As soon as Jayden took a step, he disappeared from his spot and reappeared directly in front of the beast. His movents were incredibly fast. Faster than the Flare could trace.
One mont he was several ters away, the next he was right in the beast’s face, his claws extended.
The Sabertooth Flare didn’t even get a chance to think before Jayden struck.
Slash.
A line of blood opened across the Flare’s snout. And simultaneously, poison flooded its bloodstream. It roared and swiped at Jayden, but Jayden was already gone, appearing at its side to rake his claws across its ribs.
Slash.
Another wound. Another shot poison.
The beast tried to track him, tried to counter, but Jayden was moving at speeds it couldn’t match. He circled it like a predator, striking from every angle, his enhanced agility letting him dance through the flas that would have immolated him before.
Slash. Slash. Slash.
Every attack found flesh. Every strike delivered toxins directly into the Flare’s bloodstream.
The beast was burning them out as fast as it could, flas erupting from dozens of wounds simultaneously. But it couldn’t keep up. Not with the rate Jayden was inflicting them.
He led the Flare away from the rocky area, drawing it into a wider clearing where he had more room to maneuver. The beast followed, too enraged and too poisoned to recognize the tactical disadvantage.
Perfect.
Jayden’s hands transford fully, his nails extending into longer claws... sharp, deadly, and dripping with concentrated poison. This was it. The finishing move.
He took a breath, centered himself, and vanished.
To anyone watching, it would have looked like Jayden turned into a living blur. He circled the Flare at speeds that left afterimages, his claws flashing out in strikes too fast for the eye to follow.
Slash... across the shoulders.
Slash... along the flank.
Slash... across the hindquarters.
Slash slash slash slash slash....
Every part of the Flare’s body beca a canvas for Jayden’s assault. Blood flew in arcing patterns, painting the grass red. The beast tried to counter, tried to catch him, but it might as well have been trying to catch the wind.
Then Jayden saw his opening... a mont where the Flare’s chest was exposed, where the ribs protected the heart and the beast core.
He drove forward with all his enhanced speed, his claws punching directly through the Flare’s chest plate like it was paper. He felt resistance and extre heat, then his claws sank deep, finding the core.
Poison flooded the wound imdiately, spreading directly into the beast’s heart and core area simultaneously.
Jayden wrenched his hand free and leaped back, putting distance between them, his shirt completely charred.
The Flare stood there, swaying. Blood poured from dozens of wounds, creating a growing pool beneath it. Flas erupted from every injury, trying desperately to burn out the toxins, but there was simply too much. Too much poison in too many places.
Jayden stood opposite it, heaving for breath. His stamina was nearly depleted... using that kind of speed for that duration had taken everything he had. His muscles scread in protest, and parts of his clothes were singed or outright burned from the close contact with the flaming beast. His hands were scorched, the skin red and blistered from extended exposure to the Flare’s heat, though his healing factor was already working to repair the damage.
But it had been worth it.
The Sabertooth Flare took a shaky step forward. Then another, more unsteady than the last. It tried to roar, but what ca out was more of a gurgling sound as blood filled its throat.
Then its legs gave out.
The massive beast collapsed, its flaming mane sputtering and dying as it crashed to the ground. Its chest heaved with labored breaths, each one weaker than the last.
Jayden watched carefully, not moving. He’d learned from the Wolverine Stalker incident... so beasts had a second wind, a desperate last attack. He wouldn’t be caught off guard again.
The Flare’s breathing slowed. Slowed more. The flas across its body guttered and went out, leaving only smoldering fur.
Then it stopped moving entirely.
Jayden waited, counting the seconds. Ten. Twenty. Thirty.
Nothing.
Then the notification he’d been waiting for finally appeared:
[You have defeated a C-Rank Beast]
[ 50 Exp received]
[Current Exp: 2010/6700]
Jayden let out a long breath, his shoulders sagging with relief and exhaustion. He’d done it. Actually done it. A C-rank beast, taken down in what felt like record ti with minimal serious injuries.
"Finally," he muttered, a tired smile crossing his face. Then he took out a spare jacket from his inventory and put it on, covering his bare and singed body.
[That was exceptional work] Luna said, genuine pride in her voice. [The way you adapted when the poison resistance beca apparent, the tactical use of the terrain, and that final combination with the lunar boost... you’re becoming quite the hunter, Jayden]
"Thanks," he replied, finally allowing himself to relax slightly. His body ached, his hands throbbed from the burns, and his stamina was nearly depleted, but he’d won. That was what mattered.
