Chapter 55: Predator's Patience
The tunnel stretched black, walls slick with faint veins of glowing algae. Here and there a bud pulsed open, shedding weak light before closing again. The gloom didn't matter, bacuse one of them burned constantly. Fire rolled over his hands, painting the rocks in shifting red.
At the lead, the youth's eyes glowed as sharp as his fists.
"Remember the deal. Extras are mine."
The rag-wrapped man behind him sighed, rolling his eyes.
"We already agreed."
The old woman walked next, hands folded neat behind her back, eyes buried in wrinkles. She tilted her head, voice dry.
"Such spirit. I'll be sure to commend your father next time I see him."
"Tch."
Nox spat.
"Fuck the old man. Next time you see him, he just might be a corpse."
Flames surged up his arms as he laughed.
"Careful, Nox."
The armored giant brought up the rear, hammer resting heavy across his shoulders. His grin was pure ridicule.
"That 'old man' cleared a B-rank solo last week. You won't be replacing him."
Nox's smile sharpened.
"Who said it'd be me?"
"You talk too much..."
The ragged one muttered, voice flat.
"Bad for your health."
Nox turned, firelight flicking across his sneer.
"You trying to piss me off too? What's wrong with you relics—every one of you have got shards stuck up your—"
"We're here."
The old woman's voice sliced the tension. Ahead, a faint red glow licked the tunnel walls.
"Jackle, front if you don't mind."
Her tone brooked no argument.
"Our healer has enough work without Nox leading us into another mess."
The youth bristled, but the logic stuck. The giant stepped forward, hammer in both hands now, aura spilling green and heavy across the stone as he took point.
Nox stalked close behind Jackle, the ragged man trailing him, then the old woman. Silence fell as they readied themselves, each lost in preparation.
The tunnel's faint glow sharpened into a steady red pulse. When the opening became clearer, and Nox caught sight of its source, his grin split wide. He almost shouted.
A hand clamped his shoulder. The ragged man hissed.
"Shhh."
"But that's Fae-fire! Red Fae—"
"Shut up!"
The old woman's whisper hit like a whip. For the first time since they'd entered, her voice cut sharp with anger. Even Jackle stiffened, the tired man straightened.
Her clouded eyes fixed on the glow, unblinking. Then, a small flinch. A long, quiet breath.
"What is it?"
Jackle asked. His jaw clenched until her reply landed.
"Scorchclaw Sentinels."
The words drained the tunnel.
Jackle stepped forward, hammer rising. His voice now carried a weight none of them questioned.
"How many?"
"Two."
He ground his teeth.
"Can you hold one?"
The old woman exhaled, long and sharp, then turned to Nox.
"Will you compensate me for losses?"
"Fifty percent."
"Ninety."
His lip curled.
"Sixty!"
"Eighty. That's final. This encounter falls beyond our original agreement."
The ragged man chuckled, voice thin.
"She's right. I'll take fifty, if you throw in an introduction to your father."
"You—fuck—fine! Eighty and fifty. And introductions."
The old woman smiled. The ragged man yawned. Jackle stepped up, hammer held in both hands.
"Deal's struck. Baba-Yaga holds one. Dox and I take the other. Cloud supports. Ready?"
Fire flared, licking up Nox's arms, blasting the tunnel bright as day for a heartbeat. The heat rolled, aura pressing heavy against stone.
But his eyes betrayed him—darting too quick, never holding. His jaw worked. Fingers twitched even as his fists burned steady.
For all the fire he wore, something inside him was simmering.
The tunnel broke open into a chamber the size of a buried station. Long and narrow, the floor still carried the skeleton of steel rails. Railcars lay twisted, collapsed, stacked into crooked hills, their metal husks overgrown with moss and roots. The place reeked of rust and rot, the bones of a world that had died twice.
The tunnel mouth jutted high above the floor. Across the chamber, perched atop a mountain of derailed cars, red Fae-fire writhed like a beacon, burning steady and radiading mana.
Jackle raised a hand before the descent. His jaw worked as he looked to the old woman.
"Anything else besides the two?"
Her eyes narrowed.
"Just my children."
"Make certain we know immediately if that changes, and Nox—kill it fast."
Nox stayed quiet for a moment, his face twitching between focus and irritation. After a final burst of flame, he opened his mouth to respond—but Jackle cut him off.
"Brat. Don't hold back. We already know. You'll just owe me, use your real power."
Nox's eyes narrowed. His voice came thin, forced calm.
"You're high, aren't you? Digi-stixx rotting your brain? My skill set just doesn't play well with things already on fire."
"Fae flesh burns easily to hellfire."
Baba-Yaga's words fell cold. Cloud muttered from behind.
"Stop stalling..."
Nox stiffened.
"How—?"
Jackle chuckled, turning his back.
"You used it every fight. Think we didn't notice? Amateur."
Then he dropped, hammer first. Baba-Yaga brushed past Nox, patting his shoulder as she followed.
"Your father should've taught you better. Another topic I'll have to bring up with him."
She leapt.
Cloud sighed and stepped off without a word.
Alone at the ledge, Nox ground his teeth, fire flaring hot and restless across his arms. His jaw clenched until the words bled out.
"Fuck it. They wouldn't dare touch me anyway."
The flames blackened. Blood-red fire poured down his hands, twisting into something heavier than heat as he jumped.
They hit the ground hard and kept moving. Nox cursed under his breath, his steps still loud against the stone.
