When the black hole subsided naturally, like every time—unable to exist indefinitely, lasting only for a short while before collapsing back into normal space—the upper half of the colossal body was completely gone. Even the relentless attacks that had been coming at him nonstop had finally ceased.

THOOOOOMMMMM!

The remaining lower half of the giant crashed into the ground with a thunderous boom that shook the earth for kilometers. Dust exploded everywhere, creating massive clouds that obscured vision completely. The ground cracked in spiderweb patterns, fissures spreading outward from the impact zone.

CRRRAAACK! BOOM! RUMMMBLE!

Leon thought it might finally be dead, casually dodging falling debris and offsetting the shockwave with precise applications of wind element to redirect the force around his body. Whoooosh!

But he didn't receive any notification—no system message, no Causality gain, nothing like he usually got whenever he killed something significant.

That's... strange.

Despite the remaining colossal mass lying motionless on the ground, seemingly defeated, the absence of confirmation bothered him deeply.

He was not too keen on going close to inspect it. The memory of falling for its trap earlier made him cautious about declaring premature victory.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...

But what Leon could not see was the phenomenon happening inside the massive body, deep within the compacted earth and corrupted stone, close to where the ancient green core still pulsed with malevolent life.

The consciousness within the core was processing information, analyzing what had just occurred with cold calculation.

Underestimated. I underestimated this human.

But no more.

Around the core, an extreme amount of mana began to solidify and compress, forming something new. A body that would kill this human with overwhelming power—its best form, its true combat shape. It would consume a tremendous amount of energy, but the consciousness didn't care anymore.

I will kill this human once and for all before he becomes an even greater threat.

Leon stood at a distance, struggling to decide whether he should risk a closer inspection or maintain his defensive position. His analytical mind worked through the possibilities.

If the black hole swallowed the core and destroyed it, the creature would be dead. But if the core survived somehow, hidden deeper than the black hole could reach...

The danger seemed gone, but it hadn't died. The theory made sense to him in a horrible way.

Half a minute passed with nothing happening. Just silence and settling dust. Hsssss… drift…

Leon made his decision.

Fuck it. I need to check. What if it's escaping? Regenerating? Planning something worse?

He would remain on full alert in his strongest form. He believed he could escape if something weird happened—his teleportation had saved him multiple times already.

BOOM!

He arrived next to the body in less than a second, moving so fast he created another sonic boom. WHOOOSH!

His spatial awareness worked at full force, scanning the massive earthen corpse for any signs of life or hidden threats. However, he wasn't able to make sense of whether the giant core was still inside or not due to the remaining body being full of compact, dense mass that confused his senses.

Too much interference. Can't detect properly.

He jumped onto the giant body and began walking across it, trying to detect anything unusual with both his spatial awareness and his natural instincts.

Tap… tap…

He walked all over it, his naked form exposed to the air. His chiseled body was on full display, though his disheveled appearance had been cleaned away—he'd used water magic to wash the blood off while deciding what to do, wanting clear senses without the distraction of gore.

He couldn't find anything strange at first. The body seemed genuinely dead, just inert matter slowly cooling.

Until his bare feet touched the head of the monster.

There!

He felt the presence of mana—a concentrated layer around something, like a protective barrier hiding a secret within the skull.

Realizing something was terribly wrong, Leon didn't hold back. He started creating another black hole immediately, right on top of the giant head. His sword gleamed with a concentrated aura, ready to strike the spatial point the moment it was prepared to tear reality apart.

But then, suddenly, a voice entered his mind—cold, ancient, and filled with malicious intelligence.

Too late, human. You will die now.

BOOOOOOM!

The head of the monster exploded with devastating force. CRAAAAASH! WHOOOOOM!

But Leon teleported just in time because of the voice's warning—his paranoia saving his life once again.

Fwoosh!

His sword remained gleaming on full alert, his mystical eyes focused intensely on the dust cloud where the explosion had just occurred.

His spatial awareness detected something emerging—a humanoid figure, quite similar to the corrupted beast he'd destroyed in the forest before, but different. More concentrated. More dangerous.

He was about to attack when suddenly the figure vanished completely from his detection.

What?!

He heard a voice, not in his mind this time but actually in the air from directly behind him, accompanied by a devastating kick aimed at his spine.

