CHAPTER 147: CHAPTER 147: RUN.

Chapter 147 – Run.

Kaden’s body froze in shock, unable to believe what was happening to him for a moment.

It was so sudden his mind struggled to keep up—but that daze didn’t last long. His will slammed into gear, his eyes widening in sharp realization of the danger.

But by the time he did, almost half his body was already wrapped in threaded cocoons. A couple seconds later, he was on the verge of being completely trapped.

His instincts went into overdrive. Reditha flashed into being, her blade glowing with a bright, furious crimson that mirrored her rage.

But before she could move, threads shot forward at impossible speed, binding her tightly.

She was immobilized in an instant, her sword trembling uselessly within the cocooning enclosure.

Kaden grit his teeth at the sight. Without hesitation, a tidal wave of blood erupted around him, clinging to his skin in a living layer of crimson armor.

Only his head remained uncovered before it detonated.

He triggered the blood in a violent burst, unleashing an avalanche of explosions that roared through the entire dark forest, a thick cloud of bloody smoke billowing from the blast zone.

Cough— cough—

Kaden hacked blood, fragments of his organs spilling onto the death-soaked soil in heavy splatters.

His body was scorched, his clothes barely clinging to him, the scent of burned flesh curling into the air. Blood streamed over his skin—face, chest, arms—like he’d just bathed in it.

Pain tore through his veins as he became dizzy.

But there was no time to inspect the damage.

He turned and saw the spider untouched. Only its threads had been destroyed, and even those were already reforming at a speed that was simply absurd.

Kaden cursed under his breath.

Without another thought, he recalled Reditha and ran.

The spider surged after him, its massive legs crossing thousands of meters in strides that felt monstrously wrong. Its white threads whipped forward, trying to ensnare him mid-run.

Kaden pushed his perception to its absolute limit, weaving and ducking between the attacks. His wounds were knitting together slowly under Reditha’s earlier healing, the bleeding stopped but he was far from his optimal form.

His legs were charred making every step was agony. And with his perception stretched to the limit to avoid the relentless assault, the chase was hell itself.

’Fuck... fuck... fuck...’ His mind spat curses as he vaulted over a sweeping thread, only for another to shoot toward his torso.

He swung Reditha, the blade flashing.

TINK—!

Steel met steel—or so it felt. But Reditha was no ordinary sword, and on his second strike the thread gave way.

Still, the moment’s delay cost him. The spider was right there.

Kaden planted his stance and activated Crimson Echo.

A red curving arc tore through the air, slamming into the spider. One of its eight legs rose to block, absorbing the hit with only a shallow dent.

He could barely believe it.

Summoning another pool of blood, he detonated it between them to gain distance. Then he called on Flame of Blood, trying to ignite the creature’s very lifeblood.

But the instant the ability flared to life, the spider stepped back, evading with unsettling ease—as if it sensed a mortal threat in that fire.

Its threads whipped forward, wrapping around the crimson flames with a strange, curious precision, as if wanting to study it.

Kaden’s skin crawled.

’How intelligent is it? What kind of beast is this?’

[The spider is the offspring of a legendary-type beast—Necroveaver. A spider with frightening intelligence and thread manipulation unlike any other,] Death’s solemn voice echoed in his mind.

But Kaden barely listened. He kept running, aimless, desperate, knowing this couldn’t continue.

He had to find a way out.

For now...he ran.

He pushed his speed manipulation to its peak making his stamina to plummet faster. His figure blurred, but the spider’s eyes followed him effortlessly.

He poured mana into healing and reinforcing his body, making it more durable but it drained his core at a dangerous rate.

’A way... I need a way...’ He clenched his teeth, sidestepping another thread.

A legendary-type, Master-ranked beast...

It should have been the happiest day of his life.

Instead, this one didn’t want to kill him—it wanted to capture him.

The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Hours blurred together as he tore through the forest, avoiding not just the spider but other random beasts lunging from the shadows, each one slowing him down.

Sometimes to avoid the spider he leads it to other beasts around him, making it lose speed but it was hardly effective.

Everything was dead with just a swing of its legs or its dreadful threads.

It was horrific.

By now his body was betraying him — muscles refusing commands, vision swimming, his own legs whispering treason in the language of collapse.

The mana in his Origin Core was nearly gone. His lips were cracked and dry, sweat and blood streaking his face and body, his breathing ragged.

His vision swam, his steps losing speed and stability.

He was slowing.

And the spider was closing in.

No—correction—it had already closed in.

’Ah... ah... fuck...’

’I have to run... I can’t be captured...’

Capture meant not death...and when there is no death it meant it’s an eternal torture.

And that was not his goal.

His goal was to die and to get stronger and not being captured to be used as a decorative object for a fucking beast.

Kaden was frustrated but more than anything...he was angry, angry at his sudden weakness.

He was being crushed from all directions. The beast was stronger, faster, and cunning beyond belief.

During the chase, it had shown its intelligence again and again.

There were many times where he was almost caught by the traps the spider laid out in the forest, and it’s ingenious threads manipulation that can be shaped into anything.

Kaden had never faced a legendary beast before but now he understood. They were utterly nonsensical.

He was a legendary Origin holder himself, yes—but only at Intermediate rank. And he was human.

And humans were inherently weak before beasts. That was nature.

’...and its threads... fucking threads...’

They were almost impossible to cut. Reditha could barely manage, and after hours of running, his blood reserves were empty.

He was at his lowest. And in that moment, Kaden realized how pathetic it was—to face an enemy you couldn’t even hope to kill, and where death wasn’t even possible.

Pathetic. Laughable.

’...disgusting...’ His own hollow laugh echoed in his mind.

That was when a thread, cold as grave-silk, coiled around his right arm and yanked, slamming him onto his back with a bone-jarring thud, the breath torn from his lungs in a violent gasp.

Kaden kept laughing, but his will to live didn’t fade, it sharpened even further.

He gripped Reditha and slashed down on his own shoulder.

The blade cut clean through.

"ARGHHHHHHHH!!!" The roar tore from his throat, his eyes blazing red with pain and fury, teeth grinding until he tasted blood.

He stuffed the severed arm into his space ring, and with the last of his mana he blasted forward, dodging another flurry of threads by a hair’s breadth.

He ran again. Well, that’s all he did since the beginning.

His mind was clouded, his body heavy, his blood loss crippling. Reditha had no mana left to heal him.

’...is that—!’ His thoughts stuttered as his perception caught something ahead.

A familiar pull...

A dungeon.

With the last of his strength, Kaden bolted toward it without hesitation.

Moments later, he stood before a vast vortex of pure black mana, its aura of death and profanity raising every hair on his body.

Without a doubt, its rarity was at least Grandmaster rank.

A death sentence.

But death was exactly what he wanted right now.

Without hesitation, his broken body lurched forward and plunged into the vortex, leaving the approaching spider behind.

His thoughts echoed through his mind,

’Good...let it kill me...’

—End of Chapter 147—