The sound grated. The others moved silent; he moved clumsy. Jackle slowed, jaw tight, letting the rookie settle before his noise got them killed.
The heat came next. It thickened with every step, crawling over skin, stinging eyes. Jackle felt it first, and with it came the weight in his chest. He'd fought in fire before, but this was different. This heat carried hunger.
'Fae-fire...if I could sell it, I'd finish leveling without ever bleeding again. But that hag won't help, the bum won't either. Dammit. Maybe I can at least use that favor to help with the map...I'll have to create a moment to talk to him...if he survives.'
They crept on. The tunnel opened wide into the chamber, and slowly, two shapes burned into view. Their flames showed first, bleeding through branches without leaving ash, writhing around trunks like snakes. Heat pressed against lungs, choking, heavy as chains.
Scorchclaw Sentinels. Not bosses. Not subs. Worse. Monsters that erased parties before they ever saw them coming. The strongest mobs of a Fae Dungeon.
The chamber floor glowed with a slow, burning pulse. Two Scorchclaw Sentinels stalked the edges of the Fae-fire, their hulking frames blotting out the red glow each time they passed. Black fur matted against skin, the rest of them drowned in crawling tongues of flame.
Their bear-like bodies pulled at the fire itself. Bipedal, each step dragged sparks upward, every movement tugged streams of red from the blaze. The flames bent toward them, tearing loose in thin licks and stitching themselves into the inferno running along their spines.
Their maws split wide, teeth bared in jagged walls, hot spit hissing as it hit the stone. Eyes burned faint violet, tracking every corner of the chamber, never still. Shoulders rolled with muscle heavy enough to topple railcars, claws scraping deep grooves into steel as they circled their nest.
No sound but the low crack of their fire and the grind of their claws. Everything else stayed quiet—like even the dungeon was waiting to see who they'd burn next.
Jackle flicked open his menu, eyes narrowing as numbers lined across his vision. He sent the order through their link, voice sharp and iron-clad in their heads.
'We take the weaker one. Female's only level twenty-five—she'll fold faster. Baba, leash the male. Keep him close to the fire. The male won't leave it if it's threatened.'
Agreement pulsed back, silent and grim. Weapons tightened in hands.
They waited, breaths low, the chamber's heat pressing into their skin. When the Sentinels circled into position, Jackle broke the silence.
Green light split from his body as he hurled himself forward. His aura erupted like a shockwave.
"Dragon's Roar!"
The single-target skill tore loose, his voice warped into the scream of something ancient. The sound hammered through the chamber, a single cone of hate slamming into the female.
Both beasts reacted in an instant. The male bellowed back, its roar shaking loose stones from the ceiling. The female shrieked, driven rabid by the taunt, claws tearing the ground as she charged.
And Baba-Yaga finally opened her eyes.
"Come, children. Hold that beast."
Her sockets split wide as two black torrents poured out, writhing, knotting, unraveling into centipedes thicker than men. Hundreds of legs unfurled with chitinous clicks as the pair launched forward. They slammed into the male, wrapping and biting, their armored bodies constricting like chains of living blades.
"Don't stray far."
She called back, calm as breath. Jackle and Nox were already sprinting deeper, dragging the female off.
Cloud sighed where he stood between the two fights, his voice a low rasp.
"Fifty percent. Should've asked for more..."
Mist bled from his skin, thick and heavy. Under magnification, each droplet would have been pure mana, condensed and writhing.
"Life Essence."
The words cracked the air. His aura flared, and the mist spread, blanketing the chamber in a heartbeat. The second it touched his allies, it clung to them, thin films coating skin and weapon, bolstering flesh and bone.
"Nox! Grab agro!"
The order hit, and Nox threw both hands forward, voice cracking with force.
"Hellfire Inferno!"
Heat collapsed into his palms, black-red light coiling tight, until the air itself screamed. It detonated. A guttural roar tore from the skill as a beam of hellfire ripped toward the female Sentinel.
She didn't flinch—she ignited. Her own flames flared, scorching everything in her path. Foliage curled into ash before she even touched it. The beam closed, and with a shriek that shook the chamber she slammed her front paws down, body bursting into a bonfire of mana.
The collision erupted in a storm of fire and stone.
Jackle waded straight into the blast. His body swelled, armor fusing into flesh, plates cracking as muscle stacked higher. Ten feet of raw bulk, scales splitting his skin, hammer burning green.
"Suppression fire! Pin her down!"
He charged through the smoke, bellowing.
"I'll hold her—take agro back before she tears free!"
The battlefield split.
The male Sentinel stayed rooted, every roar centered on the Fae-fire. Baba-Yaga's centipedes writhed around it, segments blistering, legs snapping, but they held. The beast roasted them alive as it fought, and still they clung.
Baba's mouth curled. Her dress split at the seams as a crawling tide poured out—hundreds, then thousands of insects skittering over the stone, joining the swarm, piling onto the Sentinel's hide.
Cloud stood buried in mist, pots clattering at his feet. He inhaled one, hands trembling but steady enough to flood Baba's summons with healing. Their burns closed, their shells knit, and they clamped tighter.
The chamber rang with fire, steel, screams. The stench of cooked flesh choked every breath.
All of them focused. None of them aware.
None of them noticed the shadows sprawled high in the ceiling, watching.
Bloodlit teeth flashed in the dark.
'If we time it right, I can kill all of them.'
It took everything inside Azakh-Tur to hold. Every ounce of him wanted to join the battle, revel in the carnage. But it wasn't time...
Not yet.