Once again, Asuma found himself in the endless void—a vast expanse of nothingness stretching infinitely in every direction. This time, he wasn't floating aimlessly as before; he was walking, his boots echoing faintly against an invisible surface. The nothingness pressed in on him, suffocating in its quiet.Why am I here again? he thought, his mind racing. Was it the dryad? Did she defeat me?A cold, familiar voice shattered the stillness. "Boy of Chaos."The sound sent a shiver through him, and his body tensed. He recognized the voice—the same enigmatic woman he had encountered in this void before."Show yourself!" he demanded, his voice steady despite the unease gnawing at his gut. "I know you're here."From the nothingness, she emerged, her form as haunting as he remembered. The black gown adorned with intricate crosses, the flowing hair that seemed to defy gravity, and the mask obscuring her face—all of it radiated an aura of mystery and dread. She moved with an elegance that felt otherworldly, her footsteps echoing despite the lack of ground."Who are you? Are you the Great Witch?" Asuma asked, his tone sharp with a mix of fear and determination. He needed answers, and she was the only one who might have them.The woman said nothing, her masked face tilting slightly as if studying him. The silence stretched, and Asuma's patience frayed."Why won't you answer me?" he shouted, his voice reverberating through the void.Finally, she spoke, her tone calm but weighted with meaning. "Boy, to understand who you truly are, you must find your other half. You have not yet awakened, but she has."Her words hit him like a thunderclap. "Other half? She? Wait... Anami? Do you know where she is?" His voice cracked with urgency.The woman's response was cryptic, her tone unwavering. "I am merely a guide to your past. Her whereabouts are unclear, unknown, and can only be determined by you."Asuma's frustration boiled over. "So you know nothing," he muttered, clenching his fists. "Then how do I get out of here?""The power I am lending you will expire soon," she said. "When it does, you will return to your world. But before I go, I must warn you. There is something else dwelling within your consciousness. Something sinister. Something that craves blood." Her voice grew heavy with concern. "Rid yourself of it before it consumes you."Her words froze him in place, fear tightening around his heart. "What are you talking about?" he demanded, his voice cracking. But she didn't answer. The woman turned, her form dissolving into the void, her echoing footsteps fading into silence."Wait!" Asuma shouted, lunging forward. A blinding light engulfed him, and he instinctively shielded his eyes. When the brightness subsided, he awoke to a scene of unspeakable horror.The scent of charred wood and sulfur filled his nostrils as his vision adjusted. He was back at the top of the great oak tree, but the once-vivid chamber was now a wasteland. The pristine white lotus flowers were burnt to ash, and the air was heavy with the stench of decay.Before him lay Manola, the Great Demon Dryad, now a broken shell of her former self. Her arms and legs were severed, her body sprawled among the smoldering remains of her garden. Thick, black sap-like blood oozed from her wounds, pooling around her in a grotesque halo. Her once-luminous white hair was matted and stained with the same dark ichor.She wasn't dead, nor was she fully alive. Her glowing green eyes had dulled, staring blankly at the withered branches of the miniature oak tree, as if reliving some distant memory. Her lips moved weakly, her voice barely a whisper."Prince... you're back."Asuma's gaze dropped to his hands. They were slick with her black blood, the substance clinging to his fingers like tar. He stumbled back, his sword slipping from his grasp and clattering to the ground.What happened here? His mind raced, searching for answers. The last thing he remembered was sitting with Manola, listening to her story. But this... this carnage was beyond anything he could have imagined."Did I... do this?" he whispered, his voice trembling.Manola's eyes shifted slightly, meeting his. Her lips curled into a faint, mocking smile despite her mangled state. "You don't... remember," she rasped, her voice filled with both pain and derision.Manola coughed weakly, the sound wet and gurgling. "Your power... is not your own," she said. "You... are a vessel... for something ancient. Something that... does not care for kings or kingdoms. It seeks only... destruction."Her words struck him like a blow. "No," he muttered, his voice rising. "That's not possible. I'm not a monster. I didn't choose this!""You didn't," Manola agreed in her final breath, her tone laced with bitterness. "But it... did. The chaos within you... the bloodline you carry... It will awaken. And it will consume you."Suddenly he heard the faint sound of footsteps echoing from the distance. His instincts flared, and he turned sharply—only to feel