Chapter 169: The Beast Beneath the Black Veil

Chapter 169: Chapter 169: The Beast Beneath the Black Veil

Three days had passed since the battle at the northern outpost.

Ronan had spent most of that time recovering and experimenting with his newly acquired traits.

His injuries had almost completely healed, and his energy had returned to its previous level.

Although he hadn’t made any significant breakthrough, his control over Gravity Affinity had improved.

He could now manipulate gravitational forces around smaller objects with considerably greater precision. More importantly, he had begun combining it with Burst Acceleration.

The results were promising.

By adjusting gravity around his body while suddenly accelerating, he could change his trajectory in the middle of a movement.

It wasn’t true teleportation, but against opponents who relied on predicting his movements, the technique could prove troublesome.

Ronan stood inside the courtyard, looking at a stone several meters away.

He raised his hand.

The stone floated.

Then, without any warning, it shot towards him.

Ronan tilted his body.

His figure suddenly accelerated sideways, avoiding the stone by a narrow margin.

Before it could hit the ground, he manipulated gravity again.

The stone changed direction.

Ronan accelerated forward and caught it.

Crack!

The stone crumbled in his hand.

He examined the remaining fragments.

The technique still consumed more energy than he wanted, but the combination was becoming smoother.

"Not bad."

He tossed the fragments aside.

At that moment, Kharven would have been useful as a sparring partner, but the vampire wasn’t here. Ronan had no intention of asking the Covenant’s guardians to help him test techniques that could easily injure them.

He had more important things to do anyway.

The Western Anchor awaited him.

---

Arden was waiting near the sanctuary’s entrance when Ronan arrived.

Two guardians stood behind him, carrying supplies.

"I thought you would leave tomorrow," Arden said.

"I changed my mind."

Arden glanced at the supplies.

"You’re taking those?"

"Unless you want me to travel without food, medicine, or useful equipment."

Arden gave him a strange look.

Ronan wasn’t particularly interested in ordinary food, but the supplies included recovery medicines and several energy crystals.

He wasn’t going to reject free resources.

"These are not gifts," Arden said. "The Covenant will expect you to return with information about the Western Anchor."

Ronan looked at him.

"Then consider it an investment."

Arden sighed.

He handed over a small black token.

"This will identify you as someone who has received permission to investigate the abandoned sanctuary. If you encounter any surviving Covenant members, show them this."

Ronan accepted it.

"What else?"

Arden hesitated.

"There is one thing you should know. The Western Anchor wasn’t abandoned because of a single attack."

"Explain."

"According to the surviving records, the guardians stationed there began disappearing one after another. At first, they believed the Hollow were responsible. However, the disappearances continued even after they strengthened their defensive formations."

"Then what happened?"

"The remaining guardians discovered something beneath the sanctuary. Shortly afterwards, they abandoned the entire structure."

Ronan raised an eyebrow.

"Something?"

"The records don’t say what it was."

"Convenient."

Arden ignored the remark.

"Whatever happened there, the Covenant never recovered the original reports."

Ronan placed the token inside his storage space.

"Then I’ll find out."

Arden looked towards the northern mountains.

"Be careful. The Black Veil Mountains aren’t a safe place, even without the Hollow."

Ronan smiled faintly.

"I’ll keep that in mind."

He stepped beyond the sanctuary’s entrance.

This time, he travelled alone.

---

The Black Veil Mountains were several hours away from the Eastern Sanctuary.

Their name came from the dark clouds that constantly covered the region, blocking most sunlight from reaching the ground.

The mountains were filled with jagged cliffs, narrow valleys, and dense patches of black vegetation.

Even from a distance, Ronan could sense the unusual energy surrounding the area.

It was stronger than anything he had encountered near the northern outpost.

He stopped at the edge of a valley.

Predator’s Perception activated.

Several energy signatures appeared within his range.

Most were relatively weak, but one immediately caught his attention.

It was moving beneath the ground.

Ronan narrowed his eyes.

The energy signature was enormous.

Eight-Star King Realm.

He slowly stepped backwards.

He wasn’t interested in fighting another creature of that level while he was still exploring unfamiliar territory.

However, the creature seemed to have noticed him.

The ground trembled.

A massive shadow emerged from beneath the valley.

Ronan immediately activated Gravity Affinity.

A gigantic creature burst through the ground.

