Path of the Extra-Chapter 232: The Hunt

Surrounded by the corpses of void creatures—stripped of bone, their black blood painting the corridors—Azriel stood, facing the Black Antlered King.

The only sound was the low, incessant buzz of the flickering lights.

Red eyes met glowing orbs.

The Black Antlered King loomed over Azriel.

Only—

In its eyes, it was Azriel who seemed colossal, an unseen weight pressing down on its very being.

Like countless invisible hands clawing at its skeletal frame, dragging it into the earth.

The Black Antlered King staggered.

Then, it fell to its knees.

Footsteps echoed through the corridor.

Azriel's low voice grazed the air.

"A king kneeling to a prince. There's something poetic about that."

It looked at Azriel.

The grin vanished in an instant.

The bones hovering in the air trembled—then, with a breathy grunt, they all shot toward him in a blur.

Azriel stepped forward, planting his right foot firmly. Void Eater rose before him, steady in his grip.

He took a deep breath.

Calmly, he watched the storm of bones hurtling toward him.

Crimson lightning crackled around the blade, twisting and snapping like living veins of fury.

Then—

The moment they were upon him, he moved.

A downward slash.

An upward strike.

A sideways cut.

Again. And again. And again.

In a blur of motion, his blade carved through the onslaught.

Until—

Every bone had passed him.

Each one cleaved cleanly in half.

Slowly, the Black Antlered King rose.

It struggled to regain its balance, its movements sluggish, as if an unseen weight was pressing it down. Azriel watched in silence, his porcelain-like face devoid of emotion.

Only coldness remained.

Anyone else would have seized this moment to strike.

But Azriel didn't.

The corridor was too narrow. One wrong move, and the battle could spiral beyond control. He had to account for its abilities.

If the former director's report was accurate, [Hollow Coronation] meant he could not lower his body for too long under any circumstance. And then there was [The King's Feast]—while his aura and soul armor shielded him, prolonged contact still carried risks.

But then again...

It seemed the Black Antlered King was just as cautious of Azriel as he was of it.

More bones tore free from the corpses, hovering around the creature, some even fusing into its decayed body.

Black tears leaked from its empty sockets.

A sound crackled through the air.

Like a storm being born, crimson lightning coiled around Azriel's body. But as it surged, something changed.

The red lightning shifted—its hue twisting, bleeding into something else.

Then, it turned white.

White lightning.

A freezing mist seeped from its arcs, swirling in the air like breath in winter. The lightning grew unstable, wild, lashing out in jagged bursts.

Wherever it struck—walls, floor, ceiling—ice bloomed. And then, the ice shattered, spraying the corridor with razor-edged shards.

The walls groaned.

Then they gave in.

Beneath the fractured metal, something pulsed with a faint glow.

Mana stones.

The entire corridor was lined with them.

But these weren't of the highest quality.

The floor exploded.

The Black Antlered King lunged forward, jagged bones twisting mid-flight, merging into a colossal war hammer. It seized the weapon in both hands and swung.

Azriel moved to meet it.

Lightning-wreathed Void Eater slashed through the air.

Steel met bone.

The impact roared.

The air shuddered. The walls cracked. The lights overhead burst, plunging the corridor into flickering darkness.

Shards of ice and splinters of bone erupted in all directions.

The floor beneath them quaked.

Azriel felt the shockwave ripple through his body, his bones vibrating like struck iron. His stance broke, feet sliding back.

The Black Antlered King had won the exchange.

It swung again.

Azriel raised Void Eater to parry—but he had miscalculated.

The raw force behind the blow was greater than he had anticipated.

His feet left the ground.

A blur of motion. His back slammed into the wall behind him, the metal rupturing on impact.

Azriel was falling.

If he hit the ground—

It would count as bowing.

Unacceptable.

Dark mist seeped from him. [Death's Blossom.]

Azriel twisted in midair, planting his foot against the shattered wall. The moment it touched, he kicked off, launching himself forward like a bolt of lightning.

