Blood ran down the Panther Empress' mouth as she desperately dashed at speeds that allowed her to cross hundreds of meters in mere instants.

She had known this day would come. Honestly, she was surprised it had taken the Red Devil this long for it to come to find her.

Every existence in the forest knew of the Red Devil. Nobody knew exactly what it looked like, but everyone knew the response should they see it: run for your life.

The devil was a monster that first made its appearance by constantly reaping the lives of many powerful kings, and after some time it then moved to slaughter the few Emperors that existed. Finally, in an Earth-shaking battle, the Red Devil annihilated a coalition of kings and emperor class monsters who, despite their huge pride, had gathered together to put an end to the rogue monster.

Even though most monsters weren't particularly intelligent, there were no dumb monsters amongst Kings and Emperors. They had all built their reputation and strength on bloodshed and cunning, so they were not easy opponents.

However, the Red Devil was simply too much. A whirlwind of blood, claws, and destruction was the best way to describe it. Although the Panther Emperor hadn't fought with it, it had been present during the great battle, even if only on the sidelines, as many of the more cautious and/or cowardly monsters had.

With strikes powerful enough to severely injure even the toughest of emperors and a speed that was simply impossible to match, as well as a ruthlessness and viciousness in the battle that left even the most cunning of them to shame, it was a truly bloody fight.

After the battle, the Red Devil had begun hunting every King and Emperor that still remained, as well as brutally murdering the families of those strong existences. Truthfully, the Panther didn't know much because, ever since the great battle of the coalition, she had been busy running for her life, as had many other emperors and kings like her.

They all scattered through the Great Forest, but no matter where they hid, she knew that the Red Devil would find them. It was easy to know, as the battles that raged between it and other monsters made so much noise that it could be heard everywhere on the island.

Originally, battles between kings were rare, and battles between emperors were borderline forbidden because of the trouble they brought and the great damage they caused. Of course, they were all monsters, so there were no 'rules', but silent agreements were still reached between parties.

Finally, despite her desperate attempts at fleeing, the Panther Empress saw the thing that she dreaded so much. A dark blur that rushed towards her from her side, and despite her attempt at turning and facing it, the blur arrived directly at her side.an

The next instant, the Panther Empress felt searing pain. A huge laceration ran right across her belly, from her leg all the way to her neck. It was so deep even her organs were showing, despite all the layers of muscle in between.

She roared as she tried to swipe at where the Red Devil was, but missed completely as it ducked and vanished. The next instant, the Panther Empress felt something hitting her neck, and then darkness encroached. She had just enough life in her to see her lifeless body fall beside her, it's head missing.

As yet another emperor fell beside her, the catkin finally stopped. She lightly touched its soft, yet sturdy and resilient fur, a tad bit of jealousy making itself known as she compared it to her own fur, that was just as, if not softer, but lacked any and all defensive abilities.

A long time had passed since she killed her first King. Truthfully, it almost seemed like a dream. After all, those monsters that she never imagined she'd be able to surpass, the dreadful rulers of the Forest, were now unable to challenge her.

In truth, this was all because of the massive Anima that each one of them gave her. Killing a King was akin to slaughtering ten thousand, some even a hundred thousand, weaker monsters, and an emperor was akin to a million. After all, the stronger she became, the less of an effect the weaker beings had on her status.

As she stood now, however, she was unparalleled. Her speed could let her travel from one side of the island to the other in a few minutes if she uses her top speeds, even though the island is well over 80,860km squared.

After dropping the points she earned from killing this emperor into her dexterity, as usual, she sped off towards her next target, utilizing her incredible senses that had been strengthened greatly thanks to her increase in status, as well as her ability to quickly search huge swats of land with her speed.

Welcome to your Status Card Name - N/A Age - 17 year Strength - 4324 Constitution - 10 Vitality - 3323 Intelligence - 10 Dexterity - 9582 Wisdom - 10

As the months passed and the number of remaining emperors and kings decreased, the catkin only became more and more powerful. It caused a snowball effect, quickly causing the entire Forest's population to plummet.

Because she couldn't find the powerful emperors that she needed, the catkin instead turned onto the weaker, but more numerous monsters that roamed the inner part, near the king-occupied innermost layer.

When she finished killing all those monsters, the catkin, having never heard of the concept of preservation before, began slaughtering weaker and weaker monsters, even if they barely provided her anything, hoping that the sheer numbers could make up for it.

At last, as the catkin plunged her claw directly into the heart of a titanic bear, the last remaining Emperor-class monster, and one of the few that had evaded her for so long, a notification popped up that she wasn't expecting.

