Chapter 43 – The First Predator
The ruined city descended into chaos.
The sky cracked open as colossal beasts emerged from spatial rifts.
Their roars shook entire districts.
Buildings that had stood for thousands of years collapsed under the pressure of their auras alone.
The System’s warning echoed again.
Emergency Event
Tower Predators Released
Remaining Participants:
1,023
Objective Updated:
Reach the Celestial Beacon.
Survival is no longer guaranteed.
Azrael stood atop the ruined cathedral.
His Origin Perception expanded to its maximum range.
The information flooding into his mind was overwhelming.
Nine major Predators.
Over three hundred lesser Predators.
Hundreds of participants.
Countless battles.
His temples throbbed.
He immediately reduced the range.
"You’re overextending." Astraeus warned.
"I know."
"A battle isn’t won by seeing everything."
"It’s won by seeing what matters."
Azrael nodded.
That was another lesson.
Information itself could become a burden.
A thunderous explosion erupted several kilometers away.
A pillar of crimson fire shot into the sky.
Another.
Golden light.
Then icy blue mana.
Different geniuses had already encountered the Predators.
Azrael wasn’t in a hurry.
Instead, he climbed to the highest remaining tower.
From there...
He studied the battlefield.
"Three minutes..."
"They’re running."
"No..."
"They’re being herded."
His pupils narrowed.
The Predators weren’t randomly attacking.
They were controlling movement.
Driving everyone toward the city’s center.
Someone...
Or something...
Wanted the survivors to gather.
A sharp whistle cut through the air.
Azrael leaned sideways.
A feather-thin blade grazed his cheek.
He didn’t look toward the attacker.
Instead, he observed the reflection on a shattered window beside him.
A woman in gray clothing.
Twin daggers.
No wings.
No visible aura.
An assassin.
She smiled.
"You noticed."
"I saw your reflection."
"No."
She shook her head.
"You predicted where I’d attack."
Azrael remained silent.
The assassin disappeared.
Not by becoming invisible.
She used the collapsing buildings as cover.
Each leap concealed her movements.
"Good..."
Astraeus whispered.
"She’s using terrain instead of mana."
The first dagger appeared from beneath the broken floor.
The second from above.
Crossfire.
Azrael twisted.
The upper dagger scraped across his shoulder armor.
The lower blade missed by less than an inch.
He didn’t chase her.
He waited.
Silence.
Wind.
Dust.
A loose stone rolled down the stairs.
There.
Azrael swung Astraeus behind him without turning.
CLANG!
Steel collided with steel.
The assassin’s eyes widened.
"Impossible."
Azrael didn’t answer.
Instead, he rotated his wrist.
Astraeus slid along her dagger.
Locking it.
Rather than forcing strength against strength...
He controlled the angle.
The assassin released her weapon instantly.
Good decision.
She still had another.
She kicked the abandoned dagger toward Azrael’s face.
Not to hit him.
To block his vision.
At the same moment—
She drew a third hidden blade from her boot.
"Triple concealment."
"Professional."
Azrael thought.
The kicked dagger spun through the air.
Instead of blocking it...
He ducked.
The flying blade continued past him.
Straight toward the assassin.
She instinctively leaned aside.
That tiny movement disrupted her attack.
Azrael stepped into her guard.
Not fast.
Efficient.
His shoulder struck her chest.
Her balance broke.
Astraeus stopped against her throat.
The assassin sighed.
"I lost."
She smiled before dissolving into light.
Participant Eliminated
Combat Evaluation:
96%
Observation:
Battlefield Awareness Increased.
Azrael looked around.
"That wasn’t a duel."
"That was survival."
Already...
The Tower was changing his mindset.
Suddenly—
ROOOOOAR!!
The roar shook the city.
Windows shattered.
Entire buildings collapsed.
A gigantic creature emerged from the avenue below.
It resembled a wolf.
Yet it stood nearly fifteen meters tall.
Its body was covered in black crystalline armor.
