The warning remained etched in Emil's mind.
«Estimated Level: Above 150.
Survival Probability: Less than 3%.»
For the next seven days, he deliberately avoided the crimson aura.
He traveled east.
The aura shifted east.
He turned north.
The aura gradually changed direction.
At first, Emil believed it was coincidence.
By the eighth day...
He knew it wasn't.
Something enormous was wandering the forest.
And somehow...
Its path always crossed his.
---
The Forbidden Forest itself seemed to be fleeing.
Spirit birds abandoned their nests.
Wolf packs migrated overnight.
Even apex predators disappeared without a fight.
Dead trees littered the ground.
Mountainsides had collapsed.
Ancient forests had been flattened as though struck by a natural disaster.
Emil crouched beside an enormous footprint.
It measured nearly ten meters across.
The earth beneath it had been compressed into solid rock.
He slowly placed his hand inside the footprint.
"It isn't hunting..."
"It doesn't even know where it's is going."
The system responded.
Ding!
Analysis Complete.
The target has lost higher reasoning.
Mental state: Berserk.
Void corruption detected.
---
A cold feeling settled over Emil.
Void corruption...
The same force that had created the Void Wraith.
Except this...
Was affecting a creature over twice his level.
---
As he continued following the trail from a safe distance, he found the remains of a battlefield.
Three Wyverns.
Dead.
An Ancient Forest Troll.
Split cleanly in half.
Two gigantic horned rhinoceroses.
Reduced to crushed flesh.
None had survived.
Yet the Behemoth itself had not escaped unharmed.
Dark blood covered the ground.
Chunks of stone-like flesh lay scattered everywhere.
Several enormous claw marks stretched across its trail.
It had fought something powerful.
Very powerful.
---
That night...
Emil sat silently atop a cliff overlooking the valley below.
His instincts screamed at him to leave.
Every lesson the forest had taught him told him the same thing.
Run.
Yet another thought lingered in his heart.
"If a monster like this reaches the outer forest..."
"It'll destroy everything."
He knew the beast wasn't evil.
It was suffering.
The Void had consumed its mind.
If no one stopped it...
Thousands of creatures would die.
---
The system suddenly appeared.
Emergency Mission Issued.
Purify the Berserk Behemoth
Objective:
End the suffering of the corrupted guardian.
Reward:
Variable according to contribution.
Warning:
Mission difficulty greatly exceeds host's current strength.
---
Emil stared at the notification for a long time.
Then quietly nodded.
"I know."
"I'm still going."
---
The following morning...
The forest trembled.
A deafening roar echoed across the mountains.
Trees bent beneath the pressure.
Spirit beasts fled in every direction.
Then...
It appeared.
---
The Berserk Behemoth.
It towered nearly thirty meters high.
Its body resembled a mountain covered in black stone armor.
Massive horns curved from its skull.
Cracks covered its body, leaking black Void energy instead of blood.
Its crimson eyes burned with endless pain.
One of its forelegs was badly damaged.
Deep claw wounds crossed its chest.
Several broken spikes jutted from its back.
It had clearly survived countless battles.
But the corruption had destroyed its reason.
---
Ding!
Target Identified
Berserk Behemoth
Level: 159
Status:
Severely Wounded
Mental State:
Completely Berserk
Void Corruption: 87%
Warning:
Host's current combat ability is insufficient.
---
The Behemoth didn't even notice Emil.
It slammed its head into a mountainside.
Then roared at empty air.
It attacked invisible enemies.
Its own madness had become its greatest torment.
---
Emil slowly unsheathed his sword.
"I'm sorry..."
The Behemoth turned.
Its crimson eyes locked onto him.
For a brief instant...
Emil thought he saw sadness hidden beneath the madness.
Then—
The mountain exploded.
The Behemoth charged.
---
BOOM!
The impact shattered the cliff where Emil had stood.
He escaped with Sun Step at the last possible moment.
The shockwave alone sent him crashing through several ancient trees.
Blood spilled from his mouth.
"My ribs..."
Two had already broken.
And the battle had barely begun.
---
The Behemoth attacked again.
Its enormous fist crushed the ground.
Entire sections of the forest collapsed.
Emil refused to meet strength with strength.
Instead...
He ran.
He dodged.
He waited.
Every attack revealed another weakness.
Its injured foreleg slowed its turns.
Its damaged shoulder reduced the reach of its right arm.
The corruption caused moments where its movements became unstable.
He memorized everything.
---
Hours passed.
The battle spread across mountains and valleys.
Emil struck only when opportunities appeared.
A slash against the wounded shoulder.
Another across an old scar.
A thrust into cracked armor.
Every successful hit drew black blood.
Yet compared to the Behemoth's massive body...
They were little more than scratches.
---
By sunset...
Emil could barely stand.
His left arm hung uselessly at his side.
One eye had swollen shut.
His spiritual energy was nearly exhausted.
His sword was covered in cracks.
The Behemoth wasn't much better.
Its breathing had become ragged.
Its own berserk rage had torn muscles apart.
Void energy devoured it from within.
---
Then disaster struck.
The Behemoth slammed both fists into the earth.
A violent earthquake erupted.
Emil lost his footing.
For the first time during the battle...
He made a mistake.
The Behemoth's tail struck him directly.
His body flew hundreds of meters before crashing through a stone cliff.
He couldn't breathe.
Pain consumed every part of him.
Several more bones had broken.
His sword lay beside him...
Snapped almost in half.
---
The Behemoth slowly approached.
Each step shook the valley.
Its jaws opened.
Preparing the final attack.
---
Emil reached toward his broken sword.
His fingers trembled.
"So..."
"This is how it ends?"
---
Then...
He remembered everything.
The cliff where he had been abandoned.
The river that had saved him.
The Sun God Fragment.
The labyrinth.
Every lesson.
Every battle.
Every lonely sunrise.
---
"No."
"I didn't survive all this..."
"...to die here."
---
He stood.
Barely.
His broken sword still rested in his hand.
Golden spiritual energy gathered around the fractured blade.
Not to repair it.
But to extend it.
Pure Sun Qi formed a radiant edge beyond the broken steel.
For the first time...
His Sword Aura and Sword Heart resonated completely with his own sword path.
---
The Behemoth roared and charged one final time.
Emil didn't move.
He waited.
One step.
Two steps.
Three—
The Behemoth's injured foreleg collapsed beneath its own weight.
Its body tilted.
The opening he had waited for all day finally appeared.
---
Emil inhaled deeply.
Every remaining drop of spiritual energy surged into his blade.
His own technique.
His own sword.
---
Sun Sword Style...
Second Form...
Solar Crescent.
---
A single arc of brilliant golden light crossed the battlefield.
Silence followed.
The Behemoth took one final step.
Then another.
Black Void energy erupted from the massive wound across its chest.
Its enormous body slowly collapsed.
The earth shook.
The forest fell silent.
---
Emil remained standing only because he leaned against his broken sword.
The Behemoth's crimson eyes gradually returned to their original deep amber.
For a fleeting moment...
The madness disappeared.
The ancient guardian looked at Emil peacefully.
It lowered its massive head.
Almost like a warrior acknowledging another.
Then...
Its eyes closed forever.
---
The system's voice echoed softly.
Ding!
Emergency Mission Complete.
The Berserk Behemoth has been released from its suffering.
Calculating rewards...
Before the notifications could finish...
Emil's vision blurred.
His body finally gave in.
He collapsed beside the fallen giant.
As snow began to fall across the silent battlefield, one man and one ancient beast lay motionless beneath the winter sky.
The victor had survived.
But only by the narrowest of margins.