Chapter 501:A new variant.

Chapter 501: 501:A new variant.

Ravenna crouched beside him.

"Silver, talk to me."

He looked toward her.

"I think..." He started slowly then swallowed before continuing. "I just learned something."

She stared eyebrow raised.

"Now?"

He managed a weak smile.

"Apparently."

She looked toward the enormous beast struggling inside the drainage channel, then back at him.

"You’re unbelievable."

Hr laughed breathlessly before wincing.

"Ow."

Ravenna immediately placed a hand against his cheek.

"You’re bleeding."

"Just a little."

"Silver."

He sighed.

"All right. More than a little."

She shook her head.

"You’ve got to stop pretending all the time."

But her hand remained against his face.

Silver looked toward the warehouse. The civilians were still alive and that was what mattered.

The new skill came with a price.

Although the Void Tempering Fruit had strengthened Silver’s spatial pathways and accelerated his comprehension, forcibly displacing an enormous Tier Four beast had placed tremendous strain on his energy circulation. His head throbbed, his vision occasionally blurred, and every attempt to activate Spatial Sense produced a faint stabbing sensation behind his eyes.

He could still fight but he understood that using Spatial Displacement repeatedly would be very dangerous.

He rose slowly.

Ravenna supported him.

"Can you move?" She asked.

He nodded.

"Yes."

"Then we need to get back."

Silver glanced toward the drainage channel.

The Tier Four beast had managed to climb out, but instead of attacking the warehouse, it continued running south.

He watched it disappear, then nodded.

"Okay."

They hurried toward the central defensive line. As they approached, the sounds of battle became louder.

There was a mixture of everything; gunfire, explosions, screams, and beneath everything, the continuous thunder of thousands of beasts moving through Hollow Creek.

His communicator crackled.

"Ruddington!" Peter’s voice came through.

He answered.

"Sir!"

"Where are you?"

"Eastern evacuation station. We just redirected a Tier Four beast away from the civilian shelter."

"Good. Return to the central district immediately. We have a major problem."

Silver frowned.

"What kind?"

There was a small pause before Peter answered.

"The creature that destroyed the northern wall."

Silver’s expression changed.

"What about it?"

"It’s moving toward the central evacuation route."

He felt his stomach tighten.

"Understood."

He looked toward Ravenna who nodded.

They ran.

By the time Silver reached the central district, the situation had become almost unrecognizable.

Several buildings were burning. The main road was littered with abandoned vehicles and dead beasts.

Military personnel had established a temporary defensive line near the central market, but the barricades were already damaged, and several soldiers were being carried toward the medical station.

Helena stood near the intersection, shouting instructions while Caleb and Rowan attempted to reinforce a collapsed section of the road. Mina was sitting against a wall, blood covering the side of her face.

Silver approached.

"Mina!" He called.

She looked up.

"Silver?"

"What happened?"

She swallowed, the fear in her eyes becoming more prominent.

"Something hit the northern barricade."

He looked toward the damaged road.

Mina continued.

"Its not like the others." Her hands trembled. "It moved strangely."

Silver frowned.

"Strangely?"

She nodded.

"Like its body wasn’t moving together all. I don’t know it’s just weird to even explain or look at."

Before Silver could ask another question, a deep roar echoed through the district. The ground shook and several nearby windows shattered.

As though summoned, the creature appeared.

Silver stopped.

For a moment, he simply stared at it. It was enormous, at least five meters tall at the shoulder, with a body resembling a massive quadrupedal predator, although its proportions were deeply unnatural.

Thick black armor plates covered sections of its torso, while other areas exposed dark, scarred flesh beneath overlapping layers of muscle. One of its front legs was considerably larger than the other, and several bone-like protrusions extended from its spine at irregular angles.

But what disturbed Silver most was the creature’s shoulder.

An additional limb protruded from beneath the armor, not a fully developed leg, but something malformed. It looked as though it had been attached to a body that hadn’t been designed to support it.

His expression changed.

He remembered the photographs from the Transit Research Station, the broken containment tanks, the experimental records and the attempts to integrate different beast characteristics into a single organism.

Project 006.

Ravenna stopped beside him, her gray eyes widened.

"Silver..."

He nodded slowly.

"I know."

The creature raised its head, revealin its bloodshot eyes. Several wounds covered its body, and beneath the thick armor along its neck, he noticed something that looked disturbingly similar to an old surgical scar.

The beast roared, then immediately charged.

Peter intercepted it before it reached the civilians.

