Chapter 271: Imperial Ranking War: Hunting (I)

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The first thing Sieg noticed when the gates of The Rock opened was the smell.

It had been there for weeks. He had simply stopped noticing it. Or perhaps his nose had finally surrendered.

The air outside the fortress carried the stench of rot, chemicals, and something faintly metallic that clung to the back of his throat. Even with the protective runic formation etched across his skin, he could still sense the polluted world beyond the river.

The Rock remained clean.

That was the difference.

Behind them stood the fortified settlement of the Heavenly Bronze Empire, its stone walls protected by layers upon layers of defensive formations. Beyond the walls, the river surrounding the fortress flowed steadily, separating their little island of safety from the rest of the secret realm.

Ten kilometers away, however, there was no such protection.

Sieg adjusted the straps around his armor.

"Check your formation again." The voice came from the front.

Adrian Arclight stood beside the opened gate, his eyes sweeping across the hunting party.

Ten people. That was all. Ten people to venture into a world that had already proven that its rules could change without warning.

Lucian Skyrend stood beside Adrian with his arms folded.

"Runic tattoos last twelve hours," Lucian reminded them. "If yours begins fading, report it immediately. Don’t try to be clever."

His gaze passed over everyone. When it reached Sieg, it paused for half a second. Not because Lucian distrusted him.

That somehow made it worse.

He was simply checking.

Just like he checked everyone else. Sieg lowered his eyes to his forearm.

The formation tattoo glowed faintly beneath his skin.

Ren had personally inscribed them.

Sieg had watched him do it.

It was almost embarrassing how easily Ren had explained something that Sieg barely understood.

The formation filtered the worst contaminants from the air. It wasn’t perfect. It didn’t make the outside safe. It simply made it survivable.

’Twelve hours.’

That was enough. Hopefully.

"Everyone ready?" Adrian asked.

A series of acknowledgments followed. Sieg nodded with the others. Aria stood beside him.

She had been quiet all morning. She is unusually these days. Sieg glanced at her.

Her expression was calm, but he knew her well enough to recognize the difference between calmness and silence. There was tension in her shoulders. She noticed him looking.

"Don’t overthink it." Sieg almost laughed.

"I’m not."

"You are."

"I said I’m not."

"And I said you are."

Her voice was quiet enough that only he could hear. For the first time that morning, Sieg smiled.

Barely.

"You’re annoying."

"I know."

She looked ahead.

Then, after a moment, she quietly added,

"Stay close."

Sieg nodded.

The gates opened wider. The ten hunters stepped out. And The Rock disappeared behind them.

**

The first kilometer wasn’t difficult. The second wasn’t either.

It was the third that reminded Sieg why nobody liked going outside anymore.

The landscape had become almost unrecognizable.

The trees that had once stood tall and green were twisted things now.

Some had blackened bark.

Others had swollen branches covered in pale growths.

A few had collapsed completely, their roots exposed and soaked in the contaminated soil.

There were no birds. No insects. Not even the usual sounds of wildlife. That silence bothered Sieg more than the stench.

The secret realm had once been alive.

Now it felt like something was pretending to be alive. Adrian raised a fist.

Everyone stopped.

Sieg froze immediately. Lucian crouched beside a patch of ruined vegetation.

"Tracks."

Everyone gathered. Sieg stayed slightly behind. There were footprints in the mud.

Four legs. Deep. Heavy. Several sets.

Lucian examined them for several seconds.

"At least twelve."

"More?"

"Probably."

Adrian frowned.

"Mutation?"

"Definitely."

Sieg crouched as well. He looked at the tracks. He couldn’t tell much.

That was becoming a familiar feeling. Someone else always noticed something first. Someone else always knew what to do.

He could fight. That was what he had. His body was strong. His will was strong. He had survived things that would have broken ordinary people.

But here...

That wasn’t enough. Almost everyone in this hunting party was an Inhuman. Almost everyone had something else.

Herbal knowledge, tracking, scouting, formation expertise, healing, specialized martial techniques...

Sieg looked at his hands. His fists were good. His sword was good.

But what else?

Nothing.

He forced the thought away.

Not now. He had come here to help. He wasn’t going to become another burden someone had to carry.

Adrian motioned for everyone to continue. They moved again. The deeper they went, the stranger the environment became. At one point they passed a small stream.

The water was clear.

Too clear.

Lucian immediately raised his hand. Nobody approached it. Sieg stared at the stream.

Before the calamities, someone could have drunk from that. Now it could kill them. Everything had become a trap.

"Ten kilometers," Adrian whispered.

He pointed ahead.

"From here, nobody speaks unless necessary."

Everyone nodded. Sieg tightened his grip. They were close.

