187 - The Fire Beneath the Mountain

The first sign that the Cinderhorn Ravager was stronger than the expedition had expected came before it even reached them.

The canyon floor began to vibrate.

Small stones rolled down the walls, followed by larger fragments of black rock. The temperature rose so quickly that the air itself seemed to distort, and a deep rumbling sound traveled through the ground from somewhere beneath their feet.

Kael immediately raised his weapon.

"Everyone back!"

The warning came too late.

The ground twenty meters ahead of the expedition exploded.

A massive horn tore through the stone, followed by an armored head covered in glowing cracks. The Cinderhorn Ravager forced its entire body out of the earth with such violence that the explosion sent rocks flying in every direction.

The system reacted instantly.

Cinderhorn Ravager

Level 221

Rank: A+

Threat Assessment: Extreme

Environment: Volcanic Region

The creature was larger than the Volcanic Stoneback they had encountered earlier. Its body was nearly thirty meters long, with four heavily muscled legs and thick black armor covering its torso. Two enormous horns curved forward from its skull, glowing from within as if molten metal were flowing through them.

The ground beneath its feet began to melt.

Subin drew Simple Edge.

The Ravager lowered its head.

For one brief moment, it remained completely still.

Then it charged.

The creature crossed the distance so quickly that several members of the expedition barely had time to react.

Rafael stepped forward and raised his shield.

The impact threw him backward.

His shield struck the canyon wall hard enough to crack the stone, and his body disappeared beneath a shower of debris.

"Rafael!"

Yerin thrust her spear forward.

The spear struck the Ravager's shoulder but failed to penetrate the armor. Instead, the impact redirected the creature slightly, causing its horn to miss Jae-hyun by less than a meter.

Jae-hyun rolled beneath the second horn and attacked the creature's leg.

His sword struck.

The blade bounced away.

The Ravager's rear leg swung sideways.

Jae-hyun barely raised his sword in time.

The blow sent him flying across the canyon.

Subin moved.

He appeared beside the creature's head and struck the base of its left horn.

Simple Edge cut into the outer layer.

The Ravager reacted instantly.

Its head snapped toward him.

Subin crossed his sword in front of his body.

The horn collided with Simple Edge.

The impact forced him backward more than ten meters.

His boots tore through the volcanic stone.

The sword remained intact, but his arms went numb.

Subin's expression became serious.

That single collision had told him enough.

The creature's physical strength was enormous.

But the real danger wasn't its raw power.

Its horns were concentrating the mana produced by its body and releasing it through physical attacks.

The Ravager attacked again.

Subin shifted sideways.

The horn passed beside him and struck the canyon wall.

The entire wall exploded.

A section of the mountain collapsed.

The expedition was forced to retreat as tons of volcanic rock poured into the canyon.

Kael shouted orders.

"Move toward the western passage!"

The engineers began retreating.

Another tremor shook the ground.

The Ravager wasn't slowing down.

It tore through the falling rocks and charged after them.

Rafael recovered from the first impact and positioned himself between the creature and the engineers.

"Keep going!"

The Ravager struck.

Rafael blocked with his shield.

This time, the shield did not hold.

The metal surface bent inward.

Rafael was driven backward until his feet left the ground, and the Ravager carried him several meters before throwing him aside.

He crashed against the canyon floor.

Yerin immediately intercepted the creature.

Her spear flashed repeatedly, targeting the joints beneath its armor.

One strike finally penetrated.

Blood spilled.

The Ravager roared.

The sound itself carried mana.

The canyon walls vibrated violently.

Yerin staggered as the pressure struck her body.

The creature's wound began closing.

The surrounding armor shifted.

New layers of dark material grew over the damaged area.

Ara stared.

"It's regenerating."

Subin watched carefully.

"Not just regenerating."

He pointed toward the wound.

"It's redirecting mana there."

The Ravager's body was constantly circulating energy through its armor. When an area was damaged, the surrounding mana immediately moved toward it, reinforcing the damaged section.