Its body resembled an enormous armored centipede, covered in overlapping black plates. Several crimson eyes were arranged along its head, while thick claws extended from its front limbs.

Its body was easily thirty meters long.

A heavy pressure spread across the valley.

The creature released a deafening roar.

Ronan’s expression changed slightly.

It was considerably larger than the Abyssal Devourer.

More importantly, the energy surrounding its body was dense and stable.

This wasn’t an ordinary beast.

The creature opened its mouth.

A concentrated wave of black energy shot towards him.

Ronan moved.

Burst Acceleration activated.

He accelerated sideways while manipulating gravity around his body.

The attack missed him and struck the mountain behind him.

Boom!

A large section of the cliff collapsed.

Ronan landed on a nearby rock.

He looked at the creature.

"That’s troublesome."

The creature turned its head.

Its crimson eyes focused on him.

Then it charged.

The ground collapsed beneath its weight.

Ronan immediately increased the gravitational force around the creature’s front body.

The movement slowed slightly.

But the beast continued advancing.

Its claws slammed into the ground.

Several enormous stone spikes erupted from beneath Ronan.

He leapt backwards.

One of the spikes grazed his leg, tearing through part of his clothing.

Ronan landed on a narrow ledge.

His expression became serious.

The creature’s attacks weren’t particularly sophisticated, but its physical strength was overwhelming.

He couldn’t afford to exchange blows directly.

He needed to identify its weakness.

---

The creature suddenly disappeared beneath the ground.

Ronan activated Predator’s Perception.

Its energy signature moved rapidly beneath him.

He immediately jumped.

A massive claw erupted from the ground.

It struck the ledge where he had been standing, destroying the entire section of rock.

Ronan landed on another platform.

The creature emerged behind him.

Its tail swept across the valley.

Ronan raised both arms.

White Bone Skin hardened.

Impact Force activated.

The tail struck him.

Boom!

His body was thrown through the air.

He crashed into the mountainside, creating a large crater.

Ronan coughed.

A thin line of blood escaped his mouth.

He quickly stood up.

The creature was already approaching.

"Damn thing."

Ronan wiped the blood from his lips.

He had underestimated its attack speed.

The creature’s body was moving faster than something of its size should have been capable of.

He activated Gravity Affinity again.

This time, instead of increasing the gravitational force around its entire body, he concentrated it around the creature’s head.

Its movement faltered.

Ronan immediately accelerated.

His fist struck the creature’s eye.

Crack!

The outer shell shattered.

The creature released a furious roar.

Ronan retreated before its claws could reach him.

He had found something.

Its armor was extremely durable, but the joints around its head were less protected.

He needed to exploit that weakness.

The creature raised its head.

Its remaining crimson eyes began glowing.

A violent energy fluctuation spread across the valley.

Ronan’s instincts warned him.

He immediately moved.

A beam of black energy swept across the mountainside.

The entire section of rock disappeared.

Ronan landed behind a large boulder.

He examined the creature.

It was gathering energy again.

He couldn’t continue avoiding its attacks forever.

He needed to end the battle quickly.

---

Ronan released Annihilation Force.

The energy gathered around his right arm.

He also activated Limit Break.

His physical strength increased.

The creature charged.

Ronan waited.

At the last moment, he manipulated gravity around its front limbs.

The creature’s movement became uneven.

Ronan accelerated forward.

His body shifted sideways in the middle of his movement, allowing him to avoid the incoming claw.

He reached the creature’s head.

His fist slammed into the damaged eye.

Boom!

The impact shattered another section of its armor.

The creature roared.

Ronan grabbed the broken edge of its shell and pulled himself forward.

Annihilation Force spread through his arm.

He drove his hand into the exposed joint.

The creature thrashed violently.

Its body slammed against the surrounding cliffs.

Ronan held on.

He concentrated his energy.

Then he released it.

Boom!

A violent explosion erupted from inside the creature’s head.

The beast collapsed.

Its enormous body crashed into the valley, sending dust and broken rocks into the air.

Ronan jumped away before the creature’s body could crush him.

He landed on a nearby rock and examined the fallen beast.

For several seconds, nothing happened.

Then its energy signature began weakening.

Target eliminated.

Ronan released a breath.

He had won.

However, he wasn’t particularly pleased with the condition of his body.

Several injuries had reopened, and his energy consumption had been considerable.

An Eight-Star King Realm creature was still a dangerous opponent.

He approached the corpse.

The system notification appeared.

