Chapter 44 — The Lord Core

Kael sat beneath an ancient tree, the black-green Territory Lord Core resting between his palms.

The forest had been silent since the Blackthorn Colossus died.

But Kael wasn't celebrating.

He was studying.

The core pulsed faintly.

Once.

Twice.

Each pulse released a thread of mana that disappeared into the surrounding soil.

Kael narrowed his eyes.

“So this isn't just condensed mana.”

He activated Metal Sense.

Nothing.

He frowned.

The core wasn't metal.

But when he pushed a small amount of mana into it—

The core reacted.

A faint network appeared inside his mind.

Kael froze.

Roots.

Underground mana channels.

Territorial nodes.

The same network he had spent days studying.

Except this time, he could see much more.

The core wasn't merely connected to the territory.

It had been controlling part of it.

Kael immediately withdrew his mana.

“Interesting.”

He didn't absorb it.

He didn't activate it.

He didn't experiment recklessly.

His previous experiences had taught him what happened when he touched things he didn't understand.

The mountain had nearly cost him his life.

The ancient entity was still sealed beneath it.

And Darian Darven had appeared from nowhere.

Kael wasn't going to make another mistake.

He opened the System.

[Territory Lord Core]

Grade: Lord

Origin: Blackthorn Colossus

Current State: Dormant

Potential Functions:

• Territory Manipulation
• Mana Storage
• Territory Detection
• Weapon Enhancement

Warning:

Direct absorption is not recommended.

Recommended: Study → Stabilize → Integrate

Kael nodded.

“That's what I thought.”

He stored the core inside the Space Ring.

For now, it could wait.

A Different Kind of Training

Kael returned to his temporary workshop.

The first thing he did was inspect his weapons.

PR-02.

HW-02.

AR-03V.

GL-02.

His Darven katana.

He placed everything on the workbench.

The battle with the Blackthorn Colossus had exposed several weaknesses.

Not in the weapons.

In their roles.

PR-02 had worked exactly as intended.

It could penetrate armor and exploit weaknesses.

HW-02 had delivered devastating concentrated force.

AR-03V remained useful against mobile targets.

But there was a problem.

Kael was carrying too many weapons.

And switching between them during battle cost time.

Against weaker monsters, that didn't matter.

Against Lords—

A fraction of a second could decide everything.

Kael stared at the weapons.

“I need faster transitions.”

He began training.

Rifle.

Katana.

Rifle.

Pistol.

Katana.

Heavy weapon.

Katana.

Pistol.

He repeated the sequence hundreds of times.

At first, his movements were clumsy.

Then smoother.

Then faster.

He didn't simply practice drawing weapons.

He practiced deciding why he was switching.

PR-02 for distance.

AR-03V for sustained fire.

Katana for close combat.

HW-02 for finishing blows.

M-02 for rapid movement and short-range pressure.

Every weapon had a purpose.

A weapon without a purpose was unnecessary weight.

The Territory Lord Core

Three days passed.

Kael finally took the Territory Lord Core out again.

This time, he had prepared.

He surrounded himself with metal markers.

The markers formed a circular array.

If anything went wrong—

He could sever the connection.

Kael placed the core in the center.

Then activated Metal Control.

Nothing happened.

He added mana.

The core pulsed.

[Territory Lord Core recognized.]

[Compatible energy detected.]

Kael carefully increased the flow.

A map appeared.

Not the entire territory.

Only the portion controlled by the Blackthorn Colossus.

Kael's eyes widened.

The core had preserved the monster's territorial information.

“It's a record.”

He began studying it.

Mana density.

Regeneration points.

Root pathways.

Territory boundaries.

Weak nodes.

Strong nodes.

Everything was recorded.

Kael smiled.

“This is more valuable than the monster's corpse.”

He didn't absorb the core.

Instead, he copied its information into a temporary magical diagram.

Then he discovered something unexpected.

One of the territory channels didn't belong to the Blackthorn Colossus.

It connected farther east.

Toward the Verdant Territory.

Kael's expression hardened.

The Territory Lords weren't isolated.

They were connected.

The forest was functioning like one enormous network.

And the Basilisk—

was sitting near the center of it.

The Missing Connection

Kael followed the channel through his map.

It eventually reached an area he had never explored.

The System displayed:

[Unknown Territory.]

[Information insufficient.]

Kael frowned.

He zoomed in using the magical map.

There.

A damaged node.

It wasn't destroyed.

It was—

cut.

Kael stared at it.

The shape looked strangely familiar.

