Chapter 5: The Evolved Bloodhound

The safe zone of the 12th floor was nothing more than a hollowed-out cavern protected by an ancient, glowing boundary stone that kept the sub-zero blizzards at bay.

Yenna sat shivering near the edge of the blue light, her ears twitching every time the wind howled outside. She had just finished drinking the warming potion, the color slowly returning to her pale cheeks. She kept her amber eyes locked entirely on Dante, who was sitting cross-legged on a rock, staring into the dark tunnels ahead.

"I keep my word," Yenna said, her voice still slightly hoarse. She reached into her torn leather vest and pulled out a faint, blue-glowing parchment. It was her bound class template—the [Abyssal Echo-Tracer] skill book. "Hunters can’t usually touch another person’s core skill, but since I’ve initiated a subordinate contract, you can view the matrix."

Dante didn’t say a word. He stood up, walked over, and casually tapped his index finger against the glowing blue parchment.

Inside his head, the industrial engine of his second system violently roared to life.

Ding!

[System 2: 100x Sovereign Multiplier Triggered via Subordinate Contract!]

[Target Asset: ’Abyssal Echo-Tracer’ (C-Rank Utility Skill Matrix)]

[Multiplying by 100x... Restructuring Logic Loops...]

[Warning: Balancing Protocol Applied. Evolution restricted to Continental Range to prevent host brain liquidity.]

[Evolution Complete!]

[Yenna’s Class has mutated: ’Asura Void-Seeker’ (SSS-Rank Support/Assassin).]

- Unique Feature 1: ’Fate Wire Mapping’ - Can perceive and visually project the movement path of any target within a 10-kilometer radius, including their skill cooldowns and remaining mana.

- Unique Feature 2: ’Domain Silence’ - Within a 50-meter radius around the host, all environmental sound, heat signatures, and mana fluctuations are completely erased. Perfect invisibility.

The blue parchment in Yenna’s hands suddenly turned a deep, abyssal violet, the text shifting into rows of ancient, shifting runes before dissolving straight into her chest.

Yenna gasped, her slender tail instantly standing completely straight. Her amber eyes briefly flashed with a terrifying, hollow purple light. She looked down at her claws, which were now dripping with a faint, smoke-like dark energy.

"What... what did you just do to me?" she whispered, her voice trembling. She could feel her mana pathways expanding, the generic tracking skill turning into something that allowed her to literally see through the solid ice walls around them. "I can see them. The Radiant Dawn squad... they’re exactly 2.4 kilometers ahead, resting inside a glacial trench."

Dante shoved his hands back into his hoodie pockets. "I didn’t do anything. I just optimized your value. Now, do your job. Lead the way, and keep us completely invisible."

Yenna swallowed her shock. The terrifying realization hit her that the man standing before her wasn’t an F-Rank rookie, nor was he a normal human. He was a monster wearing a human face.

She stood up, her tail swishing silently. "Follow me. With Domain Silence, we can walk right up to their campfires, and they won’t even hear our footsteps in the snow."

Two kilometers ahead, inside a deep, wind-sheltered glacial trench, five hunters wearing the bright crimson capes of the Radiant Dawn guild were huddled around a magical heat crystal. They were passing around a flask of expensive dwarven liquor, laughing loudly.

"Man, that cat-kin girl is probably frozen solid by now," a hulking Berserker named Captain Briggs laughed, tossing an empty potion vial into the snow. "Shame about her tracking skill, but Marcus’s orders from the upper floors were very specific—any non-human auxiliary recruits are strictly baggage. If a floor gets tough, leave them behind to save resource costs."

"Aye, she served her purpose," a Mage named Kenneth replied, warming his hands over the crystal. "Thanks to her finding the nest, we managed to harvest three Frost Dragon cores. Marcus is going to reward us with prime seats in the main branch next month."

Suddenly, the crackling sound of the burning heat crystal completely vanished.

Kenneth blinked. He looked down at the crystal. The flame was still burning bright orange, but there was zero sound coming from it. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out of his throat.

Briggs stood up, frowning, gesturing wildly to his ears. The entire trench had fallen into an absolute, unnatural silence. The wind had stopped howling. Their armor ceased clanking. The entire world felt like it had been placed on mute.

From the snowy mist at the edge of the trench, two figures walked out.

Briggs immediately reached for his massive two-handed axe, his eyes widening as he recognized the black-eared cat girl. Beside her stood a young man wearing a plain black hoodie, his face half-hidden in the shadows.

Briggs went forward, swinging his axe with all his might toward Dante’s chest, executing his highest-tier [Crescent Cleave] skill.

Dante didn’t even bother to take his hands out of his pockets. He just walked straight into the trajectory of the massive steel blade.

The soundless impact was horrific. The SSS-Rank [Vajra Mirror Body] didn’t care about silence. It processed the Berserker’s massive kinetic energy, doubled it to 200%, and detonated it inside Briggs’s own chest.

Briggs didn’t even have the chance to scream. The shockwave blew his chest plate into flat scrap metal, shattering his ribs and throwing his massive multi-ton body backward into the glacial wall. He hit the ice and slumped down, dead before his body even settled into the snow.

The remaining four hunters went into pure, unadulterated panic. They tried to cast spells, they tried to draw daggers, but their hands were shaking too violently.

Dante slowly pulled his right hand out of his pocket. To the hunters, he was holding nothing.

But with a casual, horizontal sweep of his arm, the invisible [Seven-Sins Asura Blade] sliced through the silent air.

The phantom metal ignored their high-tier armor, cutting through the throats of all four hunters simultaneously in a single, fluid motion. They collapsed into the red-stained snow, their life force rapidly draining out of their bodies and flowing straight into the invisible hilt in Dante’s palm.

[You have slain 5x High-Tier A-Rank Hunters.]

[Unique Passive: ’Soul Reaper’ Activated.]

[Mana and Attributes absorbed. You have permanently gained: +12 Strength, +15 Intelligence.]

Dante didn’t look at the corpses. He wiped his empty-looking hand against his hoodie and turned back toward the elevator shaft at the back of the trench.

Yenna stood at the edge of the camp, her eyes wide as she watched the effortless slaughter of the squad that had left her to die. She didn’t feel pity. She just felt a deep, intoxicating sense of awe.

"Floor 13 is next," Dante said, stepping over the Mage’s frozen corpse. "Keep moving."