In the breath that followed, he was already in front of the Black Antlered King.

Everything blurred.

Void Eater, wreathed in mist and frost-lit lightning, shot forward.

The Black Antlered King raised its hammer.

The black mist behind Azriel bloomed.

Dark petals exploded outward, swirling in the air, white lightning dancing between them like veins of frost.

The creature flinched, its vision momentarily obscured.

Azriel moved.

He ducked, slipping behind it.

A sharp breath. A single strike.

Void Eater slashed across its back.

Azriel leapt away as black blood—thick like tar—poured from the gash. As it bled, tendrils of dark roots slithered from the wound.

Azriel exhaled, mana surging through his tendons, his muscles, his joints.

He dashed forward once more.

The Black Antlered King turned—only to see Azriel wielding two weapons.

Void Eater in one hand.

A chain of ice, charged with white lightning, in the other.

Azriel swung.

The chain coiled around the creature's antlers, looping tightly—

Only for the Black Antlered King to seize it in one hand.

And crush it.

A deafening bellow erupted from its throat.

Azriel's ears rang. Blood trickled down his temples.

But he did not falter.

Momentum was still his.

He swung.

So did the Black Antlered King.

Hammer met katana.

The world around them detonated.

Both were thrown back.

They crashed into opposite ends of the corridor.

The mana stones embedded in the walls fractured—then exploded, showering the battlefield in glowing shards.

More walls shattered.

More chambers collapsed.

And before either of them realized it...

They had carved a gate.

A new passageway, created by force alone.

Azriel stood at one end of floor -1.

The Black Antlered King stood at the other.

The gate they had carved was littered with debris—mana stones, metal, and… flesh.

Their crimson gazes locked together. Then, they moved.

The world blurred. In the blink of an eye, they were in front of one another once more.

A spike of charged ice erupted from the ground, but the Black Antlered King merely kicked it apart, shattering it into shards of ice and lightning.

Azriel swung.

Bone met Void Eater once again. Only this time, the bone cracked, then exploded on impact.

The Black Antlered King staggered back before leaping away, its antlers colliding with the ceiling. But the structure gave way, breaking apart, while its head remained unscathed.

Azriel swirled Void Eater, now infused with ice lightning, and stabbed it into the ground.

The next moment, a wave of jagged ice surged outward, streaked with veins of lightning crackling between the frozen formations. The storm raced forward, swallowing everything in its path—

The Black Antlered King could not avoid it.

The ice encased its decayed flesh and bones, freezing it in place.

A sculpture of pure ice stood before him.

Then—

A crack.

The ice shattered.

Azriel clenched his jaw tightly.

"It seems the only way to kill you is by destroying your mana core."

A heavy, guttural sound escaped the creature's teeth, mocking him.

Azriel exhaled and released his affinities. He stopped using ice and lightning entirely. Instead, he poured every last drop of his mana—except for what maintained his aura—into his flesh, his bones.

At that exact moment, the Black Antlered King's hands twisted into elongated, jagged claws, and it lunged toward him.

But then—

An uncanny trick.

The bones reinforcing its body suddenly exploded into shards, obscuring Azriel's vision for only a fraction of a second.

It was enough.

A claw shot up from below.

Azriel barely saw it before it struck.

The sharp bone pierced him—first shattering his aura, then cracking his soul armor. Pieces of it burst apart, and the claw sank deeper into his flesh.

Azriel's eyes widened as he was lifted off the ground, feeling the bones dig further into him.

Then, a second claw—aimed straight for his right shoulder.

Another hit.

His aura there broke.

His soul armor shattered further.

Now, sharp bones were buried deep inside his flesh, inches away from his own bones.

A tidal wave of agony crashed over him.

[Soul's Crucible] wasn't enough to drown it out.

A scream tore from his throat as something cold and dreadful grazed his ribcage.

Azriel found himself on his knees, looking up at the Black Antlered King's twisted grin.

Then, he felt it.

His bones.

