Chapter 64 — The Network-Born

The deepest chamber erupted into motion.

Eleven dark figures poured from the fractured wall.

They weren't human.

They weren't beasts.

Their bodies seemed to be assembled from pieces of black metal, compressed mana, and something that looked almost like living shadow.

The System continued analyzing them.

[Unknown Network-Born Entity detected.]

[Level: ???]

[Grade: Commander+]

[Origin: Foreign Network.]

[Quantity: 11.]

Kael's eyes narrowed.

The first creature moved.

He fired.

BANG!

The shot struck its chest.

Its body split apart.

Two smaller figures crawled from the fracture.

Kael's expression changed.

“That's annoying.”

The Verdant Gale Warden spread its wings.

“Do not destroy them carelessly.”

Kael glanced at it.

“I noticed.”

The two smaller creatures merged again.

Their bodies reformed.

Eleven had become thirteen.

Then—

fifteen.

Kael's expression became serious.

“They multiply when damaged.”

“Not exactly.”

The Warden raised one wing.

A compressed wind blade swept through three of them.

Their bodies separated.

But only one new creature emerged.

The other fragments evaporated.

The Warden looked toward Kael.

“They reproduce according to the amount of foreign mana they retain.”

Kael immediately understood.

“So ordinary attacks are inefficient.”

“Yes.”

Kael lowered PR-02.

“Then I know what to use.”

He pulled out a magazine.

Darven Network-Breaker Rounds.

The Warden looked at the ammunition.

“Those?”

“I built them to disrupt foreign network structures.”

Kael loaded one.

“Let's see whether they work on something made from the network itself.”

The nearest creature lunged.

Kael fired.

BANG!

The Network-Breaker Round struck its chest.

The creature froze.

Black energy flickered across its body.

Then—

it collapsed.

No splitting.

No regeneration.

Nothing.

Kael's eyes sharpened.

“Confirmed.”

The Warden nodded.

“They are dependent on the foreign network.”

Kael smiled faintly.

“Then I built the right weapon.”

The remaining entities attacked simultaneously.

Three came from the front.

Two moved along the ceiling.

Four spread toward the sides.

And two—

ignored Kael completely.

They rushed toward the Ancient Core.

Kael's expression changed.

“Warden!”

“I see them.”

The Verdant Gale Warden launched upward.

Its wings created a compressed vortex.

The two entities were dragged sideways.

One struck the wall.

The second transformed its body into a thin black thread and slipped through the wind.

The Warden's eyes narrowed.

“It can phase.”

Kael activated Network Sense.

The creature disappeared from ordinary perception.

But the network revealed it.

A black thread.

Moving toward the Core.

Kael raised PR-02.

The target was behind the Ancient Core.

He couldn't fire.

One mistake—

and the Core could be damaged.

Kael switched tactics.

He recalled the katana.

The blade appeared directly above the creature.

SHING!

The entity was forced solid.

Kael fired.

BANG!

The Network-Breaker struck its back.

The creature collapsed.

The Warden glanced at him.

“You used the sword to force it into physical form.”

Kael nodded.

“It couldn't phase while the network was disrupted.”

“Good.”

“But now there are thirteen.”

The Warden looked at the chamber.

Kael was right.

The original thirteen—

including the fragments created earlier—

were reorganizing.

Their bodies were changing.

Armor plates formed.

Long limbs became shorter.

Several developed sharp metallic claws.

Others grew elongated arms.

They were adapting.

Kael's eyes sharpened.

“They're learning from our attacks.”

The Warden's expression became grim.

“Yes.”

Kael immediately stopped firing.

Instead, he studied their movement.

Eleven original bodies.

Two smaller derivatives.

The network-born creatures moved in groups.

That wasn't random.

Three protected the front.

Four were attacking.

Two were searching for the Core.

Two remained behind.

Command structure.

Kael smiled.

“They're dividing functions.”

The Warden looked at him.

“So?”

“They're not one mind.”

Kael's eyes moved across them.

“The network is distributing intelligence.”

The front attackers changed direction.

Kael continued:

“If I destroy the wrong ones first, the others can take over their role.”

The Warden's eyes narrowed.

“So what do you suggest?”

“Remove the ones directing movement.”

Kael activated Threat Analysis.

The System struggled to analyze them.

But Network Sense showed something else.

Four creatures had significantly stronger connections to the foreign network.

Kael marked them.

“Those four.”

The Warden spread its wings.

“Understood.”

Kael raised three weapons.

PR-02.

AR-03.

AR-04.

The three weapons separated.

He gave them different targets.

Darven Armament.

PR-02—

first controller.

AR-03—

second.

AR-04—

third.

Kael himself targeted the fourth.

The battle changed immediately.

BANG!

PR-02 struck the first.

The creature twisted.

