Aria’s body fell to the ground with a muffled sound, and blood slowly flowed from under her body, spreading on the cracked floor.

Her eyes were still open, disbelief still visible in them, but there was no light in them anymore.

For a few seconds, no one spoke. As if even time had stopped.

Then a sound broke. A sound that was more like a moan than crying.

"Si... sister...?" Alisa fell to her knees, her hands trembling.

Her eyes were fixed on her sister’s lifeless body.

"Sister...?" There was no answer.

"Sister... get up..." Her voice trembled.

"Please get up..." She threw herself onto Aria’s body, took her bloody hands, and shook her.

Once more.

And once more.

But nothing happened.

"Please..." Her tears dripped onto her sister’s face.

"Please... enough joking..." Her breath broke.

"Sister..." And then she broke down. Her crying no longer sounded like a normal human’s cry. It was more like the scream of a creature that had lost its entire world.

"Sister!"

"Sister!"

"Sistereeee!" Her voice echoed through the entire hall, but there was no answer. No miracle happened. No salvation came.

Aria was dead. Completely dead.

Ryan, however, just watched. No emotion could be seen on his face. No sadness, no regret, no hesitation.

As if he had not just pulled a human’s heart out of her body moments before.

"Why...?" Seris whispered in disbelief. She still could not believe what she had seen.

Everything had happened too suddenly. A few seconds ago, Aria was alive. A few seconds ago, she was ready to sacrifice herself so Ryan could live.

And now... she was dead.

Lian was also staring at Ryan. His eyes narrowed, and his mind was putting the pieces of the puzzle together at a crazy speed.

"Now I understand..." He then said quietly. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Seris looked at him.

"What?"

Without taking his eyes off Ryan, Lian answered.

"Now I understand why he always avoided answering personal questions."

Seris frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"He does not belong to our world at all. He belongs to this one." Lian said quietly.

"But he is human." Seris was shocked and added in disbelief.

Lian nodded.

"That’s right."

Ryan really was a human. He had just tried to see Ryan’s information, and the system showed nothing.

All the monsters he had seen until that moment had information. Level, rank, and race.

But the system showed nothing for Ryan, exactly like other Awakened humans.

That meant the system did not recognize him as a monster, and he really was not a monster. He was just thinking, how long had this bastard monster been plotting against them?

From the time Ryan had found the twins? Or even before that? All this time, they had been like puppets under this bastard’s control?

At that moment, Ryan started moving. In his hands was still Aria’s heart, a heart that was still beating slowly even though it should have stopped.

He walked with slow steps toward the massive stone throne, toward the creature sitting at the head of the hall, toward the Dreadmaw Sovereign.

Then he knelt in front of the monster, lowered his head, and offered the heart with both hands.

"My lord."

The Dreadmaw Sovereign reached out its massive hand and took the heart.

For a moment, it held it in front of its face, then smelled it. Its black eyes narrowed a little.

"A heart..." Its voice was like the roar of breaking ice.

"With very strong emotions." A terrifying smile formed on its face.

"Perhaps this one will work."

"I did my best, my lord. I hope you are satisfied with the result." The village chief immediately bowed his head.

"We will see." The monster answered, and then its gaze slowly turned around the hall.

And stopped on Lian.

A feeling of danger immediately exploded throughout Lian’s being. As if an ancient predator had chosen him.

The monster’s smile deepened.

"And you..." Its claw pointed toward Lian.

"You can be my new skin."

Lian’s eyes turned cold. Now he understood almost everything, or at least a large part of the truth.

"Now I understand."

"What?" Seris felt like her brain was about to explode right now, and this boy still kept his calm?

Lian did not take his eyes off the monster.

"What has been happening here all this time. These aren’t even real monsters." He then added, pointing to the village chief.

Seris frowned.

"What do you mean?" Seris frowned. This old man and those bastards in the village that they killed were definitely monsters. What did he mean they weren’t real monsters?

"They are parasites. Parasites that can take over the bodies of other creatures."

Seris immediately answered.

"But we saw the villagers’ bodies. They hadn’t taken over anyone’s body. Their hearts had been removed."

Lian nodded.

"That’s right. Because they have mutated." He thought about the monster corpses they had killed outside.

About the human hearts he had found inside the disgusting bodies of those creatures. Everything now made sense.

"This is their new path of evolution. The hearts have become their source of power. They become one with the hearts of the creatures they hunt."

Seris remained silent. She felt like this information was too much for her.

Lian continued.

"Body, abilities, talents, even skills. They take everything from the heart’s owner." His eyes became playful.

"Probably in the past, they could only control bodies, but they could not use the real power of the victim. Now they have found a new way. A way that lets them steal everything."

Seris looked at the Dreadmaw Sovereign.

"So before the mutation... they were very weak?"

"Naturally." Lian answered.

"After all, they were only low-level normal monsters. But by swallowing hearts, they mutated and became something completely different."

"Of course, I think it’s not just about stealing the abilities of the body’s owners. Probably, they can also gain the power and skills of any human they kill and turn into their shape."

"When they possessed a body, they could neither use their own abilities nor use the abilities of that body."

"But when they swallowed the hearts, they no longer possess someone. They can just turn into that shape, so they can even use all their own abilities."

"The shape they have now is probably something they feel more comfortable in."

"So that one is also one of these parasites?" Seris looked at the massive creature on the throne.

For the first time, Lian paused, then slowly shook his head.

"No. The parasites are its children. That one is different."

A short silence followed.

"This is its real body. It has probably been looking for a way to get a human body for a long time while also keeping its own abilities and power, but it has not succeeded. That is why it created these parasites."

"Like experiments. Like tools, to find a way to achieve its goal."

"And it found a way. The hearts. With the help of hearts, instead of taking over a shell, it can turn into that shell and also keep its powers."

"Of course, it might want to completely take over a body and still keep its powers through the heart. That is why it probably needs a special heart."

"But why? Why would such a monster want a human body?" Seris still did not understand.

"I don’t know either." Lian said quietly, and continued.

"But I know it wants the hearts for transferring power. To build a new shell. A shell that can carry all its abilities."

His gaze fell on Aria’s heart.

"But why Aria’s heart? Why not any other human’s heart? I don’t understand this part either." He himself did not know the answer to this question.

A heavy silence ruled the hall.

Then the sound of quiet laughter was heard. Laughter that made the hair on the body stand up. The Dreadmaw Sovereign was laughing.

Its black eyes were fixed on Lian.

"Interesting. Truly interesting." The monster leaned forward a little, and its massive shadow fell on the ground.

And then, with a calm but terrifying tone, it said.

"I did not think such an interesting human could exist."