Sion the hero...

The monsters could only watch as Kale departed.

Their instincts made it clear—Kale wasn't just stronger. He carried a bloodline. A royal one.

They turned toward the others still within their circle, but none dared attack.

There was another anomaly.

Fainter. Suppressed.

But it was there.

A presence they recognized. A King. Not like Kale. This one was of beast lineage.

So they waited. Still. Expecting this King to walk away, just like the other had.

Sion watched them. Studying. Silent.

They're calm now. But if they smell even a drop of my blood...

His senses flared.

From beneath the soil came a vibration—barely perceptible, but getting stronger.

Then the earth shattered beneath him.

A white-scaled blur burst from the ground—fangs wide, eyes wild. Its breath hissed like steam, and its body rippled with muscle as thick as tree trunks.

The Burrowfang.

Sion spun just in time, barely avoiding the snap of jaws big enough to take off a leg.

No more waiting.

This one wasn't observing.

It was hungry.

Its not really after me... but the girls.

Sion exhaled and moved.

"Let's go."

They flinched when he reached out. One even tried reaching back, but Sion's movement was too fast.

He didn't wait. He scooped two into each arm, ignoring their gasps, and turned to run.

The forest blurred.

Leaves ripped past. Branches cracked. His feet barely touched the ground as he moved faster than any normal human should. Behind him, he heard the movement.

No way the monster was letting his meal just walk away.

It followed, crashing after Sion, trees exploding as the its head slammed into them, shattering trunks like twigs.

Sion didn't stop.

He ran. Breath steady. Focus locked.

As usual, his instincts led his path.

Ahead—a faint glow.

A point pillar.

A black obelisk, identical to the one before. Golden motes of light swirled around it, creating a soft dome of energy.

He didn't hesitate.

He leapt inside the radius and dropped to a knee, gently setting the girls down.

The creature skidded to a halt just outside the light.

It hissed, pacing, circling—but didn't enter.

Sion stood slowly, eyes narrowed.

"So that's how this works."

Behind him, the girls were breathing hard, stunned but alive.

And in front of him, just past the light, the snake-beast glared—patient.

Waiting.

Sion stared at the monster for a moment.

Then, he stepped outside the light's edge.

"I am racists... I am a superhero towards my kind alone. So..." 

He tilted his head, his canines in full display behind his provocative smile.

The Burrowfang's muscles coiled.

It had known since the moment it surfaced - this was no ordinary prey. The scent of old bloodlines clung to him like burial musk. A fellow hunter. A potential rival.

But hunger was hunger.

The girls' fear-smell was too sweet. Too tempting. And this fool was standing in the way of a meal.

It struck first—fast, fangs gleaming.

Sion twisted out of the way, claws swiping, but they barely scratched the creature's thick white scales.

Too shallow. Too tough.

The monster slammed its body forward. Sion grunted as he was forced back, claws skidding across the forest floor. It was strong—stronger than he expected.

He ducked under another lunge, flipping to the side.

He couldn't overpower it. Not yet.

But he could outmaneuver it.

The next charge came from the left. Sion moved before it finished, claws dragging a gouge across the beast's eye ridge. It snapped blindly, missing by inches.

He darted right, then leapt onto its back—drew another line of shallow cuts—then launched off before the tail could catch him.

Step by step, he read it.Movements. Patterns. Breathing.He turned the fight from a scramble... into a stalemate.

But then—

His ears twitched.

His nose flared.

Blood.

Not the Burrowfang's.

Others.

Sion blinked, eyes distant for a beat.His senses reached across the forest—screams, dying breaths, crushed bones under clawed feet.

Injured students.Too many.Some already beyond saving.

His jaw clenched.

"I can't just save four of hundreds…"

A growl escaped his throat—low, guttural, not human.

The air thickened. Heavy.Alive.

His claws lengthened. His canines sharpened. Muscles tightened like coiled steel.

Then—he vanished.

A blur.

In the next instant, he appeared above the Burrowfang's skull, hands raised high.

Boom.

A double axe-hammer punch drove the monster's head into the earth—hard. The impact sent shockwaves through the soil, a crater opening beneath them.

But Sion wasn't done.

Still in midair, he twisted, feet pointed up, fists at his waist.

Then—a burst of raw energy.

He launched downward.

CRACK.

His fist connected with the same spot—the skull split beneath the blow.

Dust flew.

Silence.

And then, through the settling cloud, Sion stood atop the ruined head of the beast—calm, controlled, blood dripping down his arm.

The forest still pulsed with pain. His senses picked it up even now—students crying, fleeing, dying.

His eyes narrowed.

"Four saved isn't enough."

He raised his right hand, and slashed across his own forearm.

Blood spilled.

Not much. But enough.

The forest paused.

Every monster—not just the one he was fighting—froze.

Then, as one, they turned.

All eyes locked on him.

Sion backed into the pillar light. The girls looked at him, wide-eyed.

"Can any of you fly?" he asked.

They didn't respond.

"Even for a second?"

One girl nodded slowly. "I… I can hover."

"Good."

He smiled at them. 

Before the girls could fully process his words, they were mid air.

He had launched them upwards. Thrown them.

After that, he looked around. 

He could feel it. They were all coming for him.

Soon, his vicinity was packed full with monsters.

They stood still, eyeing Sion behind the light protection.

Sion could tell though—they wouldn't stay still for long.

And he was right. Once the last of them arrived, they charged.

Sion stood still.

He looked around.

"Nuisances."

His voice came out hoarse, a growl just behind the word.

Then.

His head snapped upwards. 

A roar.

A primal, ear shattering roar.

A energy wave burst forth from him. 

The air rippled. The ground cracked. The wave hit the monsters like a wall of force—crushing, tearing, flattening.

Silence followed.

And in the center of it all—

A crater.

Sion lay unconscious, surrounded by scorched earth and broken bodies.

The girls landed moments later, hovering down on soft air.

One looked at the destruction, then at him.

"Hmm. Should we take his badge?"

The girl with the bruised ribs—her voice calmer now—shook her head.

"No. He did save us."

She sounded like the leader.

Another sneered. "Can't believe that silver haired bastard's energy nullified our magic."

The first girl replied without looking at her.

"Unfortunate encounter. That's all."

Then, more quietly—

"Otherwise… why would we ever need saving? Especially from a savage brute like him."