NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 7: Baptism of Blood
The battlefield was a graveyard of broken bodies and shattered wills. The scent of iron filled the air, mixing with the smoldering remnants of battle. The weak had perished, their corpses trampled beneath the boots of those who still clung to life.
In the center of the carnage stood leon, his silhouette bathed in the crimson glow of burning ruins. His hands dripped with fresh blood, his breath slow and steady despite the devastation surrounding him.
His golden eyes flickered with an eerie light. The Hunger—the insatiable force gnawing at his soul—grew stronger with every life he took. His body, once human, now pulsed with something more… something unnatural.
A survivor staggered toward him, his armor dented, his sword trembling in his grip. Fear twisted his features as he looked at leon—not as a fellow human, but as a monster.
"You… you're not one of us anymore, are you?" the man whispered.
Yin tilted his head, a faint smirk playing on his lips. "No. I'm something more."
In a blur, leon vanished. The survivor's eyes barely had time to widen before leon's hand pierced his chest, fingers wrapping around his still-beating heart.
The man gasped, his body convulsing as he choked on his own breath. "M-Monster…"
leon met his gaze, his voice a whisper of amusement. "No. A God-King in the making."
With a single squeeze, he crushed the heart in his palm. The body slumped, lifeless. As the blood seeped into leon's skin, a pulse of power surged through him. He could feel it—his transformation accelerating, his strength reaching heights beyond mortal comprehension.
Then, the ground trembled.
A deep, guttural roar split the air. leon turned, his gaze locking onto the massive, winged beast descending from the blackened sky.
A Chaos Wyvern.
A creature of nightmares, its scales shimmering with an abyssal aura, its molten eyes burning with primal hunger.
The few remaining survivors screamed, scattering like insects. But leon… leon smiled.
"Finally… a real challenge."
As the wyvern's wings flared, leon bent his knees, his muscles coiling like a primed spring.
Then, he leapt.