CHAPTER 184: [IS IT DEAD?]

Caelen’s voice cut through the noise, loud, reckless, and dripping with pride.

"You see this, Twilight Guild?"

Even though the serpent was still completely unscathed, its massive head shifting only slightly under the weight of his taunt, Caelen’s tone carried a dangerous confidence — the kind that made Eli’s stomach twist.

’What the hell is he doing?’ Eli thought, frowning hard.

Caelen was walking toward the serpent, slow but deliberate.

Each step echoed in the quiet that followed the chaos, crunching against scorched earth.

His smirk stayed perfectly in place, sharp and fearless.

The air shimmered faintly around him. Gold light began to crack across his skin like fractures in porcelain — his veins pulsing with contained power, glowing brighter with every heartbeat.

He wasn’t hesitating. He was about to strike.

Kairo’s jaw tightened. "Does he actually think he can attack that alone?" he muttered under his breath, his voice flat but edged with disbelief.

His eyes tracked Caelen’s every move, narrowing slightly. "His team didn’t make a dent. If anything, they’re just making this worse. Endangering everyone."

Eli didn’t answer.

His throat felt tight.

He wanted to say something — to yell "Then stop standing there and help him!" or "If you worked together for once, maybe it wouldn’t be this bad!" — but he couldn’t.

Because this wasn’t just about the dungeon anymore.

The system’s mission depended on it.

Kairo and Caelen needed to work together by choice. If Eli so much as hinted at it, if he gave them the idea, the system might not count it.

He had to wait.

He had to trust that somehow, both stubborn idiots would get it on their own.

For now, he was just grateful Kairo had grabbed him earlier — even if the man had tossed him around like a sack of rice in the process.

And technically... that counted as progress.

’If I’m lucky,’ he thought bitterly, ’maybe saving me again will tick another mission off the list.’

Still, his thoughts strayed — unhelpfully — to earlier moments. To Kairo’s unexpected proximity.

To that first mission. To that stupid, impulsive, awkward kiss.

His first kiss.

’God. Of course, it had to be him.’

Eli’s face warmed, but the thought barely lasted a second before the world snapped back into focus.

A sudden boom shook through the ground, making him flinch in Kairo’s arms.

Dirt and ash exploded outward in a fiery burst.

Kairo’s head turned sharply toward the noise.

Eli already knew who it was.

Caelen.

He stood at the serpent’s side now, his aura blazing gold — but it wasn’t light. It was pain.

Pure, condensed, weaponized agony radiating from his body like heat from a forge.

He had activated Pain Echo.

Eli watched in stunned silence as Caelen thrust his hand against the serpent’s scales. The golden cracks along his arms flared violently — and then detonated.

A concussive shockwave ripped through the clearing.

The serpent screamed.

Its body jerked, coils thrashing against the ground as energy rippled through it.

The impact was so immense that chunks of its scales shattered, scattering like shards of dark glass.

"Hah!" Caelen’s voice rang out, breathless but triumphant. "Now that’s more like it!"

Eli’s eyes widened. For the first time since the battle began, the serpent bled.

Actual damage.

Even Kairo froze—just for a fraction of a second.

But that single heartbeat of hesitation said more than words ever could.

His normally impassive expression flickered—just barely—with disbelief.

His grip on his sword tightened, the faint blue glow of his blood aura pulsing unevenly.

Zaira and Mio exchanged stunned glances, both momentarily forgetting to move.

Mel’s jaw hung open, eyes reflecting the golden light still sparking across the battlefield.

Even the serpent, colossal and furious, seemed to pause—as if acknowledging the first creature that had managed to wound it.

The impossible had just happened.

Caelen stood there, framed in the serpent’s shadow, golden energy spilling from the cracks in his skin like liquid sunlight.

His smirk widened into something dangerously bright. His laughter cut through the heavy silence—loud, arrogant, reckless, alive.

It rolled across the clearing like thunder.

His team reacted instantly.

"Let’s go, Caelen!" Punzo whooped, fire flaring from his fingertips.

"That’s our captain!" Arman’s grin was feral, his blade already humming with energy.

