The last feline fell.
Kara slowly pulled her greatsword from its body.
—Four.
Dayana wiped the blood from her hands.
—Five.
Emily let out a breath.
—Then...
A sharp sound interrupted her.
Crack.
Everyone froze.
The corpse they had left behind had just moved.
No.
It wasn't the corpse.
Something was rising behind it.
First, a claw appeared.
Then another.
Roots snapped apart.
The earth collapsed.
A massive silhouette began to rise among the trees.
Kara slowly lifted her head.
The creature kept growing.
Until it was standing completely upright.
Silence fell instantly.
None of the soldiers spoke.
None dared to.
Even the lesser beasts had stopped moving.
They all backed away.
They all lowered their heads.
Emily felt the sphere of light trembling between her hands.
—Is that...?
Dayana didn't answer.
Her eyes were closed.
She was sensing its blood.
The color drained from her face.
—No.
Lusian looked at her.
—What?
Dayana opened her eyes.
—I understand now why the others obeyed.
The creature took a step.
BOOM.
The ground trembled.
Another.
BOOM.
The air seemed to compress around its body.
Its fur was completely black, but not like that of an ordinary beast. Light disappeared the moment it touched the creature. Waves of mana moved beneath its skin like deep currents.
Kara swallowed.
—It's enormous.
—No, —Lusian said.
He drew Dainslein.
—It's strong.
The creature's four eyes locked onto him.
Lusian felt a chill.
It wasn't fear.
It was the sensation of having been recognized.
The beast had chosen him.
Then it disappeared.
—LUSIAN!
BOOM!
Dainslein appeared just in time.
The claw collided with the sword.
The impact sent Lusian flying backward.
His boots carved two deep furrows into the ground.
—What the hell...?!
He didn't finish.
The creature was already in front of him.
Second strike.
Lusian crossed his arm.
CRACK!
He was sent flying.
Kara appeared from the side.
—DON'T TOUCH HIM!
Her greatsword came crashing down.
The beast turned.
The blade collided with a claw.
CLANG!
Kara felt her entire arm go numb.
—What kind of strength is this?!
The monster opened its mouth.
It didn't roar.
It simply pushed.
Kara was sent flying.
Emily raised both hands.
—Light!
A pillar of white light descended upon the creature.
For the first time, the monster stopped.
Emily gritted her teeth.
—Now!
Kara charged back in.
This time, she didn't aim for its body.
She struck one of its legs.
The beast lost its balance for an instant.
Lusian appeared behind it.
Dainslein pierced the darkness.
SHING!
The blade cut through its fur.
A line of black blood appeared.
Kara smiled.
—I hurt it!
—Don't get distracted! —Lusian shouted.
Too late.
The creature's tail came from an impossible angle.
Kara barely raised her arm.
BOOM!
The Heroine of Strength crashed onto her back.
The beast immediately turned toward Emily.
—Emily! —Lusian shouted.
She tried to move.
She didn't make it.
Lusian appeared in front of her.
The claw collided with his sword.
This time, he couldn't stop it.
The force drove him down onto one knee.
Then the other.
The earth began to sink beneath his boots.
Lusian gritted his teeth.
—No...
The creature pushed harder.
—...you are not getting through.
Darkness exploded around Lusian.
The monster was forced backward.
Only one step.
But that single second was enough.
Emily raised the sphere.
Light exploded at point-blank range.
BOOOOOOM!
The creature was completely engulfed.
Kara rose through the smoke.
Blood ran down her forehead.
Her armor was broken.
But she was smiling.
—Again.
Lusian looked at her.
—You're insane.
—Yes.
Kara raised her greatsword.
—But it works.
The smoke began to clear.
The monster was still standing.
Part of its fur had been burned away.
Its flesh was scorched.
But it didn't look enraged.
It looked interested.
Its four eyes moved over Kara.
Then Emily.
Then Lusian.
It had understood.
Kara was the one who could hurt it.
Emily was the one who could keep it exposed.
And Lusian was the one who could prevent it from reaching either of them.
The creature lowered its body.
Dayana's eyes snapped open.
—It's going to attack!
—Who? —Albert asked.
Dayana went pale.
—Everyone.
The monster disappeared.
The forest exploded.
Kara blocked a claw.
Lusian intercepted another.
Emily raised a barrier.
The barrier lasted less than a second.
CRACK!
The three of them were thrown apart.
—Formation! —Albert roared.
But there was no longer a formation.
