The land beyond the forest was worse than Kael had imagined.
The storm hadn't just scarred the ground—it had shattered it. Valleys had become lakes, hills had become cliffs, and ancient trees lay uprooted like broken toys. A constant haze filled the air, thick with the scent of ozone and rot.
Kael and Rynn trudged carefully across a shattered path, the ground slick beneath their boots. His panther companion—a gift of Beast Taming—moved silently at his side, muscles rippling under its sleek black fur.
Ahead, the land dipped into a shallow basin. Pools of stagnant water reflected the sullen sky. And in the center of the basin, half-buried in mud and roots, stood a twisted structure—some kind of ancient altar, pulsing faintly with dark energy.
Rynn stopped at the ridge. "That's it," she said, voice low. "I can feel it."
Kael nodded. So could he.
And he wasn't the only one.
A guttural roar shattered the air.
From the ruins, creatures spilled out—misshapen beasts, their flesh warped by corruption. Some had too many limbs, others none at all. Their eyes glowed with the same sickly gold Kael remembered from the direwolves.
"They're guarding it," Rynn said, drawing her dagger.
Kael stepped forward, Veyrion already in his hand. Lightning crackled across his skin as he called on his Elemental Affinity: Lightning, the energy dancing along his arms and legs, coiling around his blade.
The creatures charged.
Time Dilation surged through Kael's veins.
The world slowed again. The beasts' frantic movements stretched into sluggish, clumsy lunges. Kael saw every detail—the flick of their tongues, the spasm of their malformed muscles.
He moved.
In a blink, Kael Shadowstepped into their midst, emerging behind the first line of attackers. His blade flashed once, twice, three times—each strike a masterpiece of MAX Sword Mastery, clean, efficient, brutal.
Beasts fell, twitching, as he danced through them, a storm of lightning and steel.
But there were too many.
One of them—a massive brute with six legs and no eyes—slammed into him from the side, throwing Kael into a broken tree.
Pain lanced through him. He felt ribs crack.
But Enhanced Regen activated immediately, stitching bone and flesh back together almost before Kael finished sliding to a stop.
He grinned grimly. Survivability.
The panther leapt over him with a snarl, raking its claws across the brute's face. The beast staggered, but it wasn't down yet.
Kael rolled to his feet, retrieving a bundle of steel javelins from Dimensional Storage. With a flick of his wrist, he hurled one—charged with lightning—into the creature's heart.
The javelin struck home, detonating in a flash of thunder and light. The brute collapsed.
Kael turned just in time to see another creature—a spindly, snake-like thing—lunge for Rynn.
He tried to shout a warning, but it was too late.
Except it wasn't.
Luck of the Fates intervened.
The ground beneath the creature cracked suddenly, a hidden sinkhole opening beneath it. The beast shrieked as it tumbled into darkness, vanishing from sight.
Rynn shot Kael a startled look.
He just shrugged. "Sometimes, the world likes me."
They pushed forward together, carving a path through the corrupted guardians. Kael unleashed arcs of lightning with every swing, the raw elemental force frying anything foolish enough to get close.
When the last beast fell, silence descended over the basin.
Kael stood panting, blood and soot staining his cloak. His hands tingled with residual electricity. His panther prowled the perimeter, tail lashing, muscles tense.
Rynn sheathed her dagger. "That altar…" she said, nodding toward it. "It's not just old. It's active."
Kael approached carefully. The structure was made of black stone, etched with symbols that shifted when he tried to focus on them.
An ancient voice whispered from the stone, sibilant and hungry.
Auto-Translation kicked in, the words slithering into Kael's mind:
"Feast... Consume... Awaken..."
Kael's stomach twisted. He reached out with Veyrion, tapping the blade against the altar.
Nothing happened at first.
Then the ground shuddered.
A fissure split the basin, and something massive stirred beneath them.
"Move!" Kael barked.
They sprinted back up the ridge just as the earth caved in. From the collapse rose a figure—towering, humanoid, but utterly wrong. Its body was stitched from dozens of corpses, and its head was a mass of writhing tendrils.
The Hunger had sent a champion.
Kael didn't hesitate.
He surged forward, Shadowstepping through the rubble, slashing at the tendrils with precise blows enhanced by Sword Mastery. Lightning exploded from Veyrion with each strike, but the creature's sheer mass soaked the damage like a sponge.
It swung a massive, stitched-together arm.
Kael slowed time again—Time Dilation saving him from being crushed—and dodged by a hair's breadth, feeling the rush of displaced air tear past him.
He ducked under the next swing, slashing a tendon. The beast stumbled.
Rynn, ever resourceful, hurled a bundle of grenades she'd scavenged into a gaping wound on its side. They detonated with a roar, showering the basin with gore and shredded flesh.
The champion howled.
Kael saw his chance.
He threw another javelin from Dimensional Storage, this one wrapped in coils of crackling lightning. It buried itself deep in the creature's heart.
The champion staggered.
Kael Shadowstepped again—right above the monster's head—and plunged Veyrion straight down, channeling every volt of power he could summon into the blow.
The world turned white.
When the light faded, the champion was gone—reduced to ash and tattered bone.
Kael dropped to his knees, gasping for breath.
The panther limped toward him, nuzzling his arm.
"Good boy," Kael muttered, ruffling its fur. His muscles ached, his bones throbbed, but already Enhanced Regen was working to heal the worst of it.
Rynn walked over, bruised and bloodied but grinning. "Remind me never to bet against you in a fight."
Kael chuckled weakly. "Remind me to bring more javelins next time."
They both laughed, a sound born more of exhaustion than humor.
The mist around the basin thinned at last, revealing a path leading further east—toward a range of broken mountains where the true heart of the storm pulsed like a dying sun.
Kael stood slowly, feeling the weight of the battle settle into his bones. He wasn't invincible. He wasn't a god.
But he was stronger than he had ever been.
And he wasn't alone.
He looked at Rynn, at his panther, at the distant mountains.
The Hunger was growing.
But so was he.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting the land into eerie twilight, Kael and Rynn set out once more—ready for whatever darkness awaited them.
The storm still called to him.
And Kael was ready to answer.