Jabby just smiled, shaking her head but unable to hide the pride in her eyes.

Eli watched from Kairo’s hold, a strange ache settling deep in his chest. It wasn’t surprise—no, not really.

He’d expected this.

’Of course he’d pull it off,’ he thought bitterly, his chest tightening. ’Of course the arrogant bastard would be the first to break through.’

Because Caelen was always like this.

Impossible.

Overconfident.

Brilliant.

And deep down, Eli already knew what most hunters only whispered about.

Caelen and Kairo weren’t just S-Class Hunters.

They were monsters in human skin.

They were something beyond.

Something untouchable.

’That’s why they should just—’

Eli stopped himself, exhaling sharply. His heartbeat was racing too fast, his thoughts spiraling.

He forced his fists to unclench, his jaw to loosen.

He had to calm down.

But how could he?

Kairo was still standing there—watching. Frowning. Silent. He hadn’t moved, hadn’t even tried

to follow up on Caelen’s strike.

His aura flared with power, but it was controlled, restrained.

He could have jumped in. He should have.

Instead, he just stood there.

Eli’s frustration twisted tighter. He was seconds away from shouting something reckless when a flicker in his vision made him pause.

The serpent’s body.

It wasn’t moving to attack—its coils were tense, yes, but not shifting. Its massive head hadn’t turned toward Caelen or Kairo.

It was trembling.

Not from pain—something else.

"Wait a minute..." Eli muttered under his breath, brows furrowing.

The serpent’s electric glow was fading—its pulse of blue light sputtering like a dying flame.

It was hissing—low, guttural, the kind of sound that vibrated through the bones instead of the air.

Its enormous body trembled, muscles rippling beneath its obsidian scales, but... it was moving back.

Not lunging.

Not coiling to strike.

Retreating.

Eli’s breath hitched. His heartbeat was steady, too steady—wrongly so.

The air buzzed with static, but his danger sense remained silent.

’No. That’s not right.’

He hadn’t felt danger even when the serpent electrocuted him earlier—when pain had carved through every nerve in his body, when his heart had nearly stopped.

His ability should’ve been screaming at him then. But it hadn’t.

Now, with the serpent alive, restless, and thrumming with mana—nothing.

’Either it’s not planning to attack... or my ability’s broken.’

His stomach twisted. The thought sent a cold rush down his spine, but it made sense.

The system had been glitching—its screens flickering, its words scrambled.

Maybe his danger sense, which had always been tied to it, was malfunctioning too.

Or maybe—worse—it was choosing not to warn him.

Eli’s eyes narrowed. He tore his gaze from the serpent’s shifting form and turned to Kairo. "Something’s off," he said quietly.

Kairo didn’t look at him at first; his eyes were still fixed on the monster, his jaw tight, his aura faintly flickering in anticipation. But at Eli’s tone—the tension in it—he finally glanced down.

"What’s off?" he asked, voice calm but sharp, his gaze steady and assessing.

Eli swallowed, trying to put into words the unease crawling under his skin. His mouth was dry.

"It’s not attacking back," Eli said, his voice low but steady, though his chest felt like it was being squeezed. "It just keeps... moving back. Slowly."

The serpent’s massive body dragged through the dirt, carving deep trenches into the ground.

Each movement sounded heavy, strained — like the creature was forcing itself to move, not out of aggression, but out of instinct.

Kairo’s gaze didn’t waver. He studied the serpent, eyes narrowing, hand resting on the hilt of his sword as the faint pulse of red aura flickered along his knuckles.

"Maybe it’s preparing," he murmured. "We still don’t know how..." He paused, his voice dropping. "How it can even speak. Maybe it’s a mental trap."

Eli shook his head, frowning. "But..." He hesitated. "I don’t feel any danger coming from it."

That made Kairo’s eyes snap to him, sharp and sudden. "Nothing at all?"

Eli nodded once, more firmly this time. "Nothing."

Kairo’s expression darkened, but the flicker of surprise was there — just a fraction of it — before his composure returned.

"You felt danger from it earlier," Kairo pressed, his tone quiet but tense. "Back in the cave, when it arrived. Right?"