The Network-Breaker missed its center.

It still hit the shoulder.

The foreign connection flickered.

Its movement became slower.

Kael fired again.

BANG!

The second hit the chest.

The creature collapsed.

One controller down.

AR-03 fired.

BANG-BANG-BANG!

The second controller raised a barrier.

The bullets struck.

Kael shifted the weapon's configuration.

The barrel compressed.

The mana output increased.

BOOM!

The barrier shattered.

The Warden followed with a gale strike.

The creature was thrown into the wall.

Two.

Kael rushed the third.

It attacked with two long metallic arms.

Kael blocked the first.

The second swept toward his side.

He ducked.

His katana struck the joint.

CLANG!

The creature's limb fractured.

It tried to regenerate.

Kael fired a Network-Breaker.

BANG!

The regeneration stopped.

Kael finished the exchange with a second sword strike.

The creature collapsed.

Three.

The fourth came for Kael.

It was different.

Faster.

More refined.

Its body was almost humanoid.

It carried a long black blade.

Kael raised his katana.

Their weapons collided.

CLANG!

The force drove Kael backward.

The entity attacked again.

Kael blocked.

Again.

Kael sidestepped.

Again.

Kael ducked.

The creature was learning his rhythm.

Kael smiled.

“You're better than the others.”

The entity didn't answer.

It struck again.

Kael let the blow push him backward.

Then—

he released the katana.

The blade disappeared.

The creature's weapon passed through the space where the sword had been.

Kael stepped inside its guard.

His fist struck the center of its chest.

The entity staggered.

Kael recalled the katana.

SHING!

The blade reappeared behind the creature.

The entity twisted.

But the Network-Breaker round had already been fired.

BANG!

The creature became solid.

Kael struck.

The black armor split.

The entity collapsed.

Four.

The remaining network-born creatures suddenly stopped.

Kael froze.

“They're retreating.”

The Warden looked at them.

“No.”

The creatures turned toward the Ancient Core.

“Then what—”

The creatures began merging.

Dark energy flowed between them.

The defeated bodies dissolved into black particles.

Those particles moved toward the remaining entities.

Kael's eyes widened.

“They're combining.”

The Warden spread its wings.

“Stop them.”

Kael raised his hand.

Metal Control.

A barrier formed around the Core.

The remaining entities slammed into it.

BOOM!

The barrier cracked.

Kael reinforced it.

BOOM!

The second impact cracked it further.

The Warden launched a gale.

The creatures were thrown backward.

But the black particles continued gathering.

Three bodies became two.

Two became one.

The final creature stood nearly three meters tall.

Its body had absorbed the others.

Its armor was denser.

Its limbs longer.

A single silver eye opened in the center of its face.

The System flashed.

[Foreign Network Entity evolution detected.]

[Classification: Network Predator]

[Level: ???]

[Grade: Commander+]

[Potential: Unknown]

[Foreign network synchronization: 91%]

Kael stared.

“It got stronger.”

The Warden's voice was quiet.

“It has absorbed the others.”

The Network Predator looked at Kael.

Then—

at the Ancient Core.

Then back at Kael.

It spoke.

“Administrator.”

Its voice was deeper than the others.

“You continue to interfere.”

Kael raised his rifle.

“You continue trying to reach something you don't understand.”

The creature tilted its head.

“Neither do you.”

Kael's expression hardened.

“Maybe.”

He loaded another Network-Breaker.

“But I don't need to understand everything to stop you.”

The creature smiled.

“Correct.”

Then it attacked.

The creature crossed the chamber almost instantly.

Kael barely raised AR-04.

CLANG!

The impact sent him backward.

The Predator followed.

Another strike.

Kael blocked.

A third.

Kael twisted.

The creature's arm transformed mid-swing.

The hand became a blade.

Kael barely moved.

The blade passed beside his face.

Kael fired point-blank.

BANG!

Network-Breaker.

The shot struck the chest.

The creature flickered.

But unlike the smaller entities—

it remained solid.

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“Higher resistance.”

The Predator attacked.

Kael dodged.

The creature's arm struck the floor.

The stone exploded.

Kael jumped onto a metal platform.

The Predator followed.

Kael switched to PR-02.

Penetrator round.

BANG!

The projectile struck the shoulder.

The armor cracked.

The Predator immediately adapted.

The damaged area transformed.

The crack closed.

Then hardened.

Kael's eyes sharpened.

“Adaptive defense.”

The Warden attacked from above.

A gale slammed into the Predator.

It planted both feet.

The wind pushed against it.

The creature's body changed.

It grew several metallic fins along its back.

The fins redirected the wind.

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“It can adapt to elemental attacks too.”

The Warden pulled back.

“Then we need another strategy.”

Kael looked toward the Ancient Core.

Then at the Predator.

