Raven, as usual, continued with his curious questions and kept talking to his stepfather. "What kind of goal could they have that’s forbidden to the point of being cursed? It makes no sense."

Edward Hunter stroked his beard and replied, "As I said, they all have different goals. Some are trying to awaken mythical demons, while others build altars to appease ancient gods."

Raven responded, "What do Miles and I need to retrieve?"

Edward Hunter frowned as he answered, "It wouldn’t be wise to get involved with the cults dealing with ancient gods. Our focus is on those trying to summon demons. The Hunter family, along with our allied families, has been waging war against demonic cults for hundreds of thousands of years, and we have never failed. If we had, the world would have ended. For each demon’s resurrection, they require chaos stones specific to that demon. Right now, we’re dealing with the cult known as 'The Abyssal Swarm.' They are attempting to resurrect Beelzebub and seize the universe with an army of nothingness. They are very close to achieving their goal. Five out of the six chaos stones have been gathered, and one needs to be stolen. Each stone is hidden in different regions, and we have the coordinates for three of them. At the very least, you two need to steal two of them; that should set them back at least half a millennium."

Raven nodded seriously and said, "When do we leave?"

Edward Hunter chuckled and replied, "You’re leaving tonight."

Edward got up and left, and Raven was left alone with his thoughts. How powerful could the heirs of a demon capable of conquering the universe really be? How could the two of them handle this? Even if they stole one chaos stone, how would they manage a second? If the main heir arrived, escaping would be almost impossible. But there was no time for these thoughts now; he hadn’t yet perfected his technique, and Miles wouldn’t be fully healed until at least tomorrow. He decided not to visit Miles to avoid disturbing him, but he needed to perfect his technique by nightfall. Since Miles was asleep, he couldn’t use the training grounds, so he had to find another way.

After climbing the stairs, he headed toward the door. Walking through the front yard, he finally reached the gate, stepped outside, and took a deep breath. The guards asked, "Young master, where are you going?"

Raven laughed and replied, "It doesn’t matter; my father already knows."

The guards resumed their stance, and Raven continued walking. He had a few ideas in mind. If he ventured far enough into the forest, he might find a bear as massive as the one whose pelt lay on the floor. It certainly wouldn’t be an ordinary bear, that much was obvious. He estimated its height to be around 7 or 8 meters. What he needed to do was find such powerful creatures and train against them. He kept walking, and after about 30 minutes, he was truly lost, which was his goal. The animals he might encounter in the morning would be less dangerous, but if he continued without rest until midnight, it would become nearly impossible to train.

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With his sword on his back, he kept walking when he noticed the entrance to a large cave attached to a mountain. It was enormous and wide. The humidity in the air around it suggested that it went deep inside. With one hand on the sword strapped to his back, he cautiously began walking in. He already sensed the presence of a living being. He couldn’t feel mana, but from the size and the rustling sounds, he knew he wasn’t alone. It was clearly not a human, and it seemed to be quite powerful. He drew his sword, got into a guard stance, and continued moving forward. As he walked, a strange feeling crept over him, telling him he needed to move. Within a few seconds, his heartbeat quickened, urging him to act. Finally, unable to ignore the warnings any longer, he leapt to the upper left.

A massive snake’s head slammed into the spot where he had been, shattering the ground. The snake’s fangs left deep impressions in the stone, and its venom melted the rock. Smoke rose from the melted spot. The snake’s head alone was as large as Raven’s entire body, and the rest of its form remained obscured in the darkness, too vast to see with his eyes. After firmly gripping his sword, Raven landed on the ground and charged toward the snake’s belly. From where Raven was attacking to the snake’s head, its body was at least 20 meters long. Raven had seen many snakes in his life and knew much about their agility. But he had to believe a snake of this size couldn’t be nimble.

He dashed forward, raising his sword, preparing to strike. However, while still in mid-air, he was hit in the stomach with a blow that blurred his vision, and he began to drift through the air. His consciousness was on the verge of fading, and his eyes had already begun to glaze over. As he floated, his life flashed before his eyes. He finally regained a bit of clarity and managed to grasp his sword once more. He crashed into a tree in the middle of the forest, having been flung from the cave. The tree shook violently, and the birds on it scattered. Blood poured from Raven’s mouth, and he couldn’t breathe. The blow to his stomach had broken his ribs, which were now stabbing into his diaphragm and lungs.

He was coughing up blood, unable to see what had struck him due to its speed. Perhaps he never should have come here. Was this the end? It was too late even to give up because his body wasn’t responding. His diaphragm was compressing his lungs, and his broken ribs were digging deeper. All the blood was pouring from his mouth. Even if he used Ultra Instinct, there was no guarantee he could win. And even if he did manage to win, if one of his ribs pierced his heart, there was no chance of survival. He had to keep his consciousness and end Ultra Instinct at the precise moment when the pain became unbearable. To do that, he would need to execute the perfected version of Ultra Instinct, something he had theorized but never mastered.