A creature walked like a babe, with its limbs quivering; its back was hunched and its wings were folded. With its massive ears were flat against its skull, it narrowed its pupil-less eyes to concentrate. Meanwhile, the trembling in its limbs intensified periodically, causing it to fall and repeatedly taste dirt.

This creature was none other than the Immortal that had evolved to become a Malfae. This creature that had once crawled to move now walked with great difficulty once again. Its two hands clutched sticks that the [Hive Monarch] used as clutches to pull its body forward. However, this development was not a step backwards. Rather, it was an improvement as it allowed the [Reincarnated] a form of movement other than just crawling.

However, this development was not a fruit of its own hard work but a result of the increased Level of [Domination Resistance].

The Malfae panted as sweat dripped down its forehead, nose and chin to fall in small drops.

The [Survivor] had woken up at the beginning of spring to lush greenery and bright flowers. But, as the months had passed and summer had arrived, the temperature had soared once again. Though, the heat had yet to really settle in and turn into the festering sore that dried out the grasses, wilted the trees and killed the creatures. Thus, it silently endured the heat and trudged along the river bank.

Splash!

Its grip on the crutches to loosen at the sudden noise and it lost its balance. Its pupil-less eyes widened and its jaws fell open. Gravity made itself known and the [Hive Monarch] had a rather intimate encounter with the mud, dirt and filth littering the river bank.

With its eyes twitching, the Malfae weakly pushed itself up. Its head swirled towards the river and it glowered. ‘Stupid fish!’ As if sensing the attention from the Malfae’s gaze, the fish jumped out of the water again, rolled in the air and fell back into the water with a splash.

But of course, that was not the case. For if the fish had noticed the Malfae’s existence, the fish would have ended the evolved bug with a flip of its tail, much like how a god would smite down pitiful mortals. Additionally, the creature within the river was not just a mere fish. To call this creature a fish, was akin to calling a mammoth, a mere mammal. While the description was accurate, it failed to truly capture the essence of the creature.

The aquatic creature was of a length that was more than a height of the dozens of mortals combined. Its eyes were the size of a mortal’s head and its snout the size of an entire mortal. While both of its fins were the length of at least two mortals and its tail was the size of at least six.

Each of its fist-sized scales reflected and distorted the white light of the moon into seven different coloured ones. The distorted light itself was weird as it seemed to linger and left behind rainbows in the wake of the creature’s passing. The aquatic creature was a humongous monstrosity and was, definitely, not just a fish.

However, after all the various immortals that the Malfae had witnessed and experienced, the creature in the water did not impress it any. The fish swirled in the air once again and scattered the water droplets in all directions. So much was the amount of water sprayed off that when it came down and fell back into the river, the water surface came alive as if it were raining.

At one point of time, the [Hive Monarch] would not have even dared to look at such a creature directly, yet now it dared not just look but also glower. This too was the result of [Domination Resistance]. Although how long would that glower last if the aquatic creature truly noticed it, was yet a mystery. After all, the monstrosities obliviousness to its pitiful existence was the reason for the [Reincarnated]'s survival.

This, obviously, was not an achievement on the creature’s part but rather, the result of the pride a mammoth being that refused to bother with the ants crawling beneath its feet.

0.0

As the Malfae continued to walk with its crutches, the temperature continued to soar. The greenery began to lose its colour and the wind became unbearable as it brought it nothing but even more heat. The [Reincarnated] still walked though as it sweated and panted. With each passing wind, it could almost feel the moisture leave its body while each passing hour left its mouth drier than the last.

The [Survivor] had even begun losing health some time back and it was only the regular breaks to drink that allowed the Malfae to continue as it did. The heat would have gotten to it otherwise. Still, it had been left disappointed. It had hoped to gain something akin to [Cold Resistance] for the heat like it had gotten during its hibernation in winter, but that hadn't come to be. No matter how much the heat increased and the creature suffered, it didn't gain the Skill.

It was not surprising of course. The Malfae was a creature of venom and malice, after all. Gaining a resistance to cold from the simple act of hibernation was as natural for it as breathing. On the hand, due to its nature, the gain of resistance to heat was not something that could be easily achieved. Unfortunately, it didn't know any of that. As a result, it continued its greedy trek, waiting and wishing for the resistance that it would not be granted.

Though, these past three months had not been as fruitless as its pursuit of heat resistance had been. Its Skill, [Fade] had reached Level 8 while [Drone Eggs] and [Domination Resistance] both had reached Level 11. At the same time, [Mana Shield] had jumped up Level 9, [Night Vision] had become Level 13 and [Sense Essence] had reached Level 6.

However, at that moment, its musing stopped short as its antenna twitched and a familiar scent assaulted them. The creature immediately ceased all its movement to remain calm. Meanwhile, it gradually acclimated itself to the scent. ‘Fuck you turd!’ The Malfae grinned as the scent failed to make its heart race as it had once done. The [Survivor], however, hesitated not for a second more before it started to walk in the direction of the scent. When it finally arrived at the source, what greeted it was a stinking and fermenting pile of hot excreta.

