Death to Power
Copyright© 2025 by TheSmartOne
Chapter 63: The Weight of Fire
The middle zone itself trembled from the explosion. It was so massive, so deafening, that every beast inside turned its head toward Kaden’s direction.
And there ... they saw it.
A towering cloud of blood-red fire surging into the sky—violent, majestic, untamed.
It was a mesmerizing view.
But for the beasts who had been going on with their daily lives—who had built their own routines inside this hostile wilderness—seeing that sight? It did something to them.
It broke something.
Because that kind of explosion could only mean one thing:
Someone had entered their territory.
Someone had wrecked their peace.
Someone was tearing everything apart.
And that—
That was something they couldn’t tolerate.
So, in an eerie, synchronized wave, every beast in the middle zone turned
and charged straight toward Kaden and the shadow panther.
All for the same reason.
To tear apart and rip to pieces the one who dared to shatter the stillness of their domain, the one who dared to mock them, to challenge them.
Their goal was simple...
Make him bleed until he died.
And that someone?
That was Kaden Warborn, the Child of Blood himself.
And as for him?
Well—
...
“What a beautiful sight,” Kaden muttered with a small smile, eyes gleaming as he looked at the bloody fire in front of him. But that very smile began to fade as the smoke cleared...
And revealed the panther.
It was still standing.
The beast wasn’t untouched. Blood shimmered down from multiple wounds across its body. Its face was cut. Its sleek black fur charred in places with flickers of red fire still dancing on the tips. Its claws—the same claws it had used to strike at Kaden—had melted clean off.
The pain must’ve been unbearable.
But the beast’s face didn’t change. It also didn’t go berserk nor didn’t lash out blindly.
No.
It looked at him again—but this time ... with different eyes.
As if reevaluating him.
As if ... respecting him.
“ ... Eerie,” Kaden said with a frown.
And yet, the longer he stared at the panther, the more something inside him stirred. The more his blood rushed.
The more he wanted to die by its hand. After all this beast seemed special.
So he smiled.
“You—”
Kaden stopped abruptly, eyes snapping around.
Every direction. Every angle.
Beasts.
Dozens, no hundreds all around him. And they were closing in.
Kaden’s lips twitched. “Did I go too far?”
He clicked his tongue and turned his attention back to the shadow panther, who had also noticed the newcomers—but Kaden didn’t give it time to decide.
He lunged first.
He clenched his fist—and instantly, the blood still clinging to the beast’s body twisted, spiked and pierced it.
“GRRRRR!”
The panther growled—pained, furious—and vanished into the shadows.
Then reappeared behind Kaden.
Its claws—what remained of them—slashed forward in a flash of black.
Too fast.
Too sudden.
Kaden didn’t react in time.
But it wasn’t because he couldn’t.
It was because he didn’t want to.
After all, he didn’t want some random beast to kill him. That would be a damn waste of Death Coins.
So he closed his eyes.
And let it hit him.
The slash landed with full force. Kaden was hurled across the ground like a ragdoll, crashing violently and rolling until he slammed into the dirt. His back was torn wide open, his black coat soaked in blood. And his bone was visible.
And still—
‘I ... I’m not dead yet?’ Kaden thought, barely coherent through the pain.
Then he felt it.
Reditha ... was healing him.
His eyes widened in horror.
‘Reditha—no! Don’t heal me!’ he screamed in his mind.
But it was already too late.
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