the cold bite of a dagger driving deep into his stomach."Are you hurt?" a soft, almost childlike voice cooed.Standing before him was a petite girl who bore an uncanny resemblance to Manola. Her youthful face was framed by silken white hair, her innocent smile a chilling contrast to the twisted dagger she gleefully twisted in Asuma's gut. She looked no older than fifteen, an age that struck uncomfortably close to his missing sister, Anami."Who are you? A clone?" Asuma managed to ask through gritted teeth, clutching the hilt of the blade as agony spread through his body."A clone?" she repeated with mock amusement, tilting her head. "No, I am Lanola, Ninth Pillar of the Black Guild and the Devourer of Nature."Asuma's eyes narrowed. The Black Guild. The name reverberated in his mind, dragging up the painful memories he had buried. The organization responsible for the slaughter of his village and the abduction of his sister."You... You're the one who destroyed my home! You took Anami! Where is she?!" Asuma roared, his voice trembling with fury.Lanola's smile widened, cruel and condescending. "Anami? Oh, you must be talking about the Second Pillar." Her tone was sickeningly sweet. She turned facing Manola. "My sister Manola I wonder, though, what game were you playing when you visited this human empire. Stirring up trouble here of all places...why would you even come here when he's not even fully —no, not even half—awakened yet?"Her casual tone sent a chill down Asuma's spine. Lanola withdrew her hand from the dagger and let it remain lodged in his stomach, leaving him paralyzed with pain. She sauntered over to the dismembered remains of Manola, vines writhing around her fingertips as she inspected the defeated demon dryad."You disgust me, sister," Lanola muttered coldly, wrapping Manola's mangled body in the vines. "How utterly useless you were to our lords. You voided the contract, didn't you? You tried to reveal his origin, and look what it got you—dismembered by your own foolishness."She turned to Asuma, her voice dripping with mockery. "It's quite the irony, really. You're not like your sister at all, are you? That monster that sleeps inside you—it's already killed to protect the truth. If you're not careful, it will kill the people around you too.""Enough!" Asuma shouted, blood dripping from his lips as he fought through the pain. "Everyone keeps throwing cryptic riddles at me! Stop toying with me! What am I? Demon, tell me the truth!"Lanola chuckled, her voice a melody of disdain. "What are you? Oh, sweet boy. You're nothing more than... human."Asuma felt his body ignite with an unnatural heat. His muscles trembled as raw energy surged through him, dispelling the paralyzing magic coursing through the dagger. He took a shaky step forward, his hand gripping the hilt of the blade still lodged in his abdomen."How are you moving?" Lanola's playful tone faltered into surprise. "The dryad's magic should have drained you entirely."Asuma yanked the dagger from his stomach, blood spilling momentarily before his wound healed in an instant. He looked up, his glare burning with unrelenting rage. "You destroyed my home, killed my family, and took Anami. Then you dare to mock me? Where. Is. She?!"Lanola's laughter echoed through the chamber. "And why would I tell you that? What satisfaction could I possibly gain from enlightening you? Besides... are you even certain they were truly your blood-related family?"Her words struck a chord of confusion in Asuma, but his fury drowned out the doubt. "What did you say?!"A violent surge of aura erupted from Asuma's body, a chaotic storm that consumed the room in a suffocating haze. Lanola stumbled back, her confident smirk replaced with genuine alarm."This magic..." she muttered, her voice shaking. "No, this isn't the power of the witch in him. This is worse. This is something that shouldn't exist inside of him..."Asuma's pupils shifted, transforming into the swirling crimson sigil of Camellia, the Lord of Blood. Tears of blood streamed from his eyes as his blade morphed into a grotesque, pulsing weapon dripping with living crimson fluid."Impossible!" Lanola cried out. "How could you have met her? How could you have crossed paths with Camellia? This is bad—really bad!"Desperation overtook her as she summoned a glowing portal to the demon continent with a flick of her wrist. "I must report this!"Lanola's retreat was short-lived. With a single step, Asuma appeared before her, his speed blinding. He grabbed her by the collar and hurled her through the wall of the oak tree, sending her plummeting to the streets of Bagon below. Her body crashed through several buildings before finally skidding to a stop.Lanola coughed violently, spitting dark blood as she staggered to her feet. Looking up, her eyes widened as she saw Asuma descending from the shattered opening in the oak tree, his blood-forged wings spreading like the harbingers of death. His face was unreadable, his expression