Belle's breath remained steady, but her pulse pounded like war drums in her ears. The rush of battle still lingered, yet an unsettling presence gnawed at the edges of her awareness. Behind her, the monstrous corpse of the mutated beast lay motionless, its thick hide shattered by her raw strength. But victory felt hollow. The air was wrong.
A deep, guttural growl rolled through the fog-laden forest. Then another. And another. The sounds overlapped, growing into an eerie, rhythmic chorus that reverberated through the trees. The once-still forest now quivered with unseen movement. Shadows shifted beyond the mist, too fluid, too unnatural. The ground itself felt like it was breathing.
The scent of blood clung to the air, mingling with the damp musk of earth. But there was something else—something acrid, metallic, charged with energy. Ozone. The very air crackled faintly, like a storm waiting to break.
Belle's silver hair stuck to her damp skin as she turned, every muscle in her body coiled tight. Her senses flared beyond normal perception, catching the slightest disturbances—the brush of leaves, the almost imperceptible crunch of paws pressing into the soft earth. She wasn't just being watched. She was being stalked.
Then, from the depths of the fog, they emerged.
They slithered into view like nightmares spilling from the abyss—grotesque amalgamations of flesh and energy, their bodies shifting and warping as if the laws of nature rejected them. Some resembled wolves, but only in the cruelest mockery of the form. Their elongated limbs were sinewy and unnatural, their jagged claws clicking against the ground as they moved. Red eyes smoldered in the darkness, filled with insatiable hunger. Others were towering brutes of raw muscle and writhing veins, their teeth glistening like serrated blades.
A growl rumbled from deep within one of the beasts, low and menacing. It wasn't the reckless snarl of an animal. It was something far worse. A warning. A promise.
Belle swallowed, not out of fear, but in recognition of what was coming. This wasn't a simple hunt. They were testing her, waiting for a moment of weakness.
The mist thickened, curling around her legs like grasping fingers. More eyes glowed in the darkness. More bodies shifted beyond the veil of fog.
She was surrounded.
Belle exhaled slowly, flexing her fingers. Her body buzzed with anticipation, heat thrumming beneath her skin. The fight hadn't begun yet, but the storm was already here. And she was ready.
The first wave lunged.
Belle barely had a moment to process before her body reacted on instinct. A blur of motion—she twisted sideways, narrowly avoiding a set of jagged claws that slashed through the air where her head had been. Another beast came from behind. She felt the rush of movement before she saw it, her muscles tightening as she drove her fist backward. A sickening crunch. The creature was sent flying, crashing through tangled undergrowth before lying still.
But there was no relief.
The ground trembled beneath the weight of the encroaching horde. Snarls and guttural growls layered over each other, a cacophony of hunger and malice. Eyes—dozens of them—gleamed like embers in the fog, shifting as the creatures stalked forward. The air was thick with the scent of blood, damp earth, and something else—something foul, corrupted.
They weren't mindless. They were waiting, surrounding her, testing her movements.
Belle's breaths came steady, but her heart pounded like a war drum. She shifted her stance, muscles coiling, her mind racing through possible escape routes—only to find none. Then, as if some silent command had been given, they attacked.
Fangs and claws flashed. Belle ducked low, her enhanced reflexes guiding her between snapping jaws. A claw raked across her arm—not deep, but enough to sting. She gritted her teeth and lashed out. Her fist connected with a beast's ribs, and the force of the impact sent it careening into a tree, its body folding in on itself with a dull, wet snap.
More.
They came from all sides, leaping, snarling, a tidal wave of monstrous flesh. She spun, dodging, countering, striking with bone-crushing force. But for every beast she downed, three more took its place.
A shadow loomed to her right—too close, too fast. Belle raised her arms instinctively, bracing for the impact—then fire.
A burst of heat, wild and untamed, erupted from her palm. It surged forward, engulfing the lunging beast mid-air. Its agonized shriek split through the night as flames devoured its body, reducing it to charred remains before it even hit the ground.
Belle froze, staring at the embers swirling in the air.
That was me.
Another beast pounced. Her body reacted before her mind could catch up. Her leg lashed out, and this time, a crackling force surged through her foot. A streak of lightning arced across the battlefield, striking two creatures at once. They convulsed violently, bodies twitching before collapsing into smoking heaps.
Her chest heaved. Fire. Lightning.
The realization sent a thrill through her.
She wasn't just strong. There was something more. Something powerful. And in the face of the unrelenting horde, she would have to wield it to survive.
But they kept coming.
No matter how many she struck down, more emerged from the mist—silent, calculating, adapting. The beasts learned from their fallen kin, shifting their attack patterns, coordinating as if guided by an unseen force. They flanked her from all sides, using the dense fog and treacherous terrain to their advantage. The once-distant red eyes now surrounded her in a tightening circle, their movements eerily synchronized.
