REINCARNATION OF THE STRONGEST WAR HERO

After a long while, the human-faced monster's eyes suddenly snapped open.

With a faint motion, dust swirled in the air as it sat up.

"Damn it! That puny hunter always keeps ruining my plan. I almost got trapped back there." Muttering under its breath, it turned its head to the left, only to see Logan lying a few meters away.

Fear jolted through its body.

"Fuck! I thought I was free at last, but no… he's here too, following me even into this place." The monster cursed.

Then its mind clicked. "He's still unconscious. This is the chance. It's now or never."

Without wasting another second, it lunged at Logan, its hand morphing into a massive, razor-sharp spike.

But in its desperation, it made a mistake. The sudden surge of bloodlust triggered Logan's senses.

The spike arced downward, aiming straight for Logan's head. The monster wasn't looking for mistakes. It wasn't looking for risks. With one strike, it wanted to finish Logan for good.

But just before the deadly tip could graze his skin, Logan's eyes snapped open. He rolled to the side in a flash, dodging by nothing more than a hair's breadth.

Then, with a kick in the air, he stood up, jumping.

"Shit." The creature cursed.

But before it could even react, a fist slammed into its head.

Bam!

Whoosh!

Tearing through the air, it flew backward.

And then....

Thud!

Its body slammed into the wall, shaking the whole dungeon and kicking up dust.

A crater was created. But Logan still wasn't done. He already blurred while throwing a kick.

And before the monster could even groan, Logan's leg thrust it deeper.

Logan still didn't stop there. "Take it, Nolan. You always wanted power, didn't you? Here it comes."

A huge fireball materialized, lightning crackling from inside. The same lightning-fire combo ball.

And then....

He thrust his palm into the crater in the wall. The devastating sphere rushed in and sank into the crater and then....

Boooooooooooom!

A thunderous bang rocked the entire dungeon. The walls trembled violently as debris crashed down from above, shrouding the surroundings in a storm of dust and shattered stone.

A massive hole had been torn into the wall, and at its inner end lay the human-faced monster, smoke curling off its battered body. Burn marks and deep wounds covered its flesh.

It was in such a pitiful state that it couldn't even move. Fear was written plainly in its eyes.

Some broken chunks of the wall still clung weakly to the hole's edges, but with a single wave of Logan's hand, an air blast shattered them to pieces. And then…

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Logan slowly advanced toward the monster.

"What happened, Nolan? Back when you played your filthy tricks, you weren't this weak and scared. Where's that strength you wanted so badly you had to kill me for it? Where's that power you even turned yourself into a monster for? Where is it?!" Logan's voice thundered, veins bulging on his neck and arms.

The injured monster, shaken and afraid, tried to crawl backward in confusion, but its back was pinned against the broken wall.

"What the hell is this brat babbling about? Nolan? Who the hell is that?" It had no clue what Logan was talking about.

The dungeon was silent except for the faint breeze and the crackle of broken stone. Logan's footsteps echoed as he closed in.

The monster could only stare, its body pinned against the shattered wall. Logan's shadow fell across it, cold and unyielding.

A thirteen-year-old boy, his lower body wrapped only in a cloak, a mask concealing his face. At first glance, he looked ordinary, perhaps a little muscular, a bit toned, but nothing remarkable. And yet, the aura radiating from him… the bloodlust pouring out… it was suffocating.

Slowly, he raised his hand.

Mana surged. The air bent and twisted, rippling outward like disturbed water. A sphere began to swirl above his palm. At first, it was no more than a spark of flame and a flicker of lightning, but soon the currents of air joined in, binding them together.

The pressure thickened.

It wasn't enormous, not like the lightning-fire combo sphere from before. But this one felt worse.....

Far worse.

It was suffocating, like the air itself wanted to crush the monster's lungs.

The dungeon trembled under its weight. Even the scattered rubble quivered as if afraid.

Hummmmm!

The sphere pulsed with a deadly rhythm. Fire churned inside, lightning crackled across its surface, and streams of air cut through it like blades, keeping the chaos contained. The glow lit up Logan's face, sharp and merciless.

In a burst of rage, Logan layered three spells at once. This was his first and also the strongest.

Had Ali been present at that moment, even his eyes might have bulged out of their sockets in shock.

The monster's eyes went wide. Its breath hitched, chest rising and falling in frantic bursts. Even before Logan moved, it understood... this was the end. That sphere would erase it.

"No… no…" it croaked, voice breaking.

And then.. its eyes flickered.

For a moment, the abyss-black faded. Human eyes stared back, brown and trembling, like a candle fluttering in storm wind.

Flicker. Flicker.

But the darkness surged again, swallowing them whole. Monstrous, void-like orbs glared at Logan.

The sphere in his hand grew brighter, heavier, tighter. A storm of annihilation compressed into the space of a head.

The monster shook violently. "Stop…" Its lips quivered, smoke curling from its wounded body. Again its eyes flickered, and this time they stayed. Both turned fully human... clear, terrified, and filled not just with fear, but with something else.

Recognition.

"Mas… ter…" the word slipped out, weak, broken.

Logan's brows twitched. His sphere remained steady, but his body went rigid.

The creature gasped, struggling to speak, its voice cracking under the weight of disbelief.

"Master… is that really you?"

The glow from the sphere reflected in its trembling eyes.

Its lips quivered again, each word cutting into the silence of the ruined dungeon.

"Are you… The Aiden Ferith? Aiden Ferith of Asenvale?"