They were moving.

Shifting.

Trying to escape him.

Azriel's breath hitched. His eyes went wide, his teeth grinding together.

Mana.

Mana was the only way.

He abandoned his aura, pouring every ounce of his remaining mana into reinforcing his bones—preventing them from escaping.

The claws dug deeper, trying to rip them out.

[Hollow Coronation] was still in effect.

But not [The King's Feast].

That meant…

It could not use both at the same time.

Or perhaps—

It was taking sadistic pleasure in his pain.

It couldn't get worse.

It did.

At that exact moment—

A web of knives seemed to pierce through Azriel's skull.

A ringing.

A dull hum that quickly rose.

Like a tide—growing higher, and higher, and higher.

It drowned out his thoughts.

Drowned out his screams.

The ringing became unbearable.

His bones shifted again.

The flow of mana within him broke.

Azriel couldn't concentrate anymore.

What was he supposed to focus on?

Which pain?

"Pain…"

A single sliver of sanity still clung to him.

[Soul's Crucible] was still active.

It was trying to drown the pain, trying to keep his mind clear.

But it was failing.

Rapidly.

Then—

A thought stirred in the drowning void.

[Soul's Crucible]…

It was never limited to humans.

Right?

He couldn't use it on himself.

But…

His vision blurred.

The skill, gifted by the God of Death…

It was never limited to a deer.

His body was going numb.

The ringing was drowning out everything.

Azriel didn't hesitate.

He clung to his last thread of hope—

And activated [Soul's Crucible].

On the Black Antlered King.

Instantly—

Azriel's eyes flared.

The Black Antlered King, mid-motion, froze.

Its gaze locked onto him.

A translucent white flame erupted around the monster.

But—

It didn't harm it.

It was the opposite.

And that—

Confused it.

For a mere fraction of a second, its focus wavered.

And that was all it took.

[Hollow Coronation] collapsed.

Azriel could no longer feel his arms.

But he picked up Void Eater nonetheless.

And then—

He stabbed himself in the stomach.

Silence.

The Black Antlered King looked at Azriel—then at itself.

Then—

Pain.

Like roots spreading through Azriel's body, the pain consumed the ringing.

The numbing sensation vanished.

[Soul's Crucible] and the ringing would return soon.

But Azriel had a second.

That was all he needed.

From his storage ring, he pulled out a small remote.

A remote with a single, black button.

And then—

He pressed it.

And—

Everything.

Exploded.

*****

Smoke was everywhere.

Dust was everywhere.

Debris was everywhere.

The ringing had returned. Azriel found himself lying on the ground somewhere on the ruined floor -1, like one of the many corpses littering the battlefield.

He coughed, his chest heaving.

He couldn't tell how badly he was injured.

But judging by how lightheaded he felt... it was bad.

No one ever said reaching Grade 3 Advanced was easy.

But no one had told him it would be this difficult either.

'Placing mana bombs wherever I went was a smart idea...'

He was glad those bombs had been charged by Amaya for emergencies.

And that he had thought to use them.

The moment he pressed the button, everything had gone black.

The shockwave must have sent him flying across the floor.

And the same must have happened to the Black Antlered King.

But it wasn't dead.

It wasn't enough.

And now, Azriel couldn't move.

Not because of his wounds.

But because of the ringing.

A deep, endless ringing that drowned everything out, leaving only numbness behind.

His vision was dimming.

'...What is happening to me?'

Why wouldn't it stop?

He couldn't even move his fingers anymore.

He was no better than a corpse.

And soon, the Black Antlered King would come for him.

He was nothing more than prey—paralyzed, helpless.

The ringing began to rise again.

Louder.

Stronger.

Drowning him.

It was getting worse.

'Stop.'

Azriel prayed inside his mind.

'Just stop.'

Why was this happening?

'Is this it?'

Was this how it ended?

Again?

Would he never win with what he had?

He wasn't a hero. He knew that.

But... he was a survivor.

He didn't want to give up.

