He had become a predator.
His silver eyes spun with blinding white light, ancient symbols dancing in the irises. The ground beneath him trembled. Burn wounds across his skin began sealing shut, flesh stitching together with unnatural speed. His breathing slowed, but his mind raced.
The world... had changed.
He could feel every grain of dirt. Every shift of muscle. Every flicker of heat. His senses had stretched far beyond the physical—he was attuned to the rhythm of battle, the song of life and death. Time slowed to a crawl.
He saw everything.
The micro-expression of a wolf's hesitation.
The subtle lean before a leap.
The tremor of earth a heartbeat before impact.
The Alpha Wolf stepped forward, fur blazing like living magma. It let out a piercing howl that shattered the night sky.
This wasn't a call—it was a command. A desperate one.
Kill him. Now.
The pack moved.
Two wolves from the left—going for his legs.
One from the right—aiming for his throat.
The Alpha—soaring above, jaws parted wide, fire dripping like liquid death.
Pincer maneuver.
But Travis's Heavenly Eyes had already dissected their attack before they even moved. His Heavenly Senses bloomed outward like a second consciousness, mapping the battlefield in flawless detail.
He moved.
He spun mid-air—one, two, three times—dodging both flankers with inches to spare. His right hand drew back, and earth qi surged, cracking the ground beneath him. With a roar, he slammed his fist into a wolf's side.
Crack!
The impact detonated like a landslide—one wolf flew back, smashing into another in a heap of yelps.
[Ding]
[Earth Element Comprehension – Advanced]
A flood of insight washed through him—the weight of mountains, the resilience of stone, the patience of eternity. He felt it all. He became it.
A warning tingled in his senses—a fireball arcing in from the left.
He stomped. The ground surged upward, forming an earthen shield.
Boom!
The fireball struck. The wall cracked, and a sliver of flame slipped through, kissing his shoulder with searing heat.
"Tch—!"
He hissed in pain but stayed focused.
Above—death descended.
The Alpha Wolf crashed down with a fury that shook the cliffside. The air thickened. Core Formation pressure fell like an avalanche.
Travis's knees almost buckled. Blood rushed to his ears. His limbs felt heavy. He couldn't breathe.
So this is… the weight of real power.
Then—
[Divine Eros Faere – Emergency Activation]
Qi Overload – Initiated
A warm, seductive power erupted from within him—gentle yet overwhelming. His Ascension Spirit ignited, pouring sensual divine qi through every fiber of his body. A rose-gold light shimmered around him as his fourth-stage cultivation peaked, teetering on the edge of breakthrough.
The bottleneck held, but his spirit did not falter.
"Not yet…" he whispered.
He roared back, throwing his final punch. Qi and earth energy fused into a cataclysmic blow. It met the Alpha in mid-air.
Impact.
Fire. Stone. Fury. Flesh.
But the force was too much.
There was no ground beneath him—only the cliff's edge.
Travis's body was hurled backward, the Alpha tangled with him.
They fell.
Wind howled past his ears. His stomach churned. His eyes widened in shock as the sky twisted above him.
The cliff disappeared from sight.
The last thing he saw—
—was the stars, and the wolf's burning eyes locked on his.
—before darkness swallowed him whole.
His scream echoed for miles.
----
Darkness breathed.
It wasn't just the absence of light—it was a suffocating, living thing. Thick. Cold. Heavy.
And in its choking grip, something stirred.
Travis groaned, pain lancing through his ribs as consciousness clawed its way back into his mind. His body was sprawled across something warm, damp... and furry. Instinctively, his fingers dug into the matted coat.
He blinked—nothing. Still pitch black.
Where…?
A sharp stench filled his nose. Blood. Death. Rot.
Then it hit him.
The Alpha Wolf. The fall. The battle. The collapse.
"Alive…" he whispered, tasting the word like it might vanish. "I'm... alive."
He shifted slightly, and a low crunch echoed beneath him. Broken bones. But not his.
The beast beneath him—dead. Its massive body had cushioned his fall, becoming his unintentional savior in death. His wounds, surprisingly light, were already knitting themselves under the Divine Eros Faerie's passive healing glow.
Too lucky to be chance.
Too precise to be coincidence.
Then came the buzzing.
Soft at first. Then louder. Closer. Hundreds of wings vibrating in the air. Insects—drawn by blood.
Travis sat upright fast. His skin crawled as something tiny bit into his shoulder.
He slapped it away, only for more to come. Not just scavengers. Predators in miniature. Bold. Relentless.
"Damn pests," he hissed. "Feasting on my kill?"
He waved his arms, but they kept coming—drawn not just to the corpse, but to him.
Frustration flared. He summoned fire—
Flicker. Sputter. Gone.
Nothing but smoke.
"Seriously? Not even a campfire's worth?" he growled. "I've got divine eyes and a celestial spirit, but I can't even scare off bugs?"
The irony stung harder than their bites.
He left the wolf's carcass behind, swatting insects as he limped forward through the abyss. The terrain was barren—cracked earth, wild grasses, and not a single beast or stream in sight. Just... emptiness.
His mind churned. There had to be a way out.