The ruins of the vertical city were not silent; they were merely biding their time. Across a shattered expanse of inverted marble, a monstrous figure—a Blood Growler—raced forward. It was a parody of the humanoid form, grotesquely muscled, with immense, obsidian claws replacing its hands and a gaping maw perpetually open, revealing needle-sharp, blood-stained fangs. A long, armored tail whipped behind it, covered in thick, black scales that absorbed the sickly green light of the sky.
The creature was driven by an obsessive, primal urge: the hunt. It was tracking a scent—a metallic, fresh trail of blood that promised sustenance. It was a relentless predator, heedless of its footing.
Its heavy, scaled foot landed on a cracked tile. In that instant, a massive, weighted Net dropped from the shadows above. It was coated in a vile, viscous, coated liquid that shimmered faintly. The moment the net settled, the monster thrashed, trying to tear itself free, only to feel its massive, muscle-bound movements grow sluggish. Its senses overloaded, the caustic liquid burning into its exposed flesh.
As the creature struggled, a spear, sharp and black as obsidian, descended from above, piercing its chest with a sickening crunch. The Blood Growler gurgled, its massive form dissolving into a spray of dark, viscous motes.
The monster's fading gaze snapped upward. Floating safely above the fray was a figure—Kane, clad in black, chitinous armor that mirrored the scales of his prey. A dark cloak billowed around him, framing his terrifying new appearance: skin tinted a luminous blue, with golden, intricate runes of power running like molten light beneath the surface, and two pairs of arms trailing behind him. He spoke in a hoarse, deep voice that sounded scraped raw from screaming.
"Die."
[Kane's POV]
Kane landed safely near the spot where the monster had been vaporized. It had been a Blood Growler, an Awakened Devil specializing in gluttony—unbearable eaters that would consume anything, living or dead. He had fought a dozen of them recently, but a few always managed to evade his traps. Luckily, he had discovered a specific type of corrupted blood that acted as a potent, immediate poison to them.
His recent activity had been a relentless, necessary purge. He had been hunting every grotesque creature within the collapsed city ruins, desperate to find the Dawn Shard—to cure Linia's disease from that Black smoke from that trials last fight
He picked up the monster's remains, now just a sack of dense, black matter. As he walked forward, he shouted into the desolate expanse, "Missy, where are you?"
Almost instantly, Missy appeared, covered in the gruesome, dark blood of the slain. "Last one of the things dead?" she chirped, though her expression was strangely muted.
Kane nodded, his own voice tight with fatigue. "Where are the rest?"
Missy led him to a truly horrific sight: a mountain of dead Blood Growlers, their segmented, scaled bodies piled high. At the apex lay the slain leader, a creature twice the size of the rest.
Kane dropped the body he carried, summoned the [Shrink Chest], and began the unpleasant, meticulous task of stuffing the corpses into the Memory artifact. The leftovers—the pieces too mangled or too small—were dropped into stitched leather bags, their surfaces instantly soaking up the vile blood.
After carrying their heavy, gruesome haul back to their secluded station, a safe house carved into the ruins, Missy voiced their shared anxiety. "It's been a month since we returned from the Trial, and we haven't spotted the Dawn Shard."
Kane checked the secured load. "Either it must have been lost somewhere outside the city, or it's been swallowed by something we haven't killed yet. We need to prepare alternate plans."
As they reached the heavy, stone door of their safe house, Kane gave their private signal: a single long knock followed by two sharp, short knocks. A voice, calm and steady, answered from within.
"Come in."
Kane and Missy entered to find Linia sitting at a salvaged stone table. She was wearing a simple, dark tunic, with strange black spots covering her hands completely—a residual effect, perhaps, from her recent transformation into a Monster class. She was meticulously marking a vast, fragmented map of the city ruins, crossing off locations that were now utterly barren of life.
She looked up as they entered. "Any luck?"
"No luck," Kane replied, pulling off his clawed gauntlet.
Linia immediately drew a thick, heavy line across a section of the map. "We've covered all habitable places. The only thing left to venture into is the Catacombs, but Kane, you're going to face hard fighting down there."
Kane, ignoring the implied warning, immediately unwrapped the meat and soul shards. He separated the resources into different containers, then stored the Nightmare creature meat in a dark, briny solution, the black water of the Forgotten Shore.
As he finished the tedious preservation process, he heard Linia's soft voice calling him. He followed the sound to find her sitting cross-legged on the stone floor. Kane sat opposite her.
"What's today's lesson?" he asked, bracing himself.
Linia smirked, a rare, chilling expression of amusement. "Today, you are going to learn Ancient Feysaac. You are already familiar with the basics of Hermes."
"Are you sure Ancient Feysaac is necessary?" Kane questioned, a subtle weariness in his tone. "Excluding the fact that it's your mother tongue?"
Linia's expression turned somber, focused. "Your parents might have been from my time period, or not. Learning this will be beneficial either way. Moreover, my brother knows this tongue, too. It will be helpful to search for him, even if I die."
Kane's face went solemn. "You know, I am trying everything to save you, but please be hopeful. You are a former Goddess."
Linia met his gaze, her dark eyes steady. "I'm not suicidal, Kane. But I've lived lives far more numerous than you think, and—"
Kane cut her off, his mind fixed on his next move. "After this lesson, I'm planning to meet Cassie and ask her. Her vision might give me a lead."
Linia looked concerned. "But Nephis is still there. Are you sure it's fine?"
"It is fine," Kane insisted. "Moreover, we need to share what we've found about the shards." He had discovered that the first Bright Lord had left cryptic clues to obtain the shards; he needed to kill a specific monster after touching mysterious statues placed across the Forgotten Shore—a task requiring intelligence, not just brute force.
After a few minutes of intense discussion, Kane began his lesson on Ancient Feysaac. The language was guttural, cold, and ancient, filled with the harsh sounds of a forgotten civilization.
As the lesson concluded, Kane changed into a simple, white dress (tunic), a stark contrast to his usual black armor.
"You know," he stated, his voice quiet, "if any issues come up while I'm gone, speak my True Name."
He had recently discovered an innate ability: whenever a person spoke his True Name, he received an immediate signal, allowing him to see what they were doing, like a screen in his mind. If the rank difference was significant, the call might even grant him new abilities, though if a higher-ranked entity called his name, the negative effects could be devastating. For now, only Linia knew his True Name.
"Missy, let's leave," Kane said.
Missy, who had been sleeping in a small cloud on the floor, woke up instantly and dissolved back into his Soul Sea. Kane said a final, grave goodbye to Linia, then headed for the stone door.
"Let's meet the old acquaintances," he murmured, stepping back out into the deadly light of the shattered ruins.
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I took some break and back,Kindly give some reviews and comments.