The palace halls stretched wide — carved from obsidian stone, etched with ancient beast insignias, towering high enough to swallow sound itself. Chandeliers of beast bones flickered faintly overhead, casting crooked shadows.
Inside one of the many isolated chambers… silence.
Cian Archdemon sat cross-legged, alone, a figure of unreadable stillness.
The golden glow of torches licked at his silver hair. His pale, symmetrical face reflected no emotion — only cold, quiet calculation.
His gaze flickered as Divine materialized, the familiar glitching hacker interface crackling in his vision:
[Divine] >> >> ACCESS GRANTED █
[Divine] >> >> Neural Activity: 98% Efficiency █
[Divine] >> >> Molecular Structure: STABLE █
[Divine] >> >> Attribute Sync Check... COMPLETE █
[Divine] >> >> Reminder: His Highness currently possesses █
>> Forbidden Darkness █ Earth █ Fire █
>> Water █ Ice █ Wind █ Light █
>> Forbidden Poison █ SPACE █
[Divine] >> >> Bloodline Status: Darkness Demongod █ Holy Goddess █ Beast Supreme █
[Divine] >> >> Current Evolution Stage: 1 █ Progress: 37% █
Cian's cold eyes drifted toward the towering window, the kingdom sprawling beyond.
They called him the Beast Prince, whispered of the anomaly—the son that shouldn't exist.
He existed.
And now… he learned.
Laid across the table before him — the Bare-Handed Combat Techniques of his beast clan. Scrolls, manuals, data fragments.
He'd already read them all.
He'd already surpassed them all.
But still… curiosity gnawed at him — that insatiable, creeping hunger that his bloodline fanned like wildfire.
With eerie precision, Cian moved through the stances: palm strikes, feints, grapples — fusing the ancient style with his modern, forbidden martial understanding, his body moving like liquid darkness.
Every flick of his wrist… optimized.
Every shift of muscle… calculated.
His body hummed — growing, adapting.
The System purred again:
[Divine] >> >> Combat Technique Efficiency: 142% ABOVE clan standard █
[Divine] >> >> Neural-muscular Adaptation: COMPLETE █
[Divine] >> >> Bare-Handed Beast Style… EVOLVED █
Cian exhaled slowly, his cold gaze narrowing.
This… was still insufficient.
The palace, the kingdom, the bloodlines — stepping stones.
Soon, beyond these walls… his evolution would accelerate.
Soon, he would meet her.
But for now… preparation.
Silent. Ruthless. Inevitable.
---