CHAPTER 185: [LOOKING AT ME]

’It’s not.’

Eli’s breath hitched as his eyes locked on the creature’s massive body. The serpent was still twitching—its movements weak but unmistakably alive.

Its scales rippled with every shallow breath, a low hiss spilling from deep within its throat, rattling through the air like distant thunder.

"Damn it," Punzo spat, the sharp curse slicing through the momentary silence.

The proud fire user’s shoulders sagged, his flame sputtering out at his fingertips as the team’s brief celebration died in an instant.

The serpent wasn’t dead.

Far from it.

Even from where Eli was standing, he could see the burn marks etched across its side — blackened, cracked, and steaming.

There was no blood, not even a wound deep enough to reveal flesh, but the damage was clear.

Its scales shimmered faintly, each one fractured like tempered glass under too much heat.

And yet... it lived.

Caelen’s smirk faltered. His golden aura flickered at the edges, cracking faintly as his expression hardened.

He stared at the serpent in silence, jaw tight, eyes burning with a restrained fury. The air around him pulsed with quiet rage — not loud, not wild, just... cold. Controlled.

In contrast, Kairo exhaled softly beside Eli, the corner of his mouth twitching upward in something that wasn’t quite a smile.

"Did they really think it would die that easily?" he muttered, almost amused.

Eli turned toward him, startled. ’Is he... actually happy about this?’

It didn’t make sense. Kairo wasn’t someone who enjoyed watching things fall apart.

But the tone in his voice — that calm, almost smug amusement — wasn’t relief. It was satisfaction.

A quiet, personal kind of victory.

Because Caelen’s attack hadn’t worked.

And somehow, that was enough to make Kairo smirk.

Eli frowned, frustration bubbling in his chest. ’You’ve got to be kidding me... you’re proud the monster didn’t die just because it means Caelen failed?’

He dragged a hand through his hair, exhaling shakily. The weight of everything — the chaos, the system, the impossible task sitting in the pit of his stomach — was starting to crush him again.

’System...’ he thought bitterly, his eyes following the faint glimmer of mana pulsing from the serpent’s body. ’How am I supposed to do this?’

He’d thought he could handle it.

That he could play the system, manipulate the mission, outsmart both of them — Kairo with his cold logic, Caelen with his explosive pride.

But standing here, between two S-Class Hunters who refused to even look at each other properly, while an SS-Class monster still breathed before them...

It hit him like a punch to the gut.

’It’s impossible.’

Getting them to team up was impossible.

Eli could see it now—really see it. The truth that no one wanted to admit.

There was too much history, too much buried resentment poisoning the space between the two of them.

Whatever existed between Caelen and Kairo wasn’t just rivalry—it was something uglier. Older.

Even now, standing in the same battlefield, their auras were clashing harder than the serpent’s thunderous breathing.

Caelen’s mana burned gold, wild and volatile, like fire trapped under glass.

His jaw was tight, his posture screaming barely restrained fury as he stared daggers at the still-living serpent, every muscle in his body ready to move again.

Kairo, on the other hand, didn’t even seem bothered.

He stood above the chaos, calm, composed, almost entertained—his dark eyes glinting with quiet amusement as if watching Caelen lose his temper was the real victory.

Whether or not Eli was in danger... it didn’t matter. Not to them. Not right now.

’These two...’ Eli thought, a bitter edge rising in his chest as his gaze flicked between them.

Kairo didn’t even bother to hide the faint smirk tugging at his lips, while Caelen’s hand was gripping his sword so tightly that veins stood out along his wrist.

’...what the fuck happened between you two?’

As someone who had once been a fan—who used to follow their battles, their rankings, their interviews—Eli had always thought their rivalry was just for show. Something crafted by the media.

A bit of competitive tension to fuel the public’s fascination.

But this wasn’t rivalry.

This was venom.

The kind of hatred that didn’t fade with time, only sharpened.

It felt personal.

No—more than personal.

Their hostility carried weight, something intimate and cruel, as if they were two people who had once stood on the same side—and something between them had shattered so completely that even standing near each other now felt like a war.

Eli’s stomach churned. ’I was joking before, but... are they actually exes or something? Or ex-friends who can’t stand the sight of each other now?’

The thought shouldn’t have made sense, but it did. It fit too well—the bitterness, the silence, the way Kairo’s taunts always landed just where it hurt, and how Caelen’s anger never felt like hate, but betrayal.

The internet had always speculated.

Theories ranged from professional rivalry to a fight over guild politics, to something far more personal—but no one ever confirmed it.

The air was thick with smoke and mana.

Everything below glowed faintly orange from the dying embers of Lion’s Fang’s last attack.

Eli hadn’t realized how high up they were until he looked down.

From this height, the battlefield looked warped—tiny flashes of gold, red, and blue scattered across the clearing like dying stars.

Kairo hadn’t moved. He stood steady on the massive branch of the fallen tree, one arm still wrapped around Eli’s waist, holding him like he weighed nothing.

His voice came low, calm, and clipped.

"We should move to attack now."

Eli’s head snapped toward him, disbelief flashing across his face. "What?"

Kairo’s gaze didn’t waver from the serpent below. "It’s weakened. That last hit destabilized its mana core. If we strike now, we can end this before it regenerates."

Eli’s throat tightened. "No."

Kairo’s eyes finally turned toward him, sharp and unreadable. "...No?"

Eli met his gaze, his pulse quick but steady. "I said no. I don’t agree."

