Chapter 76 — The Hunter Becomes the Prey

Eight hundred meters.

The System updated again.

[Distance: 800 meters.]

Seven hundred.

Six hundred.

Five hundred.

Kael stood in the middle of the canyon.

He did not move.

His hand rested on the hilt of his katana.

His other hand held PR-02.

The canyon was silent.

Then—

BOOM!

A distant cliff exploded.

A black shape crashed through the stone.

Kael's eyes narrowed.

Another explosion.

Then another.

The creature wasn't following the canyon.

It was moving through the rock itself.

Kael immediately activated Network Sense.

Nothing.

Mana Detection.

A massive signature appeared underground.

Fast.

Very fast.

Kael stepped backward.

“Burrowing.”

The ground beneath him suddenly bulged.

Kael jumped.

BOOOOM!

The ground exploded.

A gigantic creature emerged.

Kael was thrown through the air.

He twisted.

Metal Control created a platform beneath his feet.

CLANG!

He landed.

Then stared.

The monster towered above the canyon floor.

Its body resembled a gigantic armored wolf, but its front half was covered in thick black crystal plates.

Four massive claws dug into the ground.

Long crystal spikes extended from its back.

Its head was narrow and predatory.

Two pale-blue eyes stared directly at Kael.

And along its jaw were several glowing lines.

The System activated.

[Voidfang Burrower]

Level: 46

Grade: Lord

Potential: Overlord

Classification: Unknown Variant

Traits:

Void Burrowing

Crystal Armor

Earth Sense

Predator's Instinct

Kinetic Reinforcement

Regeneration

Spatial Evasion

Territory Authority

Warning: Variant traits exceed standard species parameters.

Kael's expression became serious.

“Spatial Evasion too…”

The creature lowered its body.

Kael immediately realized something.

It wasn't simply a burrowing monster.

It could move through earth—

and partially evade attacks by shifting into a distorted spatial state.

That explained why Network Sense had failed.

The creature wasn't traveling through the normal network.

It was moving between layers of the terrain.

The Voidfang opened its mouth.

A deep vibration emerged.

Kael fired.

BANG!

PR-02 struck its chest.

The bullet bounced.

Kael's eyes narrowed.

Crystal Armor.

The Voidfang disappeared.

Kael's danger sense triggered.

Above.

He jumped.

The creature emerged from the canyon wall.

Its claws swept through the air.

Kael blocked with Metal Control.

CLANG!

The impact sent him flying.

He landed against a cliff.

The Voidfang charged again.

Kael rolled.

The creature slammed into the wall.

Stone exploded.

Kael fired at its exposed side.

BANG!

A tiny crack appeared.

The monster turned.

Kael fired again.

BANG!

The second bullet struck the same place.

The crack widened slightly.

Kael smiled.

“Focused damage.”

He moved.

The Voidfang followed.

Kael fired a third time at the same spot.

BANG!

The crystal armor cracked.

But the creature suddenly vanished.

Kael's eyes widened.

“Not yet.”

The monster disappeared into the ground.

Kael immediately moved toward open terrain.

He didn't want to stand above it.

The canyon floor shook.

Once.

Twice.

Then—

multiple tremors.

Kael frowned.

“Which one?”

His danger sense triggered from three directions simultaneously.

Three false movements.

Then the real attack.

The ground beneath Kael exploded.

He jumped.

The Voidfang appeared.

Its claws swept upward.

Kael blocked.

The force launched him higher.

The creature followed.

It opened its mouth.

Blue energy gathered.

Kael's eyes widened.

He twisted in midair.

A beam shot past him.

BOOM!

The canyon wall behind him was carved apart.

Kael landed badly.

The Voidfang was already there.

Kael crossed his arms.

Metal reinforced his body.

The creature struck.

BOOM!

Kael was thrown backward.

He rolled several times.

His arms were numb.

The monster didn't give him time.

Another charge.

Kael activated Darven Armament.

AR-04 appeared in his hand.

He fired a burst.

BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG!

The bullets struck its damaged side.

The crystal fractured further.

The Voidfang roared.

Kael immediately switched to physical ammunition.

It charged.

Kael ran toward it.

The distance disappeared.

The creature swung its claw.

Kael ducked.

He fired at point-blank range.

BANG!

The round struck the cracked armor.

The creature stumbled.

Kael drew the katana.

SLASH!

The cracked crystal finally broke.

A section of armor fell away.

Kael saw flesh beneath it.

He struck again.

The Voidfang twisted.

A crystal spike from its back struck toward him.

Kael blocked.

CLANG!

The spike drove him backward.

Another came.

Kael jumped.

A third followed.

He turned.

Fourth.

He barely avoided it.

