Chapter 105
Nille continued lowering his head apologetically toward the gathered personnel, still trying to ease the tension lingering throughout the transport hall. Before he could continue speaking, Head Merchant Rume Ironbark suddenly stepped forward and placed one heavy hand firmly onto Nille's shoulder.
"That's enough, lad," the old dwarf said calmly.
His voice carried authority strong enough to steady the atmosphere itself.
"They understand."
Rume's sharp eyes swept across the silent Rune Forge personnel nearby before he continued.
"And whatever happened here today…" his tone deepened slightly, "…will remain contained within Rune Forge authority."
Several staff members immediately straightened themselves instinctively.
Rume tapped the floor once using the base of his cane.
"This place answers to nobody but me," he declared firmly. "Even the Academy Deans can't simply barge into my territory whenever they please."
The old dwarf folded his arms afterward.
"The agreement between the Training and Learning Academy and Rune Forge has always been equal partnership. What happens inside these walls stays inside these walls."
The atmosphere stabilized slightly after those words.
But only briefly.
Because moments later—
the transport hall doors suddenly opened forcefully.
Professor Caelum Verdanis rushed inside.
Rume immediately groaned loudly.
"Damn you, Caelum," the dwarf snapped irritably. "I was just saying this place was secure, then ye come barging in like a storm."
The old merchant pointed his cane accusingly.
"Yer clan may be respected inside Luminaire Boundary, and aye, ye helped found this place years ago—but don't forget ye gave up that authority long ago!"
But Caelum Verdanis completely ignored him.
The professor moved directly toward Nille without hesitation and grabbed him firmly by both shoulders.
"Are you alright, Nille?" he asked immediately.
Unlike Rume's irritation or Nhulla's concern, Caelum's expression carried something far more obvious.
Fear.
Genuine fear.
"For heaven's sake, Rume," Caelum snapped while looking toward the dwarf merchant, "why didn't you stop him from doing whatever madness he was attempting?!"
Rume barked back instantly.
"How exactly was I supposed to stop him?! Tie him to a chair?!"
Caelum ignored the response entirely and looked back toward Nille again, carefully checking the visible injuries still lingering across his body.
Then the professor suddenly pressed one hand against his forehead and muttered quietly beneath his breath.
"…If Miyako hears about this, she'll never stop pestering me about your condition."
Nille blinked.
Then froze slightly.
"…Wait."
His eyes shifted toward Caelum slowly.
"Miyako… Ueda?"
Caelum looked up.
Rume immediately noticed the realization spreading across Nille's face.
Then the dwarf merchant burst into loud laughter.
"Bloody hell," Rume wheezed while grinning broadly. "What exactly is with yer daughter's connection to this lad?"
Nille stared openly now.
Because the implication hit him immediately.
Professor Caelum Verdanis sighed heavily afterward before rubbing the side of his forehead tiredly.
"Miyako inherited her mother's surname," he admitted reluctantly. "Political complications."
Rume snorted loudly.
"That's one way to describe it."
Caelum shot the dwarf an annoyed glance before continuing.
"My clan and her mother's family were… not exactly supportive of the relationship."
Nille remained silent while processing the information.
Miyako Ueda—
the same Miyako constantly causing chaos around him—
was Professor Caelum Verdanis' daughter?
Suddenly several things started making far more sense.
The intelligence.
The stubbornness.
The spiritual talent.
Even the way Caelum occasionally treated him more personally compared to other students.
Nille opened his mouth slightly, but before the explanation could continue further—
Nhulla abruptly interrupted them.
"Excuse me," she said firmly while stepping forward, "but Master Nille specifically mentioned earlier that this situation is urgent."
The reminder immediately shifted the atmosphere again.
Nille exhaled once and nodded.
"We'll continue this discussion later," he said calmly.
Then his expression sharpened.
"Right now, I need to transport the supplies toward the fifteenth floor access zone connected to Sector Twelve."
The room quieted immediately afterward.
Because everyone present remembered exactly what that meant.
Sector 12.
One of the most unpredictable malignant territories on Yamatai Island.
Then, Nille raised one hand.
The atmosphere distorted instantly.
