Peter's cold gaze swept over the three of them, bound tightly to the platform.

"By the way," he said softly, voice dripping with amusement, "who wants to go first?"

Silence.

No one dared to answer.

Peter's eyes stopped on Leo. "Leo Stark," he said slowly, as if savoring the name. "You're quite the prodigy, aren't you? Why don't I start with you? I'm confident you'll survive the transformation and become something… magnificent."

He paused, his smile widening. "After all, you were talented enough to clear three tower floors one after another, weren't you?"

"What floors? What the fuck are you talking about?" Leo asked, panicked.

"You think a mask can hide what you did?"

Saying that, Peter didn't wait for a reply and began walking toward Leo, holding one of the glowing crimson crystals in his hand.

At that time, Derek's eyebrows furrowed. 'Three floors? Is he talking about me?'

Meanwhile, Leo's face turned pale. "W... What are you doing? What the hell is that thing?!"

He thrashed violently, trying to break free from the ropes, but they were enchanted with magic — no matter how much he struggled, they didn't budge an inch.

Peter reached him in two strides. Grabbing Leo's jaw in a vice-like grip, he forced it open.

"Sttttttt.....!" Leo tried to shout, but before he could finish, Peter shoved the crystal into his mouth. Then, using a sharp burst of air magic, he pushed it deeper down his throat.

Leo gagged, choking violently, but the pressure forced him to swallow it eventually.

The moment the crystal entered his stomach, it began to dissolve in the acid within. A few seconds later, Leo's body convulsed violently as a scream tore through the cave.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!"

He writhed in agony, his back arching unnaturally. It felt as though something was crawling out from within him — something alive. The skin around his eyes darkened, veins bulging grotesquely before the flesh began to crack and peel.

His bones started to creak, twist, and reform. His limbs stretched and warped, muscles tearing and reattaching in unnatural patterns. Two bulging lumps began to rise from the upper sides of his skull, growing larger with each passing second.

Leo's screams filled the entire cavern.

"STOP! STOP IT, PLEASE! I BEG YOU!" he cried, tears streaming down his face, his voice raw from the pain.

The girl beside Derek was frozen, trembling so hard that she forgot to breathe.

Derek, too, stared in horror, his stomach churning.

In both his lives — past and present — he had never witnessed something so gruesome, so utterly inhuman.

"What the hell are you doing to him?!" Derek shouted, struggling against his restraints. "Stop it! Make it stop!"

Though he'd never liked Leo, even he couldn't bear to watch what was happening before his eyes.

Leo's body continued to twist and expand, the cracking of his bones echoing sharply through the cavern. His muscles swelled grotesquely, veins bulging beneath his skin as his form grew larger — both in height and width — until the chains and ropes binding him snapped like twigs under the strain.

The creature then stood up. He was no longer a human. It was nearly three meters tall, its skin covered in coarse, dark fur. Two thick, curved horns jutted out from his skull, and its once-blue eyes had turned pitch black. Its fingernails had grown into long, metallic claws, gleaming faintly under the torchlight. His face, now snout, was warped beyond recognition, with sharp fangs jutting out from his mouth and a demonic growl rumbling deep in his chest.

The creature roared, the sound so powerful that dust fell from the ceiling. The vibration alone made Derek's ears ring. The newly formed monster lunged forward at Peter, swinging wildly at everything in sight — no care for friend or foe.

Peter sighed and ran a hand down his face, clearly irritated. "What a pain," he muttered, shaking his head. "He's strong, that much is certain… but look at him — he can't even control his emotions. Still," his lips curled into a smile, "at least the transformation was successful."

He then turned his eyes toward the bear and snapped his fingers. "Handle it. Don't kill him, just subdue the idiot."

The bear let out a low growl, then charged.

The two colossal beasts collided in the center of the cavern with an explosive boom. The shockwave knocked loose bits of rock from the ceiling. Leo's claw slashed downward, cutting deep into the bear's shoulder, sending a spray of blood across the stone floor.

But the bear retaliated, its massive paw striking Leo across the chest and sending him tumbling into a wall. The stone cracked, and debris scattered everywhere.

For a moment, it looked like the bear might have the upper hand. But then Leo roared again, even louder this time, and surged forward with terrifying speed. He tackled the bear to the ground, clawing and biting with feral madness.

Derek watched helplessly, the sounds of battle filling the cave — the crash of stone, the growls, the screams.

"Damn it…" he muttered under his breath, pulling at his restraints again, but they refused to budge.

Peter, meanwhile, stood back and observed the chaos, arms crossed. "Tch… I didn't want to use them this early, but it seems I have no choice."

He reached into the pouch at his waist and pulled out a small orb — its surface black and smooth, pulsing faintly with crimson light. He whispered something under his breath, and the orb began to glow brighter.

Soon, a deep rumble followed, and then the air itself split open with a loud crack. A swirling rift formed in the middle of the cave, its edges rippling like liquid fire. The energy radiating from it made the torches flicker violently.

Derek's eyes widened. "No, no, no. It can't be them, right?"

From within the rift, a pair of glowing red eyes appeared, followed by another. Two enormous shapes began to emerge, their outlines jagged and monstrous. The air grew heavy as the temperature dropped rapidly as they stepped out of the portal.

The creatures' presence was suffocating, and a foul stench filled the cavern.

When they finally emerged fully into view, Derek's heart stopped for a moment.

"Demons."

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