Chapter 56 : The Hunter and the Hunted

Chapter 56: Chapter 56 : The Hunter and the Hunted

The snowfall had already begun to erase the valley by the time the enormous creature disappeared beyond the distant ridge.

Ash remained where he was for several moments, staring into the white curtain that had swallowed its silhouette. The roar still seemed to vibrate through his bones, while the strange warmth of his relic slowly faded against his chest. Around him, Aren, Kael, and the Moonfang were equally silent, each processing what they had just witnessed.

The creature had been wounded.

Something had injured a beast large enough to make the mountains tremble.

And something had left three enormous footprints behind it.

Ash finally turned toward the trail.

"We’re following it."

Kael immediately shook his head.

"No."

Ash looked at him.

Kael’s expression was unusually firm. "Not tonight. We have no idea what we’re following, and after what happened in that valley, chasing it blindly would be suicide."

Ash glanced toward the fading tracks.

The creature had already disappeared, but its blood remained on the snow in small dark patches. The snowfall was slowly covering them, yet enough remained to form a faint trail leading away from the valley.

"We don’t need to chase it."

Kael narrowed his eyes.

"We need to understand where it’s going."

Ash pointed toward the blood.

"We can track it."

Aren followed his gaze.

The Silver Lynx slowly nodded.

"He’s right. Its injury makes hiding the trail difficult."

Kael looked between them before releasing a quiet breath.

"You two are determined to get yourselves killed."

Ash gave him a faint smile.

"Then you’ll have to keep us alive."

The old Silver Lynx muttered something under his breath but began moving.

The Moonfang followed without being asked.

They descended from the ridge and entered the valley.

The blood trail was faint at first, appearing only every few dozen steps. The creature’s enormous body had not left many obvious footprints because the wind had already swept across the ground. However, whenever it had passed beneath trees or over exposed stone, traces of dark blood remained.

Ash studied every mark.

He did not hurry.

The hunt had changed.

He was no longer following the strongest scent or simply walking from one footprint to another. He was reading the landscape, studying the way the creature moved and trying to understand what it was trying to accomplish.

The first strange thing they discovered was that the creature wasn’t taking the easiest route toward Moonveil.

Instead of traveling through the broad northern valley, it had entered a narrow ravine.

The passage was difficult even for Ash.

The walls were steep, and several sections were blocked by fallen ice. The creature had enough strength to break through those obstacles, yet it appeared to have deliberately gone around them.

Ash stopped beside a wall of ice.

"Why would it come through here?"

Aren looked at the blood trail.

"Maybe it couldn’t go another way."

Ash shook his head.

"If that were the case, it would have broken through."

He pointed toward a huge frozen slab blocking part of the ravine.

The slab had been pushed aside slightly.

Not broken.

Not shattered.

Simply moved.

The creature had clearly chosen the narrower route.

Kael examined the surrounding rock.

"This area has old energy."

Ash touched the ice.

A faint pulse answered through his relic.

He immediately withdrew his paw.

The sensation was familiar.

It was the same ancient energy they had encountered beneath the Silver Lynx ruins and near the old Guardian chambers.

Ash looked toward the blood trail.

"The creature knows these places."

Kael’s ears lowered.

"That is possible."

Ash looked at him.

"Possible?"

Kael avoided his gaze.

"I said it is possible."

Ash noticed the hesitation.

He said nothing.

For now.

They continued through the ravine.

The deeper they went, the more unusual the environment became.

The snow thinned around certain stones, revealing faint blue markings beneath the ice. Ancient lines crossed the ground and disappeared beneath the mountain walls. Some looked like cracks, while others formed patterns too deliberate to be natural.

Aren recognized several.

"These weren’t made recently."

"No," Kael replied.

Ash followed one glowing line with his eyes.

It traveled beneath the ravine and disappeared toward the north.

Another line crossed it.

Then another.

They formed a network.

The same network that had appeared beneath the frozen basin.