The monster had turned the clearing into a battlefield.
And it was faster than any of them.
Kara attacked.
The creature dodged.
Lusian appeared.
The creature changed targets.
Emily illuminated the area.
The creature sought the shadows.
Every second, it found a new way to break them apart.
Then Kara took a direct hit.
BOOM!
She dropped to one knee.
Her greatsword went flying.
The creature advanced toward her.
Kara raised her head.
—Come on...
She stood.
—I'm not done yet.
The monster roared.
Kara clenched her fists.
Lusian appeared beside her.
Emily positioned herself behind them.
Dayana stepped back as her blood stained the ground.
For the first time since the hunt had begun, no one was thinking about killing.
They were only thinking about surviving.
And then the leader lunged at them once more.
Then Elizabeth emerged from among the ranks of the soldiers, mounted on Thunder.
There was something about the creature that she could feel.
It wasn't a clear connection. It was barely an intuition, a kind of invisible thread linking her mind to that of the monster.
Elizabeth closed her eyes.
And opened her mind.
She did not try to impose her will.
She simply spoke.
—Stop.
The S-Omega raised its head.
Its golden eyes locked onto hers.
Elizabeth then felt something that sent a shiver through her: hunger, pain, territorial instinct... and an intelligence far deeper than she had expected.
—If you continue, —she warned, —you will die.
The monster took a step.
Lusian tensed.
But the S-Omega stopped.
Not out of obedience.
Out of calculation.
Elizabeth swallowed and maintained the connection.
—This city is not your prey.
Silence.
—You can stay in the forest. You can hunt there. No one will enter your territory.
The S-Omega sniffed the air.
Elizabeth realized it was listening.
—But you will not cross into the city either.
The monster bared its fangs.
Kara tightened her grip on her greatsword.
—Elizabeth...
—Wait.
The princess did not take her eyes off the creature.
—I don't want to take your territory from you. I only want you to stop hunting us.
The S-Omega remained motionless for several seconds.
Then a deep voice resonated inside Elizabeth's mind.
—Why?
Her eyes opened.
—Because we don't need to kill each other.
The creature tilted its head slightly.
—Humans always kill.
Elizabeth felt a chill.
—Then we will be the exception.
The monster turned its gaze toward Lusian.
The duke was standing with difficulty. Three broken ribs, his clothes covered in blood, and his sword still firmly gripped in his hand.
—You don't have to trust us, —Lusian said. —You only have to respect a boundary.
He pointed toward the walls of Eldora.
—The forest is yours.
Then he pointed toward the city.
—Eldora is ours.
The S-Omega followed the gesture with its eyes.
—And if I cross?
Lusian held its gaze.
—We will hunt you.
There was no threat in his voice.
Only truth.
The monster remained silent.
Then it drove one claw into the earth and carved a deep line across the ground.
The boundary.
Elizabeth understood the meaning.
—And we will not cross yours.
The S-Omega slowly inclined its head.
Once.
It accepted.
There was no friendship.
No loyalty.
Much less obedience.
Only an agreement between two predators who had understood that they could gain more by keeping their territories separate than by destroying each other.
Ancient runes appeared for an instant upon the marked ground, then vanished.
The pact was sealed.
Emily slowly exhaled.
—We're not going to kill it?
Lusian sheathed Dainslein.
—No.
He looked at the monster.
—And it won't kill us.
Kara slowly lowered her greatsword, though she did not relax her stance.
—And we're supposed to trust its word?
—No, —Dayana replied.
Everyone looked at her.
The vampire regarded the pack leader with a barely perceptible smile.
—We have to trust its nature.
The monster was not human.
It understood nothing of laws, crowns, or treaties.
It understood territory.
Boundaries.
Prey.
And consequences.
Laura slowly lowered her spear.
For generations, Eldora had relied on walls to protect itself.
Now it had something far more dangerous guarding its borders.
A monster.
One that would obey no one.
But as long as they respected its territory, it would have no reason to attack the city.
The pack leader retreated into the forest.
Before disappearing among the trees, it turned its head one last time toward Elizabeth.
She felt one final phrase enter her mind.
—Do not cross my boundary.
Elizabeth held its gaze.
—I won't.
The monster disappeared into the shadows.
The forest fell silent once more.
No one celebrated.
They had survived.
That was enough.
And from that night onward, any creature that attempted to cross into the S-Omega's territory would have to face something far more dangerous than Eldora's walls.
The true master of the forest.