Chương 15: An Opportunity in Chaos

Ch 15 - An Opportunity in Chaos It was massive… monstrous… a calamity made flesh. The creature looked like a wolf, yet far larger than any wolf should ever be. The closest comparison in Zeph's mind was an elephant. Its body was enormous, towering and wide, built with thick muscle beneath fur as black as pure darkness. That black coat seemed to swallow the light around it. And those eyes… a pair of glowing red eyes burned from within its skull.

Its jaws hung open slightly, revealing rows of fangs, each one as long and thick as Zeph's forearm.

Zeph stood frozen. He could not move. He could not think. His will slipped away as though it had never existed. Just standing in front of that monster made it feel as if his heart had stopped beating. And the creature had not even touched him yet. It had not attacked. It had not swung its massive paw, armed with claws sharp enough to rip his body apart in a single strike. Zeph knew. He knew. This was the end. The fear was different from before. When he stood among those undead. This was not the same.

This was heavy. This was true danger standing right in front of him. The creature threw its head back and roared again. The sound exploded through the air, so loud that Zeph's legs nearly gave out beneath him. The force of that roar felt physical, like it struck his body and shook him from the inside. With trembling hands, Zeph raised his sword. The blade wavered in front of him, unsteady. He was far too deep in this now to run. This monster… there was no way it would be friendly like the others, right?

The moment that thought crossed his mind, everything changed. Time seemed to slow. In less than a blink, the enormous creature was already in front of him. It moved so fast it was almost unreal. A massive claw swung toward him. The last thing Zeph remembered was a flash of black fur and red eyes before his sight went dark and his consciousness shattered into nothing. [Fatal Damage Confirmed.] [Cause of Death: Direct Impact from an Overwhelmingly Superior Beast.] [Undying Core Response: Core restoration output significantly increased. The Undying Core has grown stronger through extreme destruction.] [Level Up!] [Level 13] [Temporary Buff Acquired: Trace of the Overwhelming Predator.] [Effect: Sharply heightens survival instincts. Reaction speed and danger perception significantly increased when facing lethal threats.] Zeph could read the words, even if only for a split second, and he could always read them. It had happened every time before.

And after that, he would wake up again, no matter how he had died last. Whether his head had been sliced off, his chest torn through, or his hands crushed to pieces. He would return to life, surprisingly, and his body would recover quickly afterward. It always happened in an instant. Just like it always did. Wasn't that how it was supposed to be? Wait. Why was it different now? Zeph tried to move, tried to fight against it, but his body felt like it had been thrown away, falling, tumbling, spinning into nothing.

He could not see anything, and he, damn it, he could not breathe. He grabbed at his throat, trying to force air into his lungs. But he could not do it. It felt like he was trying to move his hands when he did not even have hands. He was falling, deep into something, whatever it was. He could feel the sensation clearly, yet he could do nothing at all. He had to go back. He could not stay here forever. He could not. This had never happened before. Never like this.

It was as if he were trapped inside endless darkness with no edge, no escape. He tried to scream, but no sound came out. He tried to bite his lip, but he could not. It felt like he could move his body, yet at the same time he had no body at all. He stayed in that state for who knew how long. Had he truly died this time? This was awful. Suffocating. Then suddenly, a violent jolt exploded inside his heart, and his body slammed down hard. It felt like a fierce blast burst from his chest.

Zeph's eyes flew open, and at once his senses rushed back into his body in a sharp explosion. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. He was alive again. The first thing he did was clutch his chest. That was when the shock hit him. The wound was still wet, and his clothes were clearly torn apart. He quickly pushed himself upright, only to catch sight of the calamity that had taken his life just moments ago, now standing in…

Zeph tilted his head slightly, staring at what was happening in front of him. Not far from where he sat, stunned and trying to understand what he was seeing. Zeph winced in pain, his face twisting as he squeezed his eyes shut. His hand trembled as it moved to clutch his chest, to press against the massive wound that had nearly split him open. He opened his eyes again, still feeling the lingering sting from it, and forced himself to focus on what was happening ahead.

The calamity let out a thunderous roar that shook the entire battlefield. Yet there were dozens, maybe even hundreds, of undead soldiers swarming it from all sides. Zeph froze where he was, watching as the undead charged in from every direction, surrounding the monster. But the calamity jerked its massive body and slammed into them, sending the living corpses flying wildly through the air. Even so, their numbers were overwhelming. It looked like this would turn into a brutal war of attrition.

"What the hell is going on?" he muttered quietly.

"Those undead are actually ganging up on that monster…" Zeph pushed himself to his feet. His gaze fell on the sword lying nearby, and he quickly grabbed it. He forced himself to stand fully as the wound on his chest slowly began to close, and little by little, the pain started to fade. These undead were not the ones that had awakened earlier and marched out of this place. They belonged to the group that carried the dark red attribute.

