The night after Dora's act of bravery and determination.

Rion dashed towards the inner parts of the purple fog forest.

Until now, he had only stayed at the outermost layer, but as if Dora's determination had sparked something within him, he was determined to obtain the null core of a two-horned or a three-horned kareth to speed up his research on the purple miasma that birthed them.

The purple miasma was his only lead towards the replication of immortality, and he was determined to see it to the end.

Hours blurred as he killed whatever kareth he found, and finally, his eyes fell on a three-horned kareth.

[You have stored a (Tainted Null Core)!]

The kareth resembled a bull just twice the size of one, and its dark hide was laced with pulsing purple veins that throbbed like something alive beneath the skin. A haze of purple miasma clung to its body, warping its outline with a sickly shimmer. Three black horns curled upward in twisted spires of dread, and at the end of its tail hung a fleshy sucker — its seams fused around fangs as long as a finger.

Rion glanced at it for a moment and threw his aura-clad spear towards it.

Swoosh!

The burning spear flashed towards the kareth, but just as the spear was about to reach it, its tail moved and its sucker bit down at the spearhead.

The bits of its dark flesh flew like a blooming flower as the sucker exploded under the momentum of the lunging serpent spear.

Rion raised an eyebrow and mumbled, "It reacted?"

Until now, whatever kareth he had met could not even react, let alone put up a fight against him, but this one didn't just react; it was also able to deflect his attack.

Without Rion's knowledge, his lips curled up into an ecstatic smile as he muttered, "Finally! Something fun."

He raised his arm, and the spear, which had fallen a few meters away from the kareth, rose and flew back towards him.

Thk!

He clenched his fists and grabbed the spear. He glanced at it and mumbled with a smirk, "Master's Call, heh... It wasn't that hard to replicate."

His words were an understatement to the intricacy of Jura's technique, as even Haden had acknowledged it as the technique of masters.

Only a few moments had passed, and the kareth had already healed; however, it was different from the kareths he had met till now because instead of rushing towards him like a mindless beast, it was just standing there watching him with its ravenous red eyes.

He raised an eyebrow and checked his eyes, also red; the shade of his eyes, however, lacked in comparison to the beast before him.

"What...?" He mumbled in confusion.

His eyes roamed throughout the kareth to confirm what he was seeing, and he finally remarked, "How does it have no weak points...?"

This kareth was similar to others, had only one critical point, and that was its core, but unlike anyone, he had used the Predator's Eyes on it, and it had no weak points.

The kareth snorted as if displaying its amusement, and the purple miasma around it began to coil like vines of darkness.

"It doesn't matter... not like it can kill me."

Rion's eyes turned back as silver flames appeared around his feet, and he dashed towards the kareth.

The kareth's tail shot towards him, and the sucker at its end opened wide to chew at him.

He didn't attack the tail as it had no meaning; the only way to kill a kareth was to destroy its core in a single strike.

He reached beside it, and the kareth shook its gigantic head at him.

Rion jumped high and descended with the tip of his spear, burning with silver flames.

The tail moved again, but he was much faster; a smirk appeared on his face as the tip of his spear was just an inch away from tearing its dark flesh and piercing through its core.

But just as it was about to touch, the purple miasma shot towards him and pushed him away from the spot.

Shkk!

His eyes widened as his spear missed the core, and before he could comprehend a thing, the kareth shook, and its head crashed into him like a battering ram while its horns ripped apart a chunk of his side.

Pain shot up his side but he didn't even let out a groan as it vanished right after.

Woosh!

Rion flew towards the trees and crashed into a few before coming to a stop.

His eyes were wide in disbelief as blood flooded down from his side, but he didn't even glance at it, and a moment later, silver threads appeared around the gushing wound to heal him.

"What just happened?" He mumbled and pushed himself up as the wound had already healed.

His eyes shifted towards the purple miasma that was now condensed around the kareth's heart, and he mumbled, "Was I pushed back?"

He gritted his teeth as anger surged through him.

Silver flames flickered around his body, and he blurred towards the kareth.

Just like before, he dodged its tail, its hoves, and its head before thrusting his spear towards the kareth's core.

However, this time, instead of immersing himself in the ecstasy of victory, he focused on what had stopped him, and he saw it.

His spear was stopped one more time, and the kareth sent him flying with its head while its horns ripped apart his right shoulder and arm.

"AUGH!" A loud groan finally slid off his tongue as the pain went above the limit of what his body was adapted to, only for it to disappear the next second.

The trees splintered as he crashed through them.

After crashing into a few, he came to a stop and muttered while pushing himself up, "My aura is weaker than the miasma covering it..."

His eyes gleamed with understanding before he tightened his grip around his spear and attacked once again.

He appeared beside it and, instead of jumping, he ducked down and tried to impale it from below.

"AHHHHHH!" A horrifying scream left him, and suddenly half of his vision darkened.

The sucker had pulled out his left eye.

___

[Kareth Image]

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