Chapter 4

As the pendant crumbled in Ryan's palm, an imperceptible but terrifying shockwave rippled through the blood-red fog.

Outside the Trial, a massive observation crystal hovered above the plaza, broadcasting the bloody massacre to the entire pack.

Lily stared at the screen, watching me covered in blood, barely standing. She was shaking with euphoria.

She snatched the Silver Moon Crown from a servant's hands, her fingers greedily tracing the diamonds.

"Look at her! She's going to be ripped to shreds!" she muttered, her eyes wide with a sick, manic joy.

"Jack, do you see this? There won't even be a corpse left!"

Jack stood beside her, casually adjusting his dark cuffs. A smirk played on his lips.

He had planned this perfectly. The second the giant wolf on the screen snapped my neck, he would step onto the podium and claim absolute rule over the Red Wolf Pack.

"This is what happens when you defy me," Jack sneered, already tasting the power. "A stupid Omega actually thought she could pick up a piece of trash and challenge absolute strength."

Inside the Trial, a Rogue Alpha the size of a two-story building stepped over the corpses of its pack.

Its eyes burned like red lanterns, locking onto me. Thick saliva dripped from its jaws.

The fog was thick with the stench of my own blood.

I fell to one knee in the mud, gasping for air, blood dripping steadily from my fingertips.

I glanced back at Ryan and bit down hard on my lip.

No way out.

I closed my eyes, ready to detonate my core and take these monsters to hell with me.

The Rogue Alpha let out a deafening roar. Its massive body launched into the air, jaws unhinging to snap my neck in half.

"Die..." I whispered, bracing for the end.

But in that split second.

The black dust from the crushed fang melted into Ryan's skin.

A cold, large hand suddenly reached out from behind me and clamped around my wrist.

An irresistible force yanked me backward, pulling me flush against a broad, rock-hard chest.

A soft sigh brushed against my ear, heavy with dark possessiveness and a hint of exasperation. "So damn stubborn."

Then, the world shattered.

A hurricane-force wind erupted, violently ripping the red fog apart, creating an absolute vacuum around us.

The airborne Rogue Alpha didn't even have time to howl.

Its massive body slammed into an invisible, crushing wall of pressure and detonated into a mist of blood and bone!

A rain of blood poured down, but a foot away from Ryan, it hit an invisible barrier and slid off into nothingness.

The remaining bloodthirsty Rogues and Frenzied Beasts froze.

It was as if the apocalypse had just dropped on their heads.

The rabid hunger in their eyes was instantly replaced by pure, unadulterated terror. They let out pathetic, high-pitched whimpers. Their legs gave out.

Dozens of massive monsters collapsed into the mud, bodies flattened against the earth, shivering violently, not daring to lift their heads a single inch.

It was absolute, genetic submission.

Ryan slowly raised his head.

Those dull eyes, always hidden behind messy hair, were now burning with a blinding, dark gold light. The ancient tyrant of the abyss had awakened.

Chapter 4

As the pendant crumbled in Ryan's palm, an imperceptible but terrifying shockwave rippled through the blood-red fog.

Outside the Trial, a massive observation crystal hovered above the plaza, broadcasting the bloody massacre to the entire pack.

Lily stared at the screen, watching me covered in blood, barely standing. She was shaking with euphoria.

She snatched the Silver Moon Crown from a servant's hands, her fingers greedily tracing the diamonds.

"Look at her! She's going to be ripped to shreds!" she muttered, her eyes wide with a sick, manic joy.

"Jack, do you see this? There won't even be a corpse left!"

Jack stood beside her, casually adjusting his dark cuffs. A smirk played on his lips.

He had planned this perfectly. The second the giant wolf on the screen snapped my neck, he would step onto the podium and claim absolute rule over the Red Wolf Pack.

"This is what happens when you defy me," Jack sneered, already tasting the power. "A stupid Omega actually thought she could pick up a piece of trash and challenge absolute strength."

Inside the Trial, a Rogue Alpha the size of a two-story building stepped over the corpses of its pack.

Its eyes burned like red lanterns, locking onto me. Thick saliva dripped from its jaws.

The fog was thick with the stench of my own blood.

I fell to one knee in the mud, gasping for air, blood dripping steadily from my fingertips.

I glanced back at Ryan and bit down hard on my lip.

No way out.

I closed my eyes, ready to detonate my core and take these monsters to hell with me.

The Rogue Alpha let out a deafening roar. Its massive body launched into the air, jaws unhinging to snap my neck in half.

"Die..." I whispered, bracing for the end.

But in that split second.

The black dust from the crushed fang melted into Ryan's skin.

A cold, large hand suddenly reached out from behind me and clamped around my wrist.

An irresistible force yanked me backward, pulling me flush against a broad, rock-hard chest.

A soft sigh brushed against my ear, heavy with dark possessiveness and a hint of exasperation. "So damn stubborn."

Then, the world shattered.

A hurricane-force wind erupted, violently ripping the red fog apart, creating an absolute vacuum around us.

The airborne Rogue Alpha didn't even have time to howl.

Its massive body slammed into an invisible, crushing wall of pressure and detonated into a mist of blood and bone!

A rain of blood poured down, but a foot away from Ryan, it hit an invisible barrier and slid off into nothingness.

The remaining bloodthirsty Rogues and Frenzied Beasts froze.

It was as if the apocalypse had just dropped on their heads.

The rabid hunger in their eyes was instantly replaced by pure, unadulterated terror. They let out pathetic, high-pitched whimpers. Their legs gave out.

Dozens of massive monsters collapsed into the mud, bodies flattened against the earth, shivering violently, not daring to lift their heads a single inch.

It was absolute, genetic submission.

Ryan slowly raised his head.

Those dull eyes, always hidden behind messy hair, were now burning with a blinding, dark gold light. The ancient tyrant of the abyss had awakened.