Damian stood in front of the massive cave entrance where the Hound had first brought him.

The sloth was exactly where he’d been every other time Damian had seen him, lounging on a tree branch with his eyes half-closed.

The Hound sat at the base of the tree, golden eyes tracking Damian’s movements.

And Kuro perched on the Hound’s head, looking remarkably comfortable there despite the size difference.

The red sky that had dominated the world for weeks was gone now, replaced by normal blue that felt almost wrong after so long staring at crimson.

Damian’s crimson hair was tied back loosely, his black clothes clean for the first time in weeks. He’d washed in a nearby stream that morning, scrubbing away the blood and dirt that had accumulated from constant fighting.

The sloth’s eyes opened slowly, focusing on him with ancient awareness.

"So... you are going back?"

His voice came out deep and slow.

Damian nodded.

"I’ve been here long enough. People are probably worried."

The sloth made a sound that might have been amusement.

"Did you... achieve what you stayed here for?"

The question hung in the air, weighted with meaning that went beyond simple curiosity.

Damian was quiet for a moment.

Then he allowed himself a small smile.

"Yeah... I did."

****

[Three weeks earlier]

The forest clearing was quiet except for the sound of Damian’s breathing.

He crouched beside the corpse of a B rank boar he’d killed an hour ago, placing his palm against its still-warm hide.

’Let’s see if this works.’

He focused, activating the Devourer Art but directing it outward instead of through his stomach.

Black energy flickered across his palm.

It took concentration, forcing the energy to manifest externally instead of internally, but slowly it began to work.

The energy spread from his hand across the boar’s body like living ink, covering fur and flesh in a slow crawl.

The corpse started to disintegrate, breaking down into fine ash that scattered in the wind.

Damian felt the familiar surge of power flowing into him as the beast’s essence merged with his own.

’It works...’

A grin spread across his face as he stood slowly, staring at his hand.

The black energy still flickered faintly across his palm before fading.

’But what is this energy exactly?’

It wasn’t Aura.

He could feel the difference clearly.

Aura flowed through his body like a current, enhancing his physical abilities and powering his skills.

But this was something else entirely.

Something that originated from the Devourer Art itself.

"Kuro, what do you think this black energy is?"

The raven landed on a nearby branch, tilting his head as he observed Damian’s hand.

’Kuro doesn’t know exactly... But it feels different from stupid human’s normal energy.’

The mental voice paused, as if thinking.

’Maybe it’s like death energy? But for devouring?’

Damian stared at his palm thoughtfully.

’Devouring energy...’

The name felt right, even if he didn’t fully understand what it meant yet.

Whatever it was, it worked.

The process had taken nearly ten minutes and left him mentally exhausted, but it worked.

’This changes everything.’

There was no need to cut bodies apart and eat them piece by piece.

’With practice, this could be done in an instant.’

Over the following days, he repeated the process with every kill.

Boars, wolves, smaller beasts that crossed his path.

Each time, the black energy manifested faster, spread quicker and consumed more efficiently.

By the end of the week, he could reduce a corpse to ash in an instant.

****

[Two weeks earlier]

The wolf pack surrounded him in the clearing.

Dozens of them, ranging from B rank to A rank, with an alpha that radiated power equal to his own.

The fight lasted for some time.

By the end, the clearing was covered in corpses, and Damian stood alone, bleeding from a couple of wounds, nothing serious.

He looked at the dead wolves scattered around him.

’I’ve been trying to combine my Domain with the devouring principles for weeks now.’

Every day since he’d started pushing his limits, he’d attempted the same thing.

Using the principles of devouring to claim corpses within his Domain, making them part of his power, but every attempt had failed.

’Let’s try again.’

His hand snapped.

Snap

The Domain materialized instantly.

Pitch-black ground, crimson sky, hundreds of manifestation-corpses floating above.

The wolf corpses remained on the ground, unaffected.

Damian crouched beside the nearest wolf and placed his hand on its fur.

The Devourer Art activated in his palm, black energy spreading across his fingers.

He pushed the Domain’s fog forward simultaneously, trying to merge the two powers.

The black fog swirled around the wolf’s body and the Devourer Art’s energy pulsed through his hands.

For a moment, they touched, then separated.

The wolf remained solid and unmoving.

’Damn it!’

Sweat beaded on his forehead as he pushed harder, trying to force the connection.

But they refused to merge into a single unified force.

Snap

He collapsed the Domain with frustration burning in his chest.

’There’s something missing... Some threshold I haven’t crossed yet.’

He stared at the wolf corpses surrounding him, his mind racing.

’My Will stat is at 400... The theoretical limit for A rank awakeners.’

The thought crystallized slowly.

’Maybe that’s the problem... Maybe I need more willpower...’

His hand moved to his spatial ring.

The Chairman had sent a treasure weeks ago through the Potions consortium, the treasure that could break the Will stat barrier.

He’d been saving it, studying the principles of devouring and experimenting with his Domain first.

Because raw power without understanding was useless.

But now he understood the principles.

Now he just needed the strength to execute them.

’If not now, then when?’

He pulled out a small black box.

Inside lay what looked like a blade of grass, glowing faintly with silver-white light.

Damian brought it to his mouth without hesitation and swallowed.

BOOM

The sound exploded inside his skull, so loud he staggered backward and dropped to one knee.

His vision went white, then black, then white again in rapid succession.

His Will stat surged, the number climbing rapidly.

400... 410... 420... 430... 440...

The barrier shattered like glass under a hammer.

Will: 446

And suddenly, everything became clearer.

The fog of his Domain wasn’t just a manifestation of despair.

It was a medium, a bridge between his will and the physical world.

’I understand now.’

His hand snapped.