The clearing did not just erupt; it disintegrated into a landscape of silver violence. When the Mercury Hydra's central head hammered into the basin, the sound was less like a beast's roar and more like the catastrophic failure of an industrial steam boiler. A wall of liquid mercury and shattered iron soil swept outward, catching the Third Division in a toxic spray that hissed against their white and gold tunics. The pristine armor of the six Knights was instantly stained by the grey grit of the groves, their Imperial dignity dissolving in the face of a Rank 5 disaster.

Vane did not recoil. He had already found the one pocket of space where the mercury rain fell thin, a small alcove behind a twisted, petrified root. He stood perfectly still. His breath was shallow and controlled to avoid the worst of the metallic fumes. His eyes were wide, but they were not filled with the panic of the prey. They were flickering with the blue, crystalline light of his first Authority.

[Target Analysis]

Name: Varkas

Rank: Low Justiciar

Danger: Fatal

Authority: None

Skills: [Physical Aura - Grade B]

The world in front of Vane slowed as the data flooded his vision. It was a clinical overlay that stripped the world of its terrifying majesty and reduced it to a series of numerical values. He looked at Varkas. The Captain was a titan of a man. Even with the Hydra's central head bearing down on him, he did not look like he was losing. He had planted his heavy boots in the muck. His mana was flaring with a white-gold brilliance that actually pushed the liquid mercury away from his body.

Vane felt a surge of cold, localized disdain as he watched the Hydra thrash. It was a mindless thing. Its three heads moved with a jagged, uncoordinated rhythm that reminded him of a poorly made clock. It was a far cry from the Void Hydra he remembered from the old stories. That beast had been a true master of space and shadow. That had been a legend. This was just a biological error with too much mana. It was a cheap imitation of a nightmare. Vane hated it for being so crude.

"Formation!" Kaelen's voice cut through the metallic shrieking of the trees. He was currently parrying one of the Hydra's secondary heads with his rapier. His movements were a blur of silver light. "Knights, circle the girl! Varkas, break that neck!"

The six Knights, all Sentinels, tried to obey. But the environment Vane had prepared was a weapon they could not parry. The high-pitched chime of the resonant trees was rattling their helmets. It caused their mana to stutter. They were stumbling through the slick mud. Their silver shields were heavy and cumbersome in the toxic rain.

[Target Analysis]

Name: Kaelen

Rank: Low Justiciar

Danger: Fatal

Authority: None

Skills: [Analytical Sight - Grade B]

Vane ignored Kaelen for the moment. The Captain was too far away, occupied by the thrashing heads of the beast. Vane's focus was entirely on the mountain of a man named Varkas. Varkas was currently occupied. He had caught the Hydra's central jaw with his bare hands. His Rank 5 strength was grinding the beast's iron scales. He was a god in this clearing, and he knew it. He did not even turn his head as Vane approached. To Varkas, Vane was nothing more than a gnat buzzing around the feet of a titan.

Vane launched himself from the shadows. He did not use the Silver Fang yet. He needed to be light. He needed to be fast. He slid across a patch of mercury-slicked grass, using the lack of friction to accelerate until he was a dark blur aimed at Varkas's side.

Vane's star-metal spear hissed as he thrust. He was not aiming to kill. He was aiming to disrupt the Captain's balance. He struck at the back of Varkas's knee. This was the point where the heavy plate armor met the flexible leather under-suit.

The impact was like hitting a mountain of solid lead. Varkas's Physical Aura did not just stop the spear. It rejected it. The white-gold light around the Captain's body solidified into a shimmering shell of mana that felt harder than any steel Vane had ever touched. The recoil vibrated up Vane's arms. The force nearly snapped his wrists.

"Pest," Varkas grunted.

He did not let go of the Hydra's head. He simply shifted his weight and backhanded the air in Vane's direction. A concussive wave of white-gold force slammed into Vane's chest. It felt like being hit by a galloping dray horse. Vane let out a sharp gasp as he was sent flying backward. His boots skidded through the mud for twenty feet before he could find his balance. His ribs groaned under the pressure. A thin line of blood trickled from his nose.

But Vane was smiling. He had achieved exactly what he wanted.

By turning to swat at him, Varkas had shifted his center of gravity by exactly three inches. He had momentarily reduced the pressure on the Hydra's neck to deal with the rat at his heels. It was a momentary lapse in concentration. It was a side effect of the absolute arrogance that came with a Rank 5 mana pool.