Jayden moved towards the dead Flare, ready to claim his prize... the beast’s genes and abilities.
But as he took a step forward, he froze. His entire body went rigid, every instinct suddenly screaming at him that sothing was wrong.
Then, a sudden energy washed over him. But it wasn’t just any energy... this was intense, powerful, and deeply wrong in a way he couldn’t articulate. It felt ancient, primal, like touching sothing that existed before civilization, before humanity, before ti itself had aning.
And it was coming from the Flare’s corpse.
"What the..." Jayden’s eyes widened. He tried to locate the energy source using his aura reading vision, hoping his senses were mistaken.
But everything led back to the supposedly dead beast lying motionless on the blood-soaked ground.
"How is that possible?" he breathed. "It’s dead. The system confird the kill."
But before Luna could respond, a bright crimson light suddenly erupted from the Flare’s body. It exploded outward from the corpse, illuminating the entire clearing and the surrounding forest in scarlet brilliance.
Jayden threw his arm up to shield his eyes, the light so bright it was almost painful. "What’s happening?" His mind reeled.
But what happened next only raised more questions; the red light transford into flas.
It beca fire. But not normal fire... this burned with an intensity that made the Flare’s previous flas look like candles. The temperature spiked so dramatically that Jayden felt his skin imdiately begin to redden from the heat, and he was still several ters away.
The flas engulfed the Flare’s corpse completely, wrapping around it like a cocoon. But instead of burning the body, consuming it, the flas seed to be feeding it. Changing it.
Jayden watched in horror as the Flare’s wounds began to close. Flesh knitted itself back together with impossible speed. Bone reford where it had been shattered. Blood that had pooled beneath the beast flowed backward, returning to the body as if ti itself was reversing.
But that wasn’t the worst part.
The beast was growing.
Its body expanded, muscles swelling and compacting simultaneously, becoming denser, more powerful. Its legs lengthened, growing thicker, more robust. Its torso broadened, ribs cracking and reforming into a larger, more formidable cage.
The claws extended, growing from dangerous to absolutely lethal curved blades that looked capable of shearing through steel.
The saber-tooth fangs that had already been impressive now grew to monstrous proportions, easily a foot long, gleaming like ivory daggers in the crimson firelight.
And its mane... the flas that had died with the beast roared back to life, but they were no longer orange-gold. They burned deep red, and the fire danced and writhed like living serpents, creating a corona around the beast’s head that radiated pure power.
The transformation seed to take forever and no ti at all. When it finally stopped, the beast that rose to its feet was no longer the creature Jayden had fought.
It stood at least twelve feet tall at the shoulder... nearly twice its previous size. Its body was massive, built like a tank, every muscle defined and rippling with barely contained strength.
The red flas that composed its mane cast dancing shadows across a face that had beco sothing out of nightmare... eyes burning with crimson fire, fangs that could probably bite through a car, and an aura of absolute predatory dominance.
And then, it’s eyes locked directly onto Jayden.
At that mont, Jayden felt his heart nearly stop. Cold sweat broke out across his body despite the oppressive heat. His hands trembled... not from exhaustion now, but from sothing he hadn’t felt in a very long ti.
[Jayden] Luna’s voice cut through his shock, urgent and deadly serious. [Run. Right now. Don’t think, don’t question, just RUN!]
But Jayden didn’t seem to be moving... instead, he was contemplating sothing dangerous.
"Co to think of it... that D-Rank Wolverine Stalker I fought ca back too," he managed to say, his voice unsteady. "And I defeated it using the partial lupine form. I can do the sa and..."
[This is NOT the Wolverine Stalker!] Luna practically scread in his mind. [This isn’t even a normal beast anymore! The wolverine stalker didn’t die, it simply ranked up. But this... creature literally ca back to life. I’m afraid even your partial Lupine form can’t defeat it. You need to get out... NOW!]
Then, as if adding to their conversation, a system notification appeared, forcing itself into Jayden’s vision with an urgent red border he’d never seen before:
[Alert! Ancient Beast Detected]
*Classification: Sabertooth Flare (Ancient Phoenix Scion)
*Description: This beast has been ranked as an Ancient Beast and now carries the power of the Great Phoenix.
[Random Quest has been Updated]
*Original Quest: Defeat the Leader of Jade City Forest (Nullified)
*New Quest: Defeat the Ancient Beast
*Reward: 2,000,000 Shop Points.
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