The morning mist clung to the jagged ruins of sector D7, thick with the stench of scorched earth and blood long dried. Kairo's troops fanned out, formation tight, weapons drawn. His ghouls freashly armed and armoured, crept between the burnt remains of the uncanny silence.
Still no signs of the beast.
No roar, no movement. Nothing but the whistle of the wind scrapping against the bone-charred timber.
"Keep searching," Kairo ordered through the thread-bond relay. "Looks for any irregular heat, movement, or magical residue."
They didn't find the boss.
But they did find something–someone.
Tucked under a blackened archway of what had once been a home, curled up is a pool of soot and dried blood, was a small boy.
He was unconscious, skin pallid and lips cracked, wearing nothing but worn-torn cloths and a broken pendent that pulsed faintly with dull orange light.
"A survivor?" Shiri muttered, kneeling beside him. "He's alive. But barely."
The boy stirred—and the world erupted.
A shockwave of black heat burst from behind a crumbling building.
The boss had been watching all along.
It lunged.
Massive. Coiled. Lizard-like with jagged obsidian scales, and eyes that burning with liquid malice. Its claws tore through the front line like paper.
"Pull back! Evade formation!" Kairo yelled, instinct overriding panic.
The scavenger ghouls leapt, rolled, and reformed. Shiri scooped up the boy with practiced ease and fell back behind the temperory command barricades.
But the creature gave chase.
Kairo's HUD pulsed crimson.
[BOSS IDENTIFIED]
[Name: Karhux the Tracker]
[Tier 4—Predator-class]
[Status: Bloodlocked—tar gate: the unknown survivor]
[Warning: Tier exceeds compact rating–Retreat recommended]
Kario's throat dried. Tier 4. That wasn't a regional predictor—that was a death wish.
It was hunting the boy.
The formation splintered as karhux rampaged. Three ghouls were crushed under a swipe. One was burnt by the monster's noxious breath.
"Volley now!" Kairo snapped.
the four cannons, stationed behind their fallback perimeter, opened fire in sync.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The first shells struck karhux square in the flank. Fire and shrapnels explaoded over the beast's body. Chunks of scales shattered. It roared—more in irritation than pain.
[Cannon impact: Moderate damage dealt]
[Status effect: Bleed x2 -duration 4 seconds]
[Moral: rising]
The troops cheered. Shiri barked orders to reload.
But karhux didn't stop.
Its form blurred—then it dashed towards the cannons.
With one swipe, it crushed the frame of the cannon and sent the operator flying, body mangled beyond recognition.
"Not enough…" Kairo whispered, heart pounding.
He looked up at the creature.
It wasn't even trying yet.
[Karhux—rage unlocked]
[Ability activated]
[Mark of the apex—prey cannot escape]
Kairo gritted his teeth. His units were dying. His cannons were falling apart. Retreat was the rational choice—but the boy couldn't move in this state.
And more importantly—
"I'm tired of retreating."
Kairo scanned the battlefield.
His mind raced—terrain, weapon supplies, formation integrity—
And he saw it.
A broken mana-core storage unit from the village's old defence grid, Laying near a smashed forge. It was cracked and unstable but still pulsing with violet energy.
If charged, it could overload and detonate, with enough fore to blast a hole through a capital's wall. Mana cores were usually used for generating power and supporting magic, it was a stoke of good luck that it didn't explode earlier.
Kairo's eyes narrowed.
A plan formed.
He relayed a flurry of commands to his units—Shiri nodded, already understanding.
"Make it count, strategist."
As karhux barreled towards their position again, flames gushing out of its mouth, Kairo gave the command:
[New commande node: Explosive bait trap constructed]
[Detonation trigger: manual—3 second delay]
He would turn the village's last breath into karhux's first wound.