Chapter 170:The end.
Silver steadied his breathing. The throbbing pain behind his eyes had grown stronger.
Every use of Space Slash and Short-Step chipped away at his mental stamina, and he could already feel the familiar fog trying to creep into his thoughts.
A translucent notification flashed across his vision.
[Warning]
{Mental fatigue has reached a moderate level.
Further repeated use of spatial abilities may temporarily impair judgment.}
Silver dismissed it without hesitation. There would be time to recover later. Right now... Everyone’s lives depended on ending the fight.
The tiger let out another deafening roar. This time, however, Silver noticed something different. Its movements weren’t quite as smooth as before; Blood continued dripping from the cuts left behind by repeated Space Slash attacks. One of its shoulders twitched every time it shifted its weight.
"...It’s slowing down," Silver muttered.
Dillian heard him immediately.
"You noticed too?"
Silver nodded.
"The wounds are adding up. It heals slower than I expected."
Ravenna wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth.
"So we wear it down."
"No." Silver shook his head. "We finish it at once."
The tiger lunged once again; unlike before, nobody scattered.
"Now!" Silver shouted.
Dillian surged forward. Ice spread beneath his feet, launching him toward the beast faster than ever before. His sword collided with the tiger’s foreleg; instead of trying to overpower it, he deliberately drove the beast sideways, right into Ravenna.
Flames ignited along her blade. She stepped forward with perfect timing. Her sword carved a brilliant arc across the tiger’s ribs. The fire itself caused little damage, but the steel beneath it was another matter. Fresh blood sprayed across the floor.
The tiger roared in pain.
It retaliated instantly, its tail whippin’ toward Ravenna with terrifying force. Before it could connect, a powerful gust slammed into the tiger’s side. Cruella’s wind altered the attack just enough for Ravenna to duck beneath it.
Silver noticed.
’So she’ll still help when her own life depends on it...’
He pushed the thought aside.
Maya fired from the rear, her bullet striking one of the beast’s already injured shoulders. The impact staggered it.
Selene immediately followed with several pistol shots aimed at its exposed wounds rather than its scales. Even if the bullets couldn’t penetrate deeply, they distracted it.
Iris charged with a loud battle cry. Her spear thrust toward the tiger’s damaged foreleg. The beast twisted, and the spear scraped against bone before cutting a shallow groove through exposed muscle.
For the first time, the tiger looked overwhelmed. It had been controlling the pace of the battle since the beginning. Now, the contractors had finally forced it onto the defensive.
[Spatial Sense Lv2 Activated]
Silver’s Spatial Sense spread across the battlefield once more. Every movement and opening became clearer.
"There!"
He pointed toward the beast’s left side.
"Its shoulder! The muscles aren’t responding properly!"
Dillian’s eyes sharpened.
"So that’s why it’s avoiding that side."
"Exactly!"
Without another word, everyone adjusted. Every attack began driving the tiger toward its injured shoulder. Whenever it tried turning, someone forced it back. Whenever it attempted escaping, another attack blocked the route.
The intelligent beast quickly realized what they were doing. Its burning eyes narrowed, then its entire body erupted in flames.
A wave of scorching heat burst through the hallway. The temperature rose dramatically. Wooden furniture instantly ignited, and broken papers scattered through the air before burning to ash.
Ravenna instinctively shielded her face.
"...It’s getting desperate!"
Silver nodded.
"It knows it’s losing."
The tiger charged directly toward Dillian; instead of dodging, Dillian met it head-on. Ice exploded across his sword. He roared as strength enhancement flooded his body.
Their collision shook the entire corridor. Cracks spread through the concrete beneath their feet. For several seconds, neither moved, then... The tiger slowly overpowered him.
"Dillian!" Maya shouted.
"I know!" He gritted his teeth. "...Silver!"
Silver was already moving.
[Short-Step Lv2 Activated]
Space folded, and he appeared beside the beast, his sword slashing down.
"Space Slash!"
The compressed blade of distorted space sliced deeply across the tiger’s already injured shoulder. This time, the attack cut through completely. A spray of crimson blood burst into the air.
