The mob thundered forward. Bone plates clashed like iron shields, claws scraped sparks from the cavern floor. The guardians of the boss chamber descended on him with the fury of a hundred hunts.
Noctis met them head-on.
The Bloodfang Reaper swept wide in guan dao form. The blade ripped through the first creature's chest, snapping its armor and driving it back into the ranks. Another lunged from the side; the weapon folded mid-swing into scythe form, hooking its throat and tearing it open in a single drag.
Acid hissed through the air.
[Corrosive Torrent II] burst from his hand, spraying in a wide fan. The acid clung to the guardians' armor, burning through the jagged bone plates until the beasts shrieked and staggered.
He moved like a shadow storm.
One lunged from above, claws outstretched. He sidestepped, claws digging into stone, and drove upward with a thrust. The Reaper folded into drill form.
[Helix Bore II] spiraled through the beast's sternum, shredding bone and flesh into ribbons before bursting out its back.
Another roared behind him. Noctis twisted. [Predator Bolt II] fired from his hand, the lightning splitting and chaining through three enemies at once. Their eyes bulged white, muscles seizing, as the smell of scorched blood filled the air.
He did not stop.
[Predator Flame II] ignited in his palm. He hurled it into the cluster ahead. The fireball struck and spread across their armor like burning oil. The Reaper crashed through the flames in greatsword form, cleaving two beasts in half, their bodies still burning as they fell.
A third lunged at his flank. He spun, [Predator Gale II] slicing from the blade, wind slashes multiplying in the air. The guardian staggered as its armor shredded, chunks of bone raining down.
Noctis leapt backward, planting a boot on the wall. The beasts charged underneath. He launched off the wall, inverted in mid-air, and unleashed [Predator Frost II]. Shards spiraled down, detonating as they struck. Several beasts collapsed in a storm of blood and ice.
Hack. Slash. Cast. Dash. His rhythm never broke.
He carved through them with a relentless hunger, claws flashing between swings, kicks crushing throats, his body moving from floor to ceiling, wall to pillar. His armor steamed, his blade sang, his magic burned.
One after another, the guardians fell.
Minutes later, the cavern was silent but for the hiss of acid steaming on stone. Corpses lay scattered in every direction, half-devoured already by the crimson mist curling through the air.
Noctis stood at the center, breathing slow, the Reaper dripping ichor.
The servants remained frozen where they had stood, their eyes wide, their bodies trembling.
Noctis turned his head toward them. "Stay here. Wait for me."
They nodded quickly, clutching their weapons with pale knuckles.
"The boss will be mine alone. If you follow, you'll only die."
Their lips parted, but no words came. They knew it was true.
Noctis raised his hand.
[Sanctified Shroud].
The veil of false divine light spread across the chamber's rear, cocooning the three women in its mimic aura. To any intruder, it would feel like a consecrated sanctuary. To Noctis, it was only a ward — a mask to keep them hidden, a shield to buy them time.
"Rest. If more come, this will keep you safe."
Then he turned back toward the black gate at the end of the cavern, the boss's lair waiting beyond. His armor steamed, his blade reconfigured into greatsword form, and his eyes glowed like molten gold.
The true hunt was about to begin.
The black stone doors groaned open with a sound like grinding bone.
Noctis stepped inside.
The chamber stretched vast and hollow, its ceiling lost in the dark. Webs of corruption veined the walls, pulsing faintly with a sickly light. And at the center, rising from a nest of shattered corpses, stood the Titan.
It was colossal — easily five times his height, its body plated in jagged stone-like armor, its claws thick as blades, its fangs dripping with venom that hissed as it struck the floor. Its eyes burned green, twin lanterns of malice that fixed immediately on him.
The Grid flickered in his vision.
[Boss Identified: Titan — Tier IV Dungeon Guardian]HP: ? ? ?Armor: ExtremeWeakness: Hidden
Noctis's lips curled. He licked his fangs slowly. "Good."
The Bloodfang Reaper hissed into greatsword form, crimson mist spiraling around its length. His blood-forged armor sealed across his body with a burst of steam.
Then he dashed forward.
The Titan roared. The sound shook the entire cavern, dust falling from the unseen ceiling. It lunged with a sweep of its claw that tore stone pillars apart like paper.
Noctis slid beneath the strike, blade cutting upward. Sparks sprayed as the weapon clashed against the Titan's plated hide. The edge skidded, leaving only a shallow mark that healed almost instantly.
He leapt back, teeth flashing. "So. Not simple."
