The Alpha Shadow Fang Wolf roared.
Its howl tore through Ashwood Village like a blade, drowning out the screams of the villagers.
The surrounding wolves answered in unison, their crimson eyes burning with savage bloodlust.
The brief silence created by the mysterious Keeper’s appearance had ended.
Reality had returned.
And reality wanted me dead.
The Alpha lowered its body, muscles rippling beneath its dark gray fur.
Its eyes never left mine.
It wasn’t looking at the hunters.
It wasn’t interested in the villagers.
It wanted me.
“Why?”
The question echoed in my mind.
What made the Origin Core so valuable that even beasts seemed capable of sensing it?
Before I could think further, Elder Rowan’s voice thundered across the battlefield.
“Protect the boy!”
Three hunters immediately stepped in front of me, raising their wooden shields.
“Kael, run!” one of them shouted.
“We’ll hold it back!”
My fingers tightened into fists.
They were willing to risk their lives for someone they believed couldn’t even cultivate.
Kael’s memories surfaced once more.
Hunter Daren.
Hunter Milo.
Hunter Bran.
Men who had secretly left food outside Grandma Mira’s house every winter so Kael wouldn’t starve.
Yet Kael had never known who his silent benefactors were.
Until now.
A bitter smile crossed my lips.
“I won’t let you die because of me…”
The Origin Core pulsed.
Origin Sense Active
Analyzing Battlefield…
Golden threads spread across my vision.
The chaotic battlefield transformed.
Instead of wolves and people, I saw streams of flowing energy.
Every living creature emitted light.
The hunters glowed with pale white currents.
The wolves burned with crimson energy.
The Alpha…
Its aura was vastly denser.
Like a blazing sun surrounded by dying embers.
Then I noticed it.
A thin golden line running from the Alpha’s forehead to the center of its chest.
It pulsed in rhythm with its heartbeat.
The same weak point I had seen before.
“That’s where it can be hurt…”
A sharp pain stabbed behind my eyes.
The Origin Core immediately displayed another warning.
Warning
Host’s body cannot withstand prolonged Origin Sight.
Remaining Safe Duration:
01:47
“So there’s a limit…”
My breathing grew heavier.
Every second I maintained the ability felt like hot needles being driven into my skull.
I had less than two minutes.
The Alpha moved.
Its body disappeared in a blur.
“So fast!”
CRASH!
Hunter Bran barely managed to raise his shield before the beast slammed into him.
The wooden shield exploded into splinters.
Bran flew several meters before crashing into a stone wall.
Blood sprayed from his mouth.
“Bran!”
Hunter Daren charged with a spear.
“Die, beast!”
The iron spear struck the Alpha’s shoulder.
Clang.
The tip snapped.
It hadn’t even pierced the creature’s hide.
The hunters’ faces turned pale.
“Impossible…”
The Alpha answered with a casual swipe of its claws.
Daren’s chest armor split open.
He staggered backward, collapsing to one knee.
Only Milo remained standing.
His hands trembled around his axe.
Yet he refused to retreat.
The Alpha ignored him completely.
Once again…
Its eyes settled on me.
The monster crouched.
Every instinct screamed that its next leap would reach me.
There was no time.
No plan.
No miracle.
Only one choice.
I stepped forward.
“Kael!”
Grandma Mira’s desperate cry echoed behind me.
“What are you doing?”
I didn’t answer.
Because I didn’t know.
Maybe this was courage.
Maybe it was stupidity.
Either way…
Running wouldn’t save anyone.
The Alpha lunged.
The earth shattered beneath its paws.
Its jaws opened wide enough to crush my head in a single bite.
Everything slowed.
The villagers screamed.
The hunters tried to move.
Too late.
The golden line across the Alpha’s body glowed brighter than ever.
“Now!”
Without thinking, I snatched the broken spear lying beside Hunter Daren.
Its shattered tip was jagged and uneven.
A terrible weapon.
But it was all I had.
I twisted my body just as the Alpha reached me.
Its claws sliced across my shoulder.
White-hot pain exploded through my arm.
Blood soaked my shirt.
Ignoring the agony, I drove the broken spear toward the glowing golden line.
Not with strength.
With everything I had left.
The spear struck.
For a heartbeat…
Nothing happened.
Then…
The Origin Core erupted with brilliant golden light.
The instant the broken spear pierced the glowing golden line…
The world exploded in light.
A deafening cry escaped the Alpha Shadow Fang Wolf.
It wasn’t a howl of anger.
