SSS Awakening: Rebirth of the Strongest Vampire God Chapter 690 The Forest of Doom

After wrapping himself in simple attire, Damon swiftly departed from the grotto without delay. He aimed to allow the others some breathing room to unwind and adapt to their states. Beyond that, an urge for combat burned within him. The kind that demanded battle.

Despite the comforting and stabilizing instants shared with the trio, a persistent anxiety never completely vanished from his core. The world shifted at an alarming pace. Disparities in strength expanded in a single night, regulations altered abruptly without notice, and occurrences such as the Golden Throne served no purpose for mere amusement.

These trials acted as filters designed to divide the mighty from the deceased and the obscure. Damon sensed it deep in his very being. Ease represented an indulgence, and indulging in it excessively posed a grave risk.

Nothing but rigorous, intense, and concentrated practice could soothe that turbulent sensation in his heart. He strode away from the campsite, one foot after another, until the echoes of chatter and chuckles faded into the distance. The wild expanse greeted him with quietude.

Here lay his true domain. His mind sharpened instantly. Free from interruptions. Free from pressures. Solely dedication and results. Damon shrugged his shoulders briefly, breathed out deeply, and permitted a subtle release of his aura to probe the area. In the vicinity, a formidable presence awakened. Excellent. If destiny demanded unpredictability, he would confront it solely through his proven method: honing his skills until the unknown turned into certainty.

Damon's form vanished soundlessly as he shadow stepped to the rear of a massive salamander. The creature possessed three heads, with gazes that pierced keenly and intently. It ranked at the pinnacle of C rank. Yet, its eyes displayed far greater cunning than expected.

This stemmed from the fact that the monster wasn't an ordinary one. It had formed a partial bond with another spirit. And not merely any spirit. This one linked to a remnant from the Great War. Ancient texts described how, eons ago, upon the birth of this very realm, a colossal conflict erupted among all races.

In that age, forces of the light faction and dark faction ravaged the world, inflicting wounds that lingered eternally. Shattered lands. Fractured principles. And spirits that denied oblivion, latching onto creatures, artifacts, and abandoned sites instead.

This went beyond mere takeover. Chronicles noted that the animals in this zone fully integrated with these wandering, wrathful essences, ultimately transforming into twisted horrors and surging in strength without pattern.

They embodied terrors made manifest, existing in a limbo between life and death. They recalled conflict. They harbored grudge. And differing from typical beasts, they adapted, while harnessing their robust innate forms to deliver devastating force.

Free from corruption or decay, their psyches remained largely whole, even amid the frenzy and fury that consumed them. Numerous tamers of beasts attempted to mimic this monstrous evolution to bolster their own forces, yet none achieved success to date.

Ancient accounts spoke of a unique array existing within the wilds that enabled all this. Others dismissed the idea as fiction. They argued that the vast quantities of blood soaked into the earth, combined with the tainted essence from the battlegrounds, spontaneously spawned these monstrosities. Such phenomena occurred exclusively in this wild territory, impossible to duplicate elsewhere. The realm need not fear its expansion.

Although the enigma of the wilds eluded full comprehension until now, the aspect of non-expansion appeared factual, prompting the dark faction to quarantine the zone, dubbing it the Forest of Doom, and abandoning it. The creatures showed no inclination to venture beyond their bounds, easing concerns further.

Damon paid little heed to such backstory. He sought formidable foes, and this region brimmed with them. That sufficed for his needs. He scrutinized the monster ahead with precision. Whispers of such beings had reached him before, but this marked his initial direct encounter with an abomination. He pondered the true might of a C-rank pinnacle abomination.

He advanced with a single stride.

The salamander reacted without hesitation.

The earth exploded as its front limbs pounded downward, sending cracks of searing heat snaking outward in irregular paths. One head unleashed a tight burst of flames so thick it twisted the atmosphere, as the second emitted a deep rumble that shook through flesh and energy, a pulse intended to shatter focus and spellwork.

Damon flickered out of sight, materializing beyond the blaze's reach. The third head whipped in his direction, its stare contracting with eerie precision. The monster held its ground. It lunged forward.

Its frame blurred into a rush of heated fury, velocity exceeding the limits of a C-rank body. Damon rooted his stance and collided directly, crimson power flooding his arms as he drove a fortified fist into the creature's torso.

The salamander slid back, gouging a furrow across rock and dirt, yet it stood firm. It braced itself, hide flaring more intensely as it recalibrated its form, position, rhythm. The soil under Damon turned to sludge as the beast whipped its tail, igniting a postponed burst aimed at ensnaring and burning. Damon vaulted skyward in response, spinning through the air while darkness coiled about his lower limbs.

He plummeted like a weapon. His foot heel struck one head with crushing force, amplified by shadow and blood. Armor plating cracked, and the skull buried into the ground amid a thunderous impact.

Had he unleashed his toxic aura, the battle might have concluded swiftly, but he held back for now. He sought to hone his alternative abilities, avoiding overdependence on venom every time.

The monster howled in agony. The surviving pair of heads synced flawlessly, one snapping high to clamp while the other hurled a twisting torrent of intense fire. Though basic fire, the force within proved astonishingly fierce.

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