The same network that seemed connected to Moonveil.

Ash slowly understood.

The creature wasn’t simply following a migration route.

It was moving along something much older.

The ancient energy.

Every time the creature approached one of the glowing paths, its direction changed.

Sometimes it moved closer.

Sometimes it avoided them entirely.

That pattern continued for nearly an hour.

Then the System appeared.

[Target Behavior Analysis Initiated.]

Ash stopped.

Aren looked at him.

"What happened?"

Ash didn’t answer immediately.

The System continued.

[Behavior: Avoidance.]

A second message appeared.

[Primary Objective: Unknown.]

Then another.

[Hostile Intent Toward Host: Undetermined.]

Ash stared at the words.

Until now, the System had never questioned the objective.

It had ordered him to devour the creature.

Now even the System couldn’t determine whether the creature was actually hostile.

Aren noticed Ash’s expression.

"What did it say?"

Ash hesitated before explaining.

"The System doesn’t know what the creature wants."

Kael’s ears moved.

"That is unusual."

"Very."

Ash looked toward the distant mountains.

"If it wanted to attack us, it had the opportunity."

Kael nodded slowly.

"It saw you."

"And it didn’t attack."

Aren looked thoughtful.

"Then perhaps it isn’t interested in us."

Ash remembered the creature’s enormous eyes.

He remembered the way it had studied him.

He also remembered the way it had turned toward Moonveil.

"I don’t think we’re its destination because of us."

Kael’s expression darkened.

"Then what is?"

Ash didn’t answer.

They continued.

The trail soon led them away from the ancient energy lines.

That surprised Ash.

The creature seemed to deliberately avoid the strongest areas.

It would approach the glowing paths, pause for several seconds, and then change direction.

Almost as though it was aware of something beneath them.

Something it didn’t want to encounter.

Ash became increasingly curious.

A creature that enormous should have moved through the mountains without fear.

Yet it was choosing its path carefully.

It was injured.

It was avoiding certain areas.

And something appeared to be driving it toward Moonveil.

Ash began wondering whether the creature was hunting something.

Or escaping something.

The thought remained with him until the blood trail suddenly disappeared.

Ash stopped.

Everyone behind him stopped as well.

There was no blood ahead.

No footprints.

No broken branches.

Nothing.

Aren searched the snow.

"Maybe the wound stopped bleeding."

Ash crouched.

"No."

He touched the frozen ground.

"There should still be tracks."

Kael approached.

"Then perhaps it crossed the river."

Ash looked ahead.

A narrow underground stream ran beneath a thin layer of ice.

He examined the surrounding snow.

There were no signs of the creature entering the water.

Instead, he noticed something else.

A dark patch beneath the snow.

"Aren."

The Silver Lynx immediately began digging.

His claws broke through the frozen surface.

Something pale emerged.

A large scale.

Ash stared at it.

The scale was enormous, almost the size of his head.

Its surface was pale and hard, layered like natural armor.

But one edge was jagged.

It had not fallen naturally.

It had been ripped away.

Ash carefully touched the damaged edge.

Fresh blood still clung to it.

Aren’s expression tightened.

"This happened recently."

Kael remained silent.

Ash looked at him.

"The thing that injured it is still following it, isn’t it?"

Kael didn’t respond.

Ash waited.

"Kael."

The elderly Silver Lynx finally looked at him.

"I know something."

Ash’s eyes narrowed.

Kael sighed.

"The three footprints."

Ash immediately remembered them.

"They weren’t behind the creature."

Kael shook his head.

"No."

He pointed toward the mountain route.

"They were ahead."

Ash’s expression changed.

Aren looked between them.

"What does that mean?"

Kael’s voice became quieter.

"It means whatever made those footprints wasn’t chasing the creature from behind."

Ash slowly understood.

"It was waiting."

Kael nodded.

The realization settled over the group like another layer of snow.