The monster was using its back spikes as weapons.

Kael retreated.

“It's not just defensive.”

The crystal armor was offensive too.

He needed a different angle.

The Voidfang disappeared.

Kael stopped moving.

He listened.

Not to sound.

To vibration.

The Earth Sense trait meant the creature could detect movement through the ground.

So Kael deliberately changed how he moved.

He stepped lightly.

Then stopped.

The Voidfang emerged from beneath the wrong position.

Kael smiled.

“Earth Sense.”

He understood.

It wasn't reading mana.

It was reading vibration.

Kael immediately formed metal platforms above the ground.

He stepped onto the first.

Then the second.

Then the third.

The Voidfang attacked the ground beneath him.

Nothing.

Kael jumped from platform to platform.

The monster began tracking him.

But its attacks became slightly less accurate.

Kael smiled.

“You can't sense me properly.”

The Voidfang roared.

It jumped.

Kael fired.

BANG!

The bullet struck its exposed side.

The monster twisted.

Kael fired again.

BANG!

Another.

The Voidfang crashed to the ground.

Kael landed.

He had learned its first major weakness.

Its Earth Sense was powerful—

but only while it had direct contact with the ground.

He could take that away.

But he couldn't keep floating forever.

Mana was limited.

And the Voidfang had another ability.

Spatial Evasion.

Kael needed to understand that one.

He fired another round.

The creature vanished.

The bullet passed through empty space.

It reappeared several meters away.

Kael narrowed his eyes.

“What exactly are you doing?”

The System provided partial information.

[Spatial Evasion: target temporarily shifts its physical presence across a short spatial layer.]

Kael's eyes sharpened.

“Short distance.”

He immediately tested it.

He fired three rounds.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The Voidfang shifted around the first.

The second.

But the third—

clipped its shoulder.

Kael smiled.

“You have a limit.”

The creature snarled.

Kael fired again.

This time he didn't aim at the monster.

He fired at the ground around it.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Metal Disruption spread.

The spatial layer distorted.

The Voidfang's movement flickered.

Kael understood.

“Your spatial movement needs stable mana.”

He raised PR-02.

A Mana-Breaker round chambered.

The monster charged.

Kael waited.

Ten meters.

Eight.

Six.

The creature disappeared.

Kael fired at the place where it would reappear.

BANG!

The Mana-Breaker round struck its shoulder the moment it returned.

The creature staggered.

Kael rushed in.

Katana.

SLASH!

Shoulder.

SLASH!

Neck.

SLASH!

Cracked side.

The Voidfang roared and swung its tail.

Kael ducked.

The tail shattered several metal platforms.

The monster's body spun.

Crystal spikes came toward him.

Kael blocked one.

Second.

Third.

Fourth.

The fifth struck his side.

Kael was thrown into the canyon wall.

He struggled to breathe.

The Voidfang charged.

Kael rolled.

The monster crashed into the wall.

Kael looked at the cracked armor.

A thought appeared.

He had been attacking the same side.

But the armor kept thickening.

The creature was adapting.

He needed another attack point.

Kael looked at its body.

Head.

Shoulder.

Chest.

Rear.

Underbelly.

The crystal armor was thicker on top.

The underside was far less protected.

But getting underneath was nearly impossible.

Unless—

Kael looked at the canyon.

There was a narrow gap between two rock formations.

He smiled.

A trap.

He immediately ran toward it.

The Voidfang chased.

Kael fired twice while retreating.

BANG! BANG!

The creature followed.

Exactly as he expected.

Kael entered the narrow canyon.

The Voidfang charged after him.

Its shoulders scraped the stone.

It was too large.

Its movements slowed.

Kael turned.

The creature roared.

Kael activated Metal Control.

Metal spikes erupted from both walls.

The Voidfang smashed through them.

Kael expected that.

He wasn't trying to hold it.

He was forcing its head downward.

The creature lowered itself to attack.

Kael jumped.

He slid beneath its chest.

The underside was exposed.

Kael's eyes widened.

There.

A dark circular mark.

Its core wasn't inside the chest.

It was underneath.

Kael reached for PR-02.

The Voidfang's claws struck toward him.

Kael rolled.

The claws missed.

He fired.

BANG!

The bullet struck the underside.

The creature screamed.

Kael fired again.

BANG!

A crack appeared.

The Voidfang violently thrashed.

Kael was thrown out of the passage.

The creature followed.

Furious.

Its entire body began glowing blue.

Kael's expression changed.

The energy concentration was increasing rapidly.

The System warned him.

[Voidfang Burrower is initiating spatial overload.]

[Warning.]

[Predicted area of effect: extensive.]

Kael's eyes widened.

