Part I — When Calamity Knocks There was a saying among veteran Hunters.
“When even the monsters begin to flee…
run faster than they do.” Drake had never believed it.
Until now.
— The Bonefang colony had fallen into absolute silence.
Not the peaceful silence that settled after a hunt.
Not the silence of sleeping beasts.
This…
This was the silence of instinct.
The kind that warned every living creature that death was approaching.
Drake remained hidden behind the weathered stone pillar near the Alpha’s den, scarcely daring to breathe.
His human heartbeat echoed loudly inside his ears while the Bonefang instincts archived within him stirred uneasily.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The three cubs, who only moments ago had been playfully climbing over one another beneath their father’s watchful gaze, had suddenly stopped moving.
The largest slowly lifted its head.
Its ears twitched.
Its nose searched the air.
Then it whimpered.
Not from pain.
From fear.
The other two instinctively pressed themselves beneath the Alpha’s massive body.
They didn’t understand what was coming.
Only that something terrifying had entered their territory.
The Alpha understood.
Its crimson eyes narrowed toward the entrance of the colony.
Its injured body slowly rose despite the deep wounds that covered nearly every part of its pale armor.
Blood dripped steadily onto the stone floor, yet the beast ignored every injury.
Pain no longer mattered.
Only the den.
Only the cubs.
Drake watched quietly.
For the first time since arriving inside the Dead Ruins…
He saw no trace of the savage predator that had defeated another Alpha only yesterday.
Standing before him now…
Was simply a father.
— Without warning…
The Alpha released a deep rumbling growl.
It wasn’t loud.
It wasn’t threatening.
It was a command.
The three cubs reacted immediately.
The eldest nudged its younger siblings toward the back of the nursery tunnel while repeatedly glancing over its shoulder.
Even the smallest obeyed without hesitation.
Drake blinked.
“They understand…” The relic answered softly.
Pack communication confirmed.
“They actually know what it’s saying…” Behavior consistent with advanced social hierarchy.
Drake looked back toward the nursery.
The eldest cub had positioned itself between its younger siblings and the entrance.
Its tiny claws shook.
It was terrified.
Yet…
It still stood there.
Drake’s chest tightened.
Instinct.
Not courage.
Yet perhaps…
There wasn’t much difference.
— The Alpha slowly turned its head.
For one brief moment…
Its crimson eyes met Drake’s.
Time seemed to stop.
Neither moved.
Neither growled.
Neither attacked.
The Alpha simply looked at him.
Its gaze lingered upon Drake’s right hand.
Not his face.
Not his body.
His hand.
The relic suddenly became unusually active.
Warmth spread beneath Drake’s skin.
Alpha recognition detected.
Bloodline resonance increasing.
Drake frowned.
“…Bloodline resonance?” No answer came.
The Alpha slowly lowered its head.
Not completely.
Only slightly.
The gesture lasted barely a heartbeat before the beast turned away once more.
Drake remained frozen.
“…Did it…” His voice barely escaped his lips.
“…acknowledge me?” The relic finally answered.
Possibility…
A brief pause followed.
High.
Before Drake could think further— Every hair on his body stood upright.
The air changed.
The mana flowing throughout the colony…
Stopped.
Not weakened.
Stopped.
It was as though something far more powerful had forced every surrounding mana particle into absolute submission.
Even the glowing crystals embedded within the cavern walls dimmed.
Drake instinctively held his breath.
“What…” The relic interrupted him.
Its usually emotionless voice carried something Drake had never heard before.
Urgency.
Warning.
Unknown organism entering detection range.
Threat assessment…
The words halted.
Several seconds passed.
Then— Assessment impossible.
Drake’s heartbeat skipped.
Since awakening…
The relic had analyzed everything.
The Bonefang Ravager.
Mana Beasts.
Mana Crystals.
Hunter remains.
Even ancient architecture.
Everything.
This…
Was the first thing it couldn’t understand.
— The silence continued.
One second.
Five.
Ten.
Nothing happened.
Which somehow made it even worse.