Several expedition personnel stiffened instinctively as familiar ripples spread outward through the air once more. Space bent like warped glass directly in front of the transport platform as Path Frequency activated again.
But this time, the synchronization stabilized faster.
Cleaner.
More controlled.
The gateway opened fully.
And the moment the distorted surface cleared, everyone saw it.
The swamp.
The ruined castle.
And countless Malignant Skunk Apes swarming the surrounding waters and forest edges.
The creatures slammed themselves repeatedly against the glowing barrier surrounding the castle ruins while shrieks echoed across the swamp like starving predators denied food.
The barrier was nearing its energy depletion, but it held enough .
But barely.
Several parts flickered visibly under the constant assault.
Nille looked back toward the stunned Rune Forge expedition members calmly.
Then gestured toward the open gateway.
"Please," he said evenly.
"Come with me."
The twenty-five Rune Forge personnel stood frozen for only a brief moment.
Not because they lacked strength.
Not because they lacked training.
But because what stood before them defied every known boundary of survival doctrine.
A student, a single awakened student, had just opened a stable gateway directly into Sector 12's swamp territory, the most heavily dense and unpredictable 12 separated and isolated malignant sectors on Yamatai Island.
It was a place even seasoned awakened hunters avoided, a region where entire expedition teams had vanished without confirmed recovery.
And yet, Nille stepped through first.
Without hesitation.
The moment his boots touched the swamp ground, the entire battlefield reacted.
The Malignant Skunk Apes immediately turned.
Dozens of twisted forms emerged from the fog-covered waters, their corrupted bodies moving with starvation-driven aggression. Their hollow eyes locked onto the intruder as they screeched and charged in chaotic bursts, tearing through mud and shallow water like collapsing shadows.
But Nille did not retreat.
Instead, he moved forward.
A single step.
Then another.
His six retractable whip-arms unfolded instantly from his tactical clothing with sharp metallic precision, the drake-scale reinforced tendrils snapping outward like living blades.
The first Skunk Ape lunged.
Nille didn't even fully turn.
One whip moved.
A sharp crack echoed through the swamp as the creature was struck mid-air, its body violently redirected into the mud with enough force to carve a shallow trench through the swamp water.
Another two charged from the left.
Nille twisted his body slightly.
The second whip extended, then split mid-motion.
Acid-coated segments lashed outward and wrapped around both targets simultaneously. A brief hiss followed as corrosive energy burned through their corrupted armor-like hides, paralyzing their movements instantly before he flung them into a cluster of swamp roots.
Behind him, the gateway rippled again.
Rume Ironbark stepped through next.
The dwarf's hammer was already in hand.
"Move!" Rume roared as he slammed his weapon into the ground, sending a shockwave that destabilized a group of incoming Skunk Apes attempting to flank Nille. "Don't just stare at the lad, fight!"
Nhulla Loresong followed immediately after, her silver merchant badge glinting faintly as she activated support artifacts that released binding sigils across the battlefield. Threads of luminous energy snapped outward, restraining smaller Malignants long enough for them to be struck down by allied personnel.
Professor Caelum Verdanis arrived next, his expression sharp with controlled urgency.
"Formation spread!" he ordered instantly. "Do not cluster, maintain sight lines with Nille!"
Twelve guards rushed in after him, weapons drawn, immediately forming a loose defensive perimeter. Their fear had not disappeared, but it had been replaced by something stronger.
Trust.
Because their leader had already entered the kill zone without hesitation.
Then the three awakened artifact engineers crossed over, hauling reinforced gear packs as they quickly deployed portable rune stabilizers across the muddy terrain. Defensive arrays flared briefly, suppressing sudden spikes of corrupted energy.
The remaining ten staff members hesitated only for a heartbeat longer.
Then, they swallowed their fear.
And followed.
Artifact containers were secured tightly as they stepped through the gateway, landing directly into the chaotic battlefield where screaming Skunk Apes surged from all directions.
The transfer was seamless.
Instant.
As if reality itself folded and unfolded between both locations without resistance.
Nille did not stop.
He took point immediately.