The Titan stomped, the ground quaking under its weight. It lunged again.
Noctis met it head-on this time. [Predator Flame II] exploded against its chest, fire spreading like burning tar. He spun into [Predator Gale II], wind slashes tearing through the flames. The Titan staggered back a step — but the armor held. The burns sizzled, then hardened into stone crusts.
He blurred to the side. [Helix Bore II] fired from his blade in drill form, the projectile spinning into its shoulder joint. For a heartbeat, he thought it struck deep — but the Titan flexed, and the drill cracked apart against the plating.
"Not enough."
The Titan's tail whipped out. He ducked beneath it, claws digging into stone, and vaulted upward. He landed on the beast's arm, sprinting along it as the monster roared and thrashed.
He swung the Reaper into scythe form, slashing at the seams of its plates. Nothing. He shifted into guan dao form, stabbing into the gaps between scales. Nothing. He switched back to greatsword, bringing it down with all his strength, blood-forged muscles screaming. The strike bounced off.
The Titan swiped its other arm, nearly dislodging him. Noctis leapt, catching hold of a ridge on its neck, then climbed onto its back.
It reared up, thrashing. He held fast, slashing down with claws and blade, his movements relentless — but still the armor refused him.
The Titan rolled, slamming its body against the wall. Noctis vaulted clear, twisting mid-air to land on the ceiling, claws anchoring him upside down. He looked down at the beast below, chest heaving, green eyes glaring up at him.
"Strong," he admitted. His grin widened. "Perfect."
He pushed off, dashing along the ceiling before dropping back down. His assault renewed, this time blending everything: fireballs detonating into frost shards, lightning chaining into acid torrents, shadows pinning at the Titan's feet, his Reaper transforming form after form mid-swing.
It was chaos — a storm of blood, steel, and sorcery.
And still, the Titan stood unbroken.
Noctis landed on one knee, armor steaming, breath slow but sharp. His eyes narrowed, studying every movement, every tremor.
"There is a weakness," he whispered. "There always is."
The Titan roared again, charging. Noctis leapt to meet it, climbing once more onto its massive frame, weaving between its limbs, probing every seam, every joint, every moment of exposed flesh.
The hunt had only just begun.
The Titan swung again. The claw gouged a trench through the stone floor, hurling shards high into the chamber. Noctis twisted aside, rolling low, then sprang up its arm, sprinting toward its shoulder.
The beast roared, slamming itself against the cavern wall to crush him. Noctis leapt clear at the last instant, claws digging into the wall itself. He dashed across vertical stone, circling wide before lunging back down. The Bloodfang Reaper snapped into guan dao form mid-fall, plunging for the Titan's neck.
The blade struck true—only to slide harmlessly off the plated ridge. Sparks flared, but no wound opened.
He hissed between his teeth, landing in a crouch. "Still not enough."
The Titan stomped. The ground rippled. Stone cracked, pillars fell. The shockwave rattled his bones, but [Scaled Carapace III] absorbed the worst of it. He shot forward, hack-and-slash rhythm resuming.
Greatsword cleave. Scythe hook. Claw rake. [Predator Frost II] spiraling inward. [Predator Bolt II] chaining through limbs. Every attack glanced or fizzled, leaving shallow marks that healed within moments.
The Titan's tail swept wide. Noctis vaulted over it, flipping mid-air, then lashed out with [Corrosive Torrent II]. Acid rained down, sizzling on armor, steaming bright—but still, no breach. The stone plates smoked, then hardened darker than before.
He landed hard, rolled, and sprang again, weaving between stomps and sweeps. His body was a blur, moving from wall to ceiling, ceiling to limb, always probing. Always searching.
[Tremor Sense III] painted the monster's body in vibrations, every motion mapped. But even that detail showed no easy flaw. The Titan's frame was solid, its heartbeat thunderous, its joints hidden beneath layers of bone armor.
It lashed upward suddenly, claws slamming toward the ceiling. Noctis barely slipped past, his armor steaming as the blow grazed him. He landed on its back again, plunging the Reaper in scythe form between its plates. The blade shrieked against stone, bouncing off without purchase.
The Titan bucked, slamming backward into a pillar. Noctis jumped free, the pillar shattering into rubble.
His grin sharpened. His breathing was steady, predatory.
"You can't be perfect," he muttered. "You bleed. I will find where."
The Titan roared in reply, shaking the entire chamber. Its claws dug deep into the floor, tearing up chunks of stone. Then it lunged again, jaws wide, venom dripping.
Noctis ran to meet it, blade flashing, movements relentless.
