will of the Abyss help him grow stronger, only to impose restrictions? The vast reserves of pure soul energy should have propelled his evolution, yet this invisible barrier was slowing him down.

  "What does the Will of the Abyss want? Does it see potential in me, or is it using me for some purpose?" Questions swirled in Aurion’s mind. The Will’s assistance seemed generous, but its subtle control over his growth made him wary. He couldn’t trust this "gift."

  Despite his doubts, Aurion didn’t stop. He knew that any hesitation could allow another predator to overtake him. His mastery of Shadow Step grew with each battle, every strike executed with deadly precision and cold efficiency.

  Standing on the barren nd, Aurion stared at his blood-stained hands. He had lost count of how many demons he had killed. Deep within, he felt an irreversible change taking pce.

  He was no longer the Earth soul who had just arrived in this incubation world, a mere survivor struggling in chaos. With each demon he sughtered, he could feel his personality shifting—the calm rationality remained, but beneath it, a cruel instinct stirred, influenced by his demonic bloodline.

  He no longer killed demons just to survive. He found himself beginning to enjoy the sense of control that power brought. Killing was no longer just a means to an end; it had become a form of "creation."

  Each battle was like a canvas waiting to be painted. A precise swipe of his cws, a clean, fatal strike—these moments began to resemble art in his eyes. And with each perfect kill, the fervor within him was satisfied.

  Aurion didn’t resist these changes. He wasn’t sure whether his soul was being shaped by his demonic bloodline or the Will of the Abyss. But he felt no fear or resistance. Power, control, survival—these were his priorities now. Human morality and emotions had been left behind in the carnage.

  "I know I’ve changed," Aurion murmured, a faint, cold smile tugging at his lips. "But what does it matter? As long as I survive and grow stronger—strong enough to break all restraints—nothing else matters."

  He gazed at the chaotic battlefield in the distance, his eyes icy. The old him might have struggled with these changes, might have felt unease. But now, he had learned to embrace them.

  Cruelty and elegance could coexist. Sughter could be an art. And Aurion was the finest artist on this stage.