Alert! Alert! Alert! Notification~chan to the rescue! Congratulations! You have killed every monster on the Great Forest Island. Because of your mindless slaughter, the Gods of Blood, Hunting, and War have taken notice of you! They are pleased with your work and have blessed upon you the ability - Six Hunter Senses Six Hunter Senses - Your regular senses are boosted beyond the mortal limit, and you now receive an additional sixth sense capable of telling where you will be able to find more prey, and how much Anima they release upon death.

The Catkin stared at the notifications and, after a couple of minutes, she had to sigh.

What the hell? No more monsters? Furthermore, a skill?

She pulled up her status to see what that meant.

Welcome to your Status Card Name - N/A Age - 18 year Strength - 6359 Constitution - 10 Vitality - 5353 Intelligence - 10 Dexterity - 13429 Wisdom - 10

Confused, she tried to use her sense of smell but didn't really find it different from the one before. She tried every other sense, and after quickly catching a defenseless rabbit, she tried to utilize this 'sixth sense' without success.

After breaking the rabbit's neck and throwing the body away, she spent the rest of the day searching the island for monsters.

However, no matter how much she searched, no monsters remained. Huge corpses, yes. Giant areas where bloody battles were fought, causing the entire area to be destroyed, yes. Small and weak critters, yes.

Seeing this, the catkin began to despair. Her whole life had revolved around killing others or being killed herself, and now that nothing remained, it almost felt... lonely.

"System, what's going on?" She hissed, her voice hoarse due to its disuse of the past 16 years. Truthfully, her body had remained exactly the same as it was 18 years ago when she first woke up on this island.

Welcome to your System Chat You have brutally murdered every threat on this island. Congratulations! Calculating... The System has determined that you are ready to activate your Divine Ability! Activating...

"Hold on, what?" The catkin asked, completely stunned. However, the next moment, her body fell to the ground and began spasming, as waves of information and a strange power entered her head.

She screamed to high heaven as the worst pain she had ever felt tore through her soul and broke apart her body. Thankfully, her vitality was extremely high, so she could endure the damage. However, the pain was a whole other story.

She fainted.

~~~~~~~~~

A young and handsome man stood at the tip of a ship, his body relaxed as he meditated.

Behind him, men and women alike shouted at each other as they all did they jobs on the ship. Some cleaned, some carried supplies, and some organized the sails.

As the young man meditated, a much older man with white hair that looked to be in his late sixties approached him and called out to him.

"Young master Silus, the patriarch wishes to see you." The old man shouted, a small smile on his lips as he watched the young man stir from his half-asleep state.

"Thank you, Jordan. I shall go visit father immediately." The young man nodded and jumped off the ship, landing on the harbor directly next to it with a grace only nobles could have.

However, Silus was no normal noble. No, he was a proud and powerful descendant of the Karloman house, one of the most powerful and influential houses in the kingdom.

Running through the busy harbor, the young Silus received a lot of greetings, and some people even tried to give him free stuff. However, he would always politely decline.

Finally, half an hour later, he reached a large mansion that stood in the dead center of the town, with a huge number of lesser but similar buildings next to it, all likely built by the same architect.

Entering the mansion, Silus made his way through the convoluted hallways filled to the brim with expensive decorations, some of which included masterpieces of art, remains of powerful monsters, and even powerful weapons.

Entering a large room, Silus muttered a small 'I'm entering' before doing just that.

The room was filled to the brim with beautiful decorations. Expensive furniture, and even a carpet made from a powerful Fire Tiger, causing it to be perpetually warm and nice to the bare feet.

"Silus." An ancient voice called.

"Father." Silus responded respectfully, bowing down and placing his left hand to his heart.

"Mm. I've been thinking of your request for a long time now, and I think that you are indeed ready." The ancient voice said, hidden in the shadows of the room.

Silus perked up as he heard this, and just as he was about to speak, he was interrupted.

"However, until I decide so, you shall not travel any further than the water of the Kingdom. Understood?"

"I understand, father." Silus nodded and clenched his hand in excitement.

Ever since he was a toddler, he yearned for adventure. Even more so, due to their family's ship sailing tradition, he loved ships. The two factors eventually combined in his love for adventures in the sea and exploration.

"Mhm. It's good that you understand. You can borrow any ship, but you must take with you a gold rank team, no matter what." His father added.

Silus nodded as he retreated out of the room. His father could only sigh at how quickly his brat of a son had grown up.