The spear struck again.
Aren redirected the force.
Stone shattered.
Another strike.
Another redirection.
Buildings collapsed around them as the Hunter's attacks ripped through the city.
But Aren noticed something.
Each strike followed perfect geometry.
No randomness.
No instinct.
Only precision.
"It's calculating," Aren realized.
Cael shouted from a rooftop, "Of course it is! Hunters adapt every second!"
The Hunter spoke again.
"Observation confirmed."
The spear glowed brighter.
"Vector manipulation acknowledged."
Then the Hunter changed tactics.
Instead of attacking Aren—
It attacked the ground.
The spear stabbed downward.
The entire street exploded upward, turning the battlefield into chaos. Debris rained through the air.
Aren staggered.
The Hunter appeared in front of him instantly.
Too fast to redirect.
The spear thrust forward.
Aren barely twisted his body aside.
The blade pierced his shoulder.
Pain erupted through his body.
The Hunter leaned closer.
"Correction successful."
Aren looked down at the spear embedded in his shoulder.
Blood ran down his arm.
For a moment, everything went quiet.
Then Aren smiled.
"Not quite."
His hand touched the spear shaft.
Vector Break.
But this time…
He didn't redirect the attack.
He redirected the Hunter's balance.
The entire force of its thrust twisted sideways.
The Hunter's body slammed into the ground with its own momentum.
The spear tore free from Aren's shoulder as the Hunter crashed into the crater wall.
The ground shook.
Aren stood slowly.
Blood dripping.
But his eyes were steady.
The Hunter rose from the rubble.
Its armor cracked slightly.
System warnings flickered across its surface.
Structural instability detected.
The Hunter tilted its head.
"Impossible."
Aren wiped the blood from his mouth.
"You're not impossible."
He raised his hand again.
"You're predictable."
Vector lines filled his vision again.
Every movement.
Every force.
Every weakness.
For the first time—
Aren stepped forward instead of defending.
And the Hunter realized something the system had not predicted.
The anomaly was learning faster than it could correct.
Above them, the fracture in the sky widened.
January itself was watching the battle now.
And for the first time in centuries…
The system felt something close to fear.