A long, clean separation.

Not the result of claws.

Not roots.

Not natural decay.

Something had severed it deliberately.

Kael remembered the mountain.

The ancient missing guardian node.

The broken network.

The fourth path.

His fingers tightened.

“Someone has been cutting these connections.”

He immediately marked the location.

He wasn't going there yet.

Not without preparation.

The New Weapon

The discovery gave Kael another idea.

If the Territory Lord Core could reveal mana networks—

Then perhaps he could build a weapon around the same principle.

Not a weapon that destroyed.

A weapon that interrupted.

Kael spent several days experimenting.

He used mithril for conduction.

A small amount of the black-green material from the Territory Lord's core was placed inside a sealed chamber.

He didn't use the core itself.

Only a tiny residue left behind after the information-copying process.

The result was unstable.

But promising.

Kael built a small metal projectile.

It wasn't designed to penetrate armor.

It was designed to disrupt mana flow after impact.

He tested it against a small monster.

The projectile struck.

The monster's mana circulation faltered.

Only for a second.

Kael's eyes sharpened.

“One second is enough.”

The System responded.

[Blueprint created.]

Darven Mana-Breaker Round — Prototype

Function: Temporary mana disruption

Effect: Interrupts localized mana circulation

Limitations: Low physical damage; effectiveness depends on target's resistance

Kael nodded.

He didn't immediately upgrade his rifle.

Instead, he stored the ammunition.

A new tool.

For the right enemy.

The Second Lord

Kael spent the next week hunting.

Not Lords.

Their subordinates.

He needed information.

The eastern forest contained several Commander-level monsters.

Kael fought them one by one.

He didn't rush.

He studied their patterns.

One used poison.

Another relied on speed.

A third absorbed mana attacks.

Kael changed weapons depending on the problem.

Against the poison beast—

distance.

Against the speed beast—

PR-02 and traps.

Against the mana absorber—

physical attacks and the katana.

Every battle became a lesson.

His combat experience increased.

So did his understanding of his arsenal.

Then—

he found another Lord.

Kael crouched on a cliff overlooking a massive valley.

Below him stood an enormous creature.

A six-meter-long beast covered in gray metallic scales.

Four legs.

Two thick horns.

A jaw lined with sharp teeth.

The System activated.

[Target Identified.]

Name: Ironhide Tyrant

Level: 38

Grade: Lord

Potential: Overlord

Classification: Territory Lord

Traits:

• Ironhide Armor
• Kinetic Resistance
• Charge
• Mana Reinforcement
• Territory Authority

Kael remained completely still.

The Ironhide Tyrant was different from the Blackthorn Colossus.

No regeneration.

No roots.

No complicated mana network.

Its strength was simple.

Defense and impact.

It could survive direct attacks.

And its charge could crush a human instantly.

Kael watched it for nearly two hours.

The creature charged a stone pillar.

BOOM!

The pillar cracked.

Kael's eyes narrowed.

It wasn't merely strong.

The beast was storing kinetic energy in its body.

The more momentum it gained—

the stronger the impact became.

Kael smiled.

“So that's your trick.”

He didn't attack.

He left.

The Preparation Begins Again

Back at camp, Kael opened his workshop.

He didn't build a stronger rifle.

He didn't build a stronger heavy weapon.

Instead, he began designing something completely different.

A weapon that could punish momentum.

A weapon that didn't need to overpower the Tyrant.

It only needed to make its own strength work against it.

Kael drew several designs.

Hooks.

Cables.

Magnetic anchors.

Impact absorbers.

He rejected them one after another.

Too slow.

Too fragile.

Too difficult to deploy.

Then he looked at his Metal Control.

An idea formed.

He didn't need to carry the anchors.

He could create them from the ground itself.

Kael smiled.

“This fight won't be about stopping the charge.”

He looked toward the valley.

“It'll be about deciding where it ends.”

And for the first time since entering the forest—

Kael wasn't preparing to fight a stronger enemy.

He was preparing to make the enemy's greatest strength become its weakness.

Far away, something watched him from between the trees.

A pair of crimson eyes.

The Verdant Horned Basilisk.

It had felt the death of the Blackthorn Colossus.

And now—

it was watching Kael prepare for another Lord.

The Basilisk lowered its head.

For the first time, the ancient Territory Lord didn't see Kael as prey.

It saw him as something much more dangerous.

A hunter.

And somewhere beneath the mountain—

the sealed entity whispered:

“Two Lords…”

A pause.

“How many will he kill before he reaches fifty?”