His movements were sharp, efficient, almost mechanical in precision. Every step he took repositioned the battlefield itself, forcing Malignants into predictable attack paths. His whips moved constantly, cracking, binding, slicing, and injecting paralysis through controlled acid bursts that disrupted their regenerative corruption.
A Skunk Ape attempted to climb from the swamp behind him.
Nyx reacted instantly.
"Left flank, elevation shift!"
Nille pivoted without looking.
One whip extended upward, striking the creature mid-charge and slamming it back into the water with enough force to create a brief crater in the swamp surface.
Hyde followed up immediately.
"Energy efficiency stable. Maintain rhythm, do not overextend."
Rume roared again as he crushed another incoming creature with his hammer.
"Keep up, lad!"
Nhulla supported from behind, reinforcing binding fields around clustered enemies.
Caelum moved with calculated precision, directing guards into tight engagement formations while suppressing larger threats with controlled spell bursts.
The swamp, once considered a death zone, had become something else entirely.
A coordinated battlefield.
And at its center, Nille continued forward without slowing.
Clearing.
Breaking.
Advancing.
Not as a student anymore.
But as the anchor point of a war that had already begun the moment the gateway opened.
The swamp's pressure shifted again.
Not gradually, suddenly.
A deeper, heavier corruption rolled through the fog like a tide being pushed forward by something far more organized than the Skunk Apes.
From the broken tree line beyond the swamp waters, new silhouettes emerged.
Lizard-men.
Contaminated.
Their bodies were warped with uneven scales, patches of decayed flesh fused with hardened bone plating, and glowing malignant veins pulsing beneath their skin. Many of them rode mutated salamanders, massive swamp beasts whose bodies had been twisted into unstable war-mounts, their jaws split wider than natural anatomy and their limbs reinforced with jagged growths that scraped against the mud as they advanced.
There were twenty-eight of them.
But the real danger was not their number.
It was what followed.
The moment they entered the battlefield, the air itself changed.
The scent of uncorrupted life, fresh, untouched by the miasma presence, the newly arrived Rune Forge personnel, spread through the swamp island smelled fresh food.
And the Malignants reacted instantly.
The Skunk Apes, previously scattered and starved, suddenly froze.
Then turned.
Then surged forward with renewed frenzy. salamanders and lizard men trample the skunk apes , biting and attaching each other
The entire battlefield collapsed into a feeding instinct response.
Every corrupted creature in range shifted focus toward the non-combatants.
Rume Ironbark's expression hardened instantly.
"Formation, defensive line!" he shouted, raising his hammer.
Nhulla quickly reinforced barrier sigils, but even she could feel the pressure spike. "They're being drawn in… all of them are reacting to the fresh targets!"
Caelum Verdanis' eyes narrowed sharply.
"This is a swarm trigger response," he said. "They're coordinating through scent and spiritual detection, don't let them break through!"
But Nille had already moved.
His eyes scanned the battlefield once.
Fast.
Precise.
Then he made the call immediately.
"Non-combatants," Nille ordered firmly, his voice cutting through the chaos, "fall back into the ruined castle."
The nearest guards hesitated.
Nille pointed toward the structure behind the swamp line.
"The barrier recognizes malignant entities only. It will allow entry to protected personnel while rejecting contaminated creatures."
One of the engineers quickly looked up.
"It's a targeted exclusion field?"
Nille nodded once.
"Go. Now."
There was no time for debate.
The first wave of Skunk Apes had already broken formation and were rushing toward the weaker members of the expedition. Guards immediately shifted to intercept, weapons flashing as they pushed back the advancing swarm.
Rume slammed his hammer into the ground again, releasing a shockwave that staggered multiple incoming creatures.
"MOVE!" he roared. "GET BEHIND THE LAD'S BARRIER!"
Nhulla quickly guided two injured staff members forward, activating a protective rune that pushed back nearby Malignants long enough for them to retreat.
Caelum raised his hand, releasing a compressed burst of mana that carved a temporary opening through the attacking swarm.
"Do not panic!" he ordered sharply. "Stay in formation and fall back in groups!"
Above the chaos, the mutated salamanders surged forward, carrying the lizard-men riders directly into the front line. Their bodies slammed into the swamp with heavy impacts, shaking the ground as corrupted riders raised crude weapons and bone-forged spears.