And—

He made a promise.

To himself.

To Jasmine.

He would not die.

A ridiculous thought entered his mind.

'Stop.'

Stop resisting.

Let the ringing consume him.

There had to be a reason for this.

Azriel stopped fighting it.

The pain intensified.

It kept building.

Worse and worse.

But he did not resist.

There had to be a reason for this.

He had to believe it.

The agony was unbearable.

[Soul's Crucible] had long since stopped working.

Time felt warped, stretched beyond reason.

As if eternity had passed.

But it hadn't.

Time was still moving.

Eternity had not passed.

Only the pain remained.

And then—

It began to fade.

'Huh...'

Azriel's mind cleared.

'Why?'

His body was regaining sensation.

'There's no way this was i—'

His thoughts stopped.

For a second, his entire body froze.

Something unbearable washed over him—an incomprehensible sensation, too alien to put into words.

Blinking, clarity returned to his vision.

Azriel shot upright, his expression baffled.

"W-what..."

What just happened?

His body trembled.

The numbness was gone.

The ringing had stopped.

But his face was pale—drained of all color.

His body was still in agony, his injuries deep, but at least he could think.

A trembling breath escaped his lips.

Azriel groaned as he forced himself up on unsteady legs.

His body kept shaking.

"Why... why can't I remember!?"

His knees buckled.

His chest rose and fell sharply as he tried to steady his breath.

Something was seriously wrong with him.

"Dammit..."

Clenching his teeth, frustration twisted his expression.

From his storage ring, he pulled out a health potion.

He stared at it for a second before uncorking the vial and downing it in one gulp.

This was his last one.

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And the most expensive one he had.

It would close his wounds, but it wouldn't be enough to restore him completely.

"Five million velts... gone just like that."

A sigh escaped his lips as he pushed himself up once more.

His gaze swept over the floor.

Chaos.

Everything was destroyed.

Summoning Void Eater, it materialized back into his right hand.

His soul armor had taken heavy damage. His mana was running dangerously low—using aura at this point would be reckless.

Fighting the Black Antlered King was... overwhelming.

The corridors were barely corridors anymore. What once stood as walls had crumbled into dust, leaving behind an open battlefield littered with wreckage.

Dragging his feet, Azriel gripped Void Eater tightly, refusing to let go. There was only one thing that mattered.

Win. Win. Win. Win.

Nothing else.

He would kill the deer. He would become Advanced. There was no other option.

He would not run.

And the Black Antlered King thought the same.

Another wall collapsed, and through the settling dust, Azriel saw it—the Black Antlered King dragging itself toward him, one slow, deliberate step at a time.

Both of them froze.

Their gazes locked.

They looked like a mess—two warriors battered and broken, yet still standing. A cold, expressionless look masked their faces, yet the fire in their eyes burned relentlessly.

Azriel's grip tightened.

'Win'

The Black Antlered King raised its claws.

There were no corpses left to take bones from.

It didn't matter.

'Win.'

His head felt light.

'Win.'

He must have lost too much blood.

'Win.'

Azriel moved first—blurring forward.

He swung up with Void Eater, the blade screeching against the King's claws as it intercepted the strike.

With a flick of his left hand, a spike of ice shot up from the ground, aiming for its ribs.

But before it could connect, the Black Antlered King leaped back—the spike grazing its bony leg but failing to pin it down.

Azriel didn't stop.

He desummoned Void Eater mid-motion, closing the distance—then clenched his right fist and punched forward with everything he had.

Bone cracked.

Azriel barely had time to register his own knuckles fracturing before the Black Antlered King's face snapped to the side, hairline fractures forming along its skull.

A guttural, furious scream erupted from its mouth.

It lunged—

Azriel summoned Void Eater back just in time, blocking the claw strike as his feet dug into the crumbling ground.

"Akh—!"

The force rattled his bones, his flesh tearing as he struggled to push the King back.

Eventually, he did—both staggered apart, panting, glaring.

