WebNovels

Chapter 50 - Echo 45: Clash & Predation

Silence.

Then a shiver in the air.

No sound.But Thana snapped her head to the side.

— Don't move.Her voice wasn't threatening. Not urgent.But each syllable carried surgical precision.

Kael froze. His dulled senses strained to catch what she had perceived before him.

Thana narrowed her eyes.— Two entities. Massive. They're advancing… slowly.She paused.— And a third. Farther. Heavier.

Adrenaline surged in Kael. She had sensed it before him—again.He reached for his kusarigama. But Thana placed a hand on his arm.

— Not yet.She looked him dead in the eyes.

— Do you remember what happened… earlier?Kael lowered his gaze, mute.

She went on:— It wasn't a loss of control. Not completely.— It was a seizure. By something else.Her grip tightened slightly.— And that… won't happen again. Not if you listen to me.

He raised his head slowly.She stared with calm intensity.

— You think maybe it was your strength that saved you. Or your instinct.But it was neither.She stepped back half a pace.

— It was your control. Or rather… what's left of it.

She lifted a finger, pressed it against her own forehead.

— Listen closely, Kael.The deeper you climb this Tower, the more it will try to possess you. Not with chains. With emotions.She leaned slightly closer.

— If you want to stay… you, then you must contain them. Not smother them. Tame them.

Kael frowned.— Emotions?

— Yes. All of them.Fear. Anger. The urge to scream, to kill, to laugh like a beast… They're the cracks it slips through.She drew in a breath.

— And the more you master them...the more chance you have to resist whatever seizes you at the critical moments.

A tense silence settled.Kael stared at the void.

Then, slowly, he nodded.Not bravado. But understanding.

At last, Thana stepped back. Her gaze remained fixed on the quivering fog beyond.

— Keep them locked. Not forever. Just… until you're ready to release them.

And in the mist…the two shadows still advanced.

Kael felt the ground tremble.

Before him, two dark masses appeared atop a veiled cliff.They didn't wait.They hurled themselves down the slope in a dive, at inhuman speed, without a single cry.

Only that brutal cadence.Relentless.Bestial.

Kael felt fear rise.Not panic. Not crisis.

But that spike.That tightening in the throat.That reflex alert the body triggers before thought.

— "The more you master them… the more chance you have to resist."

Thana's words pressed into him.Sharp. Cold.Like a hand laid over his heart.

So, without thinking, he closed his eyes.

Standing.Facing danger.Breath steady.

He did not pray.He meditated.On the spot.

He didn't flee. He rooted.

Even as the ground shook.Even as the third presence loomed behind the other two—heavier, darker.

He stayed.Straight. Present.

And in that instant… something gave way.

Not in the world.In him.

⟡ [ Interface – Thana System ] ⟡New Passive Skill Unlocked: Serenity of DeathRank: D

Condition met: Emotional channelling mastered under extreme pressure.Effect: Temporary attenuation of negative emotions. Access to heightened clarity.Warning: This serenity is not peace. It is emptiness.

⟡ [ Thana System – Secondary Detection ] ⟡Due to controlled emotions, you partially unlock your hidden passive ability:Memory of Blood

New Passive Skill Unlocked: Memory of BloodRank: D

Conditions met: Control emotions & contact with ancestral memory fragmentEffect: ######### ancestral memory fragment ############################Warning: The stronger the ##### the greater the emotional control and attributes required.

Kael cracked his eyes open.His mind bathed in strange clarity.A mechanical calm.Almost inhuman.

— Thana…? he murmured.

But his voice didn't carry.

— Dodge!!

The cry snapped the air.

Kael looked up.

A dark mass was already plunging at him in an arc, claws spread wide.

No time.His body tightened.Pure reflex.

The two creatures leapt.Not like beasts.Like projectiles.

The first came from the right, paws smashing stone.The second, lower, aiming for his legs.A cross assault, synchronized. Deadly.

Kael didn't move.

No panic.No tension.

His hand rose, naturally.The kusarigama's chain unfurled—no strain, no effort.Just… the perfect angle.

The first beast lunged to bite.But the instant its jaw opened,the chain looped around its skull.A fluid gesture. A cold gesture.

A sharp twist.The head snapped with a wet crack.

Kael hadn't raised his voice.Hadn't breathed harder.Hadn't thought.

He knew.

