Chapter 360: The beast

The beast wolf slowly moved in circles. As it moved, Kael could hear the sound of each heavy step. Thud! Thud!

Its footprints sank into the ground as if the earth beneath it were mud. Kael didn't move. He stared directly into the wolf's eyes, waiting for the moment it would strike.

When the wolf flicked its tail and bent its body slightly, Kael immediately knew it was about to lunge at him — and he was right.

The beast's claws tore through the air where his head had been only a second earlier.

BOOOM!

The impact alone was terrifying. Even though the claws never touched him, the force behind the attack nearly threw Kael off balance.

"Damn!" He muttered

"This thing is insane."

Kael could see the beast's hunger clearly. It wanted to kill him and turn him into its next meal. Saliva dripped from the wolf's fangs onto the ground below.

The beast attacked again with terrifying speed.

'This is the moment,' Kael thought.

As the wolf charged with its jaws wide open, Kael swung his sword downward, believing he could split the beast in two.

"Die."

"THANG!!!"

Kael couldn't believe what he was seeing. His sword hadn't cut through the wolf at all. Instead, the blade became stuck between the beast's jaws.

The wolf continued charging forward.

Kael quickly grabbed the sword with both hands, desperately trying to keep the beast's mouth away from his head. Even with all his strength, the wolf forced him backward step by step. Saliva dripped from its sharp teeth onto the blade, only inches away from Kael's face.

Kael had underestimated the beast. If he had taken it seriously from the start, he might have stood a chance. Instead, he had relied too much on brute strength.

He considered letting go with one hand to channel all his mana into an Astral Punch, but if he failed to hold the wolf back for even a second, it would mean death.

At that moment, he felt a pulse spread through his veins.

Black lines flickered beneath his skin.

The Abyss Touch Vessel had reacted.

Kael's eyes widened in shock.

"Maybe… it activates under pressure…?"

Suddenly, the wolf jerked its head sideways and hurled him through the trees.

BANG!

Kael slammed hard into a tree trunk, cracking it on impact.

"Ugghhh…" Kael groaned in pain, his vision blurring.

"This beast is far stronger than any other beast I've fought before."

The wolf didn't waste any time. It gave him no chance to recover.

It began circling again, but this time it moved much faster. Then it charged.

Kael forced himself up and narrowly rolled away as the wolf crashed through the tree behind him, splintering wood everywhere. The ground shook violently.

Then Kael noticed something strange.

A faint black mark burned beneath the fur near the wolf's neck.

"No way…"

Kael shook his head and looked again.

The energy looked almost identical to what he had seen inside the dungeon — black, dense, and distorted.

The beast moved again, but this time Kael was ready.

Focusing his mana, he whispered,

"Astral Step."

Mana burst beneath his feet. For a split second, his speed exploded.

He appeared beside the wolf, focused mana into his sword, and slashed downward.

SHRRRK!

Blood sprayed across the nearby leaves.

The wolf roared in fury.

"Got you," Kael whispered, believing he finally had a chance to defeat it.

But then…

Black smoke crawled out from the wound, spreading across the torn flesh as the injury slowly stitched itself back together.

"You've got to be kidding me…"

Kael heard the sound of bones cracking from within the wolf's body, and its yellow eyes darkened.

"What…?" Kael muttered in disbelief. He had never seen a beast like this before.

A powerful gust of wind suddenly burst from the wolf's body, bending branches downward and making the leaves tremble violently.

"Interesting."

Zhal's voice echoed inside Kael's mind for the first time since leaving the academy.

"You've been quiet," Kael whispered back.

"I was observing," Zhal replied lazily. "But now I'm certain."

"Certain about what?" Kael asked.

"The corruption has already spread."

Kael tightened his grip on his sword.

"What are you talking about? What corruption?"

"A beast like this should not exist in this era."

Before Kael could ask another question, the wolf lunged again, its claws colliding against his sword.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Kael's boots dug trenches into the dirt as he resisted the impact. The wolf snapped toward his face, then slammed its head into him.

BAM!

Kael staggered back, but immediately counterattacked.

"Astral Severance!"

A crescent of pale white energy burst from his blade and slammed directly into the wolf's chest.

BOOOOM!

The tree behind the beast shattered from the impact.

For the first time, the creature crashed violently across the forest floor.

"Huh… huh…" Kael breathed heavily, his arms trembling from exhaustion.

'…Did that kill it?'

Then he heard a low growl.

Grrrrr!

The wolf slowly emerged from the smoke.

Its chest had been torn open.

"Oh God…"

Instead of blood, black smoke poured endlessly from the wound.

The beast's body suddenly convulsed.

Bones cracked loudly.

Its body doubled in size.

It had already been massive before, but now it had transformed into something monstrous.

Only then did Kael remember.

"An Abyss Beast…"

In the original story, creatures like this were only supposed to appear after the gates between realms began collapsing during the great war.

But now, one stood before him far too early.

The timeline wasn't simply changing anymore.

It was breaking.

The beast slowly opened its mouth, and what happened next left Kael frozen in disbelief.

"It's impossible…" Kael whispered.

Then human words came from the beast's mouth.

"Found… found… the vessel…"

"The Abyss… has finally found you…"

The moment the wolf spoke—"The abyss has finally found you."

Kael froze, the words echoing again and again inside his head, as if the voice wasn't coming from outside, but from deep within him, like something was slowly waking up.

Kael couldn't control the whispers inside his mind. He tried to stop thinking, tried to block the voice out, but it wasn't something he could control. He fell to one knee, clutching his head as if it would explode if he let go.