As the wind shifted and the scent stomped on the creature face like a mammoth crushing a bug, the [Hive Monarch] flinched. It had not flinched from the domination of the stench but from the odour itself. The stench caused the Malfae’s antenna to twitch in pain, its eyes to water and its nose to burn. Bile rose in the back of its throat but the creature swallowed it back. It preferred to swallow its own vomit rather than open its mouth to taste the scent of the festering shit.

Yet, it sat down next to the refuse all the same and waited for its body to get acclimated with the scent. These piles of excreta had once granted it the Skill [Fade] and the [Survivor] did not want to lose another such opportunity. It was quite a greedy existence, after all.

Thus, the creature waited to cover itself in animal waste once again.

0.0

Up above the rest of the world, the white moon shined as it always it. Its bright light enlightened the world and under the shine of this moonlight, the Malfae walked with its crutches pulling it one step at a time.

However, darkness suddenly descended. It enveloped not just the [Survivor] but the entire world. The tall grass blades, the vast stretch of the grassland, the might of the muddy river and the very air itself were enveloped by the darkness.

The [Hive Monarch] jerked away from its clutches and fell on its face. Its pupil-less eyes were wide in disbelief and its ears were flat against its Skull. Its chest ached as its tiny heart raced and the sound of its own blood pumping drowned its senses.

The Malfae ceaselessly shivered and its hands trembled as it sensed things that its mind was unequipped to comprehend. Gradually, even the air began to thin and its lungs fought to breathe.

The [Hive Monarch]'s wide eyes searched the surrounding but everywhere its gaze travelled, it only found darkness and a bizarre silence enveloping the land. Much like the mist on a dreary night, it clung onto the skin and the world itself. Even the roar of the vast river had died to render the water tame.

This darkness was beyond strange for it seemed to have swallowed the very moonlight itself, leaving behind the all-devouring night. Yet, even stranger was the silence that had accompanied the darkness. For this silence seemed akin to peace, a concept that the immortals had trouble comprehending.

If a mortal were to experience it, they would recognise it as peace enforced through overwhelming might. However, the Malfae was an immortal and even though it knew of the concept due to her memories, the [Reincarnated] understood not its meaning.

After all, even if it was unaware of the nature of an Immortal, the [Hive Monarch] embodied it all the same. The immortals were creatures that abhorred the very concept of civilisation, how could they even begin to envisage peace? Peace was a concept that arose out of mortals’ need for stability as they banded together. It was not something that an immortal like the Malfae could understand.

The Malfae was the creature of nature and nature always rested in a flux of violence. Something died here while something was born elsewhere. Death and struggle were the concepts that the Wild had been framed from. How could anything that was a part of Wild, understand peace? Thus, even though the [Hive Monarch] was experiencing peace for the first time, it felt anything but.

Its feelings were on point. After all, if anything that was part of the Wild could not experience peace, then how could peace exist in the Wild? How could it envelop the land like the mist on a cold night? Just how could peace exist within the Wild?

With its heart racing and hands trembling, the Malfae activated [Sense Essence] and, in answer, the lightless world faded away and the Essences materialised. Though what it saw, took its breath away. The [Survivor] lost control of its bowels in an all-encompassing terror.

For the first time in its rather short existence, it saw the true form of the Essences with its own eyes and not hers. It saw not only their shape but also their colour, texture and fine details, but also saw everything that an Essence was made of. The Malfae saw them with such clarity that it felt like it was watching them with its own two eyes.

Against the backdrop of the physical world that was encompassed in the darkness and silence, the world of Essences was ironically alit.

The Essences pervaded everything and were everywhere. And in this area, where even the air manifested Essence, the [Hive Monarch] could merely stare while it racing heart suffered in agony. ‘I… should not be… able to see Essences.’ Yet it saw and it saw them as clearly as if they were not ethereal but flesh and blood. Not only that, but it also saw the Essences as they began to fade. It began slow but, only in a few moments, the death descended to begin its naked dance.

White motes left the Essences of the world and rose in the air. They rose from the grass, the trees, the land, the water and even the air. They rose from each and everything that existed within the creature’s Skill limit. And as the motes rose, the world began to die as a consequence. The grass began to wither as the blades began falling off. The bark of the splattered trees dried and turned into husks. The earth trembled as colossal creatures fell in the distance and the water flowed with unnatural smoothness as the ripples died along with the life within.

More and more motes emerged from the world and continued to rise with each passing moment. It was as if they had a destination and a journey that they must make. The dark of the physical night and the [Sense Essence] vision that was alit with the glow of the rising Essence motes created a horrifying contrast.

The [Reincarnated] would have been left dumbfounded at the beauty of the sight at any other moment. However, at this moment, all it felt was an unsurpassed terror as Essence motes began to emerge even from its own Vessel. The racing heart of the creature stopped and its chest twisted in anguish as it stared at the mote that had left its body with its wide pupil-less eyes.

As the first mote left its body, more followed its path and materialised one after the other. The wide eyes of the Malfae turned inward and its gaze fell on its own Essence. However, the forehead of the creature wrinkled and its brows furrowed. ‘I… can’t see my Essence?’ The thought hadn’t even finished crossing the creature’s mind when the motes of lights, that had left its body, rose into the sky for a destination that only they knew of. However, after those few motes of Essence vanished in the distance, no new motes arose emerged from the creature.