The beast stumbled, its front leg buckling.
"There!" Silver shouted. "Finish it!"
Ravenna rushed in immediately. Her sword slashed across its opposite flank, Iris thrust her spear into its hind leg, Selene emptied the remainder of her magazine into its exposed wounds, and Maya’s rifle cracked once more.
The bullet pierced the tiger’s right eye. The mutated beast screamed; a sound of pure rage echoed through the abandoned station. Completely blinded on one side and unable to support itself properly, it made one final decision.
It ignored everyone else and charged straight toward Silver. The distance vanished instantly. Silver felt the overwhelming killing intent bearing down on him. His headache intensified.
Another notification appeared.
[Warning]
{Mental fatigue approaching dangerous levels.}
Silver ignored it. His breathing slowed, and the world became strangely quiet. Through Spatial Sense, he perceived every tiny movement.
’Now.’
[Short-Step Lv2 Activated]
He used Short-Step one final time. The tiger’s claws passed through empty air, and Silver appeared beside its blind side. His sword rose as space rippled around the blade. Every remaining fragment of his mental energy poured into one attack.
[Space Slash Lv2 Activated. ]
The invisible blade extended farther than any of his previous attempts. For an instant, the corridor became perfectly silent, then a deep line appeared across the tiger’s neck.
The beast took two more steps; its body swayed. The flames surrounding it flickered violently, then its head separated from its body. The massive corpse collapsed with an earth-shaking thud.
Silence filled the room. Nobody dared to move. The only sounds left were everyone’s heavy breathing and the crackling of small fires burning around the corridor.
"...We..." Iris slowly lowered her spear. "...Actually won."
Maya sank against the nearest wall, letting out a long breath.
"I thought we were dead."
Selene quietly reloaded her pistol with trembling hands.
"I wasn’t sure we’d survive another minute."
Dillian leaned heavily on his sword, his chest rising and falling rapidly.
He looked toward Silver.
"...That last attack."
Silver smiled tiredly.
"It took... everything."
His vision blurred slightly. Ravenna immediately moved beside him, supporting his arm before he could lose his balance.
"You pushed yourself too hard."
He laughed weakly.
"I know."
She frowned but said nothing more, then everyone’s attention shifted toward the motionless contractor lying farther down the hallway.
Thomas, the first guard, attacked. The surviving guard slowly knelt beside him; after checking for a pulse, he lowered his head.
"...He’s gone."
Silence settled over the group once more. The victory suddenly felt much heavier. No one celebrated since one life had been lost. Dillian quietly closed the fallen contractor’s eyes.
"We’ll take him home."
Everyone nodded. After a long moment, Silver finally walked toward the enormous tiger. The mutated beast looked even stranger in death.
Beneath the torn fur, fragments of metallic implants were visible around parts of its ribcage. Sections of unnatural bone protruded beneath the skin. Whatever experiments had been performed, this creature had never been an ordinary beast.
Silver knelt beside its chest.
[Tier four beast core detected.]
Warning: Beast essence degradation will begin after extraction delay.
Drawing his knife, he carefully cut through the hardened hide. After several minutes of searching, his fingers brushed against something smooth and warm.
He carefully pulled it free. A crystal roughly the size of his palm emerged from the beast’s body. Unlike ordinary beast cores, brilliant crimson flames seemed to swirl endlessly inside it. The surrounding air grew noticeably warmer.
Silver stared at it quietly.
"...A Tier Four Fire Core."
Even Dillian couldn’t hide his surprise.
"So that’s what a Tier Four core looks like..."
Silver slowly closed his fingers around the crystal. Somewhere deep inside him, his instincts stirred, almost as if his soul itself recognized the immense power contained within the core.
He silently slipped it into his storage
[Tier 4 beast core stored successfully.]
Then he looked toward the dark corridor leading deeper beneath the station. The tiger had been terrifying, but after everything they had discovered, Silver couldn’t shake one unsettling thought.
If a failed experimental beast had survived for decades, what else was still sealed beneath Research Station Seventeen?