The howl wasn't just a call—it was a command. A signal that sent a shiver through the cavern's dead air.
Kieran tensed, pressing his back against the jagged rock wall. His body still ached from their escape, but instinct told him that stopping now meant death. Across from him, Elias didn't move, didn't react, just watched the darkness ahead with quiet certainty.
Another howl answered the first, this time closer. The echoes made it impossible to tell where it came from, but Kieran's gut told him one thing.
They weren't alone.
He swallowed hard. "They're… organized."
Elias finally turned, his eyes gleaming with something unreadable.
"Worse. They're hungry. And you're bleeding."
Kieran glanced down. Blood seeped through his sleeve, dripping onto the cavern floor. His fight with the Apex Predator had left its mark, and now the scent of it was a beacon.
A flicker of movement caught his eye. The shadows weren't just shifting—they were watching.
Figures emerged from the darkness, tall and armored in chitinous plates that shimmered under the faint light. Their limbs were unnaturally long, their fingers tipped with black claws. But it wasn't their appearance that sent a cold spike through Kieran's chest.
It was their eyes. Cold. Intelligent. Calculating.
They weren't beasts.
One stepped forward, its gaze locked on Elias. Then, in a voice that rasped like grinding stone, it spoke.
"Traitor."
Kieran's breath caught. He barely had time to process the word before Elias exhaled a slow, amused chuckle.
"Took you long enough to find me."
The pack didn't hesitate. They attacked in unison, their movements seamless, efficient. Kieran barely had time to dodge before claws raked the stone where he'd stood a heartbeat ago.
He stumbled back, instincts flaring.
Think. Don't react—control.
Elias's words echoed in his mind.
Kieran's pulse pounded as he scanned the battlefield. The cavern was unstable, the ceiling fractured from their earlier escape. An idea clicked.
He had to stop reacting. He had to set the stage.
Gritting his teeth, he bolted—not away, but toward the weakest point in the rock formation.
The hunters followed. Exactly as he'd hoped.
With a sharp inhale, Kieran let his energy flare, ignoring the system's flickering warnings. He leaped onto a ledge, then kicked off with all his strength, slamming his full weight into the cracked pillar of stone.
The impact sent a deep, shuddering crack through the cavern.
A heartbeat later, the ceiling gave way.
Dust and debris rained down, cutting off the hunters mid-lunge. Some scrambled back, barely avoiding being crushed beneath the collapse. Others weren't so lucky.
Kieran landed hard, his breath ragged. His limbs screamed in protest, but he pushed himself up, turning toward Elias.
For the first time, Elias gave him something close to approval.
"Finally," he murmured. "You're thinking like a predator."
But the fight wasn't over.
Through the dust, one hunter still stood, injured but alive. It limped toward Kieran, its glowing eyes locked onto him.
Kieran raised his fists, preparing for another round. But the hunter… hesitated. Its head tilted slightly, its breath ragged. And then, in a voice barely more than a whisper, it spoke.
"Mercy… like you… wanted once."
Kieran's blood ran cold.
His fingers clenched. His instincts screamed at him to finish the job. To end the threat.
But staring at the creature, he saw something else—something human buried beneath the monstrous form.
Behind him, Elias's voice was calm, almost bored.
"Kill it."
Kieran didn't move.
And for the first time since entering the Abyss, he wondered if he was truly ready to become what Elias wanted him to be.