The Star Dou Great Forest.
Dew soaked the boy's sleeves. Carrying a crude bundle on his back, he resolutely stepped into this unknown, mysterious forest alone.
For an eleven-year-old whose understanding of the world had been hemmed in by the towering vermilion walls of the Duke's Mansion, everything was new and wondrous.
Any of the other young masters of the Duke's Mansion would never have gone out alone, much less to do something as dangerous as hunting Soul Beasts. Surrounded by guards, they could easily enjoy the fruits of others' labor.
But he was different.
Even for his first Soul Ring, he had to stake his own life...
This world had always been cruel. You were either at the dinner table or on the menu.
Of course, what he did not know was that even after exhausting every scheme, with destiny itself on his side, he would still end up on the menu, like an insect trapped in an impenetrable spiderweb, sharing the fate of that butterfly.
"Whew..."
After just a few steps, the boy was already panting.
He sat down against a large tree and tightened the bundle on his back, his pale blue eyes warily scanning his surroundings.
Inside the Duke's Mansion, the duchess had humiliated him and his mother, but she had not gone so far as to deal them a vicious blow directly. At most, she had devised different ways to make their lives miserable. His mother had died of illness brought on by overwork.
But the people outside truly killed without batting an eye...
"Awooo!"
Just as the boy was about to set off, a howl rang out.
A savage White Baboon leaped from the dense treetops and charged straight at him.
In the azure sky.
An enormous black crow flashed past like a