He pivoted without pause.The second Devourer came from behind.Same angle.Same opening.

The chain lashed out again.Sharp. Precise.

But this time…

A dull sound.

Not the blade's bite.The thud of a failed impact.

The chain had wrapped.But the creature did not fall.It held.Its neck… denser.

Kael shifted back half a step.Not fear.But something was wrong.

He resumed the sequence.A sweep, a wrench—but the beast resisted harder.

And then he saw it.

A faint dark veil circling its legs.A glow pulsing in its chest.A residue of energy.

— …It absorbed the other, Kael realized.

A fragment of comprehension.No more.But enough to break rhythm.

The beast charged.Faster.Lower.Heavier.

Kael barely dodged.The ground shattered behind him.

He tightened his grip.He couldn't just strike.

He had to bind.

Kael darted sideways.Just in time.A black mass smashed the ground, pulverizing stone.

The Devourer roared.Its jaws vibrated with unstable residue.A force… borrowed.Stolen from the other.

Kael tried to cinch the chain.Too slow.The beast had already reset.

A breath.An anticipation.

He struck—the chain whistled through air.But the beast flattened suddenly, dodging the cut.Then leapt.A claw ripped across Kael's left shoulder.

— Tch…

He staggered back.The pain… was there.Filtered, but real.

Serenity of Death dulled fear, not damage.

Another assault.Kael spun his kusarigama.But the chain snagged wrong.Caught on the ground.

A hitch.A heartbeat lost.

Enough.

The beast slammed forward, skull-first.It crashed into Kael's flank.A crack.A rib. Maybe two.

Kael collapsed.Blood on his lips.

But his eyes stayed open.Fixed.Clear.

He rolled aside, wiped the blood,and raised the blade again.Not to strike.To hold.

The Devourer hesitated.Then roared.

Kael lifted himself.Not straight.But standing.

— I won't fall. Not here.

He exhaled.Slow.A rotation.An aim.A sliding step.

And this time… he struck.

The chain coiled around its leg.The beast struggled.But Kael dragged it against a boulder.It toppled—off balance.

He seized the opening.A hard twist.A snap of the wrist.The blade plunged into its throat.

A gurgle.A spasm.Then silence.

Kael remained there.Breath slow.Chest heaving.Blood everywhere.

He stood.By sheer refusal to fall.

Kael sank to his knees.His hands trembled.Not from fear.From fatigue.From pain.

The world tilted faintly.Breath ragged.Each inhale tugged at broken ribs.

He lifted his head slowly.Thana stepped forward—then froze.

— Kael…

He blinked.She didn't move.Her gaze was locked.

Behind him.

He turned.

The mist parted.

Something was coming.Not running.Walking.But every step shook the ground.

And Kael understood.Too late.

The third.The one that had waited.The one that had watched.

Now it advanced.

And in its chest…two hearts beat.Two black essences throbbed, fused within a smoking ribcage.

Kael tried to rise.His legs refused.His arms too.

He spat blood.His weapon slipped.The chain clattered faintly.

He looked at Thana.She said nothing.But her face had gone pale.

He felt naked.Empty.

— I… can't, he whispered.

His heart pounded too hard.Or not enough.He no longer knew.

⟡ [ Interface – Thana System ] ⟡Soul Essence Refinement: Complete.

12 Essences – Rank F: Full absorption validated.Transfer: Umbra [Status: Stabilized]Result: Spontaneous evolution initiated.

⟡ [ Umbra – Evolution in progress… ] ⟡

Something stirred in his shadow.Kael barely lifted his eyes.

The shadow stretched.Curled.Then rose.

Not like a puddle.Not like a haze.

Like a being.One that had waited.And now… hungered.

⟡ [ New Skill Unlocked: Predation ] ⟡

Unique Skill – UmbraEffect: Allows Umbra to devour an entire physical or spiritual prey, extracting an assimilable fragment of power.

Condition: Prey weakened or marked.Limit: Partial assimilation depending on enemy's rank.

Kael no longer had the strength to smile.But a single thought cut through, cold and sharp:

— Eat it.

The shadow froze.Then, without a word, it contracted.

A breath rose.A shiver.A black vibration.

And then…

GYAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—

A guttural cry.Animal.Ancient.

A cry that begged neither help…nor mercy.

A cry of accord.A cry of hunger.

A cry of war.

More Chapters