Chapter 2: The First Hunt
The rain continued to fall.
Cold droplets struck the pavement.
Thunder rolled across the night sky.
Fenrir Endarth stood motionless in the alley.
His crimson eyes stared into the darkness beyond the street.
The hunger within him was growing stronger.
Each passing second felt different.
His hearing sharpened further.
His sense of smell expanded.
His heartbeat slowed.
It was as though his body were instinctively preparing for battle.
Preparing to hunt.
Or be hunted.
[Threat Approaching.]
[Distance: 217 Meters.]
[Distance: 201 Meters.]
[Distance: 189 Meters.]
The numbers continued to fall.
Rapidly.
Very rapidly.
Fenrir swallowed nervously.
"Can I beat it?"
[Insufficient Data.]
"That's not reassuring."
[Host Survival Probability: 13.4%.]
"..."
That was somehow worse.
---
A loud crash echoed through the street.
A parked vehicle was hurled aside like a toy.
Metal twisted.
Glass shattered.
The ground trembled.
Fenrir's eyes widened.
Something enormous emerged from the darkness.
At first glance, it resembled a wolf.
But only at first glance.
The creature stood nearly three meters tall.
Its body was covered in black fur.
Crimson veins pulsed beneath its skin.
Its claws looked capable of tearing through steel.
Most horrifying of all...
Its eyes glowed blood-red.
The monster slowly turned toward Fenrir.
The moment their gazes met...
The creature froze.
Confusion flickered in its predatory eyes.
As though it sensed something impossible.
Something it could not comprehend.
Then...
It growled.
A deep, violent sound filled with hostility.
Fenrir felt every instinct in his body scream.
Danger.
Extreme danger.
Yet beneath that fear...
The hunger remained.
Growing stronger.
"OBLIVION."
[Yes.]
"What is that thing?"
A brief pause followed.
Then information appeared.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Species: Bloodfang Werewolf
Rank: F
Level: 12
Condition: Frenzied
Threat Assessment: High
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Fenrir nearly cursed aloud.
Level twelve?
He was level one.
How was that fair?
The werewolf lowered its body.
Preparing to charge.
Its muscles tightened.
Its claws dug into the pavement.
Then it disappeared.
Boom!
The creature launched forward like a missile.
Fenrir barely reacted.
Pure instinct took over.
His body twisted sideways.
A massive claw passed inches from his face.
The shockwave shattered nearby windows.
The werewolf landed behind him.
Its attack had missed.
Barely.
Far too barely.
Sweat dripped down Fenrir's forehead.
That thing could kill him instantly.
---
The beast attacked again.
Faster.
More savage.
More violent.
Its claws tore through concrete.
Its jaws snapped shut with enough force to crush bone.
Fenrir dodged desperately.
Every movement pushed his body to its limit.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Yet strangely...
He was adapting.
The creature seemed faster each time.
But so did he.
His reactions improved.
His senses sharpened.
His instincts evolved.
As though battle itself were teaching him.
[Passive Skill Acquired.]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Predator's Instinct (Common)
Allows the host to react faster during combat.
Progression possible.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Fenrir almost laughed.
Now?
The System chose now to grant him a skill?
Unfortunately, the werewolf had no intention of giving him time to complain.
It attacked again.
This time, Fenrir failed to evade completely.
A claw ripped across his chest.
Blood sprayed.
Pain exploded through his body.
He crashed into a wall.
The impact cracked the concrete.
The werewolf growled in triumph.
It advanced slowly.
Certain of its victory.
Fenrir struggled to stand.
His vision blurred.
His chest burned.
For a moment...
The image of Luna Hartwell appeared in his mind.
Then Damien Blackwood.
Then the crowd that had laughed while he was beaten.
Rage ignited within him.
No.
He refused to die.
Not here.
Not tonight.
Not before making them pay.
---
The hunger erupted.
Something snapped inside him.
Not physically.
Mentally.
A seal broke.
A chain shattered.
And an ancient instinct awakened.
[Warning.]
[Alpha Sovereign Bloodline Resonating.]
[Partial Transformation Available.]
[Would Host Like To Activate?]
Fenrir didn't hesitate.
"YES!"
The response came instantly.
Pain surged through his body.
His bones shifted.
His muscles expanded.
Silver-black fur spread across his arms.
His fingernails transformed into razor-sharp claws.
Crimson energy erupted around him.
The werewolf stopped moving.
Fear appeared in its eyes.
Real fear.
The predator had suddenly become prey.
Fenrir slowly stood.
His crimson eyes glowed brighter than ever.
His breathing deepened.
His senses exploded.
Power flowed through every part of his body.
For the first time in his life...
He felt strong.
Truly strong.
[Partial Alpha Sovereign Transformation Activated.]
[Overall Combat Ability Increased.]
[Hunger State: Active.]
The word hunger echoed repeatedly in his mind.
It was not hunger for food.
It was something else.
Something deeper.
The desire to consume.
To devour.
To evolve.
The werewolf sensed the danger.
It tried to retreat.
Too late.
Fenrir vanished.
Boom!
The ground shattered beneath his feet.
The next moment, he appeared directly in front of the monster.
The werewolf's eyes widened.
Fenrir's claw descended.
Blood erupted.
The creature screamed.
For the first time since the battle began...
The Bloodfang Werewolf was injured.
And for the first time in thousands of years...
The bloodline of the Alpha Sovereigns tasted battle once more.
Far above Earth...
Within a realm hidden among the stars...
An ancient goddess slowly opened her eyes.
Her silver pupils narrowed.
She looked toward the mortal world.
Toward Fenrir.
Toward the impossible aura she had just sensed.
Her expression changed.
Shock.
Disbelief.
Fear.
"The Alpha Sovereigns..."
"No..."
"That's impossible."
Meanwhile, deep beneath the city...
Something else awakened.
And unlike the goddess...
It began to laugh.
The hunt had begun.
And the entire supernatural world was about to learn a terrifying truth.
The last God Devourer was alive.