The elite Two-Star hunter loomed over the corridor, its shadow stretching long and unnatural across the fractured stones.
Rudo crouched low, muscles coiled, eyes scanning every movement. The humans behind him had either collapsed in terror or silently clung to the walls.
No one moved. No one dared.
Special Hunter: Two-Star
Objective: Eliminate Starless Candidate
Rudo's eyes flicked to the remaining humans. One figure caught his attention—a boy, maybe ten years old, trembling and clutching a rusted dagger.
The boy wasn't a threat. Not really. But he had fear, and fear was a tool.
Rudo didn't hesitate.
Step One: Testing Humanity
The boy's hand shook violently. "P-please… don't…" he stammered.
Rudo ignored the plea. Humanity was a tool, nothing more. Compassion was dead in him, buried under betrayal, calculation, and survival instincts honed over a past life of slaughter.
Humanity Integrity: 68%
He advanced slowly. The hunter above growled, testing its own limits. It was watching, calculating.
Rudo stopped three meters from the boy. "Step aside," he said quietly. Not loud enough to frighten the hunter, just enough to manipulate the boy.
The boy's knees wobbled. His dagger was useless, a child's toy against the predator before him.
Step Two: The Kill
The boy lunged, panicked.
Rudo didn't move backward. He sidestepped, grabbed the boy's wrist, and twisted. A snap echoed. The dagger fell, clattering against the stone floor.
Human Kill Bonus: Activated
Rudo felt the surge instantly. Energy flooded through him, muscles taut, senses sharper, reflexes faster. His body tingled, the Starless evolution deepening with every heartbeat.
The boy fell to the ground, blood pooling at his wrist. Eyes wide, disbelief frozen on his face.
Rudo's hand closed around his throat. No hesitation.
Predator Instinct Progress: 78%
Minor Level-Up Complete
The first human kill.
The humans behind him screamed. Some vomited. Some fainted. Rudo ignored them. None of them mattered.
Step Three: Ruthlessness Refined
Rudo stepped back. The hunter above growled, agitated. It didn't attack yet. It was observing, learning.
Good. Let it watch.
He scanned the corridor. Another human, maybe a Level 1-Star, crouched in the corner, shaking violently. He didn't move, didn't dare.
Rudo's fingers itched—not with hesitation, but with anticipation. Killing humans wasn't about survival anymore. It was about power, evolution, and removing weakness.
Humanity Integrity: 62%
He moved toward the next target. The hunter above hissed, slashing its massive blade through the air, testing him.
Rudo dodged effortlessly, sidestepping with a fluid grace only Starless evolution could grant.
Predator Instinct Progress: 83%
He didn't strike yet. The humans were learning fear, and fear was a tool.
Step Four: System Awareness
The floor trembled, dust falling from the ceiling. A faint system alert flashed.
Hidden Condition: Human Kill Multiplier Detected
Starless Trait Activated: Predator Physique (Minor)
Rudo felt it immediately. His limbs, already fast, moved faster. Reflexes sharpened, senses heightened. He could hear the heartbeat of the humans behind him, the subtle shift in the hunter's weight above, even the faint rustle of stone dust settling.
The hunter lunged, blade swinging down.
Rudo's body moved instinctively. He sidestepped, then pivoted, using the hunter's momentum against it. A sharp kick to its knee joint, a twist at the elbow, and the beast faltered.
The humans shrieked, realizing the child before them was no longer a child.
Step Five: Floor 1 Turns Against Them
Rudo glanced down a narrow corridor. Movement. Another group of survivors, desperate, unarmed.
Some tried to flee. Some tried to hide. None would survive.
He smiled faintly. Not cruelly—not yet—but with absolute calculation.
Humanity Integrity: 57%
He moved. Fast. Silent. A predator among prey.
A Level 1-Star human tried to strike from the shadows.
Rudo turned, caught the wrist mid-swing, and snapped it effortlessly. The human collapsed, screaming.
Human Kill Bonus Activated ×2
He could feel his body changing. Strength surged. Limbs stretched slightly, muscles tightening. His reflexes were almost instantaneous. His senses, sharper than any ordinary human.
The hunter above growled, but it didn't strike. It was learning, calculating, recognizing that this Starless candidate was more than flesh and bone.
Step Six: Psychological Warfare
The remaining humans cowered. Some vomited. One girl, barely ten, cried softly, begging him.
Rudo ignored them. Fear was more powerful than mercy. Let them watch. Let them understand what happens when they hesitate, when they rely on hope.
Predator Instinct Progress: 90%
He crouched low, moving like shadow. Every step calculated, silent, efficient. Each human's heartbeat, each inhalation, each trembling finger, a rhythm he could manipulate.
A quick step. A slash of his hand. Another human collapsed, twitching. Not dead yet. Pain, fear, and anticipation coursed through him—fuel for evolution.
Step Seven: Evolution Triggered
A system alert flashed brightly:
Starless Trait Unlocked: Ruthless Predator
Minor Demon Physique Activated
Humanity Integrity: 50%
Rudo felt the change immediately. Muscle density increased. Reflexes sharpened. His body ached—not with pain, but with power waiting to be unleashed.
The hunter above hissed, agitated. It knew now—this was no ordinary human. This child had evolved beyond mortality.
Rudo didn't hesitate.
Step One Complete: First Human Kill Mastered
He scanned the remaining humans. Only three were left standing. Pale, trembling, broken.
Rudo didn't feel remorse. Only calculation. Only survival. Only growth.
Step Eight: Cliffhanger Emergence
The floor trembled again. Dust rained from the ceiling.
Another system alert:
Special Event Triggered: Elite Two-Star Entity Incoming
Objective: Starless Candidate Termination
Rudo's eyes narrowed.
The hunter above lunged.
But another shadow moved silently behind him. Faster, heavier, larger than any hunter he had faced.
It observed. It calculated. It waited.
Rudo crouched, muscles coiled. Every fiber of his being ready.
Humanity Integrity: 45%
He was no longer a child. Not a human. Not even fully demon.
He was something more ruthless, more dangerous, more evolved than anyone else in this labyrinth.
And the first strike landed.