It was going to use its space-shifting ability offensively.

The canyon began distorting.

Objects appeared slightly displaced.

A stone that had been ten meters away suddenly appeared three meters closer.

The ground shifted.

Kael's vision blurred.

“Spatial distortion…”

He couldn't simply dodge.

The entire battlefield was becoming unstable.

The Voidfang vanished.

Kael didn't know where it was.

His danger sense triggered.

Front.

Nothing.

Behind.

Nothing.

Above.

Nothing.

Below—

Kael jumped.

The monster erupted from the ground.

Kael was too late.

Its body struck him.

He flew across the canyon.

He landed near the cliff wall.

The Voidfang appeared above him.

Its jaws opened.

Blue energy gathered.

Kael's expression changed.

He had only seconds.

He reached into his Space Ring.

GL-02.

He fired.

BOOM!

The grenade struck the creature's jaw.

Its head moved.

The energy beam fired sideways.

BOOM!

The canyon wall exploded.

Kael rolled.

He pulled PR-02.

Mana-Breaker.

BANG!

The round struck the underside again.

The spatial distortion flickered.

Kael's eyes sharpened.

The monster was using its spatial energy to protect the core.

Interrupting the core disrupted the entire ability.

He had found the central weakness.

But the Voidfang had also found his.

It realized he was targeting the core.

The monster suddenly changed tactics.

Instead of attacking Kael—

it began destroying the canyon.

One wall.

Then another.

Rock collapsed everywhere.

Kael's escape routes disappeared.

The monster was intentionally removing the terrain Kael was using to limit its movement.

Kael stared.

It was learning.

Fast.

“Damn.”

The canyon became smaller.

The Voidfang charged.

Kael blocked.

CLANG!

He was thrown backward.

He landed.

Another attack.

He dodged.

Another.

He blocked.

Another.

The monster was forcing him toward open ground.

Exactly where it had the advantage.

Kael realized it.

“You're herding me.”

The creature roared.

Kael smiled.

“Fine.”

He stopped retreating.

He stood directly in front of it.

The Voidfang charged.

Kael waited.

Five meters.

Three.

Two.

At the last possible second—

he activated Darven Armament.

Metal fragments erupted from his armor.

They wrapped around the creature's foreleg.

Kael pulled.

The Voidfang stumbled.

Kael stepped inside.

Katana.

One strike.

SLASH!

The neck.

The creature twisted.

Kael ducked.

Second strike.

SLASH!

The underside.

The creature roared.

Kael fired PR-02.

BANG!

Core.

The Voidfang staggered.

But it didn't fall.

Instead—

it entered spatial evasion.

Its body flickered.

Kael's bullet passed through.

The creature reappeared behind him.

Its claw came down.

Kael blocked.

His arms shook.

The monster pushed.

Kael's feet slid.

He had no strength left to win a direct contest.

Then he noticed something.

Every time the Voidfang shifted spatially—

the damaged core flickered.

It couldn't perfectly protect both.

Core protection.

Spatial movement.

It had to choose.

Kael smiled.

“So I just need to force you to choose.”

He lowered the katana.

The creature attacked.

Kael moved sideways.

Not backward.

Sideways.

He made himself look exposed.

The Voidfang lunged.

Kael intentionally allowed it to close.

The jaws opened.

Blue energy gathered.

Kael jumped toward the creature instead of away.

He landed on its head.

The monster shook violently.

Kael grabbed a crystal spike.

He held on.

Then drove his katana downward.

SLASH!

Straight into the damaged armor.

The Voidfang roared.

Spatial Evasion activated.

Kael expected it.

He fired PR-02 directly into the core.

BANG!

Mana-Breaker.

The spatial shift failed.

For a single moment—

the monster became completely solid.

Kael drove the katana deeper.

The creature thrashed.

He nearly fell.

It twisted.

Kael grabbed another spike.

The Voidfang tried to throw him off.

Kael activated Metal Control.

Metal wrapped around his legs.

He anchored himself.

The creature slammed into the canyon wall.

BOOM!

Kael's body shook.

The monster tried again.

Another impact.

BOOM!

Kael's vision blurred.

But he refused to release the weapon.

The core was directly beneath him.

He needed one final attack.

The Voidfang tried Spatial Evasion again.

Kael used the last of his high-grade Mana-Breaker ammunition.

He pressed the rifle directly against the cracked core.

The creature's eyes widened.

Kael whispered,

“You learned from me.”

He pulled the trigger.

BANG!

The Mana-Breaker round exploded into the core.

The Voidfang froze.

The blue energy around its body vanished.

The crystal armor cracked.

One crack.

Then another.

Then dozens.

The creature collapsed.

Kael jumped away.