Eli nodded again, swallowing hard. Back then, his danger sense had flared before the serpent struck.

But now... nothing.

Nothing at all.

Kairo exhaled slowly, looking back toward the serpent.

The monster’s glowing scales dimmed in uneven pulses — not rhythmic, but erratic, like a heartbeat faltering under strain. Its head sank lower, a guttural sound rumbling from its chest.

"So it’s not..." Kairo’s voice dropped even quieter, his brows furrowing. "It’s not the same situation as with the leeches."

"I don’t think so," Eli muttered, his voice low, uncertain.

His brows knit together as he looked back toward the serpent, which was still dragging itself through the dirt, its movements heavy and sluggish.

Kairo shifted slightly beside him, the faint hum of his blood aura sharpening in response to Eli’s tone.

"Then..." he began, eyes narrowing as if preparing to say more—

But before he could finish, the ground erupted.

Another explosion ripped through the clearing—louder, closer this time.

The shockwave tore through the trees, scattering ash and debris into the air. Eli flinched, covering his head as dirt and splinters rained down.

When the smoke cleared, he didn’t even need to look to know who it was.

Caelen.

And his entire team.

They had attacked again—together this time.

Flames, wind, and light collided in a single coordinated strike, cutting through the haze like a spear of raw destruction.

The world exploded in light.

For a second, Eli couldn’t tell where one attack ended and the next began.

Flames burst through the haze—Punzo’s, wild and brilliant, every explosion folding into the next in perfect rhythm.

Each snap of his fingers set off a chain reaction that roared through the clearing, igniting the mist itself until it glowed orange and gold.

Through the blinding light, Jabby appeared like a ghost—her form flickering in and out of visibility, her glaive slicing through the air.

Every swing of her weapon carried blades of compressed wind, invisible until they struck the serpent’s wounded side, bursting the flames wider.

And then, just behind them—Arman.

He was already charging, the ground cracking beneath his boots.

Golden energy pulsed through the veins in his arms, his sword thrumming like it was alive.

He didn’t slow down. Didn’t hesitate.

When he reached the serpent’s side, he pivoted sharply and slammed his blade forward.

"Pulse Arc!"

The explosion that followed wasn’t sound—it was pressure.

The air itself imploded, crushing inwards before detonating outward with a thunderclap that rattled the world.

The light devoured everything—heat, wind, color—until there was nothing left but the afterimage burned into Eli’s eyes.

The ground buckled beneath them. Trees splintered. Even from where he stood beside Kairo, Eli could feel the shockwave hit like a physical blow to his chest.

When the brightness finally began to fade, the first thing he saw was smoke—thick, black, and curling like storm clouds. The smell of scorched scales and molten dirt filled the air.

Then came the sound—guttural.

The serpent’s body slammed against the ground with a force that shook the clearing.

The ground cracked, dust exploding outward in a massive wave.

It wasn’t graceful.

It was collapse.

Eli’s breath hitched. His heartbeat thudded painfully fast. "They hit the same spot..." he whispered, disbelief thick in his voice.

The exact point where Caelen had broken through before—where golden cracks had split the serpent’s scales.

They’d targeted it perfectly.

All three of them.

Coordinated.

It wasn’t luck. It wasn’t coincidence.

Just like earlier.

They’d watched, they’d calculated, and they’d followed through on their captain’s attack with precision sharp enough to make Eli’s skin prickle.

Punzo’s fire had burned through the fractured scales.Jabby’s wind had cut through the gaps the flames exposed.

And Arman’s energy strike had slammed straight through both, amplifying the destruction tenfold.

The result was devastating.

Eli could still feel the mana in the air—dense, unstable, vibrating like the forest itself was holding its breath.

The serpent twitched once, its massive body sinking further into the cratered earth. Its head drooped low, blue light flickering faintly beneath its torn scales.

For a second, there was nothing but silence.

No one moved.

Even Kairo didn’t breathe. His crimson aura pulsed faintly beside Eli, steady but taut, eyes locked on the fallen creature.

The quiet stretched.

Then—

"...Is it dead?"