'Win.'

A wave of misty frost seeped from Void Eater as Azriel swung again.

The Black Antlered King met his strike—but as its claws hit the blade, dark thorns burst out, wrapping around its arms.

It snarled, staggering back, but ignored the roots digging into its bones.

Azriel glared.

And then—they clashed again.

Blows were exchanged in a blur of movement—the ground ruptured beneath them, the remaining walls caving in under the sheer force of their battle.

Mana stones shattered, explosions of raw energy illuminating their silhouettes.

Azriel was sent flying back—but he twisted mid-air, black mist swirling around him as he shot forward once more.

'Win!'

The Black Antlered King roared, gripping a broken slab of wall and hurling it straight at him.

Azriel barely glanced at it—he jumped, using the debris as a foothold—and in an instant, he was above it.

He swung down.

The blade pierced its left eye—but at the same time, its right claw dug into his chest.

Azriel felt a surge of mana coil around his skin—his pupils dilating in alarm.

"No...!"

He recognized it immediately—

[The King's Feast].

Desperation overtook him. He twisted his body, tearing himself free—flesh ripped open as he kicked off the King's chest, launching himself away.

Rolling across the rubble, Azriel forced himself back up before [Hollow Coronation] could activate.

Wiping the blood from his torn lips, he staggered, then—

"Ugh—"

His vision wavered.

His mana was nearly depleted.

His body was breaking apart.

But—

He looked up—and saw the Black Antlered King, its body wrapped in thorned roots, barely holding itself together.

Straightening himself, he prepared to attack—

But the Black Antlered King moved first.

A burst of unnatural speed—and suddenly, it was right in front of him.

Azriel barely managed to raise Void Eater in time, its claws colliding with the blade—sparks flying, the air trembling from the impact.

Then—

It lunged forward, jaws wide, aiming for his throat.

Azriel twisted, angling Void Eater—its teeth clamped onto the blade instead.

Crack—!

Azriel's eyes widened.

The blade—

No—

He couldn't let go!

He hadn't won yet!

A violent jerk of its head sent Azriel flying, his body slamming into the ceiling.

The breath left his lungs.

Before he could recover—claws wrapped around his arms—and suddenly—

He was thrown down.

The ground shattered beneath him as he plummeted—

Through the floor—through rubble—through layer after layer—

Until—

Boom—!

He crashed, landing ten meters down, his body lying in a crater of broken stone and dirt.

Azriel's vision flickered.

Above him, the only light came from the hole he had fallen through. Dirt clung to every inch of him.

His body was shutting down.

But—

Not yet.

Not yet!

Azriel growled.

With trembling arms, he gripped the walls of the crater—and started to climb.

Only—

A shadow loomed over him.

Then—

The Black Antlered King jumped.

Azriel's mind raced.

The hole wasn't wide enough. He had no space to move.

If it landed on him—He'd be crushed.

He realized something.

The ground.

It wasn't made of mana stones.

Just metal.

A ridiculous idea entered his mind—

A hollow laugh escaped his lips.

He pressed his hand to his right side—and froze the entire right floor solid.

With everything he had left—

He punched the ice.

Crack...

The fractures spread.

Then—

Boom—!

The entire right side of Floor -1 collapsed.

A cloud of dust and debris swallowed everything.

Azriel didn't hesitate—he dove into it.

Coughing violently, he heard a deafening crash behind him.

The ground trembled—The entire floor was about to collapse.

Through the fading dust, Azriel saw it—

Dozens of mana stones, scattered across the dirt.

His vision blurred.

His body swayed.

And then—

A bony hand emerged from the rubble.

The Black Antlered King, battered and breaking apart—

Still standing.

The ground trembled.

Azriel felt it—

Caving in once more.

Azriel felt his stomach drop—then, the rest of him followed. Gravity yanked him down, and with a deafening crash, the floor beneath them collapsed once more. The world caved in, and both of them plummeted another ten meters into the abyss.

