The light in the Gnarlbeast’s eyes shifted, flashing with an unnatural brilliance. Strange, intricate patterns began to swirl across its irises, shapes that seed almost alive, pulling my focus deeper.
And then... I froze. Not willingly.
It felt as if an invisible hand had reached into my mind and pressed pause. My limbs refused to obey. My breath stalled in my chest. Even my thoughts slowed, dragging like I was moving through syrup.
I was a deer in the headlights—ironic, considering I was literally battling a monster deer.
Narg had warned about this when he first told about the Gnarlbeasts Deers.
I’d even seen it in action before—Thok had been the unlucky one on the receiving end.
So why in all the hells did I forget?
I’d assud their weakness was obvious—that they were only dangerous at range, relying on those antler beams to keep predators at bay. But I’d been wrong.
They could be just as lethal up close, thanks to this... genjutsu-like trick.
And now I was living proof of it.
One of the Gnarlbeasts, seeing frozen and helpless, shifted its stance. The glow along its antlers intensified, a high-pitched hum vibrating in the air as it aid directly at .
I knew what was coming.
My first thought was to throw up [Mana Shield], to absorb as much of the hit as possible and pray it didn’t kill outright. But as I focused, I realized sothing important—this paralysis might have locked my body, but not my mind. My innate skill didn’t require movent. It only needed a thought.
So...
As soon as the beam left its antlers—
I triggered [Swap], trading places with the deer that had locked in its genjutsu. The beam ant for tore clean through its chest instead, punching out the other side in a burst of light and smoke.
The Level 25 Gnarlbeast collapsed with a strangled cry, legs twitching weakly before it hit the dirt.
anwhile, I reappeared where it had stood, the oppressive, freezing weight in my limbs lifting imdiately. The swirling patterns in my vision faded, and the tight coil in my nerves eased until I could move freely again.
I let out a slow breath, a faint smile tugging at my lips. That was close. Too close. I’d have to be more careful with these ones—locking eyes with them even for a second was a mistake I couldn’t afford to repeat.
The deer that had fired the beam realized what had just happened. It let out a harsh, guttural cry, the glow in its antlers flaring hotter. Its gaze fixed on , and in its posture, I could read nothing but rage. It began to charge its next shot.
I grinned, my hand tightening on Gravefang, ready to [Swap] again and feed it a taste of its own dicine.
But then... a wave of unease rolled over , thick and heavy, as if the air itself had turned to ice. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, and a cold shiver traced its way down my spine.
The Gnarlbeast froze mid-charge, the glow in its antlers dimming as if a switch had been flipped. It took a slow, almost reluctant step backward, its muscles tensing but not in preparation to attack. The rest of the herd followed suit, their aggressive energy bleeding away. One by one, they lowered their heads slightly, releasing soft, uneasy grunts, their eyes shifting—not toward , but away, toward sothing else entirely.
That was when I heard it.
The steady, deliberate thud of hooves behind . Heavy. Confident. The kind of sound that didn’t just announce a predator—it promised one.
I didn’t need to see it to know. The boss had arrived. Of course it had. There was no way that Level 25 Gnarlbeast had been the alpha of this herd.
But I didn’t even get the chance to turn and catch my first glimpse of this "big bad." [Danger Sense] scread in my head with such force it felt like my skull had been struck, a single, urgent command filling every nerve: Move.
I didn’t hesitate. I triggered [Warp] instantly.
The attack ca the very mont I vanished.
CRACKLE!
A beam of lightning—no, sothing worse—tore through the air where I’d been standing, the sound like a thunderclap detonating at point-blank range. The ground erupted under its impact, a crater gouged into the forest floor, smoking and sparking at the edges.
I reappeared on a thick tree branch, one hand clamping over my ears. Even from here, the sound of that impact was brutal—an almost physical force that rattled my skull and left a faint ringing in its wake.
The fuck was that?
My back pressed against the trunk, my breathing steadying as I turned, trying to catch a glimpse of the damage. I didn’t get the chance.
[Danger Sense] flared again—sharp, blinding, impossible to ignore.
Instinct took over. I blinked away from the branch without a second thought, reappearing just as a searing mana beam tore through the spot I’d been perched on. The blast didn’t just shatter the branch—it obliterated the entire upper half of the tree, reducing it to smoldering shards that rained down through the night air.
I landed lightly on the forest floor, my eyes locking onto my attacker —carefully keeping my gaze low. I wasn’t about to make the sa mistake I had with the level 25 deer. My eyes stayed fixed on its chest, noting the surprisingly heavy, muscular build beneath the fur.
[Alpha Gnarlbeast Deer – Level 30]
An elite boss.
"Nice," I muttered—then imdiately corrected myself. No... not nice. Dangerous.
It stood taller than any of the others, its fra dense with coiled muscle. The sheen of its fur seed to drink in the moonlight, each strand catching the faint silver glow before swallowing it whole. Its antlers burned with a steady, searing light—no flicker, no wavering—just a constant, oppressive radiance that made the rest of the herd’s glow look weak and brittle by comparison.
The other Gnarlbeasts had already retreated a few paces, forming a loose semicircle around it. Their heads were lowered, not in fear, but in sothing that looked uncomfortably like submission. This wasn’t just their leader—it was their alpha in every sense of the word.
The antlers brightened further, the glow sharpening. Mana rippled off them in waves, the air between us thickening with raw, charged energy. It was getting ready to fire its "bazooka" again, and judging by the way the ground humd under my feet, this...
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