Shouts and the sound of heavy steps echoed throughout the campsite.

Yuura squirmed in his fur bed, face twisted in pain, until Rion shook him awake.

"Yuura!" He yelled.

Yuura opened his hazy eyes and looked at Rion in a daze before mumbling in a low voice, "Hmm...? What are you doing... Rion?"

Rion clutched at his shoulders with a dark expression and said in a low, urgent voice, "The kareths... they are coming."

All of the sleep was drained out of Yuura, his eyes went wide, and he muttered with trembling lips, "W-What?"

Rion patted his shoulder before he said softly, "All of the squads and Haria are already getting ready to kill whatever steps out from that damned forest, and you have to report about the kareths' appearance to Marin."

Yuura sat up and asked with a reluctant expression, "Why me?!"

Rion looked into Yuura's amber eyes and said, "You are the fastest after me, after all."

After saying those words, Rion left the camp to stop the kareths with the others.

Yuura looked at his palms for a few moments before picking up his daggers and stepping out of the camp.

Just as he stepped out, his eyes fell on the hundreds of dark, monstrous creatures.

Purple veins pulsed beneath cracked, burnt leather skin. Their horns twisted like the roots of a dead tree, and their long, blood-slick tongues lashed the air like whips.

Before this horde of nightmares, Haria the Panther stood like an immovable monolith, her gaze fixed on the vermin before her, and her gauntlets gleamed with her dark yellow aura.

She didn't shout, nor did she try to increase the morale with her words, as her gigantic presence alone was enough for it.

Behind her stood the squad leaders and squad members — all of whom could use aura, and they were ready to drain all of it.

At the end stood the squad members who couldn't use aura but were ready to give their everything to stop the incoming horde.

Dora, Karhun and Tarun were standing within the last.

He took a few steps back as his eyes landed on the horror before him, and before he even knew, he had already begun to run.

His feet barely touched the solid ground as he seemingly skipped the steps while dashing towards the Redwood Den.

His heart pounded against his chest like a drum as the images of the kareth continued to flash in his mind; however, his face didn't just hold fear but also relief.

Relief for not having to take part in the hunt, for not having to see those abhorrent creatures and for having an excuse to run away.

He was terrified — anyone would be, but the relief of running instead of fighting gnawed at him deeper than the fear itself.

"I'm just doing what I was ordered to," he muttered as tears blurred the world, knowing the excuse was as nothing but a hollow excuse.

The reason behind the tears was both simple yet dreadful... There was no chance of their survival; he had seen it, after all.

At the far end of the Horde, it stood with six dark horns jutting out of its forehead like an ominous crown.

Even if all of the group leaders came together they wouldn't be able to defeat it.

Only someone with the strength of Varok could defeat it, and for him to come, he had to report the vice lord... but even if he tried his best, he wouldn't reach the den within the time.

"Can I even do this?" He questioned himself.

Despair clung to his heart and tears boiled down his face, but he continued to run with every part of himself.

He shook his head away from those gloomy thoughts and pushed himself to run even faster.

His muscles began to tear from the strain, but he didn't let the pain get the better of him.

"I have to!" He resolved.

Sharp stones and the pointy ends of branches cut and scraped his body as he ran without regard for himself.

Sweat and blood blended and painted his body crimson, yet he continued.

His vision blurred, but he bit his lips to force himself awake.

"I MUST!" He shouted.

He let go of everything and only focused on running towards the den.

Woosh!

Suddenly, white aura flames appeared around his body, and a thunderclap rang throughout the forest as he rocketed towards the Redwood Den.

His muscles stitched themselves, and his wounds healed as his body ran at the brink of consciousness.

A few moments later, he reached the Redwood Den, and without a delay, he blurred and appeared before the vice lord's hut.

He pushed open the door and shouted, "The kareths are here!"

The forest could not keep up with him, and the world turned black.

***

Rion shifted his eyes towards Yuura, and they widened as he watched the changes that were happening before his eyes.

The slight scars and bruises around his body began to vanish.

His black hair darkened with the sheen of midnight.

White lightning ran across his body before taking root in his heart.

Rion watched all of the changes with awed eyes and mumbled, "He awakened his bloodline?"

By putting his illusion body through the torment to continue running not for himself but for every single person who was at the campsite, he hadn't just awakened his aura but also his bloodline.

Yuura had awakened and become the descendant of the God of Speed.

Rion felt the eyes of Varok and Haria creeping towards him, but before they could even gaze at him, a sharp voice resolved in all of their heads.

<Keep your eyes at bay, the night is not so long.>

After hearing Haden's threat, the feeling of their creeping eyes disappeared, and he heaved a sigh of relief before shifting his head between the remaining two.

A smile appeared on his face as he could feel it.

Both of them were on the brink of awakening their aura.

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