One of them pointed directly at Nille.
A guttural hiss followed.
Then the entire rider formation charged.
Nille exhaled slowly.
His whip-arms unfolded fully again, the six retractable segments snapping outward with lethal precision.
"Nyx," he said quietly.
"Ready," Nyx replied immediately.
"Hyde."
"Defensive layering engaged."
The first salamander leapt.
Nille didn't retreat.
Instead, he stepped forward into the charge.
One whip moved, redirecting the beast's jaw mid-bite, forcing it into the ground hard enough to send swamp water exploding upward.
A second whip followed instantly, wrapping around the rider's spear and snapping it in half before injecting corrosive paralysis into its weapon hand.
The third whip struck the salamander's leg joint, destabilizing its charge completely.
Behind him, Rume continued to hold the line.
Nhulla maintained barrier coverage for retreating personnel.
Caelum coordinated suppression strikes.
And the remaining guards fought to prevent the swarm from collapsing inward.
But at the center of it all, Nille was already moving deeper into the battlefield again.
Not waiting.
Not hesitating.
Because the castle gate behind them was now the only stable fallback point.
And if the swarm reached the non-combatants before they secured it—
there would be no second chance.
The swamp had long since stopped resembling terrain and had become something far more brutal, a collapsing battlefield of shattered water, torn roots, and corrupted bodies piling over one another as the fight stretched beyond anything sustainable.
The three artifact engineers moved like disciplined execution units at the rear line, their hands locked onto reinforced control frames as they deployed portable rune cannons and arc-reactor staves. Each discharge carved through advancing Malignant clusters with precise bursts of compressed mana, reducing entire charging groups of Skunk Apes into collapsing ash and ruptured flesh before they could reach the defensive line.
One engineer rotated a spiral-focus cannon, releasing chained energy bolts that bounced between targets, detonating corruption nodes inside their bodies in rapid succession, while another triggered ground-anchored glyph charges that erupted upward like jagged pillars of light, impaling mutated salamanders mid-charge and breaking their momentum instantly.
The third engineer, stationed slightly higher on broken terrain, unleashed continuous suppression beams that swept the battlefield in controlled arcs, burning through thickened corrupted armor plates of lizard-men riders as they attempted to regroup.
Despite their coordination, the sheer volume of enemies kept pressing forward, a relentless tide driven by starvation instinct and territorial collapse, forcing the engineers to constantly reposition and recalibrate their output just to prevent the line from breaking entirely.
At the center of the chaos, Nille moved like a weapon that had forgotten hesitation existed. His whip-arms extended and retracted in fluid mechanical precision, each movement calculated, each strike ending a threat before it fully formed.
One Skunk Ape lunged and was split mid-air by a whip coated in corrosive paralysis, its body hitting the swamp already dissolving from within; another attempted to flank him only to be lifted and slammed into a cluster of advancing salamanders, disrupting their charge and causing a chain collision that shattered their formation.
Nille did not pause between kills, he advanced through them, stepping over collapsing bodies, redirecting strikes into lethal angles, using enemy momentum against itself until the battlefield around him resembled a rotating storm of broken forms and splintered movement. Yet even he was no longer untouched; faint tremors of exhaustion flickered through his motions as the prolonged synchronization strain continued to press against his Core Heart.
Behind the front line, Professor Caelum Verdanis and Nhulla Loresong were forced into controlled retreat as their stamina reserves reached their limits. Caelum's mana output had become uneven, his spells losing refinement as fatigue set in, forcing him to switch from precision strikes to broader suppression bursts that consumed more energy for less efficiency.
Nhulla, still maintaining support sigils and barrier reinforcement, staggered slightly as her artifact channels overheated, her breathing shallow as she realized her output could no longer keep pace with the escalating swarm density. Both of them exchanged a single look and made the same assessment without words, they were no longer reinforcing the front line; they were becoming liabilities if they stayed.
Under Rume's shouted coordination, they began pulling back toward the castle barrier, guiding remaining personnel inward while maintaining minimal defensive coverage to prevent immediate collapse of the retreat path.