[Target Analysis Complete.]

[Species: Abyssal Burrower]

[Realm: Eight-Star King Realm]

[Available Traits Detected.]

[Trait: Earth Manipulation]

[Trait: Hardened Carapace]

[Trait: Subterranean Perception]

Ronan’s eyes brightened.

Three traits.

That was a considerably better reward than what he had been getting from weaker creatures.

He examined the options.

Earth Manipulation was useful, but he already possessed several ways to manipulate his surroundings.

Hardened Carapace was primarily defensive.

Subterranean Perception, however, caught his interest.

The creature had been able to sense his movements even while he was standing on solid ground.

It could detect energy signatures through the earth.

That would be extremely useful when exploring underground structures.

Ronan didn’t hesitate.

"Acquire Subterranean Perception."

[Trait Acquisition Successful.]

[Trait Acquired: Subterranean Perception.]

A strange sensation spread through his body.

His perception expanded.

He could suddenly sense the surrounding terrain more clearly.

The ground beneath his feet no longer felt like an ordinary solid surface. He could detect variations in its density, identify several underground passages, and perceive faint movements within the surrounding soil.

Ronan closed his eyes.

His perception extended further.

Then he stopped.

Something was moving beneath the valley.

Not the Abyssal Burrower.

Something smaller.

Several energy signatures were scattered beneath the ground, and they were all moving in the same direction.

Towards the north.

Ronan opened his eyes.

He looked towards the mountain range.

"Interesting."

---

After extracting the creature’s valuable materials, Ronan examined the surrounding valley.

The Abyssal Burrower had been living beneath the region for a long time.

Its underground tunnels extended across a considerable distance, and several of them appeared to connect to deeper chambers.

Ronan activated Subterranean Perception again.

This time, he focused on the faint energy signatures he had detected earlier.

They were still moving.

He followed their direction.

Several minutes later, he discovered a passage hidden beneath a collapsed section of rock.

The entrance was narrow, but the tunnel beyond it was considerably larger.

He entered cautiously.

The walls were covered in black minerals, and faint gray energy flowed through several cracks.

Ronan stopped.

He recognized the energy.

It was similar to what he had encountered inside the Eastern Sanctuary.

He continued forward.

Eventually, the passage opened into a small chamber.

Several broken stone pillars stood around a circular platform.

At the centre was a large metal door.

Its surface was covered in inscriptions.

The same broken-circle symbol appeared near its upper section.

Ronan approached.

His palm began reacting.

The mark glowed faintly.

He raised his hand.

The moment his palm touched the door, several inscriptions illuminated.

A low vibration passed through the chamber.

Then a notification appeared.

[Ancient Structure Detected.]

[Compatible Mark Confirmed.]

[Access Condition: Incomplete.]

Ronan frowned.

"Incomplete?"

He examined the door.

There were several empty slots arranged around the central inscription.

Three of them appeared to have once contained some kind of crystal.

Now they were empty.

He looked at the markings again.

The structure required something to activate.

Perhaps the fragments he had collected were related to these missing components.

He didn’t have enough information to be certain.

Ronan stepped backwards.

Then he noticed something else.

A faint energy signature was coming from the other side of the door.

It was powerful.

King Realm.

But unlike the Abyssal Burrower, its energy was unstable.

Ronan narrowed his eyes.

The energy signature suddenly moved closer.

A metallic scraping sound echoed behind the door.

Then something struck it.

Boom!

The entire chamber trembled.

Ronan immediately retreated.

Another impact followed.

The metal door began bending outward.

He released a faint gravitational force around his body.

Whatever was trapped behind that door was strong enough to destroy it.

And judging by the energy signature, it wasn’t an ordinary creature.

A deep growl echoed through the chamber.

Then a voice emerged from the darkness beyond the door.

"Open..."

Ronan froze.

The voice was distorted and barely recognizable.

Another impact struck the door.

"Open... the anchor..."

Ronan’s eyes narrowed.

The Western Anchor was supposed to be abandoned.

Yet something was still alive beneath it.

He slowly stepped backwards.

His injuries hadn’t fully recovered, and he had already spent considerable energy fighting the Abyssal Burrower.

He wasn’t going to open a sealed door without understanding what was behind it.

The voice came again.

"Marked... one..."

Ronan’s expression turned cold.

So it could recognize the mark.

He stared at the metal door.

Then he smiled faintly.

"Looks like I’ve found the right place."