The roar did not belong to this world.
It was too deep. Too heavy. Too… alive.
The ground trembled beneath my feet, roots cracking, leaves falling like silent rain. Even the forest — ancient, endless, unyielding — seemed to recoil in fear.
Beside me, my brother did not move.
But his eyes… were tense.
"Too early," he whispered. "It shouldn't be awake yet."
"What is that thing?" I asked.
He didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he slowly drew his blade — not like an assassin preparing to kill, but like a soldier preparing to die.
Then he said:
"It's what happens when humans try to create monsters… and fail to control them."
The trees ahead exploded outward.
Wood shattered.
Earth tore open.
And from the darkness—
It emerged.
Huge.
Twisted.
Wrong.
Its body looked almost human, but stretched beyond nature — long arms scraping the ground, skin pale like ash, veins glowing faintly beneath its surface. Its head… tilted unnaturally, jaw split too wide, teeth like broken blades.
But its eyes—
They were empty.
Not wild.
Not angry.
Just hollow.
Like something that had never been alive to begin with.
The creature inhaled slowly.
Then its head snapped toward us.
It had found us.
"Run," my brother said instantly.
But my feet didn't move.
Not from fear.
From instinct.
If we ran, it would chase.
If it chased, we would die.
So instead—
I stepped forward.
The creature moved faster than its size allowed.
One step — ten meters gone.
Its arm swung.
I jumped sideways — barely — the impact shattering the ground where I had stood. Dirt exploded, stones flying like knives. The force alone threw me back, breath knocked from my chest.
Strong.
Too strong.
Not human.
Not beast.
Something else.
My brother attacked from the side — blade flashing toward its neck — precise, lethal, perfect.
The blade struck—
And stopped.
The creature's skin did not break.
Not even a scratch.
My brother's eyes widened.
"…Impossible."
The creature moved again.
Faster now.
Learning.
Adapting.
Its hand shot forward and caught my brother mid-motion — fingers closing around his body like iron chains. Bones cracked. Blood spilled.
"BROTHER!" I shouted.
He did not scream.
Assassins are not allowed to scream.
Instead, he looked at me — calm, steady, accepting.
"…Listen," he said weakly. "If you want to survive… don't fight like a human anymore."
The creature tightened its grip.
"…Wake it."
Wake… what?
Before I could ask—
It slammed him into the ground.
Hard.
The earth shattered.
And he did not move again.
Something inside me broke.
Not fear.
Not rage.
Something deeper.
Something older.
The world became quiet.
Too quiet.
Even the monster stopped moving for a moment — as if sensing something change.
My heartbeat slowed.
Then—
Everything sharpened.
The air.
The ground.
The sound of blood flowing beneath skin.
The rhythm of life itself.
And for the first time in my life…
I felt power.
Not borrowed.
Not taught.
Not given.
But born from within.
The creature roared and charged again.
But this time—
I did not dodge.
I stepped forward.
Fast.
Too fast.
My body moved before thought, before instinct, before fear. The world blurred around me — trees bending, ground cracking beneath each step.
The creature swung.
I slipped inside its reach.
My dagger struck—
Not skin.
But the glowing vein beneath it.
For the first time—
The creature screamed.
Black blood erupted like smoke.
The forest shook violently, birds fleeing, beasts hiding, the earth itself trembling under the creature's pain. It staggered backward, clutching its wound, hollow eyes flickering with something new.
Not emptiness.
Pain.
It could feel.
Which meant—
It could die.
But victory did not come.
The creature's body began to change.
Twisting.
Growing.
Evolving.
Its veins glowed brighter, its muscles swelling, its roar deeper than before.
My breath slowed.
So this was their "failure."
A monster that could grow stronger mid-battle.
A weapon beyond assassins.
Beyond humans.
Beyond control.
Good.
Then I no longer needed to hold back.
I tightened my grip on the dagger.
My heartbeat… vanished.
Silence.
Perfect silence.
Then—
I moved.
And the hunt… truly began.