The mantis' body convulsed violently as its internal vitality was crushed inward, compressed beyond stability. Cracks spider-webbed across its jet-black exoskeleton from the inside, glowing a blinding white as impossible amounts of energy tried to escape containment.

Then the collapse reversed.

Violently.

A sphere of annihilation erupted from the mantis' core, swallowing its body in a sun-bright detonation. Wings disintegrated mid-beat. Chitin vaporized. Space buckled as the blast detonated outward, releasing a catastrophic surge of heat, pressure, and distorted mana.

The dungeon howled.

The explosion tore through the scorched wasteland like divine retribution, expanding faster than sound, faster than thought. The ground beneath Bruce shattered into molten fragments, shockwaves rippling outward and slamming into the dungeon's spatial boundaries with deafening force.

Fire and light consumed everything.

The blast roared like a collapsing star, violent enough to drown out even the Invader's shriek as its host body was torn apart from the inside.

Bruce stood at the epicenter.

Palm still raised.

Heal roaring through his veins.

Golden restoration clashed violently against the inferno as the explosion swallowed him whole, fire wrapping around his body in blinding intensity while the dungeon itself strained to survive what had just been unleashed.

And at the heart of the detonation,

Something screamed.

Not in pain.

But in rage.

A voice echoed directly inside Bruce's mind, warped and layered, as if multiple throats were speaking at once.

"You're not from this world. You're an Invader like me," it hissed. "We should team up. I promise to share everything with you, power, worlds, resources, split evenly."

Bruce didn't hesitate for even a heartbeat.

"What makes you think I'm interested in any of that?" he replied coldly. "If I want this world, I can claim it myself."

The answer was absolute.

And then,

Bruce struck.

'Soul Shatter.'

The explosion of light and heat around him peeled back like a curtain as his will pierced deeper, bypassing flesh, bypassing mana, bypassing authority itself. His Heal surged directly into the core of the Invader's existence, flooding its soul with annihilating restoration.

The thing revealed itself fully then. It had no choice, with Bruce's heal causing it so much pain it couldn't afford to be in that Mantis' body.

A red, glowing silhouette tore free from the disintegrating mantis body, hovering in the air like a phantom torn from reality. It had no fixed form, just a writhing outline, vaguely humanoid yet unmistakably wrong. Tendrils coiled and uncoiled from its mass, eyes opening and closing across its surface, a shape reminiscent of some abyssal Cthulhu-like horror carved from living hatred.

The moment Bruce's Heal touched it,

The Invader shrieked.

Not aloud.

But on a soul-deep frequency that made the dungeon walls vibrate.

It reacted instantly.

With ruthless precision, the creature severed the portion of its soul that Bruce's Heal had flooded. The cut was clean and desperate. The infected fragment shattered like glass, breaking apart into glowing shards that dissolved into nothingness.

The Invader recoiled violently.

Its form shrank.

Its volume reduced.

And for the first time,

Fear leaked through its presence.

"Damn you," it snarled, voice no longer smug. "You can affect souls while being this low-ranked?!"

It moved.

The red phantom blurred, speed exploding as it darted around Bruce in erratic arcs, leaving streaks of distorted space in its wake. It was impossibly fast, far faster than the mantis host had ever been, weaving unpredictably as it shot toward the still-open portal.

Bruce lunged after it, Heal surging again as he tried to latch onto it.

Too slow.

Every time his Soul Shatter brushed against it, the creature reacted instantly, slicing off the affected portion of its soul without hesitation. Each severed fragment shattered behind it, sacrificed to preserve the whole.

"You're really troublesome," the Invader hissed, voice strained now. "As expected, your class must be EX. No wonder you can harm me."

It laughed sharply, the sound edged with panic.

"And that means you're definitely not from this world. So tell me, why hasn't the core of this world erased you yet?"

The question was casual.

The fear beneath it was not.

Bruce chased relentlessly, but the Invader's soul form twisted through space like liquid, slipping just out of reach again and again.

"Why do you want me dead so badly?" it snarled. "We're both Invaders. We should help each other. And you're so weak, pathetically weak. Imagine if you fought my main body… hahaha."

The laughter echoed unnaturally, bouncing off the dungeon's broken spatial walls.

Then it slowed, just slightly.

"Tell me," it pressed, voice lowering. "Do you know where the core of this world is located? We can make a blood contract. You gain protection. Power. We will split the gains equally."

Bruce remained silent...

"70 - 30! You'll take 70%"

"Alright 80% for cooperation is a bit generous..."

"90%"

Bruce exhaled slowly.

"It's useless," he said flatly. "You stupid Invader. You're not getting any information out of me."

The creature snarled.

"If you kill me, you'll make an enemy of my true body," it warned. "And you know it. With your current strength, you stand no chance."

Bruce stopped chasing.

For a fraction of a second, everything went still.

Then,

His speed surged.

Not incrementally.

Explosively.

The space beneath his feet collapsed as he vanished, reappearing directly in front of the Invader's path. The sudden acceleration was so violent it caught the Cthulhu-like soul completely off guard.

Its eyes widened.

Too late.

'Soul Shatter.'

The skill landed fully this time.

Bruce's Heal flooded the Invader's entire soul at once, expanding faster than it could react, sealing every possible escape vector. The red phantom convulsed violently, its tendrils flailing as cracks raced across its form like spiderwebs through glass.

The Invader screamed.

This time,

In terror.

"No, WAIT!"

Its soul shattered completely.

The explosion wasn't physical, it was metaphysical. A silent implosion rippled through the dungeon, distorting space as fragments of red soul-light burst outward and dissolved into nothingness.

As the last piece of its existence broke apart, the Invader laughed one final time, its voice echoing faintly through the void.

"Velmora… what an interesting world… You'll be mine soon… hahaha…"

Then,

Nothing.

Silence reclaimed the dungeon.

The oppressive aura vanished completely, leaving behind only scorched stone, fractured space, and the faint echo of something that had nearly taken root in this world.

Bruce stood alone.

He let out a slow breath.

He didn't feel relief.

Only unease.

"That wasn't its main body," he muttered, fists clenching. "Just a fragment… a scout."

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