The Unknown Species might not be fleeing from something pursuing it.

It might be moving toward something that had already chosen where it wanted the creature to go.

Ash looked at the enormous scale in his paw.

For the first time, the High-Priority Task felt different.

The System wanted him to hunt the creature.

But perhaps the creature itself was already being hunted.

And Ash had no idea by whom.

A sudden gust of wind swept through the ravine.

The Moonfang turned toward the north.

Its eyes narrowed.

Then it moved.

Without warning, the strange predator slipped between two ancient stones and disappeared into the trees.

Aren frowned.

"What is it doing?"

Ash followed.

"Finding something."

They hurried after it.

The terrain changed as they moved farther north.

The trees became taller and darker.

The snow around their roots had turned almost black beneath the ice.

There were no animal tracks.

No birds.

No movement.

Even the wind seemed weaker.

Ash stopped at the edge of the forest.

"This place is wrong."

Kael looked around.

The old Silver Lynx didn’t disagree.

"This forest has no natural inhabitants."

"Why?"

"I don’t know."

Ash looked at him.

Kael corrected himself.

"I don’t know anymore."

That answer bothered Ash.

They entered the forest.

The trees were enormous.

Their trunks were black beneath the frost, and their branches twisted toward one another high above the ground. Ancient scratches covered some of the bark.

Ash approached the nearest tree.

There were dozens of marks.

Then hundreds.

They stretched across the forest.

Aren examined one.

"These aren’t from the creature."

Ash shook his head.

"No."

He touched another.

"These are older."

Kael’s expression hardened.

Ash looked at him.

"You know them."

Kael remained silent.

"Kael."

The old Silver Lynx finally spoke.

"They are not from one predator."

Ash’s eyes narrowed.

"Then what are they?"

Kael looked toward the mountains.

"They are warnings."

Aren’s ears lifted.

"Warnings of what?"

Kael didn’t answer.

Ash turned toward the trees.

The scratches all pointed in the same direction.

North.

Toward Moonveil.

His relic began glowing faintly.

The ancient network beneath the forest responded.

Ash felt a vibration beneath his paws.

Then the Moonfang stopped.

It refused to move.

Ash turned.

The creature stood several meters behind them.

Its body was rigid.

Its eyes were fixed on the darkness between the trees.

Ash approached carefully.

"What’s wrong?"

The Moonfang didn’t respond.

It made a low sound.

Not quite a growl.

Not quite a warning.

It sounded almost like recognition.

Ash looked toward the darkness.

"Have you been here before?"

The Moonfang’s glowing eyes remained fixed ahead.

Kael suddenly became pale.

Ash turned toward him.

"What?"

Kael swallowed.

"There are old Silver Lynx records."

"About this forest?"

"About what lived here."

Ash waited.

Kael hesitated.

"Long before the Moonfang became known, there were records of another predator."

Aren looked surprised.

"Another Moonfang?"

Kael shook his head.

"No."

"What was it called?"

Kael’s gaze lowered.

"There was no name."

Ash frowned.

"Then how did they describe it?"

Kael looked toward the ancient marks.

"They used a symbol."

Ash’s relic suddenly pulsed.

Blue light spread across its surface.

Ash froze.

The symbol beneath the ice began glowing.

He had seen it before.

Inside the Guardian chamber.

The same circular pattern.

The same ancient shape.

The same mark that Kael had refused to explain.

Ash slowly turned toward him.

"This symbol."

Kael didn’t answer.

"You knew."

Kael’s expression became tired.

"I knew it existed."

"You knew it was connected to this place."

"I suspected."

Ash’s voice hardened.

"And the Moonfang recognizes it."

Kael looked toward the creature.

"That is what frightens me."

Before Ash could ask why, the ground moved.

The entire forest trembled.

Snow fell from the branches.

A deep crack appeared beneath the ice.

Aren jumped backward.

"What was that?"

Another crack formed.

To be continued....