Head Merchant Rume Ironbark, however, remained at the edge of the battlefield like a grinding wall of stubborn endurance, his hammer striking repeatedly into the swamp ground with diminishing rhythm but unbroken will. Each impact sent shockwaves through clusters of advancing Malignants, breaking charges and disrupting formations, yet even his strength was beginning to falter after nearly an hour of continuous combat.
Sweat mixed with swamp water across his beard, his breathing heavier, his stance slightly lowered as he absorbed more impact than he could fully counter. Still, he refused to step back until the last line crossed into safety.
Then it happened.
A deeper vibration rolled through the rear of the battlefield as the sentry artifact system finally powered online. Massive rail-gun constructs unfolded from reinforced dimensional containers, locking into anchored firing positions that hummed with compressed energy buildup. Rune circuits flared bright along their barrels as targeting matrices calibrated across the swamp terrainbut even as they activated, the engineers quickly realized the problem: Nille was too far forward, deep inside the swarm's core where line-of-fire risk was too high to engage.
Rume saw it instantly.
His eyes widened slightly as he measured distance, trajectory, and the chaos of moving targets between them.
Then he turned his head sharply toward the castle barrier where the remaining personnel were regrouping.
"Lad!" Rume shouted over the roar of combat, voice cutting through the battlefield noise as he gripped his hammer tightly.
"We're firing the rail gun in the count of ten, stay alive out there!" He took a half step backward toward the barrier, then Nille shouted from far, outside the swamp perimeter with full force,
"START COUNTING!" as the massive rail systems behind him began charging to lethal output, their energy cores screaming with escalating pressure, signaling the imminent release of overwhelming destructive force across the swamp battlefield.
The massive sentry artifact mounted atop the tallest remaining watchtower of the ruined castle began illuminating the swamp like an artificial sunrise. The ancient tower itself stood nearly eighty feet above the flooded battlefield, its upper half broken and scarred from years of malignant attacks, yet the reinforced platform hastily reconstructed by the artifact engineers held firm beneath the enormous weapon system now unfolding into firing position.
The rail machine gun was monstrous.
Nearly twenty feet long from barrel to rear assembly, the weapon resembled a fusion between siege artillery and industrial machinery. Multiple rune-lined accelerator rails extended along both sides of the rotating barrel housing, while thick mana-conduction cables connected the weapon directly into three compressed crystal reactors mounted behind it. Stabilization anchors had been driven deep into the stone foundation of the tower itself to absorb recoil, because without them, the firing force alone would have ripped the entire structure apart.
Its effective suppression range exceeded two kilometers.
Within eight hundred meters, the weapon could shred heavily armored Malignants faster than most awakened fighters could react. The firing system accelerated magnetically stabilized tungsten-core rounds wrapped in anti-corruption runes, turning each projectile into a high-velocity kinetic shell capable of punching through multiple targets in a straight line before detonating from friction heat and mana discharge.
And right now, its targeting arrays were locking directly onto the swamp battlefield where Nille remained surrounded.
The upper tower glowed brighter as the weapon reached combat readiness. Blue-white energy surged across the accelerator rails in violent pulses, illuminating the fog-covered swamp below with flashes resembling contained lightning storms. The air itself vibrated from the pressure buildup.
Even the Malignants reacted.
Several contaminated salamanders hissed and recoiled instinctively from the overwhelming mana density gathering above them.
Inside the tower platform, the three artifact engineers worked frantically around the weapon controls.
"Target lane stabilizing!"
"Thermal movements increasing!"
"Frontline numbers are overlapping and still active!"
One engineer looked over the edge of the tower and cursed under his breath.
"Nille's still too deep inside the swarm!"
Below them, Nille continued fighting.
But now the battlefield itself was changing.
The swarm density had reached catastrophic levels.
Skunk Apes flooded across the swamp in endless waves while the contaminated lizard-men regrouped behind them, using the chaos to launch coordinated strikes through the weaker sections of the defensive line. Mutated salamanders charged through shallow waters like living battering rams, tearing apart terrain as they pushed toward the castle barrier.
Nille moved relentlessly through them.
