Kane staggered back a step.
The Rage was already receding, leaving the usual deep fatigue and the sharp sting of shallow cuts across his arms and chest where the creature’s flailing limbs had caught him.
Black fluid streaked his skin and clothes. Mjoldr’s head was coated in the same thick, wrong blood.
Shenron stood over the corpse, broadsword still embedded in the ruined shoulder limb.
His red eyes were fixed on Kane with open, unguarded surprise.
The strength the human had just displayed, especially the sudden spike that let him drive an axe through that much corrupted mass, wasn’t what the tiger-striped warrior had calculated.
Kessa pulled her blades free and wiped them on the leaf litter, breathing hard.
She looked at Kane with a fierce, almost proud intensity, ears still flat from the fight.
Griselda dropped lightly to the ground, wings folding.
Tar streaked her pale hands and the edges of her feathers.
Yellow eyes moved from the dead mutant to Kane and stayed there.
One of Shenron’s surviving warriors finally spoke, voice rough.
"That thing... it was building itself while it fought."
Shenron pulled his broadsword free with a wet sound and flicked the worst of the fluid off the blade.
"New variant. Deeper corruption than anything we’ve seen this far south." His gaze returned to Kane.
"And you cut it down anyway. That Rage of yours is not a small trick, human. I felt the difference when you used it on me. Seeing it fully is something else."
Kane planted Mjoldr’s head against the ground and leaned on the haft for a moment, letting the last of the Rage drain out of his system.
The system window flickered open again, softer this time, blue instead of warning red.
[Combat Resolution – Aberrant Mutant Variant]
[Experience Threshold Reached]
[Level Up!]
[New Passive Unlocked: Aberrant Flesh Resistance]
[Effect: Reduced regenerative interference when striking demon-essence-corrupted tissue]
[Rage Efficiency +8%]
[Corruption Resistance slightly improved]
[Note: Further exposure to concentrated demon essence will continue adaptation]
Kane closed the window with a slow breath. The new passive already sat quiet and useful under his skin, a small counter to the way the mutant’s body had fought every cut.
Kessa stepped in close and bumped her shoulder against his, uncaring of the tar that smeared between them.
"You look like shit."
"Feel like it too."
Shenron finally looked away from Kane and toward the dark trees beyond the clearing.
"This one came farther south than it should have. If the deep forest is pushing variants like this out already, the packs are going to feel it soon. Grathak included."
Kane straightened, wiped the worst of the black fluid from Mjoldr’s head with a handful of leaves, and settled the axe back across his shoulder.
"Then we take the body markers and the location back. Let the River-Fang and your post both see what the pressure actually looks like now."
Griselda’s voice was quiet, almost thoughtful.
"It adapted while it fought. Next ones may be worse."
No one disagreed.
The surviving warriors began the grim work of marking the kill and checking the perimeter.
The black fluid still dripped from Mjoldr’s head as they left the clearing.
Shenron’s remaining warriors took the lead and the rear, moving with the tight discipline of people who had just seen something that should not have existed this far south.
Kessa walked close enough to Kane that their arms brushed with every other step.
Griselda kept slightly apart, wings folded, yellow eyes distant.
The tar streaks on her hands and feathers had dried into dark, cracking lines.
For a long time the only sounds were boots on leaf litter and the occasional low signal from the scouts ahead.
Shenron finally broke the silence.
He walked on Kane’s left, broadsword resting across one shoulder, red eyes fixed on the path.
"That Rage of yours. When you used a fraction of it against me, I thought I understood the scale. Tonight proved I did not. Where does a human get that kind of output?"
Kane kept his gaze forward.
"It’s part of what I carry. Same as the axe. Same as the rest."
"That is not an answer."
"It’s the only one you’re getting tonight."
Shenron’s jaw tightened, but he did not push further.
The fight had burned off enough of his edge that open argument felt pointless under the canopy.
Kessa glanced between them, then bumped her shoulder deliberately against Kane’s.
"You should have seen your face when the axe finally went through the spine," she said, voice low and openly pleased.
"I’ve watched you fight before. That was different. You stopped holding the worst of it back."
"Didn’t have a choice. The thing was closing every cut I gave it."
"I know."
Her tail flicked once against the back of his leg.
"I’m still allowed to like the way it looked."
Griselda spoke from slightly behind them, quieter than usual.
"It adapted while it fought. The regeneration accelerated after the first serious wounds. Next ones may not wait as long to harden."
Kane nodded once.
"New variant. Higher corruption density. We’ll see more of them if the leak in the deep forest keeps growing."
Shenron made a low sound in his throat.
"Grathak has been content to let the outer packs absorb the pressure. If variants like that start reaching the river lines, even he will have to answer. Or the packs will start answering for him."
No one disagreed.
The rest of the walk back to the post passed in shorter exchanges, status of the wounded warriors, the need to send markers and descriptions to Vorra’s people, the fact that the night’s kill would travel through the southern approaches before morning.
When they reached Shenron’s post, the tiger-striped warrior gave curt orders, saw the worst of the black fluid cleaned from weapons and armor, then fell in with Kane’s group for the final stretch to the family compound.
The compound was still lit when they arrived.
Razan stood on the porch with his arms crossed, the same posture he had held the night of the market fight.
The smell of the mutant’s blood and the tar-like fluid reached him before any of them spoke.
His red eyes moved from the stains on Kane’s clothes to the same stains on his daughter and the winged woman, then to Shenron.
"How many?"
"One," Shenron answered.
"New shape. Stronger regeneration than anything we’ve logged this far south. It’s dead. The human put the finishing blow through its spine while the rest of us held it down."
Razan’s gaze settled on Kane for a long moment.
Whatever calculation moved behind his eyes stayed unspoken.
He only stepped aside.
"Inside. Clean up. We’ll speak tomorrow if there’s anything left to say."
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter