The creature was groaning from the pain—just as it was taking its final breath.
It was dying... or so it should have been.
Elsa had defeated it in a matter of seconds.
But Grey had a feeling it wasn't over.
His eyes narrowed.
A year ago, in another life, just seeing a creature like this—just hearing that twisted screech, like metal tearing inside bone—would've shattered him. He would've dropped to his knees, clutching his head, unable to bear the grotesque reality.
But now?
He stood there, arms crossed, golden eyes calm and cold.
Was this what they called tolerance? Or just desensitization?
The monster's tails, once a blur of lethal grace, now lay frozen and shattered.
Wherever they fell, the grass hissed, melted, and rotted. Its blood wasn't red. It wasn't even liquid. It oozed like shadow—black tar, steaming and writhing, as if it were alive.
Rot that breathed.
Blood that cried.
Grey's gaze shifted to the twitching corpse.
She should've killed it.
So why hadn't she?
Elsa stood still, her spear lowered. Her breathing was calm, but the look on her face wasn't relief. It wasn't even satisfaction. It was something else.
Hesitation.
He frowned. Strange. That didn't suit her.
In the past month,
Over the past month, Grey had learned how to sense a monster's rank from its pressure.
At first, he couldn't even distinguish an F-rank from a D-rank.
Maybe it was because he'd underestimated this new world… and the power they called mana.
But now?
He understood. He knew how dangerous even a D-rank monster could be.
He'd faced D, C, and even B-rank creatures.
He couldn't defeat them—not truly—but he had survived. Barely, if he were being honest.
There was a time he stood his ground against a B-rank monster—alone. The only reason he lasted as long as he did… was his rune.
He'd sacrificed everything but his sight.
His hearing.
His sense of smell.
Taste.
Touch.
Even his emotions— all burned away, like offerings to a cruel god carved into the marrow of his soul.
And as if that weren't enough. he went so far as to sacrifice his body, fighting with only one arm and one leg—a broken man standing against a nightmare.
And even with all that… he had only managed to last for a few seconds.
Just a few.
Before the rune timed out—and he became as weak as an insect again.
And when that moment came, when the power left him like breath in winter, the monster didn't hesitate.
It lunged.
It almost tore him limb from limb.
Almost.
Until Elsa appeared.
And with a single strike—cold, merciless, absolute—she ended it.
One strike.
That's all it took.
And this one…
This creature before them now…
It gave off the same pressure.
No—stronger.
And with a big gap.
But not quite A-rank. No, he was sure of that. An A-rank wouldn't have been this easy to knock down.
This thing was likely at the absolute peak of B-rank.
So again—why wasn't she finishing it?
She can do it with ease...
It was then he felt it.
A ripple. A vibration through the Mirror Realm. The air twisted like warped glass. Shadows stretched unnaturally long, crawling toward the center of the battlefield.
Grey's eyes widened.
The blood was moving.
No—gathering.
Like ink returning to a pen.
Then came the sound.
It was neither a roar nor a scream but a whisper.
Deep. Hollow. Maddening.
"Flesh... flesh... flesh..."
Grey clutched his head. That voice—it clawed at his sanity.
Crack!
The creature's spine arched back at an impossible angle. Ribs tore through flesh like blades. Its tails pulsed and regenerated, longer, sharper. Two more burst from its back. Eight in total, flaring like wings.
Grey's breath caught.
It was evolving.
The black ichor boiled now. And from that mess, something rose—a skeletal shape, quickly covered in twitching flesh. A mirror of the original—but leaner, faster, larger.
It had grown fivefold in size.
And then—
A shadow peeled off from its body.
Suddenly there were two of them now: the monster and its shadow.
A name elsa told him echoed in Grey's mind as his breath grew faint and his knees weakened.
[A-Rank Aberrant: Shadow Hydra]A mirror-born entity of decay and pain. A predator that evolves with each death.
Grey's lips parted.
"…It just broke through."
He sprang back. Step after step, widening the distance.Even without looking, his instincts screamed—this was no longer a battle. It was survival.
Even Elsa… she'd have to give her all against something like this.
But he believed in her.
He always had.
And as if summoned by that very thought—he looked up.
There she was.
Floating above the battlefield. Eyes colder than ice.
Frost creeping along her limbs like veins of frozen steel.
A bow shimmered into existence in her hand, forged from solid ice. Elegant. Terrifying.
She pulled the string.
The air cracked. The bow trembled.
Grey had seen her use this technique before.
But this—this was different.
He felt it.
Even with his sacrifice rune active, he wasn't sure he could survive that shot.
The monster sensed it too.
It didn't charge blindly.
Its eight tails lashed out—hundreds of blades erupting from them in a desperate barrage.
But before they could reach her—
Whoosh!
A forest of ice spears erupted around her, tearing the assault apart mid-air. Shards glittered like stars as they fell, each strike precise, merciless.
But no matter how terrifying the spears were…
Both he and the monster knew the truth.
They weren't the real danger.
The spears were just a wall—an afterthought.
The real threat… was the arrow.
It glowed white now.
Too white.
Power condensed into a singularity of destruction.
But then—
Grey's eyes narrowed. A chill crawled up his spine.
Something was wrong.
The shadow.
It was gone.
His gaze swept across the battlefield—Every stone. Every twisted branch. Every flickering breath of darkness.
And then— He felt it.
A presence.
Badump. Badump.
His heart pounded, wild and uneven. A primal warning
All his instincts screamed at him to run, to move, to survive—but fear gripped him like chains.
His body locked up. Muscles coiled. Breath caught halfway through his throat. Every hair on his body stood on end, as if the very air had turned into needles.
The shadow he had been searching for—He found it.
It was behind him.