Belle twisted, her enhanced reflexes barely keeping up. A clawed limb slashed inches from her face, its razor edge cutting through strands of her silver hair. She retaliated instantly, her fist crashing into the beast's skull with enough force to send it flying. But before it even hit the ground, two more lunged from behind.
She spun, fire erupting from her palm in a roaring arc. The flames engulfed one creature mid-air, but the second broke through—its fangs aiming for her throat.
Too close.
Instinct took over. Electricity crackled at her feet, and with a single step, she vanished. A burst of wind and light followed her sudden displacement—an unconscious flicker of superhuman speed.
She reappeared a few meters away, chest heaving. Her silver eyes widened. That movement—she hadn't just dodged. She had moved faster than she should have.
But there was no time to process it. The battlefield was shifting.
The chaos she had unleashed was consuming the forest itself. Flames crackled through the underbrush, smoke curling into the already-thick mist. The air reeked of burning wood and scorched flesh. Her lightning, once precise, now lashed out unpredictably—distorting in the unnatural energy of the forest. Some bolts struck true, electrocuting multiple enemies at once. Others veered wildly, arcing into trees or vanishing into the mist like rogue spirits.
The beasts took advantage of the instability.
A blur of movement—a massive figure crashed toward her from the side. Belle barely managed to raise her arm in time before impact—THOOM! The sheer force sent her skidding backward, her boots digging trenches into the charred earth.
Her breath hitched.
Through the haze, a monstrous form loomed—a towering beast, nearly twice the size of the others. Its jagged hide pulsed with dark energy, veins glowing an eerie crimson. Its breath steamed in the cold air, mist swirling around it like a living entity.
And then—the growls around her deepened.
More shapes emerged from the fog. Dozens. Maybe more.
They hadn't just been hunting her.
They had been waiting.
Belle took a sharp breath, her lungs burning from the thick, smoky air. Her muscles coiled, tension crackling through her body like a storm ready to break. Another surge of power welled up inside her, hotter, wilder than before. She braced herself—then exploded forward.
The earth shattered beneath her feet as she launched into the fray, moving like a streak of silver and blue energy. She wasn't just dodging—she was untouchable. A claw swiped where she had been a second ago, only to meet empty air. She reappeared behind the beast before it even realized its attack had missed, her fist crashing into its spine like a thunderstrike. The impact sent it flying, its body colliding with another creature mid-lunge.
But there was no time to revel in victory. More of them poured in, their monstrous shapes writhing through the fog, drawn by the scent of blood and fire. Shadows slithered through the mist—glowing red eyes flashing in the darkness. The air trembled with their growls, the underbrush rustling with their movement. They weren't just attacking blindly now. They were adapting. Learning.
A guttural snarl tore through the cacophony—a beast larger than the rest, its muscular form radiating an unnatural aura, faster and smarter than its kin. It lunged from her blind spot. She twisted midair, instincts screaming, barely avoiding its claws as they slashed inches from her face. But before she could counter, another beast slammed into her from behind.
The world flipped. She hit the ground hard, her vision blurring for a fraction of a second. Pain flared through her spine, her body sinking into the cold, damp earth. A second longer and they'd be on her—ripping, tearing, devouring.
No.
A spark ignited in her chest.
She wasn't just fighting them. She was reading them. The rhythm of battle pulsed around her, a silent song woven into their movements. Patterns emerged—the shifting of weight before a leap, the split-second hesitation before a strike. They weren't unpredictable. They were instinctual. And she could see through them.
Her draconic aura flared, flooding her senses with raw clarity. In that moment, time stretched. She could feel them before they moved, sense the muscle tension coiling in their legs, anticipate their pounces before their claws left the ground.
Her counterattack was merciless.
She grabbed the beast pinning her down, fingers tightening like a vice around its limb. A sickening crunch followed as she crushed bone, then hurled the creature like a ragdoll into an oncoming pack. It bowled through them, scattering bodies like leaves in a storm. Before they could recover, she was already moving.
Fire erupted in a wild arc as she swiped her arm, a wave of searing heat engulfing the closest monsters. Their shrieks cut through the air, their forms reduced to ash within seconds. She pivoted sharply, electricity crackling around her fists, every punch a lightning-fast strike that sent charred bodies sprawling.
And still, they came.
The battlefield was chaos—a storm of claws, fangs, fire, and lightning. But in the midst of it, Belle wasn't just surviving. She was evolving.
She had been holding back. But not anymore.
But still, the beasts came.
They climbed over the bodies of their fallen kin, their glowing eyes filled with relentless hunger. The battlefield was a ruin of scorched earth and scattered corpses, yet it wasn't enough. It would never be enough.
Belle's chest heaved. Her breath came in sharp gasps, sweat mixing with blood and soot across her skin. Her muscles screamed in protest, her body trembling from exhaustion. The raw energy inside her burned, demanding release, but she had already pushed herself beyond her limits.
And still, they kept coming.
A guttural snarl to her right. A clawed beast lunged. Belle barely twisted away, but the razor-sharp talons grazed her arm, drawing a thin line of crimson. Another came from behind—too fast. She had no time to dodge.
