Chapter 47: I Killed the Level 34 Elite. Predation Gave Me Six Choices.

Not the bar.

One hand.

He reached for the knife.

It couldn’t reach the organ.

But it could open more tissue.

Raven cut around the wound.

Black blood poured over him.

The Blackmaw tried to regenerate.

Blood Furnace was still overloaded.

That was exactly what they needed.

Regeneration accelerated around the bar.

Flesh closing.

"It’s trying to trap it inside!" Valeria shouted.

"Let it."

She looked at him from several yards away.

"What?"

Raven understood.

The organ was behind it.

Regenerated tissue would lock the bar in place.

Which meant the monster wouldn’t be able to expel it easily.

He only needed more depth.

That was all.

The Blackmaw lifted its torso.

Raven’s feet left the ground.

He ended up partially hanging from the bar.

Bad position.

The creature threw him into the wall.

Raven let go.

Fell.

The bar remained embedded.

Valeria kept it anchored with blood.

The Blackmaw turned toward her.

"What now?" she shouted.

Raven tried to breathe.

Ribs.

Shoulder.

Back.

Everything worked well enough.

He looked at the bar.

It had penetrated maybe a foot.

They needed four more inches.

The creature wasn’t going to let him approach the same way again.

Raven picked up a stone.

No.

Too little.

The bar was the weapon.

How did he accelerate it without touching it?

Kinetic Acceleration required initial contact.

At least so far.

Raven looked at the blood cables.

Contact.

Not his.

Useless.

Then he thought.

He didn’t need to move the entire bar.

Only the end.

He only needed to touch it for an instant.

The Blackmaw was turning.

Valeria maintained her distance.

Raven ran.

The creature saw him.

This time, it was expecting him.

Jaws.

Raven feinted Burst Step.

Didn’t activate it.

The Blackmaw corrected early, anticipating lateral movement.

Raven kept going straight.

The jaws snapped shut two feet away.

"Thanks."

The Blackmaw understood too late.

Raven struck the end of the bar with Stonehide.

Contact.

Kinetic Acceleration.

As much mana as he could force through it.

BOOM.

The bar disappeared into the creature’s chest.

The opposite end partially emerged through the plates along its back.

The Blackmaw froze.

Silence.

Raven was far too close.

He saw all six eyes.

The open mouth.

The trembling body.

It didn’t fall.

"You’ve got to be fucking kidding me."

The creature roared.

Still alive.

The organ hadn’t been completely destroyed.

Valeria shouted something.

Raven didn’t hear her.

Predator’s Instinct.

Attack.

The Blackmaw raised one paw.

Raven couldn’t get away.

Burst Step.

Nothing.

Mana too low.

Stonehide.

Not enough.

The paw came down.

A red wall appeared between them.

BOOM.

Valeria’s barrier shattered.

But it reduced the force.

The claw hit Raven.

Stonehide absorbed part of it.

He went flying.

Rolled.

Stopped on his back.

The sky looked surprisingly beautiful.

Bad sign.

"Raven."

Valeria.

Far away.

Raven tried to stand.

His left arm didn’t respond immediately.

He ignored it.

The Blackmaw was moving.

Slower.

The bar passed completely through its torso.

Black blood leaked around the metal.

Blood Furnace flickered.

Not functioning properly.

The red lines beneath the plates turned on and off.

Regeneration tried to repair the damage.

It couldn’t with a metal bar running through the organ.

Good.

But it was still alive.

Valeria attacked.

A blood spear entered through an open wound.

The Blackmaw partially absorbed it.

Mistake.

The damaged Furnace reacted.

Its entire chest lit up.

Raven saw expansion.

Internal pressure.

The organ was broken, but it was still trying to process mana.

"More."

Valeria looked at him.

"What?"

"Feed it."

"It’s broken!"

"Exactly."

She understood.

Her expression changed.

She pulled out the second vial of her own blood.

Roland shouted from above.

"My lady!"

Valeria opened it.

"Remind me later that this is worth a house."

She threw everything.

The Blackmaw opened its mouth on reflex.

Blood entered.

Blood Furnace reacted.

Once.

Too much.

The lines changed from red to yellow.

Then white.

The monster began swelling around the chest.

Vapor escaped.

Regeneration went out of control.

Flesh grew around wounds only to split open again.

Raven stood.

The Blackmaw turned toward Valeria.

It still wanted to kill her.

Good.

Raven picked up one of the broken chains.

Not to restrain it.

To reach the bar.

He threw it.

Hooked the exposed end.

Pulled.

The Blackmaw stopped.

Raven tightened his grip.

Stonehide over both hands.

"Valeria."

She looked up.

"What?"

"When I say."

He didn’t need to explain.

Valeria gathered what little usable blood remained around her.

Not much.

Enough.

Raven pulled the chain downward.

The bar inside the Blackmaw changed angle.

The monster roared.

There.

"Now."

Valeria closed both hands.

Every drop of blood inside the wounds reacted.

It didn’t leave.

It expanded.

Blood Furnace tried to absorb at the same time.

Pressure.

The organ gave way.

Raven felt the sound before he heard it.

THUMP.

Deep.

Internal.

Like something enormous had exploded inside thick flesh.

The chest plates lifted.

Black blood erupted from the creature’s mouth, nose, and joints.

The Blackmaw took one step.

Then another.

Raven still held the chain.

The creature looked at him.

Six eyes.

No fear.

No human understanding.

Only one final evaluation.

Predator against predator.

Raven pulled one last time.

The bar broke something else.

The Blackmaw fell.

The impact shook the quarry.

Silence.

Raven didn’t move.

Neither did Valeria.

Roland slowly lowered his sword.

One of the guards breathed:

"Is it dead?"

Raven checked Predator’s Instinct.

Nothing.

He waited.

Five seconds.

Ten.

Fifteen.

Then the system appeared.

«"Target defeated."»

Raven released the chain.

"Now it is."

Valeria sat directly on a rock.

"I’m going to pretend that went exactly according to plan."

Raven looked at his arm.

Blood ran all the way to his fingers.

"Approximately."

"It threw you into a wall twice."

"That wasn’t in the diagram."

"It also almost crushed you."

"Minor detail."

Valeria stared at him.

"Your definition of ’minor’ needs professional intervention."

Raven walked toward the corpse.

He was limping.

"Add it to the list."

---

The system didn’t take long.

The window covered almost his entire field of vision.

«"Compatible defeated organism detected."

Target: Blackmaw Tyrant

Level: 34

Rank: Elite

Kill contribution detected: 47%

Final strike registered: Raven Ashford

Predation available.»

Raven raised an eyebrow.

Forty-seven percent.

Valeria had dealt more raw damage.

That didn’t surprise him.

Without her, he couldn’t have injured the Blackmaw enough to force Blood Furnace open.

Without him, Valeria probably would’ve kept feeding its regeneration until she ran out of mana.

The system continued.

«High-tier biological material detected.

Compatible Traits: 6»

Raven opened the list.

«"Obsidian Carapace"

Source: Dorsal Dermal Matrix

Compatibility: 72%

"Predatory Regeneration"

Source: Regenerative Marrow + Hepatic Mana Reservoir

Compatibility: 89%

"Blood Furnace"

Source: Thoracic Furnace Organ

Compatibility: 63%

Warning: Organ integrity 31%

"Mana Scent"

Source: Olfactory Mana Bulbs

Compatibility: 81%

"Tyrant Frame"

Source: Spinal Marrow + Skeletal Stem Tissue

Compatibility: 54%

"Blood Saturation Resistance"

Source: Vascular Lining

Compatibility: 76%»