Every strike, every cast, every doctrine was fuel for the hunt. He endured, adapted, and tested. Probing from angle to angle, never stopping, never yielding.
The battle dragged on, neither side relenting.
The Titan had yet to fall.
But Noctis was not done hunting.
The Titan lunged again, its fist tearing through the air with a sound like thunder breaking stone.
Noctis dashed across the cavern wall, claws gouging furrows, then pushed higher, flipping onto the ceiling. He sprinted along it inverted, body a blur of crimson shadow, eyes burning gold.
The Titan roared and reared back, then punched upward.
The blow crashed into the ceiling, splitting stone. Dust exploded outward in a choking cloud. Noctis leapt off just before impact, spinning mid-air, Bloodfang Reaper snapping into guan dao form as he dropped.
And then he saw it.
The angle was perfect. The dust outlined the Titan's body, every seam visible. His sharpened perception — [Tremor Sense III] and predator's instinct — locked onto a detail the monster had hidden well.
Under its massive arm, half-concealed by the overlapping plates of its chest, ran a broad leather strap. A crude but effective binding, pulling the chest plate tight to its frame.
A weakness.
Noctis's eyes widened, then narrowed into a grin.
"There you are."
He twisted mid-fall, claws digging into the Titan's shoulder ridge. The beast swung, trying to dislodge him. He clung fast, shifting his body lower with predatory grace. Every motion carried him closer to the gap beneath the armpit, to the strap binding the armor.
The Titan roared, twisting and slamming against the wall. Stone shattered. Dust fell. Noctis clung tighter, his grin never fading.
He leaned close, eyes burning bright, fangs bared.
"I'll rip you open."
The Bloodfang Reaper hummed in his grip, the blade unfolding between forms, waiting for the strike.
Noctis set his footing, ready to unleash everything on the strap that would unravel the Titan's defense.
The hunt had entered its final phase.
The Titan roared and thrashed. Its massive body slammed against the cavern walls, every movement shaking the ground. Dust rained down, pillars cracked, and the air shook with its fury.
Noctis clung to its shoulder ridge, body pressed against jagged armor, the Bloodfang Reaper humming in his grip. Each violent shake threatened to hurl him off, but his claws held fast. His grin widened. The hunt was at its peak.
The beast swung again, slamming itself backward into the stone. Noctis released his hold, flipped, and landed once more on the ceiling. His claws dug into the rock. His eyes locked onto the weakness he had found: the broad strap binding the chest plate under its arm.
"Raise it again," he muttered.
The Titan obeyed his provocation, punching upward in rage. The blow shattered ceiling stone, but Noctis was already gone. He dropped from above, blade locked into guan dao form, descending straight toward the strap.
The strike landed.
Leather tore, sparks flying as the weapon's edge bit deep. But the strap was thick, layered, reinforced with bone. The cut was not enough.
Noctis landed, rolled, and vanished under a sweeping claw. He dashed back up the wall, sprinted to the ceiling, and baited the monster into another upward swing.
Again he leapt.
This time, his attack was not single. [Predator Flame II] ignited along the blade. [Helix Bore II] spiraled into the edge, drilling as he struck. His claws slashed with [Silent Pin II], pinning the Titan's shadow just long enough to hold its posture.
The Reaper cleaved down with fire, drill, and steel combined.
The strap snapped.
The Titan howled, its arm flailing as one side of its chest plate fell loose with a heavy clang. Chunks of stone armor clattered to the floor.
Noctis landed lightly, golden eyes narrowing on the gap exposed beneath.
There it was.
A glowing core, pulsing blue, buried inside the Titan's chest cavity. Its light flowed like liquid fire, every pulse synchronized with the monster's movements. It was not flesh — it was an artifact. The power source binding the Titan's body together.
Noctis licked his lips. "Perfect."
But his eyes narrowed further. There was still another strap, binding the opposite plate. Without breaking it, he could not reach the core fully.
The Titan roared again, fury shaking the chamber. And this time, it did not raise its other arm. The gap was sealed, the weakness hidden.
Noctis's grin returned, sharp and wolfish.
"Then I'll make you."
The Titan's roar shook the cavern, but its movements had changed. It swung, it stomped, it lashed its tail, but its left arm never rose high enough to reveal the second strap. The first weakness was lost.
Noctis prowled the walls, his claws gouging stone as he sprinted along vertical surfaces, baiting the beast with sudden dashes and feints. He leapt onto the ceiling, dropped directly in front of its fanged maw, then darted clear as it lunged. He slashed across its knees, gouged at its ankles, stabbed at its throat — every strike calculated, every movement a lure.