Move.
Her instincts roared. Her aura surged.
She pivoted, her foot digging into the cracked earth as she spun, her fist meeting the beast mid-air. The impact was monstrous. Bones shattered. The creature was launched like a meteor, crashing through the flaming wreckage of the forest, leaving only smoldering ruins in its wake.
But more came. Always more.
She couldn't keep this up forever.
A deep, primal force stirred within her, rising from the very core of her being. It was stronger than anything she had felt before. A force beyond strength, beyond magic. It coiled in her chest, a raging inferno barely contained. It demanded to be set free.
Her eyes flickered, shifting into something draconic.
This has to end. Now.
Belle slammed her foot into the ground, anchoring herself. The earth trembled beneath her, spiderweb cracks spreading outward. The very air around her seemed to warp, pulsing with unstable energy. Her aura flared like a supernova—blue lightning arcing wildly, golden flames spiraling upwards, forming a vortex of destruction around her.
For the first time, the beasts hesitated.
They sensed it. The shift. The overwhelming presence that now radiated from her—vast, untamed, something beyond their comprehension. A predator greater than them all.
They feared her.
Belle raised her head, her eyes glowing ethereal blue. And then she roared.
The sound shattered the air, rippling like a shockwave across the battlefield. Trees splintered and collapsed, the very ground quaking beneath the sheer force of her voice. It was not human. It was something ancient, something monstrous.
The beasts howled in response, their bodies instinctively recoiling, but it was too late.
She unleashed it.
A single step. The ground beneath her collapsed.
A surge of pure, undiluted power exploded outward. The force was cataclysmic—a storm of flames and lightning erupted from her body, swirling into a massive, twisting maelstrom of destruction. Fire devoured everything in its path, roaring like a living entity, while arcs of blinding electricity carved through the sky, searing the battlefield with divine fury.
The air itself vibrated, distorting from the sheer magnitude of energy. The beasts had no chance. Their final, piercing screams echoed as they were consumed, their bodies disintegrating into nothingness before they could even attempt to flee.
And then—detonation.
A final, thunderous explosion tore through the land.
The sky was engulfed in a blinding flash. A deafening shockwave thundered across the forest, toppling trees, flattening hills. The sheer impact carved a deep, gaping crater into the battlefield, the earth ruptured beyond recognition.
Silence followed.
A haunting, unnatural silence.
The once-dense forest was now an ashen wasteland, steam rising from the scorched ground. The mist that had once cloaked the battlefield was gone, vaporized by the sheer force of her unleashed might. The remnants of Belle's attack still flickered in the air—embers of gold and crackling arcs of dying electricity floating like ghosts in the aftermath.
At the center of the devastation, Belle stood, her body trembling. Her breath was ragged, her limbs heavy, but she remained standing.
And around her—nothing.
No more beasts. No more movement. The battle was over.
But as she gazed upon the destruction, the smoldering crater that stretched before her, she couldn't ignore the cold realization creeping into her mind.
Just how much power was inside her?
Silence followed.
The battlefield—once teeming with snarling, bloodthirsty beasts—was now a graveyard of scorched earth and flickering embers. The dense forest that had loomed over her before the battle was unrecognizable, reshaped by the sheer force of her unleashed power.
Belle stood amidst the devastation, her entire body trembling. Her breaths came in ragged gasps, her vision blurred at the edges, but she refused to collapse. Not yet.
Her muscles ached. Her mind screamed for rest. The battle had pushed her far beyond her limits. But even as exhaustion threatened to consume her, she remained standing.
Because she had survived. She had won.
But as her silver eyes scanned the ruins left in her wake, a different realization settled within her. This wasn't just about survival.
This was something more.
The power that coursed through her veins, the way her body had moved on instinct, how she had turned the tide of battle with sheer force alone—it was undeniable. She wasn't just lost in this world. She wasn't just adapting.
She was evolving.
She could feel it now. A quiet, pulsing force lingering within her—waiting, growing. The draconic power she had tapped into was only the beginning.
Her fingers curled into fists. How much further could she go?
A cold breeze swept through the battlefield, carrying the acrid scent of smoke and charred flesh. Ash drifted in the air like dying embers. In the distance, the forest remained, untouched beyond the destruction she had wrought.
A flicker of unease brushed against her senses.
Something was out there. Watching.
Her instincts, honed through battle, screamed at her again. But when she turned her gaze toward the distant shadows, there was nothing. Just the whispering mist, shifting unnaturally between the broken trees.
A warning? A challenge?
She exhaled sharply. It didn't matter.
Whatever lay ahead—whoever or whatever had taken notice of her—she would face it head-on.
Her body screamed for rest, but her will remained unbroken.
As she took one last look at the battlefield—a testament to the power she had only just begun to grasp—her silver eyes gleamed with something new.
Determination. Hunger.
This was only the beginning.
End of Chapter 3