The enormous body crashed onto the canyon floor.

Dust filled the air.

Silence returned.

Kael stood breathing heavily.

The System appeared.

[Voidfang Burrower defeated.]

[Unknown Variant eliminated.]

[Territory Lord defeated.]

[Territory Core obtained.]

[Variant Core obtained.]

[Experience acquired.]

Kael waited.

Then—

[Level Up.]

[Level 38 reached.]

Kael sat down.

He looked at the shattered remains of the battlefield.

The battle had been brutal.

Not because the monster simply possessed overwhelming strength.

Because it kept learning.

Every strategy Kael used became less effective.

Every advantage had to be replaced.

That was exactly the kind of enemy he needed.

Kael opened his status.

Five points.

He thought about the battle.

He had relied heavily on movement.

His Strength still lagged behind his Agility.

But his Vitality also remained important.

He allocated:

+2 Strength

+1 Agility

+1 Vitality

+1 Intelligence

[Strength: 37]

[Agility: 46]

[Vitality: 42]

[Intelligence: 41]

[Mana: 42]

Kael closed the window.

Then he looked at his weapons.

PR-02's remaining high-grade ammunition was almost gone.

AR-04 had suffered more damage.

GL-02 was nearly empty.

HW-02 was unusable.

His katana remained intact.

Kael looked toward the fallen Voidfang.

The crystal armor caught his attention.

It was incredibly dense.

Extremely durable.

And it had spatial resonance.

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“This could become a weapon material.”

He placed a fragment into his Space Ring.

Then another.

Then the damaged core.

The System suddenly appeared again.

[Rare material acquired.]

[Void Crystal Fragment.]

[Properties:]

Spatial Stability

High Mana Conductivity

Extreme Hardness

Compatibility with Metal Control: High

Potential weapon applications detected.

Kael smiled.

“Exactly what I needed.”

He turned toward the remaining territories.

Two signatures remained before the Level 48 target.

Both Level 46.

Kael looked at his notebook.

Eight levels remained until Level 46.

Ten until 48.

Twelve until 50.

The distance felt smaller now.

But the enemies were becoming increasingly dangerous.

Kael looked at the sky.

The sun was beginning to set.

He knew he couldn't continue indefinitely without resting.

He had fought three Lord-class monsters in a relatively short period.

His body was exhausted.

His weapons needed repairs.

His ammunition needed replenishing.

And he had no intention of walking into the next battle half-prepared.

Kael found a sheltered cavern inside the canyon.

He placed a barrier around its entrance.

Then opened his Space Ring.

Materials spread across the floor.

Mithril.

Adamantite.

Ashen metals.

Void Crystal.

Three Lord cores.

Several damaged weapons.

Kael stared at everything.

A new idea began forming.

Not a replacement for PR-02.

Not another ordinary rifle.

Something different.

A weapon designed around his biggest lesson from the past few battles.

Enemies adapted to fixed attacks.

So his next weapon shouldn't have one attack pattern.

It needed to change.

Kael opened his father's engineering notes.

He began writing.

Project: Variable Darven Armament

Core principle: Adaptive weapon configuration.

Primary material: Void Crystal.

Secondary material: Adamantite.

Mana conductor: Mithril.

Required functions:

Physical ammunition

Mana disruption

Armor penetration

Variable output

Close-range configuration

Long-range configuration

Problem: Current Darven Armament bond capacity insufficient.

Kael stopped.

He looked at his three existing bonds.

PR-02.

AR-03V.

AR-04.

He couldn't bond another weapon.

Not yet.

The idea was good.

But the System would need to provide the solution.

Kael closed the notebook.

“Later.”

He needed to reach the next bloodline threshold.

Level 40.

Only two levels away.

And somewhere beyond it—

the sealed Darven inheritance archive was waiting.

Kael leaned back against the cavern wall.

He closed his eyes.

But before sleep came—

his Network Sense suddenly activated.

Kael's eyes opened.

One enormous signature.

Then another.

The remaining Level 46 monsters had moved.

They were no longer staying inside their territories.

Both were traveling.

Toward him.

Kael slowly stood.

The System appeared.

[Warning.]

[Two high-level Territory Lords approaching.]

[Target 1: Level 46.]

[Target 2: Level 46.]

[Distance: 3.2 kilometers.]

[Hostile intent detected.]

Kael stared at the message.

Two.

At once.

His damaged weapons lay around him.

His body was still exhausted.

He had planned to rest.

But the enemies had made the decision for him.

Kael picked up his katana.

A smile slowly appeared.

“Then I'll hunt both.”

Outside the cavern—

the ground began to shake.

And two ancient roars echoed through the night.

The next battle would not be a hunt.

It would be a war.