Six crimson eyes scanned the ruins.
Its claws left glowing scars in the stone streets.
The System identified it.
Lesser Predator
Name:
Void Fang
Rank:
SS
Traits:
Pack Hunter
Adaptive Instinct
Crystal Armor
Weakness:
Unknown
The creature stopped.
All six eyes turned upward.
Toward Azrael.
Their gazes met.
For several seconds...
Neither moved.
Then...
The wolf lowered its body.
Every muscle tightened.
"Incoming!"
Astraeus warned.
The Void Fang vanished.
Not metaphorically.
It accelerated so quickly that it left behind an afterimage.
Azrael barely crossed Astraeus in time.
BOOOOOOM!!
The impact blasted him through three walls.
Stone exploded outward.
His body rolled across the ruined street.
Pain surged through his arms.
"Heavy..."
Much heavier than Kaien.
The beast hadn’t used mana.
Pure physical strength.
The Void Fang didn’t continue attacking.
Instead...
It circled.
Like a real predator.
Looking for weakness.
Testing prey.
Not rushing.
Smart.
Very smart.
Azrael slowly stood.
He adjusted his breathing.
His right arm tingled.
One more direct clash like that...
And his muscles would begin tearing.
"Don’t meet its strength."
"Break its rhythm."
Astraeus advised.
The wolf attacked again.
This time...
Azrael didn’t block.
He sidestepped.
The claws missed.
Instead of counterattacking immediately...
He watched.
The beast’s front legs landed first.
Then the rear.
Its center of gravity shifted slightly left before every turn.
A habit.
The third charge came.
Azrael deliberately retreated toward a narrow street between ruined buildings.
The wolf followed without hesitation.
Perfect.
The wide avenue had favored the beast.
The narrow alley limited its movement.
The wolf lunged.
Azrael leaped onto a collapsed wall.
The beast crashed beneath him.
Unable to turn quickly inside the confined space.
Now.
Azrael dropped.
Astraeus struck—not the crystal armor—
But the exposed joint behind the front shoulder.
CLANG!
Sparks erupted.
The blade penetrated only a few centimeters.
Too shallow.
Still...
Dark silver energy seeped into the wound.
Eclipse Mark Applied
Target:
Void Fang
Analysis Initiated.
The wolf howled.
Its six eyes glowed brighter.
The crystal armor shifted.
Growing thicker around the injured joint.
Azrael’s expression changed.
"It adapted..."
"Of course it did."
Astraeus replied.
"It’s called an Adaptive Predator."
"Every successful attack becomes less effective the next time."
Azrael’s mind raced.
So brute force wouldn’t work.
Repeated attacks wouldn’t work.
He would have to change tactics constantly.
That...
Was far more interesting.
The wolf lunged again.
This time...
Azrael didn’t evade.
He ran directly toward it.
At the final moment, he planted one foot on the beast’s foreleg, used the momentum to vault over its head, and drove Astraeus downward—not to cut—but to wedge the blade between two crystal plates at the base of its neck.
The beast twisted violently.
Azrael released the sword instead of holding on.
Astraeus remained lodged for a heartbeat.
"Now!"
The spirit’s voice echoed.
Azrael clenched his fist.
The Eclipse Mark resonated.
Silver-black energy pulsed through the wound.
For the first time...
The crystal armor failed to regenerate immediately.
The beast staggered.
Not defeated.
Not even seriously injured.
But its adaptation had been interrupted.
Far above, Headmaster Orion’s eyes widened.
"He figured it out..."
Professor Duran looked over.
"What?"
"The Eclipse Mark..."
"It isn’t an attack."
"It’s a combat analysis ability."
"The longer he fights..."
"...the more completely he understands his opponent."
Orion smiled.
"And once he understands them..."
"He begins evolving faster than they can adapt."
The professors fell silent.
That wasn’t merely a powerful skill.
It was the embodiment of evolution itself.
And the battle with the Void Fang had only just begun.