It was a scream of agony.
Golden cracks spread across its massive body like lightning racing through a storm cloud.
The crimson aura surrounding the beast flickered violently.
Then—
BOOM!
An invisible shockwave erupted from the Alpha, throwing everyone nearby backward.
I hit the ground hard, the air forced from my lungs.
Dust and broken wood filled the battlefield.
For a few terrifying seconds…
I couldn’t see anything.
“Kael!”
Grandma Mira’s voice echoed through the dust.
I forced myself onto my elbows.
Every muscle in my body burned.
My right shoulder bled heavily where the Alpha’s claws had torn through my flesh.
The Origin Core pulsed weakly.
Host Vital Status
Health: Critical
Origin Energy: 2%
Recommendation:
Retreat Immediately
“I would love to…”
I muttered through clenched teeth.
“…if it would let me.”
The dust slowly settled.
The villagers stared ahead in stunned silence.
The Alpha was still standing.
But something had changed.
The golden cracks covering its body continued to spread.
Dark crimson blood dripped from the wound where the spear had struck.
The beast took one shaky step.
Then another.
Its breathing became uneven.
It looked at me—not with hatred this time…
But with confusion.
As if it couldn’t understand how a powerless human had managed to injure it.
Hunter Milo slowly lowered his axe.
“…He actually wounded the Alpha.”
Even Elder Rowan stood speechless.
“In all my years…”
“I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Hope spread through the hunters.
For the first time since the battle began…
They believed victory might be possible.
But the Origin Core warned me otherwise.
Analysis Complete
Target is entering Berserk State.
Danger Level: Extreme
Recommendation:
Escape
“Berserk?”
The Alpha threw back its head.
A roar unlike any before erupted from its throat.
Its muscles swelled.
The golden cracks disappeared beneath rapidly healing flesh.
The wound closed before my eyes.
“No…”
My heart sank.
“It healed…”
The hunters’ hope vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
The Alpha’s crimson aura doubled in size.
The surrounding wolves began howling wildly, as though drawing strength from their leader.
Even the ground trembled beneath their paws.
Hunter Daren struggled to stand.
“We can’t win.”
Elder Rowan gripped his spear tighter.
“We don’t need to.”
He looked toward the underground shelters.
“We only need to buy enough time for the children to escape.”
The old hunter smiled.
A calm, peaceful smile.
“If this village survives…”
“Our lives are a small price.”
Those words struck me harder than any monster could.
These people weren’t heroes.
They weren’t legendary cultivators.
They were ordinary villagers.
Yet every one of them was prepared to die for someone else.
Back on Earth…
How many people would do the same?
The Alpha suddenly lowered its head.
Its eyes glowed brighter than ever.
It wasn’t preparing another attack.
It was preparing something else.
Crimson energy gathered inside its open jaws.
The surrounding air distorted from the immense pressure.
Hunter Milo’s face turned white.
“Spirit Breath…”
“No…”
“We’re finished.”
Kael’s memories surfaced instantly.
Only Second-Tier Spirit Beasts could use Spirit Breath.
The Alpha…
Had evolved.
How?
The Origin Core answered before I could ask.
Warning
The Void Mark is accelerating the target’s evolution.
Mission Difficulty Updated.
Current Survival Probability:
0.4%
Less than one percent.
For the first time since arriving in this world…
I truly believed I was going to die.
I tightened my grip around the broken spear.
“If this is the end…”
“I’ll make it count.”
The crimson sphere inside the Alpha’s mouth grew larger.
The hunters braced themselves.
Grandma Mira closed her eyes in silent prayer.
Even the wolves retreated from their own leader.
Then—
A soft breeze swept across the battlefield.
It carried the scent of blooming flowers.
The oppressive pressure vanished.
The Alpha froze.
Its enormous body began trembling.
Not from rage.
From fear.
A single figure stood atop the broken northern gate.
No one had seen them arrive.
A young woman.
She appeared to be no older than sixteen.
Long silver hair danced gently in the wind.
She wore a deep blue cloak embroidered with unfamiliar golden symbols.
At her waist hung a sword with a snow-white scabbard.
Her calm blue eyes swept across the battlefield.
They lingered on me for only a heartbeat.
A strange emotion flashed across her face.
Recognition.
Then it disappeared.
Without speaking…
She drew her sword.
The blade reflected the sunlight like flowing ice.
The Alpha let out a desperate howl.
And for the first time…
The king of the Shadow Fang Wolves tried to run.