The Alpha never looked away from the entrance.
Neither did Drake.
Then…
A sound echoed through the colony.
Click.
Drake frowned.
Another followed.
Click…
Click…
The sound resembled two enormous bones scraping against one another.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Almost…
Curious.
It echoed once.
Then again.
Each click slightly closer than the last.
The cubs whimpered.
The Alpha answered with another low growl.
This one…
Far more dangerous.
The clicking stopped.
Silence returned.
Drake slowly swallowed.
“…Maybe it left.” The relic answered instantly.
Negative.
Another click.
Much closer.
Then— Scrraaaape…
Something heavy dragged across the stone floor outside the colony.
The sound sent vibrations through the cavern itself.
Dust drifted from the ceiling.
Ancient bones rattled softly across the ground.
Drake’s breathing became shallow.
He couldn’t see anything.
Only darkness beyond the entrance.
Then…
A claw emerged.
It slowly wrapped around the side of the massive stone archway.
Drake’s pupils contracted.
The claw wasn’t covered in scales.
Nor fur.
It resembled the twisted roots of a dead tree.
Black.
Cracked.
Veins of crimson light pulsed beneath bark-like flesh.
Each finger ended in talons nearly the length of Drake’s entire arm.
Another claw appeared.
Then…
Something enormous lowered its head beneath the entrance.
At first…
Drake thought he was looking at the skull of some gigantic deer.
Then the skull moved.
Massive antlers stretched outward like the branches of an ancient dead forest, scraping loudly against the stone ceiling as the creature forced itself into the colony.
Dark mist poured endlessly from the empty eye sockets.
Rot followed wherever it stepped.
Not metaphorically.
Literally.
Tiny patches of moss growing between the stones blackened and withered the instant the creature approached.
Even the ancient vines hanging from the walls shriveled.
Mana itself seemed to decay around it.
Drake’s stomach churned.
The smell hit him a heartbeat later.
Rotting flesh.
Ancient blood.
Wet earth.
Death.
Not fresh death.
Old death.
The smell of something that had been killing for centuries.
The creature finally entered the colony completely.
It stood nearly twice the Alpha’s height.
Its body was wrapped in coarse black fur tangled with thorn-like branches that seemed to grow directly from its flesh.
Long skeletal arms nearly touched the ground.
Its chest rose slowly with every breath, releasing clouds of black mist that dissolved into the surrounding mana.
There was no intelligence visible within the empty sockets of its skull.
Only hunger.
Ancient.
Bottomless.
Hungry.
The relic spoke.
For the first time…
Its voice contained something Drake had never imagined possible.
Uncertainty.
Unknown organism…
A pause.
Biological analysis…
failed.
Another pause.
Longer this time.
Classification unavailable.
Drake stared.
“You…” “…you don’t know what it is?” Silence.
Then— No existing biological record.
The realization sent ice through his veins.
This thing wasn’t merely powerful.
It was beyond anything the relic had ever archived.
The creature slowly tilted its skull.
The clicking sound came again.
Not from its claws.
From inside its mouth.
Click…
Click…
Click…
Almost…
Like laughter.
Its empty sockets remained fixed upon the Bonefang Alpha.
Ignoring Drake entirely.
Ignoring the cubs.
Ignoring everything else.
The Alpha answered by stepping forward.
Despite the blood flowing freely from its wounds…
Despite exhaustion trembling through its muscles…
It placed itself directly between the nursery…
And the monster.
It lowered its head.
Its claws dug into the stone.
A deep growl rolled from its chest.
Not a challenge.
Not a declaration of dominance.
A promise.
“You will not pass.” Drake felt his throat tighten.
For reasons he couldn’t explain…
He suddenly thought of Luna.
If death itself stood before him…
Would he stand the same way?
The answer came before the question had fully formed.
Yes.
Without hesitation.
Outside the colony…
Somewhere deeper within the endless tunnels…
Every remaining creature fled.
Even the Dead Ruins themselves seemed to understand.
A calamity…
Had arrived.
To be continued…