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Only the faint hum of Kairo’s blood aura filled the silence between them, pulsing in rhythm with Eli’s quickening heartbeat.

"Why?" Kairo asked finally, his tone deceptively neutral.

Eli exhaled, steadying his voice. "Because I already told you before—I can’t feel danger."

Kairo’s brow furrowed slightly, the faintest shift in his expression.

"The serpent..." Eli continued, his eyes flicking toward the creature’s twitching body below. "It’s not attacking. It hasn’t been for a while now. Even when it moved earlier—it wasn’t fighting back." He swallowed, his voice low, tense. "It’s letting them hit it."

Kairo’s gaze hardened. "Letting them?"

"Yes." Eli’s tone sharpened with conviction. "It’s not reacting defensively. It’s taking damage on purpose."

For a heartbeat, Kairo said nothing.

His eyes flicked down to the serpent, scanning its massive body—every fracture, every crack still faintly glowing gold from Caelen’s earlier strike.

Then his jaw tightened. "Even if that’s true, it doesn’t matter. Whatever its reason is, the fact remains—it’s still alive."

"Kairo—"

"If it can think," Kairo cut in, his voice growing colder, "then it can plan. And if it can plan, it can kill. We won’t wait for that."

He shifted his stance, tightening his hold around Eli as if preparing to leap.

Eli’s hand shot out, grabbing his sleeve. "That’s stupid!" he snapped, the frustration finally cracking through his composure. "That’s exactly what Lion’s Fang is doing—and look at them! They’re just attacking blindly!"

Kairo’s head tilted slightly, his dark eyes glinting. "You think I’m like him?"

"That’s not what I—" Eli stopped himself, jaw clenching. "All I’m saying is—we should regroup. Plan. Not throw ourselves in just because it looks weak."

"There’s no time," Kairo said flatly.

Eli’s chest tightened. "There’s always time to not die."

It came out sharper than he meant, but Kairo didn’t flinch. He just looked at him for a long second, his expression unreadable.

Then—

The ground below trembled.

Eli’s breath hitched as the serpent moved again.

It wasn’t an attack—at least, not yet.

The creature’s body shifted slowly, its coils rippling like an ocean current.

Massive rings of muscle pressed against the earth, dragging through dirt and broken stone.

The nearby trees shuddered violently, their branches cracking and falling in showers of leaves.

Kairo instinctively steadied them both, his arm tightening around Eli as the branch beneath them trembled.

Below, Caelen’s team paused, their auras flaring in reflex.

Punzo glanced upward, shouting something Eli couldn’t hear over the sound of the earth splitting apart.

Arman’s blade crackled with energy again, but even he hesitated.

The serpent’s hiss cut through everything—long, ragged, and filled with something that wasn’t fury.

Pain.

Eli’s chest twisted. "It’s... it’s hurt."

The words came out softer than he intended.

Kairo’s eyes narrowed. "It’s pretending."

"No," Eli said quickly, his voice firmer now. "Look at it. It’s not moving to strike, it’s just... writhing. Like it’s in pain, but not dying. It’s injured—but not enough."

Kairo said nothing, his gaze cold, calculating.

Below, the serpent’s luminous scales dimmed and brightened again, pulsing erratically like a heartbeat struggling to stay alive.

Every breath it took made the ground quake, the air crackling faintly with static.

And yet—still no danger.

No warning from his system.

Nothing.

Eli’s eyes narrowed. "Something’s wrong. It’s not fighting to survive. It’s... waiting."

That made Kairo’s expression shift—just a flicker of thought behind his eyes.

Then, quietly, he asked, "Waiting for what?"

Eli’s answer came out barely above a whisper.

"I don’t know."

Kairo’s sharp gaze cut toward him. "Eli," he said slowly, irritation threading through the calm in his tone, "really—if you don’t know, then—"

A sound interrupted him.

Low. Echoing.

"O..."

The single syllable rolled through the air, heavy and distorted, like something ancient forcing its way through a broken throat.

Both of them froze.

Eli’s pulse spiked. He turned toward the sound—the serpent.

Its chest expanded with a shuddering breath, a faint, eerie glow rippling beneath its scales. The ground seemed to hum with each vibration of its voice.

"Ori..."

Kairo’s jaw tightened. "It’s talking again."

Eli swallowed hard, voice barely a whisper. "Orion."

The moment he said it, the serpent’s glow intensified, the blue light seeping through the cracks in its scales like molten lightning.

The name echoed from its throat again, longer this time, clearer."Orion..."

The hairs on Eli’s arms stood up. His breath hitched as he realized something was wrong—terribly wrong.

The serpent’s head—massive, horned, impossibly heavy—was moving. Slowly, deliberately. The earth shook under the weight of it. Its neck twisted, muscles flexing beneath the scaled armor as it tilted upward.

And then Eli understood.

It wasn’t looking around aimlessly.

It was looking for him.

"Wait—" he breathed, eyes going wide, panic crashing through him like ice water. "It’s—looking—at me—"

Kairo’s head snapped toward him, confusion flashing in his dark eyes—just before the serpent’s pupils locked onto their position.

And then—

It moved.

The beast that had seemed half-dead seconds ago suddenly exploded into motion. Its coils tore through the earth, the sheer force ripping up soil and trees as it surged forward.

The sound was deafening—a guttural roar mixed with the thunder of its body tearing through the clearing.

In the blink of an eye, the distance vanished.

The serpent was coming straight for them.