CHAPTER 182: OBSCURA

[Stealth]

The first skill I had ever earned—the reward for killing that damned mooncat.

The moment I activated it, the world changed. The sounds of the forest dulled, my presence folded inward, and the air around me rippled faintly as if reality had taken a quiet breath.

My outline melted into the environment, shadows wrapping around me like a cloak.

And that was when she came into view.

The "invisible" one wasn’t so invisible anymore.

I caught her outline first—a faint shimmer, like heat distortion, moving just a few meters behind where I’d been standing. She froze mid-step the instant my presence vanished, her eyes darting around in confusion.

So, she had been following me.

But when I stepped into her sensory range under the cover of [Stealth], something in her instincts reacted. Our skills clashed in that invisible field of awareness, and suddenly, both of us existed in each other’s sight.

Her head snapped toward me, eyes widening when she realized I was staring right back.

I raised a hand and gave a casual wave:

"Yo."

Nira’s body tensed instantly. She took a single step back, her gaze flickering between disbelief and alarm. The caution in her eyes was unmistakable.

She couldn’t take me alone—and she knew it.

The others were still behind her, closing in fast through the forest, their footsteps faint but growing louder.

That left Nira trapped between two bad choices: flight or fight.

I could see the calculation flicker in her eyes, the tension in her movements betraying her hesitation.

Her role was clear enough. She wasn’t built for direct confrontation.

She was the knife in the dark—the one meant to strike when her allies distracted me or when I overextended. A clean, silent kill from the shadows. Efficient. Cold. Predictable.

It made sense now.

Her innate skill must have been a perfected form of concealment—something akin to my own [Stealth], but more advanced.

While my version cloaked me only in short bursts, hers allowed her to vanish entirely—dissolving into the environment and suppressing even her life signature. I hadn’t sensed her since the battle began, which said a lot about how refined her control truly was.

But even the best concealment had limits, and now that I’d forced her out of hiding, I couldn’t afford to let the moment slip. I had to deal with her—fast—before she regained her composure or the others caught up.

"How are you here?" she asked suddenly, her voice tight as she backed away, every step cautious and deliberate.

Her disbelief almost made me smile.

I took a slow step forward, then another, closing the distance one heartbeat at a time—each movement deliberate, heavy enough for her to feel the weight of my intent.

"Why?" I said, my voice carrying low across the clearing. "Did you really think you were the only one with a stealth skill?"

Her eyes flickered with surprise, then panic. She pivoted on her heel, clearly planning to retreat into the trees, but I moved first, my form blurring forward, closing the distance in a single stride.

She caught the movement too late and spun around, abandoning flight for desperation.

Her blade flashed out, narrow and curved, its surface glinting faintly with a greasy sheen. Poison. I could almost taste it in the air—a bitter tang that stung the back of my throat. Whatever it was, one cut would’ve been enough to kill a normal opponent.

But I didn’t slow down.

The weapon met my invisible barrier with a dull clang, sparks scattering as [Fractured Existence] shimmered between us. The impact rippled like a heat mirage, her blade sliding harmlessly off the distortion.

My hand shot forward, aiming straight for her throat, only for her to twist away in a motion so fast it almost looked rehearsed.

Unlike Vorn, she was fast and fluid.

Her reactions weren’t brute survival; they were instinct honed by experience.

In a blink, she caught my wrist, used the momentum of my reach against me, and pivoted upward. Her thighs locked tightly around my neck as she flipped over me, her body coiling like a snake.

Before I could shake her off, she yanked out a second blade and drove it toward the side of my head.

The motion was clean. Precise. A perfect assassination strike.

But again—her blade stopped just short.

The tip hung frozen inches from my temple, pressing faintly against the shimmering field that separated us. The poison hissed on contact, eating away at the air like acid, but the barrier didn’t break.

I grabbed her by the chest, yanking her off me with enough force to tear her grip loose. She hit the ground hard, the breath leaving her lungs in a sharp gasp.

She tried to fight back, stabbing wildly at my hands, her poisoned blade flashing in frantic arcs. But I barely flinched—each strike glanced harmlessly off my barrier. I lifted her again and slammed her down once more, the impact cracking the earth beneath us.

That did it. Agility she had—but strength, not so much. Her body went limp with pain, a groan slipping from her lips as she lay on the dirt, dazed and struggling for breath.

I drew [Gravefang], its edge humming faintly with dark energy, and raised it above her chest. The moment before I brought it down, she threw up a trembling hand, voice breaking.

"Wait!"

I paused, the blade hovering inches from her throat.

"Please," she gasped, eyes wide. "Don’t kill me. I’ll tell you everything."

I exhaled slowly, lowering the blade just slightly. The urge to finish it was still there, coiled tight beneath my skin, but information was worth more than a corpse.

So I changed my grip—and shifted from executioner to interrogator.

"What do I have to do to break the restriction?" I asked, keeping my voice calm but my gaze sharp.

The barrier was still pulsing faintly in the back of my mind—an invisible weight pressing against my power. I could fight without my innate skill, sure, but having it back would make everything faster, cleaner... easier.

Nira hesitated for a moment, wincing as she shifted against the dirt. Then she spoke quietly, her tone cautious, almost fearful."Only Hissra can break the barrier. The seal is bound to him—no one else can touch it."

I frowned. "Why is that?"

Her eyes darted away. "Because...