The Hydra's third head saw the opportunity. It did not use its teeth. It uncoiled its long, muscular neck and opened its maw. A pressurized jet of liquid mercury erupted from the beast's throat. It was thick and boiling with raw mana.

The toxic stream slammed into Varkas's exposed side. The Justiciar let out a roar of genuine pain as the heavy metal hammered against his aura. The sheer weight of the liquid, combined with the suddenness of the strike, forced the titan to one knee. The ground beneath him buckled. It created a crater of silver sludge.

The beast did not stop there. The Hydra sensed the weakness and lashed out with its massive tail. The limb was a trunk of solid muscle and iron scales. It swept through the clearing with the speed of a falling tree. Vane saw it coming. He threw himself into the mud. The serrated scales of the tail passed inches above his spine. The wind from the blow was so cold it felt like ice against his skin. He scraped by the thrashing tail by a hair's breadth. A jagged scale left a shallow red line across his cheek, but he was already moving before the blood could even start to flow.

"Varkas!" Kaelen yelled. He tried to break away from his own engagement. But the Hydra's central head was now free from Varkas's grip. It lashed out with renewed fury. Kaelen was pinned down by a flurry of strikes that forced him to retreat toward the treeline.

Vane rose from the mud. His chest was burning. Every breath tasted like copper and sulfur. But the calculus was perfect. The Third Division was no longer a formation. They were a group of terrified individuals drowning in a silver nightmare.

Vane locked his eyes on the nearest Knight. This was a man named Sir Elian. He had likely spent his entire life being told he was superior because of the crest on his chest. He was a Low Sentinel. But right now, he was frantic. He was trying to wipe mercury from his visor with a gloved hand. His breath was coming in ragged, panicky gasps. He did not notice the shadow approaching through the rain.

[Target Analysis]

Name: Sir Elian

Rank: Low Sentinel

Danger: Low

Authority: None

Skills: [Shield Bash - Grade C]

The Knight's defense was active, but it was purely physical and backed by standard mana reinforcement. Compared to the Captains, he was an open book. Vane's grip tightened on his spear. He could feel the Silver Fang beginning to hum in his palm. It was a hungry, vibrating resonance that wanted to erase the world in front of it. This was the true power of an SS-rank Authority. It did not care about ranks. It only cared about the rejection of reality.

Sir Elian saw him at the last second. He let out a strangled shout and raised his heavy silver shield. It was a massive piece of equipment. It was enchanted with reinforcement circles and backed by the man's own mana. To any other commoner, it would have been an impenetrable wall.

"Don't bother," Vane said. His voice was a flat, clinical observation.

He did not use a spear form. He did not use a fancy maneuver. He simply stepped forward and thrust.

A liquid, mercury-like silver began to coat the tip of his spear. It was the Silver Fang. The space at the very tip of the blade began to scream as the Authority activated. It was a low-frequency hum that signaled the death of durability. To the Silver Fang, the shield was not a solid object. It was a suggestion that it chose to ignore. The Authority rejected the very concept that the shield was hard. It rejected the idea that the mana reinforcing it had any right to exist.

The star-metal tip did not bounce. It did not slide. It bit into the enchanted Imperial silver like a red-hot needle through a sheet of thin wax. There was no resistance. There was no clash of metal. There was only the sound of something being erased.

Sir Elian's eyes widened behind his visor. He felt the mana in his shield simply vanish. The reinforcement circles snapped as the very concept of defense was rejected. The spear-tip tore through the silver, through the leather backing, and through the reinforced plate armor of the man's shoulder.

Vane felt the wet, solid resistance of bone and muscle. He twisted the blade with a cold, mechanical precision. He listened to the sound of the metal grinding against the man's collarbone. The Knight's scream was swallowed by the roar of the Hydra.

The silver light of the Silver Fang glowed brighter as it tasted the first blood of the Third Division. Vane looked past the dying man toward the rest of the squad.

[Target Analysis]

Name: Sir Marcus

Rank: Low Sentinel

Danger: Low

Authority: None

Skills: [Heavy Thrust - Grade C]

[Target Analysis]

Name: Sir Thorne

Rank: Mid Sentinel

Danger: Low

Authority: None

Skills: [Iron Wall - Grade C]

[Target Analysis]

Name: Gareth

Rank: Mid Sentinel

Danger: Low

Authority: None Skills: [Radiant Arc - Grade C]

Gareth was cowering behind a fallen iron tree. His eyes were wide with a terror that Vane had waited months to see. The hunt was no longer about survival. It was about arithmetic. And Vane was very good at math.

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