His whip-arms blurred through the swamp mist, each strike snapping bodies apart or injecting corrosive paralysis into advancing targets. One salamander lunged from the side only for Nille to leap directly over it, using one whip to hook its neck while another slammed its rider into the mud hard enough to crack bone.
But even he could hear it now.
The rail gun charging.
A rising mechanical scream mixed with mana resonance from behind him.
Rume's voice thundered across the battlefield again.
"SEVEN!"
The old dwarf stood near the barrier entrance, hammer resting heavily against his shoulder while wounded personnel retreated behind him. Sweat and blood covered parts of his armor, yet his eyes remained locked onto Nille's position.
"MOVE YER DAMN FEET, LAD!"
"SIX!"
A Skunk Ape lunged toward Nille's back.
One whip pierced through its chest instantly before hurling the corpse sideways into another charging cluster.
"FIVE!"
The upper watchtower shook violently as the rail weapon reached maximum pressure threshold. Blue-white sparks exploded outward from the accelerator rails while targeting glyphs rotated rapidly across the swamp.
Caelum Verdanis looked upward and inhaled sharply.
"…That thing's going to erase half the battlefield."
Nhulla tightened her grip nervously while staring toward Nille's distant silhouette still fighting through the swarm.
"He's still out there…"
"FOUR!"
The swarm finally realized danger too late.
Several lizard-men began screaming warnings in corrupted dialects while mutated salamanders panicked beneath them.
Nille glanced backward once.
Then forward again.
And charged deeper into the enemy formation instead of retreating.
Rume nearly lost his temper completely.
"WHAT IN THE ABYSS IS HE DOING?!"
"THREE!"
Nille's Core Heart pulsed violently.
Path Frequency activated.
The space around him distorted faintly.
Not a full gate.
Not enough time.
But enough to compress movement.
The battlefield blurred.
Nille vanished from one position, and reappeared several meters forward through folded space, cutting directly through the densest section of the swarm like a black projectile tearing across the swamp.
"TWO!"
The rail gun's barrels locked fully.
Target alignment complete.
The accelerator rails screamed.
Nille twisted sharply and sprinted toward the castle barrier at full speed while the swamp behind him collapsed into total chaos.
Then, "ONE!"
"FIRE!"
The watchtower erupted in light.
The command roared across the ruined castle grounds.
The rail machine gun answered instantly.
The watchtower exploded with blinding blue-white light as the accelerator rails discharged their first full burst. A deafening metallic scream tore through the swamp while magnetically accelerated rounds ripped across the battlefield faster than sound itself.
Then the impact came.
The front line of Malignants vanished.
Not struck.
Not wounded.
Erased.
Entire clusters of Skunk Apes detonated into ruptured flesh and burning corruption mist as the rail rounds punched through their bodies with catastrophic force. The kinetic impact alone shredded everything in its path while the anti-corruption runes embedded within the ammunition ignited after penetration, causing delayed internal explosions that ripped through secondary targets behind them.
The swamp erupted into chaos.
Mutated salamanders were torn apart mid-charge, their armored hides splitting open violently as rail rounds punched through bone, muscle, and swamp water alike. Lizard-men riders disappeared in sprays of blood and shattered armor as the firing lane carved across the battlefield like a moving execution line.
And then, Nille moved with it.
The moment the first firing burst cleared a path through the swamp, Path Frequency activated again.
Space folded around him in rapid bursts.
A sharp distortion appeared beside the rail impact zone, and Nille emerged directly beside a surviving salamander that had narrowly escaped the firing lane.
His jungle bolo flashed once.
The creature's head separated cleanly before its body even realized it was dead.
Then he vanished again.
Another burst.
Another fold.
Nille reappeared above a cluster of fleeing Skunk Apes, his six whip-arms snapping outward simultaneously. The whip-arms latched onto broken swamp trees and ruined stone walls, slinging him through impossible angles while the rail gun continued firing behind him in controlled sweeping bursts.
The coordination became terrifying.
Every time the rail gun opened a new firing lane, Nille synchronized his movement around it perfectly.
He appeared where survivors escaped.
Then disappeared before retaliation became possible.
