Chapter 11 The Hunt Part 4

Only a few meters away, Ar felt his body stiffen.

His face was pale, cold sweat began to flow.

The smell of death...

So thick.

Suffocating.

For the first time, he felt this kind of horror.

It wasn't just a bad feeling, it was like being on the edge of death.

He stopped. His steps suddenly stopped, his hands moving automatically to protect Clau behind him.

"Brother, why? Your face is so pale?"

Clau's voice sounded confused, but Ar didn't answer.

Channelers could train their five senses, honing their ability to sense the presence of the Essential. But only a few could sense the Death Essence. Even among them, only those with special talents could sense something so keen.

And Ar was one of them.

That scent...

So close.

So thick.

The disgusting stench stuck in his throat and made his stomach turn violently. His breakfast felt like it wanted to come out right away.

Clau, who didn't feel anything at first, began to fall silent. Then suddenly his face turned pale as well. He could feel it now.

The sound of footsteps.

Slow. Heavy.

The ground beneath them trembled. A large shadow began to emerge from the fog. It was three meters tall, bigger than Ar had imagined.

Its steps were soft.

Too quiet.

But the aura surrounding him spread like poison.

The creature finally emerged from the mist.

The stench grew stronger, and its red eyeballs glowed thickly. Thicker than his own red eyes.

"Brother..."

"Don't tell me... this is the Necrohound Alpha?"

Clau froze and shivered, not moving at all.

Two twelve-year-olds and they had to face a Level 5 Catastrophic dark magic monster.

It really didn't make sense.

"Clau, stay back. Let me take care of this."

Ar grabbed his sword tighter, letting the scabbard fall to the ground. His gaze never left the figure standing in front of him.

Necrohound Alpha.

Much bigger.

Much more ferocious.

And worse, there was no guarantee he could defeat it.

A foul-smelling green mist seeped from the monster's body and slowly spread around it. Poisonous. Much more poisonous than a normal necrohound.

Ar turned his head slightly to make sure that Clau was still behind him. The girl had already covered her nose and mouth with a cloth, trying her best to avoid the poison.

There was no other choice. She had to fight.

Without hesitation, Ar activated the Astral Step. In an instant, the body vanished, leaving behind an illusory light that resembled him.

The sharp claws of the monster shot forward. The ground on which Ar stood shattered, but Ar was no longer there. It jumped onto a nearby tree trunk and used it as a foothold before moving again. Its movements were fast, almost impossible to see with the naked eye.

Necrohound Alpha snarled, his eyes burning. The monster would not be fooled.

Its attacks became more brutal, its claws lashing out in all directions. Once it struck, it was over.

Ar was almost taken by surprise.

Necrohound Alpha's claws swung at him.

Too close.

Too fast.

There was no time to dodge.

Reflexively, Ar forced his body to turn in the air and used Astral Step once more to get behind the bushes. His breath was short, too thin, and too dangerous.

When he landed, his knees almost buckled. His hands quickly grabbed the sword stuck in the tree trunk, using it as a prop to keep from falling.

"Brother, be careful!"

Clau's voice broke the tension.

Ar didn't answer. He didn't have time for it. Because in front of him, Necrohound Alpha started to move again.

Clau's cries faded into the ever denser fog of darkness. Ar looked around, turning his head in all directions, searching for the figure of his twin sister who had suddenly disappeared.

His heart sank when he realized that he couldn't see Clau at all, but the girl's voice was still audible, as if she was very close to him.

"Clau, where are you?! Clau?!"

Panic crawled through his body. His breath quickened and his hand tightened on his sword.

But there was no response from Clau. All he could hear was the sound of accelerating footsteps echoing through the thick shadows of the fog. The footsteps came from behind him, approaching at an unnatural speed.

Ar tensed, preparing to attack. But what made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up was not just the approaching footsteps, but the fact that he could feel no Essential, not from Clau, not from the Alpha Necrohound. The emptiness made his stomach churn, as if he were in a trap he could not even fathom.

The footsteps came closer.

A deep red flash shot through the fog, coming at him with terrifying speed. Ar tried to raise his sword to defend himself, but the attack was too fast. In a split second, he knew he would not have time to dodge.

But before the claws could tear through his body, something moved faster.

A small figure jumped in front of him, becoming a shield that stood firmly between him and the danger. Ar's eyes widened when he saw who it was.

Clau!

Before she could scream to stop it, the monster's sharp claws had sunk into Clau's wrist. Blood spurted and soaked the ground beneath them.

Clau moaned in pain, gritting her teeth to keep the claws from tearing deeper into her flesh.

"CLAU!!"

Ar's scream echoed, filled with explosive rage. His chest felt tight, rage boiling inside him. He was stupid, too stupid to let Clau protect him instead of the other way around. He should have been the one in this situation, not his twin brother!

Ar's hand tightened on his sword, almost crushing the hilt. Golden light radiated from the blade, an intensity he had never shown before. Revenge and rage ignited something in him, something deeper than ordinary anger.

Without hesitation, he swung his sword with full force. The golden blade sliced through the Necrohound Alpha's leg, which was still lodged in Clau's wrist. The monster's shrill roar filled the air, echoing with rage and pain. But Ar didn't care.

There was no one angrier than him right now.

His breath was ragged, his eyes glowing red, filled with a vengeance he had never felt before.

His hands trembled as he gripped Clau's nearly collapsed body. The girl bit her lip, bearing the pain, which was obviously unbearable. But what made Ar even more alert was not just the gaping wound on Clau's wrist, but something even more terrifying.

On Clau's pale skin, right around the wound, a mark began to appear, like a creeping black root, slowly spreading as if it were grasping his wrist.

Ar stared at the mark in horror.

The Alpha Necrohound's poison began to spread rapidly, creeping under Clau's skin and turning his wrist a deep green. A foul stench emanated from the wound, like rotting flesh.

Ar stared at him in horror, his whole body tense. He felt like his breath was caught in his throat, it was hard to think straight.

"Clau, your hand... is rotting?"

Ar's voice trembled, almost unable to believe what he was seeing. He wanted to hope that this was just an illusion, just a glitch in his vision, but no. What was in front of his eyes was an inescapable reality. Clau's right wrist was dead. The skin was cracked, blackened like rotting wood that crumbled to the touch.

There was no magic treatment that could heal the wounds caused by the poison of the Death Essence. Even if there were, the price would be too high. Too risky.

There was only one choice.

Ar had to cut off Clau's hand before the poison spread further, before he lost more than just a limb. If left unchecked, the poison would spread, travel through his veins, reach his heart, and then...

He clenched his fists. No. That couldn't happen.

But if it did, Clau would lose one of his hands. Forever. His happy, spirited little sister, who dreamed of a world where they could live without discrimination... would become a cripple.

He knew what was coming. The world would never be fair to him. The world that had been so cruel to them since birth would oppress him even more.

No.

Ar refused to accept this reality.

"I-it's okay, brother," Clau tried to smile, even though his face was pale and his body was shaking violently. He pressed his lips together, holding back the groan of pain that almost escaped his throat.

But Ar knew that his twin brother was in incredible pain. He knew how his little body fought not to fall to the ground. He knew that Clau didn't want him to worry, even though he himself was on the verge of destruction.

Ar shook his head firmly.