You are done for, you strange human.

Leon teleported right on time, his instincts screaming danger.

Fwoosh!

But it was futile.

CRACK! BOOM!

Pain shot through him like lightning striking bone. His right side felt terrifying agony—ribs nearly broken despite his enhanced durability. His body was thrown like a twig, spinning uncontrollably through the air. Whrrrssh! Thud!

Blood erupted from his mouth. "Ghhk—!"

What just happened? I teleported when I heard the sound from behind! How did I still get hit?!

As he flew through the air in pain, healing himself with life energy even while trying to process what had occurred, he heard the voice again from behind—impossibly behind him despite having just teleported away.

You will become my nourishment, strange human.

Leon's blood ran cold.

It's behind me! Again!

His spatial awareness picked up the humanoid figure behind him, moving with speed that shouldn't be possible.

He teleported—not once this time, having learned his lesson. Five times in rapid succession, each jump taking him a hundred meters further.

Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!

Five hundred meters away from where the humanoid figure had been. He hadn't even laid his eyes upon it once, and that fact terrified him deeply.

Surely I'm safe now at this distance...

Once again, the voice came—casual, amused, certain.

It is futile, Strange human.

He saw it this time. Not because he turned around, but because the attack came from the front.

A pitch-black humanoid figure with a foot aimed at his chest. He noticed the spike protruding from below the foot—sharp enough to pierce dragon scales.

Leon moved his hands, using everything he could along with his sword to block the devastating strike.

CLANG! CRACK!

But the moment the kick connected with his chest, he realized one terrible thing.

His defenses caved inward. A hole appeared in his chest as the force transferred through his guard like it wasn't even there. Cracking sounds echoed through his ribcage as bones shattered.

CRRRUNCH! SNAP!

For the first time since gaining his new race, his actual bones had been broken. The pain was indescribable. Ghhhaaaa—!

As he was sent flying backward, his life energy working at full force to heal the catastrophic damage, he realized why this kept happening to him.

I'm simply weaker than this monster that emerged from the head.

It wasn't strange that he was being hit even after teleportation. The monster was simply too fast—faster than his reaction time, faster than his spatial teleportation, faster than his enhanced perception.

The humanoid monster stood thrice his height, towering at eighteen feet tall with a pitch-black, muscular body that seemed to absorb light itself. Every muscle was defined like carved obsidian, radiating overwhelming power. Thummm… thummm…

Leon's mind worked at full speed, trying desperately to think of how to deal with this situation.

Nothing was coming to him. He was already in his strongest form, using everything he had. There were no more cards to play, no hidden techniques to pull out.

Was it a mistake to come here in the first place?

Leon looked at the monster as he stabilized himself, his injuries fully healed through pure life energy expenditure.

Another attack should have come immediately, but it didn't. The monster remained standing in the same place where it had kicked him, not pursuing.

What is it doing?

His mind continued racing, trying to find any weakness, any strategy that might work. But he also couldn't escape from it—that much was painfully clear.

As the repercussions would be unacceptable if this terror reached Canon City.

The sound came once again as its pitch-black lips moved, forming words in that ancient, terrible voice.

Have you realized it now, Strange human?

Leon's eyes didn't even blink in the time it took the monster to move.

One moment, it was hundreds of meters away. The next, it stood ten meters in front of him.

Oh shit. I'm fucked!

What the hell was that speed?!

The path behind the creature showed the destruction its movement had caused—a trail of shattered earth and displaced air. KRSHHH! WHHRRMMM! It had moved, not teleported, despite looking instantaneous to Leon's enhanced perception.

The monster's voice came again, casual and certain of victory.

Accept your fate, human. Become my nourishment.

But Leon launched a full-power sword strike directly at it, desperation fueling the attack.

BOOOOOOM!

The distance was too close—the attack landed cleanly, his Aura-filled attack connecting with the monster's chest with every ounce of strength he possessed.

But the same voice came again, completely unaffected.

It is futile.

Leon's whole body trembled. His eyes shook as they took in the reality before him—the monster's completely unharmed body standing there as if his strongest attack had been nothing more than a gentle breeze.

No damage. None at all.

Thummm... silence...

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