A contaminated lizard-man managed to survive beneath submerged mud, avoiding the rail burst entirely, Nille appeared directly behind it.
One whip wrapped around its throat.
The bolo plunged upward beneath its jaw.
Gone.
Another burst from the tower carved through the swamp.
Bodies exploded apart.
Corruption burned.
Mud vaporized under the sheer kinetic force of repeated impacts.
And within the chaos, Nille moved like a phantom hunter.
Burst.
Kill.
Disappear.
Reappear.
The whip-arms dragged him across terrain with monstrous speed, allowing him to swing between shattered trees and ruined towers while constantly repositioning faster than the Malignants could track. One whip hooked around a dead salamander carcass mid-air, redirecting his body sideways just as a corrupted spear missed him by inches. He retaliated instantly, using the momentum to sever the attacker's spine before folding space again into another synchronized leap.
To the Rune Forge personnel watching from behind the barrier, it no longer looked like combat.
It looked choreographed.
A terrifying dance of precision between man and weapon system.
The rail gun annihilated entire formations.
Nille hunted whatever remained.
Perfect offense.
Perfect suppression.
Perfect pursuit.
The swamp itself became a slaughter field.
Within minutes, the overwhelming swarm that nearly breached the castle barrier collapsed completely under synchronized extermination. Surviving Malignants attempted retreat, but Nille gave them no opportunity to regroup.
One Skunk Ape managed to flee toward the deeper marshes.
A spatial distortion appeared ahead of it.
Nille emerged directly in its path.
The bolo swung once.
Silence.
Then finally, the rail gun stopped firing.
The accelerator rails dimmed slowly while smoke and burning mist drifted across the shattered battlefield.
What remained of the swamp was almost unrecognizable.
Massive trenches carved by rail impacts split the flooded terrain apart. Burned corruption residue floated across blackened water while shattered trees and ruined bodies littered the battlefield in every direction.
And at the center of it, Nille stood silently.
His breathing was heavy.
His clothing stained with blood and swamp water.
The six whip-arms slowly retracted back into the darker folds of his reconstructed tactical gear while, as Nyx was able to gather all sellable materals from those Nille killed in the most effective way, as faint distortions of Path Frequency energy still flickered weakly around him from repeated overuse.
Behind the barrier, no one spoke immediately.
Because they had all witnessed it.
Not merely strength.
Not merely talent.
But adaptation happening in real time.
Nille had taken an unstable movement ability that nearly killed him earlier, and transformed it into a battlefield hunting technique within hours.
Rume Ironbark finally exhaled heavily and rested his hammer against the ground.
"…Aye," the old dwarf muttered quietly.
"Now that was terrifying."
"STUDENT ACCOMPLISHMENT BULLETIN BOARD UPDATE"
STUDENT REGISTRATION ID: 721197700
INFORMATION: (HIDDEN DETAILS)
STATUS: ACTIVE
PERSONALITY: ADAPTIVE SURVIVAL TRAIT
"A persistent personality pattern marked by heightened sensitivity to perceived threats and a dominant survival-oriented cognitive framework. It is associated with hypervigilance, stress-driven pragmatic decision-making, and prioritization of immediate self-preservation over long-term social or normative goals. The pattern reflects a stable trait structure maintained through continuous threat monitoring and rapid adaptive behavioral responses."
SPIRITUAL LEVEL: 25
(INFORMATION HIDDEN – CLEARANCE REQUIRED FOR FULL PROFILE VIEW)
TOTAL ACCUMULATED POINTS: 440,000
(POSTED – PUBLIC RECORD)
( STILL IN PROGRESS )
CONFIRMED MALIGNANT KILLS: 724
(POSTED MINIMAL DETAILS , CLASSIFIED DETAILS – SPECIES BREAKDOWN RESTRICTED)
REWARD EARNED: $201,000
(INFORMATION PARTIALLY RESTRICTED – TRANSACTION LOG ENCRYPTED)
( HUNTING STILL IN PROGRESS )
BULLETIN BOARD RANK: 84
(PUBLICLY DISPLAYED – SUBJECT UNDER MONITORING FOR RAPID GROWTH SPIKE)