That explained why their attacks were becoming less effective.

Every repeated strike taught the creature where to strengthen itself.

Subin changed his approach.

He stopped attacking.

For several seconds, he simply watched.

The Ravager charged toward Yerin.

Subin moved between them.

Simple Edge struck the ground.

The blade didn't touch the monster.

Instead, the cut created a narrow fracture directly in its path.

The Ravager's front foot landed on the weakened stone.

The ground collapsed.

Its momentum shifted.

Yerin escaped.

Subin used the opening to attack the creature's exposed underside.

The sword entered.

Only a short distance.

The Ravager twisted violently.

Its rear leg struck Subin across the torso.

He was thrown into the canyon wall.

Pain spread across his ribs.

Before he could recover, the creature charged again.

Subin pushed himself away from the wall.

The horn passed through the position where his head had been a moment earlier.

The wall behind him exploded.

For the first time in the expedition, Subin felt genuine danger from a single physical attack.

One clean hit would be enough to seriously injure him.

Possibly worse.

The Ravager turned.

Subin steadied his breathing.

He couldn't win by trading attacks.

He needed to understand it.

The creature charged again.

Subin waited.

At the last moment, he stepped aside.

The Ravager's horn passed him.

Subin struck the horn.

Then the shoulder.

Then the chest.

Three different targets.

Three different responses.

The horn immediately redirected mana toward the damaged section.

The shoulder thickened.

The chest barely reacted.

Subin's eyes narrowed.

He had found something.

The Ravager turned again.

Subin deliberately attacked its chest.

The creature's armor responded more slowly.

The mana didn't flow toward the center of the torso with the same speed.

Its circulation had a blind point.

Not a weak spot in the conventional sense.

A delay.

Subin moved.

Yerin understood immediately.

"Chest!"

She thrust her spear toward the creature's right side.

The Ravager turned toward her.

Jae-hyun attacked from the opposite direction.

Rafael recovered and struck the ground with his shield, disrupting the creature's balance.

The Ravager tried to turn toward each attacker, but its mana circulation was forced to divide between several damaged areas.

For the first time, its regeneration slowed.

Subin stepped into the opening.

The Ravager's horn swung toward him.

He didn't retreat.

Simple Edge moved.

The sword struck the horn at the exact point where its mana was concentrated.

The damaged horn fractured.

The Ravager roared.

Subin continued forward.

The creature opened its mouth.

A sphere of compressed heat formed inside.

Ara's face changed.

"Subin!"

The Ravager released the attack.

A beam of concentrated volcanic energy tore through the canyon.

Subin moved sideways.

The beam followed.

He accelerated.

The attack carved a molten trench across the canyon wall.

Subin reached the creature's flank and cut.

The first strike opened the armor.

The second reached the muscle beneath.

The third crossed the delayed mana channel.

The Ravager stumbled.

But it did not fall.

Instead, its entire body began glowing.

Kael's expression changed.

"Everyone get back!"

The creature was gathering everything.

Heat.

Mana.

Physical strength.

The energy inside its body became so dense that cracks appeared across its armor.

Subin realized what was happening.

It wasn't preparing another attack.

It was about to release everything around itself.

"Run!"

The expedition scattered.

The Ravager slammed all four feet into the ground.

The resulting explosion tore through the canyon.

Rafael's barrier appeared for barely a second before being shattered.

Yerin was thrown into a pile of rocks.

Jae-hyun disappeared beneath debris.

Two engineers were knocked unconscious.

Kael was forced to the ground.

Subin was caught directly in the edge of the blast.

His body was thrown backward.

He landed hard.

For several seconds, he couldn't hear anything.

Then the ringing faded.

The canyon had changed.

The ground around the Ravager had melted.

Smoke covered the area.

The creature stood at the center, heavily damaged but still alive.

Its armor was cracked across the entire body.

Yet it was regenerating.

Slowly.

The Ravager raised its head.