devoid of mercy."This... isn't right," Lanola whispered, her voice breaking. "Why does he have her power?"Asuma raised his sword, pointing it directly at her. His voice, distorted and layered, rang out like a death knell."You won't escape. You'll tell me where my sister is, or I'll carve the truth out of you myself."Lanola smirked, "Fine... I'll just break you a little then," she taunted, raising her hands as thousands of vines erupted from the streets like serpentine missiles, all converging on Asuma.Asuma's wings flared to life, carrying him above the chaos in a burst of speed. He moved with precision, slashing through the oncoming vines in a graceful yet brutal dance. The ground below him trembled under the weight of her relentless assault, but he refused to falter."He's fast... too fast," Lanola muttered, her confident grin momentarily faltering. "How much of her magic did that lunatic give him?"Landing in the middle of the ruined streets, Asuma found himself surrounded by a fresh horde of demons, their grotesque forms lunging at him from every direction. He took a deep breath, his aura flaring, and muttered, "Blood Magic: Bloodless Slash."Spinning on his heels, his sword unleashed a devastating crimson arc, its deadly energy slicing through the horde and splitting entire buildings in two. The city echoed with the groans of crumbling stone and the wails of dying demons.Lanola watched from a distance, a mix of awe and concern in her eyes. "He's strong... too strong. How has he adapted to her magic so quickly?" she questioned aloud, gripping her staff tightly.Asuma wasted no time. His form blurred as he charged at Lanola, his sword blazing with raw power. She reacted swiftly, summoning a staff of darkened wood to block his powerful strike. The collision sent shockwaves rippling through the air, shattering nearby debris."Not bad, human," she sneered, countering by summoning vines that wrapped around Asuma's body and hurled him through the remains of several buildings. He hit the ground hard but quickly recovered, his fiery determination unshaken.Rising to his feet, he retaliated with a barrage of slash waves, each one carving through the air toward Lanola. She conjured massive trees to intercept the strikes, their thick trunks splintering under the force of his attacks."You're relentless, but reckless," she said, her voice calm despite the intensity of the battle. "Your aura is burning too quickly. This is the difference between raw power and mastery."Lanola planted her staff into the ground, her body glowing with a menacing green light as she began to channel her energy. With a flick of her wrist, entire buildings were uprooted and hurled at Asuma. He slashed through them effortlessly, his focus unwavering as he closed the distance between them."You fight like a mindless beast," Lanola taunted. "A puppet to the blood lord's power. Let me show you the real strength of one of the Ten Pillars."The ground beneath them trembled as Lanola's aura surged to its peak. She raised her staff high and declared, "Demonic Magic: Graveyard of Vines."The earth split open as millions of vines erupted from below, their monstrous forms tearing through the surrounding forest and cityscape. The gigantic oak tree at the city's center groaned as the vines coiled around it, pulling it down with a thunderous crash. The entire battlefield was consumed in an explosion of green and black energy.Lanola stood amidst the destruction, panting slightly. "I hope that didn't kill him."Walking toward the uprooted remains of the great oak tree, Lanola peered through the wreckage. Beneath the shattered roots lay Asuma, his armor cracked, his sword broken, and his aura flickering weakly.She chuckled, tilting her head with a mix of amusement and admiration. "How did you push a six-rank demon to use one of her forbidden spells? You truly are dangerous... Prince Malka, just like your father." Her words lingered, dripping with cryptic malice.Asuma stirred, his mind foggy but his body alive. He opened his eyes just enough to hear her final words. "Father?" he muttered, confusion and exhaustion clouding his voice.Lanola turned away, satisfied. With a wave of her hand, she summoned an abyss gate, its swirling energy casting an ominous glow over the ruins. "I've played enough for one day. Rest, Prince Malka. Your awakening has only just begun." She stepped through the portal, vanishing as it closed behind her.Asuma sat up slowly, the weight of Lanola's words pressing down on him. "Father...? Just like him? What does she mean?" His thoughts were interrupted by the rising sun casting its light over the devastated city.All around him lay destruction—the fallen oak tree, shattered buildings, and the lifeless forms of countless demons. He sighed deeply, his body trembling from exhaustion.For now, he had survived. But the questions left by Lanola's taunts—and the power he had wielded so recklessly—loomed over him like a storm on the horizon.