The monster pack was waiting inside a valley.

They found the first signs before they found the creatures themselves.

A tree had been torn apart. Not cut. Not broken. Torn.

Three claw marks ran through the trunk. Each one was wider than Sieg’s arm. Aria touched the bark.

"Fresh."

Sieg looked around. Nothing. Then he noticed the smell. Not the pollution.

Something else. Meat. Rotten meat.

His muscles tightened. Adrian pointed toward the ridge. They moved. Slowly. The plan was simple. The monsters were apparently gathered inside the valley below. They would circle around them, climb the opposite ridge, and attack from above.

Ten people. One coordinated strike.

Kill as many as possible before the creatures realized what was happening.

Simple.

Sieg followed Aria near the back of the formation. He concentrated on every step. Don’t make noise. Don’t disturb anything. Don’t touch the branches.

Don’t—

Crunch!

Sieg froze.

The sound echoed through the quiet valley. A small branch lay beneath his foot. He looked down. Then up.

Every person ahead had stopped.

Adrian slowly turned his head. Lucian’s eyes narrowed. Aria closed her eyes for half a second.

Sieg felt his stomach sink.

He hadn’t even stepped hard. It had been a tiny branch.

But in that silence, it might as well have been a thunderclap.

Something moved below.

A low growl rolled through the valley.

Then another.

Then another.

Sieg’s hand went to his sword. Adrian’s expression hardened.

"Positions."

Too late. A roar exploded from below. The ground shook. Something enormous burst through the vegetation.

Sieg saw it. For the first time. It resembled a wolf.

Once, perhaps...

Now it was something else.

Its body was enormous, nearly the size of a small carriage, covered in patches of blackened fur and thick, armor-like growths. Six legs carried its distorted body.

Two additional forelimbs ended in long claws. Its head had split into two jaws. The upper mouth opened sideways. The lower one opened vertically.

Greenish fluid dripped between rows of jagged teeth. Its eyes glowed a sickly white.

And behind it—

More appeared. Ten. Fifteen. Twenty.

Sieg’s heart dropped. The entire valley was moving.

Adrian shouted.

"FORMATION!"

The hunting team exploded into motion. The first monster leaped. Lucian intercepted it.

His spear flashed. The creature twisted unnaturally in midair.

Lucian’s spear cut through one of its forelegs, but instead of falling, the monster used the remaining limbs to claw toward his face. Lucian blocked. The impact sent him skidding backward.

"Harder than expected!"

Adrian answered with a sword slash. The shockwave slammed into the monster and shattered several trees behind it.

Sieg rushed forward. A second creature charged him. He drew his greatsword. The monster swung. Sieg blocked.

The force nearly threw him off his feet. His boots dug into the ground. The creature’s claws scraped against his blade.

He gritted his teeth. Strong. Far stronger than anything he had expected. He twisted his body and redirected the claw.

Then punched.

His fist smashed into the monster’s jaw. Bone cracked. The creature staggered. Sieg followed with another strike. And another.

The third punch crushed its skull. The monster collapsed. Sieg breathed heavily. One. He had killed one.

Good.

He could help. Then something slammed into his side. Sieg flew. He crashed into the ground and rolled several times.

Pain erupted across his ribs. He stopped himself with one hand. A second monster stood where he had been.

Too fast.

Sieg barely had time to rise before it attacked again. A violet flash passed in front of him.

Aria’s sword pierced the creature’s throat. She twisted the blade. The monster collapsed.

"Are you hurt?"

"I’m fine."

"Good."

She immediately turned away. There was no time for anything else. Sieg stood.

His breathing was rough. Around him, the battlefield had already become chaotic. The creatures were not behaving like ordinary monsters. They were learning.

One had baited Adrian into striking early, then another attacked from behind. Another had deliberately thrown itself at Lucian to create an opening for the others. They were adapting.

No.

Not just adapting. Sieg’s eyes narrowed. They were coordinating.

"Adrian!"

He shouted.

"Left!"

Adrian moved without hesitation. A monster’s claw passed through the space where his head had been.

He countered with an elbow that crushed its chest.

"Good catch!"

Sieg nodded. Another monster charged. He raised his sword. The creature suddenly stopped. Its two mouths opened. Sieg’s eyes widened. Something green sprayed from its throat.

He jumped aside.

The substance hit the ground. The soil hissed. Smoke rose.

Acid. Sieg’s face tightened.

"Don’t let them spit!"

Someone shouted. Too late. Three more monsters opened their mouths.

The valley filled with green mist.

Sieg covered his face with his sleeve and backed away. The runic tattoo on his arm brightened. Filtering. Working.

But the formation wasn’t designed for direct exposure. His skin tingled.

His lungs burned. And his heart sank.