It had one horn remaining.

It looked toward Subin.

Then it charged.

Subin forced himself upright.

His ribs hurt.

His breathing was uneven.

His grip tightened around Simple Edge.

The creature was coming faster than before.

Subin didn't have enough room to evade.

So he stepped forward.

The sword moved.

Not against the horn.

Not against the armor.

Against the path between them.

His blade entered the creature's chest exactly where he had identified the delayed mana circulation.

The Ravager's charge carried its own body deeper onto the sword.

Subin rotated the blade.

The surrounding mana collapsed inward.

The creature stopped.

Its remaining horn passed beside Subin's shoulder.

For several seconds, the two remained motionless.

Then the Ravager's legs gave way.

Its enormous body crashed into the ground.

The system appeared.

Cinderhorn Ravager defeated.

High-Level A+ Monster defeated.

Contribution Assessment: Expedition Team

Primary Combat Contribution: Subin Vans

Subin pulled Simple Edge free.

The creature was still breathing.

He stepped away.

Yerin emerged from the debris, bruised and covered in dust.

She looked at the fallen monster.

"That was much stronger than the Stoneback."

Subin nodded.

"Much stronger."

Rafael slowly stood.

His shield was badly damaged.

Jae-hyun climbed out from behind the rocks.

"Are all A+ monsters here like that?"

Kael looked toward the volcanic mountains.

"No."

He paused.

"Some are worse."

Nobody laughed.

The statement was believable now.

The engineers checked the wounded members before the group continued.

The canyon itself had become almost unrecognizable.

The Ravager's attack had destroyed much of the old road, and the walls were unstable. They could no longer safely use the original route.

Kael examined the terrain.

"We'll need another path."

Ara checked her equipment.

"There is an underground route."

Subin looked at her.

"Where?"

She pointed toward the northern side of the canyon.

"The mana readings from the regulation structure are strongest there."

Subin understood.

The damaged structure wasn't far.

They continued cautiously.

The deeper they went, the more obvious the relationship between the volcanic environment and the ancient infrastructure became. Natural mana currents flowed beneath the ground, while the constructed channels redirected excess energy toward Ember Basin and other regions.

Eventually, they reached the regulation chamber.

The structure was enormous.

Unlike the earlier road regulator, this one had suffered significant damage. Several channels were blocked, and the central core was surrounded by unstable energy.

Ara began examining it.

Subin stood nearby, watching the mana flow.

The battle with the Ravager had changed how he viewed the region.

The creature hadn't been merely a monster with high stats.

Its body had evolved around the volcanic environment.

Its horns stored and redirected energy.

Its armor adapted to repeated attacks.

Its regeneration reacted to damage.

Its ultimate attack converted accumulated mana into destructive force.

The Volcanic Region had produced creatures capable of using its environment as naturally as humans used weapons.

That was worth remembering.

Subin looked toward the damaged regulation core.

The same principle applied here.

The region wasn't a collection of independent parts.

Everything interacted.

Monsters.

Mana.

Terrain.

Civilizations.

Ancient structures.

A disruption in one place could eventually affect another.

Ara finally stepped back.

"We can stabilize it."

Kael nodded.

"Then let's do it."

The engineers began their work.

Subin remained near the entrance, looking back toward the canyon.

The Cinderhorn Ravager had nearly overwhelmed the expedition.

If they had underestimated it for even a few more seconds, the result could have been very different.

That realization didn't discourage him.

It sharpened his interest.

Earth had many powerful monsters.

But the Great Passage contained ecosystems that had developed around mana for generations.

There would be stronger opponents ahead.

And Subin welcomed the challenge.

Not because he wanted to prove he was invincible.

Because every dangerous opponent forced his swordsmanship to become more precise.

Far beyond the regulation chamber, the volcanic mountains continued toward the inner region.

The Cinder Crown waited beyond them.

And now Subin knew that reaching it would require more than simply being strong enough to fight what lived there.