The confused eyes of the Malfae stared at its hand. It flipped them and moved its fingers. Its wide eyes tried and failed to comprehend the reason for its continued survival when death rampaged senselessly. It touched its chest in bewilderment and felt the racing heart within. Meanwhile, it gaped at the dying world around it.

The grass had yellowed to wilt while the trees had dried to thin husks. The ground was cracked and the river was deathly still. Yet the creature remained alive and its Essence remained enveloped in haze. Not only its own Essence but the Essences of the air too remained unresponsive and they continued to flow down their original paths, unhindered by the death they passed through.

The Malfae watched with open mouth, wide eyes and flat ears as the softly glowing motes continued to rise in the air and left behind nothing but death in the wake of their passing. At that moment, it moved and something flaked off of its body and fell.

The Malfae jumped and the agony in its chest spiked at the sudden movement. It panted as it eyed the flaked off the part with its hands clutching at its weak heart.

The flakes were the remnant of the dung that it had rubbed all over its body a week ago. And the more it moved, the more the excreta flaked off of its body until there was none left, leaving the Malfae’s skin soft as a day it had been born. ‘…Did my skin just get a dung treatment?’

As it pondered on its useless thoughts, the glowing motes of Essences flew off into the distance before vanishing into the darkness. As if in answer to their disappearance, the dead world around the creature began crumbling as the passing winds dissolved the dead leaves and the withered grass into dust.

At that moment, the world was suddenly lit up by the light of the green moon. The creature’s environment lightened up in the way akin to a forest fire enlightening the inky night. The green light descended as it embraced the earth and the dead alike, as if providing comfort to a crying child, it accepted all in its embrace.

However, this had not been the colour of the moon before the death had danced its naked dance. Before the darkness had descended, the moon had been white. But now, the white moon and its bright light had vanished along with all the life around the creature. The creature shuddered and without wasting a second more, it began to dig right where it was standing.

It was only after the creature had escaped the moonlight and into the newly dug hole, that its heart calmed and the pain in its chest subsided.

Ting.

[Your heart has been greatly weakened. Lifespan has been reduced by 6 months. Current Lifespan: 2 Years 2 Months 22 Days.]

The Malfae stared at the notifications with lifeless eyes. Its lifespan had decreased once again. And, as of this moment, it felt that it had lost more out of its seven years of lifespan than it had lived.

Ting.

.

.

.

[Skill [Sense Essence Lv.14] has increased to [Sense Essence Lv.15]. The depth of sensing has been marginally increased.]

Ting.

[The Skill [Sense Essence] has reached the Level limit of your current Vessel. Evolve further to increase the Level limit for your Skills. Current Skill Level limit: Level 15.]

The Malfae shuddered. It didn't know whether it should laugh or cry. On one hand, its Skill had Levelled up tremendously and had jumped numerous Levels. On the other hand, it had traded away 6 months of its limited lifespan for it when evolution was nowhere in sight.

The [HIve Monarch] shivered as it thought back to just what it had survived. That sight that could only be described as horrifyingly enchanting was something that had etched itself deep into its mind forever, for reasons more than one.

Not only had the act been fatal for all the things around it but it had also wrung them to such a degree that nothing but dust remained. It had not just killed but had also squeezed every last bit of life from the dead. The ruthlessness of it would forever remain within the deep corner of its heart.

Even beyond that, the lethal beauty of it had not concealed the fact that it had sneaked upon, not only on the Malfae but also on every other creature with absolutely no warning. It had come, killed all life, and had left with nary a sound.

If the Malfae hadn’t possessed [Sense Essence], then it wouldn’t even have known the reason for the widespread annihilation. It would have merely watched the world die around it for no apparent reason. And that was the biggest thing that took root within its heart. It was the fact that it didn’t even know what had caused the such a beautiful death to descend in the first place.

The Malfae had seen the Essences leave their Vessels but it didn’t know why they had left. It didn’t know why any of it had occurred. But beyond that, the [Reincarnated] didn’t know if it was something that would repeat itself. Its shivering intensified at the thought and it glanced at its trembling hands. ‘Why…why did it not affect me?’ The Malfae had been the only living thing that had not been affected by the drain of Essence. Every other living thing had died. The only other Essence to have survived had been the Essence of air and the water in the muddy river.

‘Was it because of their Essences flowed?’ It breathed deeply to settle itself. It did little to help. ‘…but my Essence doesn’t flow. Was it because of the dung on my skin?’ It clenched its fist. ‘…but the dung itself had dried and flaked off. How could it have protected me?’

The Malfae spent the rest of the night holed up and pondering over its survival. However, events such as this were not something that could be puzzled out by a creature that had not even lived its first decade. They couldn’t be puzzled out by beings that had little to no knowledge of what kind of creatures actually existed out there.

-X-

Within a desolate desert, inside a dilapidated shop, on a simple chair, a youth seemingly slept.