The inside the tree hideout was damp and the scent of unwashed bodies filled the space.
Dim torches flickered along the curved walls, casting eerie shadows as Damien and Lizella moved deeper into the structure.
The corridors were narrow, made from hollowed-out wood, branching in multiple directions like veins in a living organism.
Aquila remained outside, standing watch. If anyone returned, the griffin would make sure they never entered or better still, alerted anyone else.
Lizella walked slightly behind Damien, her eyes darting nervously around the unfamiliar space.
Unlike Damien, who moved with complete ease, she was tense, her hands clenching and unclenching as she stepped over wooden planks.
Damien, however, wasn’t tense. He was… excited.
His steps were calm, deliberate. He wasn’t just scouting—he was hunting.
The first guard appeared at the end of the hallway, his back turned. He never saw Damien coming.
The moment the guard turned around, Damien was already on him.
A single blow to the ribs shattered them instantly, the crack echoing through the silent corridor.
“Arrghh!” The man screamed, staggering back, but Damien grabbed him before he could fall, twisting his arm at an unnatural angle until bone tore through skin.
“My arm!!” The guard howled in agony.
“You’ll alert the others,” Damien murmured, before slamming his fist into the man’s throat, crushing his windpipe.
Thud!
The guard dropped, his breath coming in wet, choking gasps.
Damien stepped over him and kept walking.
Lizella swallowed hard, staring at the twitching body before hurrying after him.
They advanced further, encountering another pair of guards stationed near a small storage area.
Damien didn’t use his sword. He wanted them to feel it. To feel a portion of the pain and fear their captives and victims felt.
The first man lunged at him with a dagger.
Damien sidestepped effortlessly, grabbing the man’s wrist and twisting it until the bone snapped like dry wood. The dagger clattered to the floor as the guard shrieked.
Before he could react further, Damien grabbed his collar and slammed him headfirst into the wooden wall. Blood splattered, but he wasn’t done.
He wrenched the man’s arm backward, pulling hard.
The bone tore through the skin, leaving a jagged white spike protruding from the guard’s flesh.
The second guard hesitated, terror flashing across his face.
Too slow.
Damien was already moving.
He ducked under a wild swing and delivered a crushing blow to the man’s knee, shattering the joint completely.
“Ahhhh!!” The guard collapsed, screaming.
Damien grabbed his head.
A single, sharp twist.
Snap.
The screams stopped.
Lizella flinched but kept moving. She was slowly getting used to this now.
More guards fell as they advanced, each one taken down with agonizing precision. Damien could have ended them quickly. Instead, he made sure every injury was deliberate—painful beyond recovery.
By the time they reached the end of the corridor, the wooden floor was smeared with blood, bodies lying in unnatural, broken positions.
Lizella could hardly believe it.
Damien hadn’t just killed them.
He had ruined them.
The final room was larger than the others, lit by weak lanterns. The air was thick with the scent of sweat, filth, and hopelessness.
Rows of people sat on the floor, their wrists bound with iron cuffs. Some were children. Others were bruised and malnourished.
Three guards stood over them, one holding a whip.
“Get up, scum,” one barked at a young boy who had collapsed in exhaustion. He raised the whip again—
And then Damien’s fist connected with his spine.
The man’s body jerked violently, his scream cut off as his vertebrae snapped in multiple places.
The other two turned, their weapons half-drawn, but Damien was already there.
A brutal kick sent one flying into the wooden wall, splintering it on impact. The second tried to run—
Damien grabbed him by the collar and threw him.
The guard’s body slammed into the floor, and before he could crawl away, Damien stomped on his ankle, snapping the bone.
“Aaiiyaaaaah!!” The man shrieked.
Damien knelt beside him, grabbing his arm and twisting—slowly. The guard’s face twisted in agony, eyes bulging as his shoulder popped out of its socket.
Then, a final blow crushed his skull against the wooden floor.
Lizella hurried past him, rushing toward the captives.
“It’s okay,” she whispered, helping untie a young girl’s restraints. “We’re getting you out of here.”
Damien moved from one captive to another, breaking their chains with ease.
Then—
A sound.
A deep, rattling hiss.
The captives stiffened.
Lizella’s hands trembled as she turned toward the source of the noise.
Aquila wasn’t inside and it definitely couldn’t make such a sound.
So what was that?
Damien turned, his eyes narrowing.
From the shadows, something massive moved.
A long, scaled body slithered into the dim light, its black and green patterned skin glistening as it emerged.
A cobra.
But not just any cobra.
It was enormous—at least fifteen meters in length, its thick body coiling as it flicked its forked tongue. Its red eyes locked onto Damien, unblinking.
Lizella barely managed a whisper. “D-Damien…”
The serpent ignored the captives. It wasn’t interested in them.
It was interested in him.
Drawn to the sheer amount of pure essence radiating from his core, the beast lunged.
Damien dodged, rolling backward.
A fight here would be a disaster.
The captives. Lizella. The tight space.
He could fight it.
But why bother?
A smirk tugged at his lips.
“Stay put,” he said over his shoulder to Lizella. “I’ll be back.”
Then, without hesitation, he bolted.
The snake hissed again and slithered after him, its massive body crashing through wooden walls as it pursued him with terrifying speed.
Lizella’s heart pounded.
Damien wasn’t running out of fear.
He was leading it outside.
She rushed toward the entrance, pulling the captives along with her as the hideout shook from the force of the beast smashing through it.
The damp air hit Damien’s face as he burst out of the tree’s base, his boots skidding across the dirt.
Behind him, the massive serpent followed, its body tearing apart the wooden structure as it emerged, its tail smashing against the tree in frustration.
Damien didn’t slow.
He needed the snake to come all the way out.
Then—
A shadow passed overhead.
Aquila.
“Kreeeei!!” The Griffin let out a piercing cry as it swooped down, its talons extending.
Damien leapt aside just as Aquila’s claws raked across the snake’s scales, sending sparks flying as they clashed.
The snake let out a furious hiss, its attention shifting from Damien to the griffin above.
Damien chuckled, brushing dust off his sleeve.
“Well,” he muttered, watching as Aquila circled above, its sharp eyes locked onto its new opponent. Your next read awaits at My Virtual Library Empire
“Have fun.” Damien smirked. He’d brought an opponent for Aquila.