But the Titan did not fall for it.
It never lifted the armored arm. The strap beneath remained hidden.
Noctis landed lightly on a broken pillar, blood armor steaming, golden eyes narrowing as he studied the monster's frame. His breathing was calm, steady, predatory.
"You're guarding it," he muttered. "Good. That means it matters."
He shifted his gaze along the plating, tracing the line where strap and plate connected. He saw it: a junction reinforced with bone plating, but not seamless. The strap's anchor bit into the armor at a single ridge point.
If he could not cut the strap itself, he would break its hold.
His grin sharpened.
"Then I'll tear you apart from the seam."
He launched forward.
The Bloodfang Reaper slammed into the junction in greatsword form. Sparks screamed as metal met stone. Noctis leapt back before the Titan's claw could swat him, then lunged again.
[Predator Flame II] ignited the impact point, flames clinging to the ridge. [Predator Frost II] followed, shards spiraling inward and detonating against the already heated stone.
The Titan staggered but held firm. The plate groaned but did not break.
Noctis leapt to the ceiling, baited another strike, and dropped straight down. [Helix Bore II] spun into the same junction, driving deep with drilling force. The beast roared, swiping wildly, but he was already gone, rolling across the floor and springing up a stalagmite.
He kept the rhythm. Attack, retreat, bait, strike again. Always at the same point.
Time passed. The chamber echoed with the clash of steel and the shrieks of Predator Magic burning, freezing, drilling into stone.
Then he heard it.
A crack.
Small at first, but unmistakable — the sound of something breaking under pressure.
Noctis's grin widened, fangs flashing in the glow of the Titan's core beneath the opposite plate. His golden eyes locked on the damage.
"Almost there."
The Titan roared louder, its movements turning wilder, more desperate. It knew.
And Noctis, the predator, never stopped once he smelled blood.
The Titan staggered, its chest plate gone, its glowing core pulsing like a heart torn half-exposed. Blue light spilled from the cracks, washing the cavern in a cold glow. Its roar thundered through the chamber, a sound of both fury and desperation.
Noctis lowered himself, claws digging into the stone, body tensed. His golden eyes narrowed to slits. The Bloodfang Reaper vibrated in his grip, blood-forged steel hungry for the final strike.
He moved.
The world blurred.
The Titan swiped low. Noctis vaulted over the claw, twisting mid-air, his greatsword descending in a cleave. [Predator Flame II] burst along the blade, fire coating it in molten light. The strike landed across the exposed core, flames clinging and burning deeper than steel.
The Titan shrieked, staggering back.
Noctis pressed forward. [Predator Frost II] detonated against the fire, shards spiraling inward, piercing the core's surface before exploding inwards. Steam burst out as fire met frost, fracturing the artifact's surface.
The beast flailed, striking wildly, its movements desperate. Noctis blurred around its limbs, climbing its frame again.
The Reaper shifted into scythe form. He hooked its exposed ribs, dragged himself upward, then drove the blade straight into the glowing core.
[Helix Bore II] engaged, the blade drilling and screaming as it tore into crystal and flesh. Blue light sprayed like liquid fire, searing the cavern walls.
The Titan's roar grew higher, cracking like breaking stone.
Noctis didn't relent.
Lightning sparked in his palm — [Predator Bolt II] — chaining across the exposed core, crawling through the Titan's body and exploding outward from its limbs. Acid followed — [Corrosive Torrent II] — spraying across the cracked surface, hissing as it ate through the weakened shell.
He leapt back, landed, and pointed. [Silent Pin II] flared, anchoring the Titan's shadow to the floor. The monster froze for a heartbeat, trapped against its own reflection.
Noctis charged.
The Bloodfang Reaper folded back into greatsword form, humming, blood-forged steel vibrating with power. He raised it high, golden eyes burning brighter than the Titan's core.
"Die."
The blade came down.
The strike split the core wide open.
Blue light erupted like a sun bursting underground. The cavern shook violently, walls cracking, ceiling trembling. The Titan screamed one final time as its body convulsed, then collapsed in on itself, shattering into rubble and steaming ichor.
Silence followed. The light dimmed, fading into the mist.
At the center of the wreckage, the core still pulsed faintly, fractured but not destroyed. Noctis stood over it, fangs bared in a grin, blood armor steaming.
He bent down, claws curling around the glowing artifact.
"You're mine."
And with a surge of hunger, he devoured it.