His figure blurred as he crossed the street, his weapon striking the creature’s shoulder with enough force to send a shockwave through the surrounding buildings. The beast staggered, but instead of falling, it twisted its enormous body and struck back with its malformed front limb.

Peter raised his weapon but the impact forced him backward. His boots carved deep grooves through the pavement.

Silver’s expression tightened, even Peter was struggling.

"All students, withdraw from the central road!" He shouted. "This creature is beyond your assigned engagement level!"

Helena immediately relayed the order.

"Everyone, fall back!"

But the evacuation route was still crowded. Several civilians were attempting to move through the southern intersection.

The creature noticed the movement, turned it’s head and charged.

Silver’s expression changed.

"Ravenna!" He shouted.

She moved.

Burning Arc

A concentrated wave of fire struck the creature’s face. It roared, its charge faltering.

He activated Short-Step.

[Short-Step Lv3 Activated.]

He appeared beside its front leg.

[Advanced Swordsmanship Lv3 Activated.]

[Primal Strength Lv3 Activated.]

His sword flashed as he slashed towards it. The blade struck a gap between the armor plates. Blood sprayed and a large wound appeared.

The creature screamed and immediately afterwards, its enormous body twisted.

Silver attempted to retreat but it was too late. The malformed limb struck him.

[Iron Bones Lv3 Activated.]

[Spatial Distortion Lv2 Activated.]

A barrier formed before him but the impact shattered it instantly. He was thrown across the street, his body crashing through the wall of an abandoned shop.

Wood and concrete exploded around him.

For several seconds, he couldn’t breathe as pain spread through his chest. His vision blurred just from the sheer pain of it.

Then the system appeared.

[Severe Physical Damage Detected.]

[Iron Bones Lv3 Defensive Capacity Exceeded.]

[Multiple Rib Fractures Detected.]

[Internal Tissue Damage Detected.]

[Spatial Energy Circulation Unstable.]

[Warning: Continued High-Output Ability Usage May Cause Severe Physical Damage.]

He coughed and blood splattered across the floor. He stared at it, then laughed weakly.

"Well..."

He tried to move but pain exploded through his chest.

"...that’s not good."

Outside, Ravenna screamed his name.

"Silver!"

He heard an explosion, then another. He forced himself upright despite his body protesting. He knew we’ll enough that the longer he stayed down, the more worried everyone will become.

[Primal Strength Lv3 Activated.]

His muscles tightened.

Silver gritted his teeth as he staggered toward the broken wall.

Outside, Ravenna was fighting desperately to keep the creature away from the civilians. Her sword burned with crimson flames.

Flame Edge

Burning Arc

She moved around the creature’s enormous body, targeting exposed joints and forcing it to turn away from the evacuation route but she was only Rank Two and the creature was far beyond her.

He saw its head turn and the massive limb rise. He knew Ravenna wouldn’t be able to avoid the next strike.

"RAVENNA!"

He activated Short-Step.

[Short-Step Lv3 Activated.]

Pain tore through his spatial pathways as he disappeared and reappeared beside her. He extended his left hand.

[Spatial Distortion Lv2 Activated.]

A barrier formed before them and the creature struck. The barrier cracked under the overwhelming pressure.

He gritted his teeth.

"Move!"

She stumbled backward before the barrier shattered.

Silver grabbed her.

[Short-Step Lv3 Activated.]

They disappeared.

A moment later, they reappeared behind a collapsed building.

He dropped to one knee before blood spilled from his mouth.

Ravenna caught him.

"Silver!" She called in a worried voice.

He coughed, then wiped the stray blood.

"I’m fine."

"You’re not!"

She pressed her hands against his shoulders.

"You’re bleeding!"

He managed a weak smile.

"Oh, you noticed that."

Her eyes filled with tears.

"Don’t joke."

He looked toward her.

For a moment, the battlefield seemed distant, then he nodded.

"Sorry."

She held him tightly.

Silver rested his forehead against hers.

"I’m still here," he softly said.

She closed her eyes.

"Then stay here," she replied.

He nodded.

"I’ll try."

Another roar echoed through the district.

Silver looked toward the street where the creature was still moving.

Peter had managed to intercept it again, but several smaller beasts were now entering the surrounding roads and the evacuation wasn’t finished.

Silver slowly stood.

Ravenna looked at him.

"Silver..."

He shook his head.

"We can’t stop."

She stared at him, her eyes almost tearing up.

He looked toward the civilians fleeing through the southern intersection.

"Not yet."

She swallowed, then nodded.

"All right."

She stood beside him.

"Together."

Silver smiled faintly.

"Together."