Then at the three weapons floating around him.

He understood.

The creature's greatest strength—

its network connection—

was also its weakness.

But the Network-Breaker wasn't powerful enough to sever a connection this large.

So Kael needed to weaken it first.

Kael activated Network Sense.

The Predator's network connection appeared.

One central link.

Three supporting links.

Kael smiled.

“There are four.”

The Warden understood.

“Four connection points.”

“Yes.”

“If we disrupt them…”

“It can't maintain its current form.”

Kael pointed.

“Left shoulder.”

The Warden launched a gale.

The Predator blocked.

Kael fired.

BANG!

Network-Breaker.

The first connection flickered.

“First.”

The Predator roared.

Its body changed.

A second pair of arms appeared.

Kael stepped back.

It was becoming stronger.

But he had already committed.

“Second.”

AR-04 fired.

BANG!

The round struck the lower torso.

The second connection weakened.

The Predator charged.

Kael recalled the katana.

The creature's blade-arm struck.

CLANG!

Kael blocked.

The force pushed him backward.

He used the momentum.

He spun.

The katana struck the creature's leg.

SHING!

The blade didn't penetrate deeply.

But it disrupted the third connection.

The Predator stumbled.

The Warden attacked.

A concentrated wind blade struck the side of its neck.

The third connection flickered.

Three.

The creature roared.

All the black energy around it surged.

Kael's eyes widened.

The final connection was moving.

It was transferring.

The creature was trying to hide it.

Kael closed his eyes.

Network Sense.

Don't track the body.

Track the network.

There.

The final link was shifting between the creature's chest and head.

Kael smiled.

“Found you.”

He raised PR-02.

The final Network-Breaker was loaded.

The Predator charged.

Kael waited.

Three meters.

Two.

One.

He fired.

BANG!

The round struck the center of the chest.

The creature froze.

All four connections broke simultaneously.

The black energy collapsed.

The Predator's body began disintegrating.

Kael stepped backward.

The Warden prepared another attack.

But it wasn't necessary.

The creature fell apart into black particles.

The chamber became silent.

Kael immediately turned.

The Ancient Core remained untouched.

For the first time since the battle began—

it pulsed brightly.

THOOM.

Kael froze.

The System appeared.

[Foreign network intrusion eliminated.]

[Ancient Core stability: Maintained.]

[Administrator authority preserved.]

Kael exhaled.

The Warden lowered its wings.

“You succeeded.”

Kael nodded.

“But why did they come here?”

The answer appeared before the Warden could respond.

[Foreign Network Data recovered.]

Kael's eyes narrowed.

A small projection appeared.

A map.

Not of the current network.

Of something deeper.

Three black points.

One crimson point.

And below them—

a vast shape.

The ancient sealed chamber.

Kael's expression hardened.

The projection displayed one sentence:

[Foreign Network Objective: Establish three external access points.]

Then another:

[Current Progress: 2/3.]

Kael stared.

Two of three.

The two anchors already established.

The third had not been placed.

But—

the map highlighted a location.

Ashen Ridge.

Kael's eyes widened.

“The third anchor is there.”

The Warden nodded.

“The place you already destroyed.”

Kael frowned.

“No.”

He looked closer.

The marker wasn't on the surface.

It was beneath the Ashen territory.

Inside the ruins.

They had hidden the final component where the Ashen Warforged had once controlled the network.

Kael slowly clenched his fist.

“Then we know where we're going.”

The Warden looked at him.

“Before the enemy activates it.”

Kael nodded.

He turned toward the exit.

Then stopped.

A final System notification appeared.

[Bloodline Progress: 14.3% → 15%.]

Kael looked at his hand.

Another milestone.

Fifteen percent.

The crimson mark beneath his skin brightened.

But this time—

something else appeared.

[Darven Bloodline Memory: Threshold approaching.]

[Next Memory Threshold: 20%.]

Kael stared at the number.

Five percent remained.

Then the System added:

[Recovered Bloodline Fragment available.]

Kael's expression changed.

A small crimson memory fragment appeared before him.

He reached toward it.

The moment his finger touched it—

a voice echoed through his mind.

A voice from the distant past.

Not the first administrator.

Not his father.

Someone older.

“Before the Darven name…”

The memory cut off.

Kael opened his eyes.

Only one sentence had survived.

But it was enough to leave him unsettled.

Because the voice had continued with a name.

A name the System had not been able to translate.

A name that sounded nothing like Darven.

Kael looked toward the dark exit.

“Five more percent.”

Then he turned to the Warden.

“Let's go to Ashen Ridge.”

The Warden spread its wings.

Behind them, the Ancient Core pulsed once more.

And deep beneath the mountain—

the ancient sealed entity whispered:

“Fifteen.”

A pause.

Then—

“Now he is beginning to remember.”