Azriel hit the ground hard, rolling to a stop. His throat was dry. Blood seeped from his wounds. His vision flickered, darkening at the edges.

He was dying.

No.

'Win!'

Not yet.

His body trembled violently, like a twig moments from snapping, but he pushed himself up. Somehow, he stood. Somehow, Void Eater had returned to his right gauntlet, as if refusing to leave his grasp.

Then he felt it again.

The ground.

It was about to collapse once more.

But he didn't care—because right in front of him, his prey was still standing.

The Black Antlered King staggered, its frame swaying, shoulders slumped. Its claws barely lifted, drained of strength. It looked at Azriel with hatred—but beneath that, something else. Something indescribable.

Neither hesitated.

They dragged themselves forward, step by agonizing step. No bursts of speed, no desperate blurs—just two battered warriors, trudging towards one another with the same unyielding thought burned into their minds.

'Win!'

A deep, guttural groan echoed through the ruins.

The entire facility shuddered violently, worse than before. A sound like thunder, like stone splitting apart, filled the air. The ground beneath their feet shattered like fragile glass.

And everything collapsed.

A void swallowed them, an endless drop into darkness illuminated only by the glow of scattered mana stones. The walls groaned as if the entire structure was convulsing in its final moments, crumbling under its own weight.

Azriel twisted midair, body screaming in protest. His strength was spent, but he forced himself to move. With the last remnants of willpower, he aimed Void Eater at the Black Antlered King—

And miraculously, the demon intercepted the strike.

Its claws locked against the blade.

'Not yet… Win!'

The impact threw them apart. Azriel twisted again, narrowly avoiding a massive slab of stone. He used it as a foothold, kicking off and propelling himself straight toward the falling demon.

Void Eater gleamed.

Azriel swung.

Then—impact.

A stray chunk of debris smashed into his wrist, sending a fresh wave of agony through his nerves. His fingers lost their grip.

Void Eater slipped from his grasp.

Azriel clenched his teeth hard enough to crack them. His arm throbbed, but there was no time to react—because the next second, he collided with the Black Antlered King midair.

The force of their bodies crashing together sent them spinning, limbs entangled, claw against flesh, bone against bone.

Azriel wrapped his legs around the demon's torso, trapping it in place.

The Black Antlered King snarled, burying its claws into Azriel's back.

A strangled scream tore from his throat.

He ignored it.

Pain.

He needed it.

It kept him conscious.

Grinding his teeth, he wrenched his head back—

And slammed it forward.

The brittle bones beneath his forehead cracked on impact. His skull rang, but he welcomed it. He struck again.

Again.

A web of fractures spread across the Black Antlered King's face, but its claws only dug deeper into his flesh.

Another pulse of mana rippled through the air.

[The King's Feast] was activating.

Azriel felt it—his body turning against him, his mind slipping. The demon was trying to consume him.

No.

He refused.

He twisted, forcing the claws deeper, tearing his flesh further.

And then—he punched.

His fist slammed into the Black Antlered King's chest.

Again.

Again.

His body was shutting down.

He was losing control.

Whether it was from blood loss or the wretched skill draining him, he didn't know.

Didn't care.

He wouldn't stop.

The demon was too weak to fully devour him.

Azriel screamed and struck again.

And finally—

His fist broke through.

Bone shattered.

A sickening roar echoed through the void.

Black, tar-like blood splattered against his face. The Black Antlered King wailed, dark tears streaking from its fractured eye sockets.

Azriel felt it.

His fingers closed around something smooth, round—shining even in the dim light.

The mana core.

It was in his grasp.

At that moment—his vision failed.

His body went numb, completely spent.

Except for one thing.

His right hand.

It still moved.

Still clenched around the core.

The wind howled around him. The beast's dying screams rang in his ears.

And then—something crept onto Azriel's face.

A torn, bloody, sadistic smile.

A weak, cracked whisper escaped his throat as he forced the last of his strength into his fingers.

The mana core crumbled in his grasp.

"I... win."