The calamity roared again, and each roar unleashed a violent surge of energy that blasted the undead far across the battlefield.

"I need to use this chance," Zeph muttered under his breath. Opportunities like this did not come twice. He tightened his grip around the sword's hilt. He had to find an opening to kill this calamity. Zeph steadied himself, and his eyes sharpened with focus. He began to walk forward as a dark aura slowly rose and wrapped around his body. Little by little, the mask formed again, covering his face. [Epic Grade Transformation Sigil: Night Cavalry Activated!]"A rift, once it appears in the outside world, must be conquered." That was an absolute rule. Because if a rift was not conquered, whatever existed inside it would eventually burst out and spill into the world, attacking the surrounding areas in massive numbers. Once an expedition team had entered a rift, there was no way out except by defeating its guardian. In simple terms, the boss. The dungeon boss, or whatever it chose to call itself.

"Is this monster the dungeon boss?" A chance like this would not come twice. Whatever the reason, Zeph was certain this monster was incredibly powerful. If the other team members were here and ended up facing this thing, the risk of them being killed would be far too high. The more people who died, the smaller their chances of leaving this rift alive. Zeph had to find a way to kill it. He clenched his teeth. He ran forward, feeling the impact beneath his feet grow heavier, stronger, more explosive.

It was as if a new surge of energy had filled his body, driving him to slam against the ground with greater force. He could even feel himself running faster than before. Zeph clenched his teeth as several undead rushed in the same direction as him. He kept pace with them, and only now did he truly realize that these undead could run just as fast. Incredibly fast. It was insane. Several undead were suddenly hurled toward him from the front, blasted away by a distant strike.

Zeph tightened his grip on the sword's hilt and braced his front foot against the ground. As one of the undead came flying straight at him, Zeph stepped in and swung his blade in a clean arc, slicing straight through the creature's neck. The undead collapsed onto the ground, its head severed from its body. [You have successfully killed Lv. 13 Red Sigil Undead Soldier]"Level 13." That was quite high.

If Zeph could find chances to finish off these nearly destroyed undead, or whatever the right term was since they were already dead, he could at least push forward the progress of his cultivation. A thunderous roar erupted as Zeph quickly steadied himself. A violent wave of energy burst outward, spreading across the entire battlefield. Dozens of undead were blown away, scattered in all directions by the monster's strike. Through the eyes behind his mask, Zeph observed the creature's current state clearly.

"How strong is this thing?" Even that many undead soldiers was not enough to hold it back. However, he could clearly see that this calamity had already suffered injuries. Several swords were embedded deep in its body. One spear had even pierced straight into its eye, the shaft snapped and left stuck there. The wounds were obvious. It was powerful, yes, but fighting that many enemies would eventually wear it down.

Zeph positioned himself at a distance where he could charge at any moment and seize the chance to strike. If he moved at the right time, he could hit the monster's weakest point. The deepest wound. The place where he could drive his blade in the furthest and make it fatal. He clenched his teeth when something else crossed his mind. Then he threw his sword to the ground. Dark aura began to coil violently around his hands.

He slammed his palm down, and a heavy impact shook the earth as a transparent object formed before him, its shape visible only because of the dark aura wrapping around it. An oversized sword. Zeph glanced at it briefly and noticed something different. The hilt now looked solid. It was clear. Visible. This weapon had evolved since the last time he summoned it. The blade itself was still transparent, almost formless to the naked eye. But its power felt just as terrifying as ever.

Zeph lifted the oversized sword slightly, its tip still angled downward. Then he extended his left hand and gripped it as well. He clenched his teeth and swung the blade to the left. The moment it moved, he felt a powerful jolt and a strong push from the weapon itself, as if an unseen force were helping to drive the sword through the air. Zeph focused on everything at once, and then he ran. He moved. But he did not charge straight ahead.

Instead, he sprinted outward, circling wide, searching for the calamity's blind spot. Searching for a gap. Searching for the perfect opening to deliver his strike. He knew the time was close. Zeph understood that he had to land this attack before the monster was killed by those undead. If that happened, he would lose a massive opportunity. A powerful surge rushed through his legs and spread across his body. His chest had fully healed, and his vision felt sharper than ever.

In a split second, Zeph slammed his foot against the ground and maneuvered through the chaos, weaving between dozens of undead surrounding the battlefield. He shot forward, dashing past them. He could do this. He was getting closer. The monster roared as it swarmed from every side. Zeph leaped forward, pushing off the body of a falling undead. He stepped onto its shoulder, sprang again, and kept moving from one unstable surface to another.

An explosion of dark aura wrapped around his body as his leap carried him high enough to almost seem as if he were gliding through the air. His body shot forward at full speed, and now Zeph was directly floating above the calamity, gripping the massive sword tightly in his hands. He fixed his gaze on the precise moment, and then he dove downward, the blade already aimed at the monster's deepest wound.