Kara clenched her teeth. She couldn't fight alone. If she wanted to contain the beast, she had to force it into mistakes—not let it gain ground. Emily was the key piece. The S-Omega knew it… and that made it far more dangerous.
"Now, Emily!" Kara ordered, covering her.
Then Dayana spoke, her voice strained, her hands bloodied from flaying lesser beasts.
"It's not hunting bodies," she said. "It's hunting territory. We're the ones invading… and that's why it wants to destroy us."
Emily stared at the monster, horrified.
"Then… what about the city?"
"They're just obstacles within its hunting ground," Dayana replied. "As long as the city stands, its territory isn't complete. It already considers all of this its own."
The S-Omega smiled with its eyes, like a predator weighing its prey. Its shadows multiplied into blurred reflections, striking from shifting angles. The hunters were forced to move in perfect synchronization.
The clash raged on—violent, relentless.
Kara took a blow she couldn't avoid. She rolled several meters, blood on her jaw, yet forced herself back to her feet. Emily unleashed a beam of pure light that drove the monster back, though it never lost its feline composure.
Albert covered the flanks. Dayana bled deliberately, controlling several fallen beasts. Laura was kept far from the killing line.
Everything was measured survival.
Lusian blocked another strike meant for Emily—and dropped to one knee. His blood vibrated… something within him was answering.
Then Elizabeth emerged from the soldiers' ranks, mounted on Thunder.
She felt something strange.
She could reach it.
Slowly, she advanced—nearly to Lusian's side—and, without fully understanding why, she opened her mind.
Not to command…
But to warn.
"Stop," she said, her voice cold as frost, "or you will die…"
The S-Omega sniffed the air and paused—just for a moment.
It wasn't a boundary imposed.Not a silent command.
It was a limit.
Dense. Dangerous. Charged with consequence.
There was no authority there.
Only risk.
Then the voice echoed inside its mind—low, precise, as if the world itself had spoken:
"Here is where what you can hunt without consequence ends.Beyond this… the night will no longer be your ally."
The monster did not retreat.
But it did not advance.
Kara gasped, bracing herself to stay upright.
"I can beat it!" she shouted. "Keep going—!"
The battle wasn't over…
But the ground had finally shifted.
The forest held its breath. Even Emily's light seemed to pulse, like a heart marking the rhythm of the fight. The Devourer watched them—measuring, calculating…
And the clash had only just begun.
The Devourer growled, a deep sound that rippled through roots and trunks. It was no mindless beast—its movements became sharper, more deliberate. There was respect… but also threat. A strategist. A predator. A thinker.
Lusian rose with effort, his expression hard despite the pain. Facing an enemy that wielded the same element placed him at a clear disadvantage. Fighting with only physical strength—while protecting others—was the worst possible scenario.
Still, there was no alternative.
He stepped forward again.
Each step cut through the tension like an unseen blade. His dark aura emerged slowly—not as an explosion, but as a tide seeping into the ground, spreading across the clearing, claiming space without violence.
"Humans…" the feline growled."Why do you invade my territory?"
Lusian stopped a few meters away. He did not raise his voice.
"Your territory ends where the city begins," he said firmly."That boundary will be yours. No one will cross it without your permission…and you will not cross into the people's lands."
The Devourer inhaled, tilting its head.
The tension became absolute.
It did not want to admit it—but the blows from the red-haired warrior had pushed it to its limits. If this continued, it would have to retreat.
There was no doubt.
No fear.
Only recognition.
"Eldora will not be your den," Elizabeth added, her voice slipping directly into the creature's mind."If you accept a pact, we will spare your life."
The monster answered with a low, resonant roar that shook the roots beneath them.
The agreement was sealed.
No servitude.No obedience.
Protection of territory.Indifference toward humans.
Ancient runes flared briefly in the air… then vanished.
A promise—simple, brutal, clear:
If it was not attacked, it would not attack.
Emily whispered, still in disbelief:
"We're… not killing it?"
"No," Lusian replied."We're hiring it."
The faint smile that followed was tired, ironic… and completely satisfied.
Laura Valentine lowered her spear.
Her father had died defending Eldora—and now a monster would guard its borders.
There was no fear in her eyes.
Only a fierce, unyielding hope.
The S-Omega remained within the shadows, watching. Evaluating.
Not human.Not noble.Not loyal.
Only a creature that keeps its word.
The forest breathed again.
There was no victory in blood this time.The battle was over.
And the city had gained a guardian—
one that neither politicsnor warcould ever betray.
That was enough.
Emily could barely stand—armor broken, skin scorched by dark mana.Lusian, three ribs fractured, remained in front of her, still ready to fight.Kara waited, tense, for the slightest misstep.Albert and Dayana guarded Laura, who held her breath—this was the first time she had seen a creature that did not fear humans.
Dayana studied the monster with absolute focus.
"It's evaluating," she whispered. "Not threatening—defining. It wants hierarchy. Recognition."
The S-Omega lowered its head and scratched the ground with one claw.
It accepted.
Eldora had just gained a guardian.
And if anyone ever crossed its boundary…
There would be no negotiation.
Only the hunt.