’Looks like you’ll have to speed things up. At this rate, even if you had three whole years, it would be impossible to kill them all,’ the shield’s voice echoed in Priam’s mind.
Priam silently snorted.
His average was, at most, thirty kills a day—which amounted to around nine hundred beasts a month. Killing ninety-nine thousand creatures within the remaining time was mathematically impossible. However, Priam had already come up with a bold plan. To put it into action, he just needed to find...
*ROAR!!*
Suddenly, a deafening, guttural roar tore through the sky from far behind him. The sound brought a cold smile to Priam’s face.
’It’s here.’
Without a second thought, Priam adjusted Dandara firmly on his back and took off.
Moments later, the colossal shadow of a Heavenly Beast—resembling a terrifying pterodactyl equipped with a single spiraling horn—cut through the air like a blade of wind, tearing apart the treetops exactly where he had been a second earlier.
A furious aura of the wind element erupted from the creature as it pursued him with murderous ferocity.
It was one of the deadliest predators Priam had faced in this place: a true sovereign of the skies.
With every beat of its wings, the monster synchronized its body with the wind element so perfectly that it seemed to merge with the atmosphere itself. It was a race of Heavenly Beasts at the absolute top of the food chain.
The only reason Priam could maintain the advantage while fleeing was by using his Elemental Physique at maximum power. Even so, dodging the blasts required extreme reflexes.
Taking the beast down wouldn’t be impossible if Priam decided to fight seriously.
However, he had seen a golden opportunity in this abomination.
Three months ago, he had already killed an identical specimen.
After analyzing the corpse, he discovered that its core contained a terrifying number of extremely high-level wind runes. A single one of these creatures possessed five times the rune density of Priam himself, if he were to convert all his power toward that aspect.
After collecting the core, he investigated the area and confirmed that there were at least a dozen Heavenly Beasts of this species living there.
In this ecosystem, the only creatures they showed any respect toward were the few Calamity Beasts—and only because of their lethal poison.
Rather than competing for territory, these Heavenly Beasts multiplied and operated in perfectly synchronized packs. Priam had even witnessed six of them working together to take down a large Calamity Beast. The combined strength of that pack was capable of crushing anything in the abyss.
*BOOOM!*
The ground behind Priam violently exploded under the impact of a compressed-air blade.
Priam raced forward at dizzying speed, kicking up a curtain of dust with every step while maintaining a calculated distance from the monster.
Suddenly, the vegetation came to an end, and a sheer cliff appeared in front of him.
Priam dug his feet into the ground. He slid several meters across the bare rock before stopping dangerously close to the edge, just centimeters away from it.
He looked down with sharp eyes: the drop was only about one hundred and fifty meters, a simple jump for his enhanced physique. Below, there was nothing but dense, impenetrable forest.
The Heavenly Beasts hovered in the air, hesitating for a fraction of a second when it saw him standing still. The creature was somewhat cautious, possessing enough intelligence to recognize that the human was absurdly fast and cunning; something was wrong. He had already been responsible for the death of one of its kind.
However, the frenzy imposed by the Goddess’s domain won out.
With a shrill roar, the beast spread its sharp claws wide and dove.
*Wooosh*
Its steel claws tore through nothing but a wavering afterimage. Priam had already moved sideways at a speed invisible to the naked eye.
Appearing in the monster’s blind spot on the right, Priam shifted his weight and delivered a sharp punch to the creature’s ribcage.
*BANG!*
The impact was precise, but Priam held back more than two-thirds of his actual strength. He didn’t want to kill it—not yet.
The beast slammed violently into the ground, sending rocks and dust flying.
Priam remained motionless a few meters away, patiently waiting.
From the cloud of dirt, the predator’s silhouette quickly rose. With one injured wing, it puffed out its chest and released a sharp, shrill, deafening hiss.
**SCREECH!**
The sound wave tore through the winds, expanding in circles for dozens of kilometers around them.
A faint smile curved Priam’s lips.
’The fish took the bait.’
He expanded his elemental perception to its limit. With his Elemental Physique active, any disturbance in the atmosphere over long distances was read by him like a detailed map.
It didn’t take even a second.
Priam turned his head toward the northeast. High in the sky, absurdly far away, the horizon darkened. A veritable flying army of Heavenly Beasts, stirred up by the distress call, shot through the clouds like a storm of wind blades heading straight toward him.
Without wasting a single moment, Priam let out a satisfied snort and channeled the wind’s energy into his legs.
Before the first creature from the pack could even approach the cliff, he took off, completely disappearing from the area like a ghost.
---
Inside the cave, beneath the flickering orange glow of the campfire, the sound of Mirra’s teeth tearing through meat and her frantic swallowing was the only noise breaking the silence.
At the same time, Priam patiently fed Dandara spoonfuls of warm soup.
Because of her weakened condition, she couldn’t consume large amounts; a small bowl was already more than enough to restore her strength.
After swallowing the last spoonful, Dandara slowly closed her eyes and leaned her head against Priam’s chest, wearing an expression of deep serenity... Even she couldn’t understand how that feeling of absolute peace she felt now could surpass any other moment in her entire life.
Throughout all those months in the abyss, the place where she had spent the most time was physically glued to him. As the days piled up, the habit had turned into something deeper, and without even realizing it, she had come to hate the mere idea of being away from that warmth.
The concept of "wanting to stay by someone’s side" was an entirely new and unfamiliar feeling for Dandara. She had never been alone with a man, nor had she ever experienced any kind of physical intimacy. Yet here they were, living inseparably, sharing the same rhythm of breathing day and night.
And she knew she wasn’t alone in this. Dandara had noticed that Priam shared a very similar feeling.
He could wear a mask of indifference and act as though everything was nothing more than survival logistics. But she could tell, from the way his touch lingered over her body and his meticulous attention to every detail, that he genuinely cherished that bond just as much as she did.
As soon as Mirra finished her feast, Priam gently stroked Dandara’s pale back and naturally lifted her, settling her firmly and protectively against his back.
"You can sleep peacefully. I’ve already found the way out... We’ll be leaving here soon," he murmured, his voice low and velvety, as if soothing a baby in his arms.
Nestling her face into the curve of his neck, feeling Priam’s familiar scent, Dandara let out a soft breath and surrendered to sleep, completely at peace in the safety of his embrace.
Priam looked at Mirra. The little girl nodded contentedly, wiping her mouth with her sleeve before retreating back into her inner space.
Without wasting any time, Priam took his first step out of the cave.
Surrounded by the night breeze, his eyes glowing in the darkness, he shot off in the exact direction from which the storm of Heavenly Beasts had come.
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