The battle was consumption. It was a symphony of death.

To the curse monsters, the Devouring Beast was a predator of impossible light in their world of shadow. Where it moved, they scattered.

Orion piloted the beast, a relentless hunter in the crimson dark. He chased down the nearest monster, then the next, and the next. With each one he caught, he devoured, and with each one he devoured, he grew.

Slowly, the Devouring Beast's body swelled, its power escalating. In that crimson haze, Orion felt a surge of intoxicating might, a feeling of absolute dominion over this forgotten corner of his own bloodline. The land was his. The creatures in it were his prey.

Without him even realizing it, the Devouring Beast had grown to the size of a small hill. Its hide was now a layer of thick, jagged scales, and its back bristled with the same kind of spines as the curse monsters. Its eyes glowed with a feral, concentrated rage.

And still, the tide of monsters never seemed to thin. They surged from the horizon, a chittering wave of fear and instinct, desperate to overwhelm him but terrified to approach.

Don't give up, a voice whispered at the edge of his consciousness, a mighty, distant echo. Devour them all. That is a Rule… Do not give up…

It was the Titan god. But here, in this corrupted space, even his power seemed limited, his voice a mere suggestion in the chaos.

Orion ignored it. To hell with gods and their grand designs. This was about survival. He knew the simple, brutal calculus of this place: one less enemy meant one more second of life.

***

Godforsaken Land, Cretaceous World.

When Orion reached the last active volcano in the desolate landscape, his arrival disturbed the sacred beast sleeping within.

It was a phoenix, wreathed in a corona of brilliant fire. Its feathers were spun gold, its eyes blazing embers. It was, Orion had to admit, a breathtaking symbol of life and beauty. Perhaps it was the phoenix's presence alone that made this Godforsaken Land so much more vibrant than the others. As it soared toward him, he could feel the raw, tenacious heat of life itself.

He tightened his grip on his trident. It was beautiful, yes, but it was coming for him with clear intent.

"Invader," a clear, melodic voice rang in his mind. "You are not welcome here."

Orion relaxed his grip slightly. It wasn't attacking on sight. It could communicate. That meant it could be reasoned with. Or, at least, intimidated.

"You've got that backward," Orion called back, leveling his new war scythe at the approaching creature. "This land belongs to me now. Which means you're the one who isn't welcome."

The message was unmistakable: come closer, and he wouldn't hesitate.

"Shameless!" The fire in the phoenix's eyes flared. "This is our world. We were born here. How can you claim our home as your own?"

"Survival of the fittest. Surely you understand a concept that simple?" A strange look crossed Orion's face. In just two sentences, he had learned everything he needed to know. This creature was powerful but profoundly naive, its experience limited to this single, isolated world. The very idea of a creature this pure existing in a Godforsaken Land was a bizarre contradiction.

"In this land, the phoenix race is the strongest," it declared with pride, proving his point. It understood the law of the jungle because it had always been at the top of the food chain.

"Not anymore," Orion said. "Because now, I'm here."

He moved. A flicker of motion, a thunderclap of impact.

BOOM!

Orion now hovered where the phoenix had been a second before. The sacred beast itself was a fiery comet cratering back into the volcanic cone from which it had emerged.

"A freshly-minted archlord," Orion mused aloud, his voice echoing in the sudden silence. "Where did you get the courage to stand in my way?"

He followed the fading energy signature, descending slowly into the mouth of the volcano.

At the bottom, beside a colossal egg, the phoenix was no longer a magnificent creature of myth. It was the size of a chicken, perched miserably on the eggshell, looking for all the world like a child ready to tattle to its parent.

Orion's feet touched the cavern floor. He ignored the defeated bird and fixed his gaze on the egg.

"Powerful visitor from another world," a cold, dispassionate voice emanated from the egg. "Welcome."

If not for the polite words, Orion might have thought the pressure in the cavern was making him hear things.

"Mother, that's him! That's the invader!" the little phoenix chirped.

The egg ignored it completely, its silent, unseen gaze locked on Orion.

Orion remained still, returning the silence. The egg had no eyes, but he could feel the scrutiny of a mighty being, the crushing weight of a demigod's Rule pressing in on him. It was an uncomfortable, invasive pressure.

He let his own Rule flare into existence, a counter-pressure that pushed back the oppressive aura. As the tension in the cavern became a palpable, humming thing, the egg's power suddenly vanished.

"Powerful invader," the cold female voice said again. "Let us make a deal."

Orion didn't respond. He didn't need to. He let the facts speak for themselves. "The Cretaceous beasts outside will be exterminated. This world will belong to me, sooner or later. I fail to see what you have that I could possibly want in a trade."

He was telling the egg that no matter what it offered, the outcome was already decided. The Cretaceous World was his for the taking.

"Do not be so certain, visitor," the voice replied. "I concede that you are powerful. Other than myself, there is no one in this world who can stand against you. But have you stopped to wonder why I remain here? Have you not been curious why I have not dealt with you myself?"

Orion remained silent. He had been curious. He had felt the demigod's presence the moment he'd arrived. He couldn't understand why it would hide in a volcano while its entire race was being slaughtered.

The egg seemed to take his silence as an invitation.

"Long ago," the voice began, a story echoing in the heart of the volcano, "the Cretaceous World was a place of great prosperity. It was teeming with life, rich with resources. Then, one day, the stars began to fall."

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