After drawing closer to the crow's body, its mandibles opened wide. Then, it began to slowly devour the humanoid crow, treating it like a first-class meal, paying no heed to Nox and his teammates who were watching the spectacle, dumbfounded.

The sound of the devouring was sickening, the noises of chewing and swallowing echoing in the air.

Nox and his teammates watched the spectacle, frozen in horror. They couldn't tear their eyes away from the scene, as if they were mesmerized by the monstrosity unfolding before them.

The unknown monster continued to devour the crow, its appetite insatiable. It did not seem to have noticed the presence of Nox and his teammates, or perhaps it did not consider them a threat.

As it ate the crow's body, its own body began to change. Its limbs strengthened, its muscles swelled, and its skin became darker, thicker.

Nox realized that this unknown monster was appropriating the crow's power, absorbing it into itself.

"He... he's eating him to take his power," whispered Johan, his mind reeling.

They all looked at him, their eyes wide with fear.

"What do we do?" one of them asked, his voice trembling.

Nox shook his head, trying to clear his confused mind.

"We need to..." Just as Nox began to speak to give directions to his teammates, who were still in shock after the appearance of such a monster, his body twitched and a shiver of death ran down his spine, which interrupted him.

The unknown creature slowly turned its head towards them.

As Nox's eyes met the hideous face of this monstrous creature, his system emitted a notification.

[Ding!]

The Primordial Exsanguinator (S+ Rank)

Type: Aberrant Entity – Intelligent Predator

Danger: Extreme

Orientation - Nature: Blood, flesh, tracking, manipulation

Intelligence: Very high (capable of learning, trapping, imitating)

Skills:

Hemogenesis, Cognitive Assimilation, Fractured Body, Coagulation Cry, Absolute Regeneration, ???, ???

Description:

The Primordial Exsanguinator is an ancient predator from a dimension where blood is a living resource. It is a hyper-intelligent creature. It is not a monster that charges.

It observes, imitates the voices it hears, lures victims into traps, mentally manipulates using absorbed memories, and toys with fear before killing.

Upon seeing the information on the Exsanguinator's skills and description provided by the system, Nox's confidence level dropped. Even though he maintained his proud bearing and looked unshakable on the outside, deep down he knew that things were going to go badly.

"S+ Rank?" he wondered, "this is definitely the final boss of this portal."

But as his eyes shifted slightly from the Exsanguinator to its mount, the system emitted a new notification, and Nox gasped. His face contorted; he was both surprised and horrified by what he saw. If earlier he had estimated their chance of survival at 40%, now that figure seemed like a mere pipedream.

[Ding!]

The Chimeric Cleaver (S+ Rank)

Type: Bestial Titan – Wild Magic – Absolute Predator

Danger: Extermination

Orientation - Nature: Wild, animalistic, and magical, but endowed with a supernatural fighting instinct

Intelligence: High

Skills:

Treacherous Savagery, Crystallized Claws, Predator's Dance, Cataclysmic Roar, Elemental Chain Breath, Energy Burst, Runic Borrowing, Magic Resistance

Description:

A quadrupedal bestial colossus, 2.5 meters high.

Its body is impregnated with natural runes, engraved into its muscles as if magic itself flowed through its veins. A mane of wild, aurora-colored energy around its neck. It possesses crystallized claws, shimmering like magic glass. A segmented tail, covered in runic plates, capable of striking like a hammer, and finally, multiple eyes that change color according to the magic used.

"How is this possible? How can this thing take a monster of the same rank as itself as a mount? Even if their danger levels are different, it's too much..."

The system had provided him with information about the monsters before him. Anyone else would have been overwhelmed or already succumbed to despair upon seeing the capabilities of these monsters. But not Nox.

Even when all conditions were met for his brain to boil over, he remained calm and seemed rational.

Then he heard the sound of a new notification in his head.

[Ding]

[You have received a quest]

[Quest: Kill the Exsanguinator and the Chimeric Cleaver

Rank: S+

Success: ???

Failure: Death]

[Accept/Refuse]

"That's all I needed. You damn goddess," he cursed in his heart.

[Quest accepted. May the goddess bless you]

Right after his curse towards the goddess, the quest was automatically accepted. Nox wanted to continue insulting her out loud, but the situation was such that he had lost his sense of mockery.

...

[Kyralia Empire]

Outside the portal, it had already been two weeks since Nox and his team entered the portal. Since then, no movement, no sign.

"Is this normal?" she asked, her face worried. "Tiffa, they've been in that portal for two weeks without giving any sign of life."

Even though guardians were watching the surroundings of the portal, waiting for the slightest change, Tilda came here every day to check the state of things herself.

"Miss, you know, Johan is strong, and I bet Nox is too, so calm down. It's an S+ rank portal; I'd be surprised if they could close it in a week."

The day after Nox and the other guardians entered, Tilda was supposed to return home to Erian, but following an order the Emperor of Erian had sent her in a last-minute letter, she was forced to stay here in Kyralia as an ambassador until the entire mission was completed.

Tilda didn't hate it; on the contrary, she liked the idea of staying a little longer here and discovering Nox's empire, but something was off about this whole story. Why would her uncle want her to stay here? Could the Empress have convinced him? But for what reason?

Not being naive, she knew that Nox's expedition into this portal was ambiguous. She wondered what the empires could have been plotting together.

How could two united empires send about ten A-rank and a few S-rank guardians into an S+ rank portal? It was clearly suspicious. Nox, as intelligent as he was, she knew he must have realized everything that was going on.

"If Nox went, it's because he knows he has a chance of surviving," she thought, trying to reassure herself. "He wouldn't want to die when I've just told him I'm pregnant, would he?"

Tilda smiled at the thought, her heart warming at the idea of the coming child.

If she remained serene without showing much distress, it was because she trusted Nox. She knew that Nox would do anything to come back to her, and that calmed her. She was sure he had the necessary strength to come out of that portal safe and sound.

"Let's go back to the palace," she told Tiffa before turning towards a luxurious carriage waiting for them in the distance.

Tiffa nodded, and they settled in. The carriage set off, slowly moving away from the portal.

"Here we go again for hours of travel," sighed Tiffa, stretching in her seat.

"Tiffa, do you think what the empire is doing is reasonable?" Tilda asked, her gaze fixed on the road. "Sending about thirty people into a portal of such magnitude is simply criminal."

"Maybe they have skills adapted for this portal," Tiffa replied. "You know well that not everything is limited to rank for a guardian."

"Yes, but still, A-rank guardians in an S+ rank portal... Where on earth is the logic? They are good as dead every time."

"Miss, all of this may have a reason that is still unknown to you," intervened Tiffa, who had been listening to the conversation in silence.

"The empire would not make such decisions without having a good reason."

Tilda looked at her with an unreadable expression, her gaze lost in the distance.

"Don't be so naive," she murmured. "At first, they said there were four S+ rank portals ready to fracture. Why, for two weeks, hasn't any other unit been dispatched to the other portals to close them? I hope Nox, Johan, and the others will return soon."

Tiffa looked at Tilda, the one who had always treated her as a friend instead of a simple personal guard, and shook her head. As a friend, and knowing Tilda with her curious nature and idealism, she did not want Tilda to take a close interest in this matter. It could well become dangerous for her, even if she was part of the Erianys family.

"Tilda, please, don't dig too deeply into this matter. I have a feeling it could become dangerous if you get involved," Tiffa said, her face worried and stern. "Promise me!"

"I promise you," Tilda finally replied, seeing the serious look on her friend's face.

...

A/N: You must have noticed some changes regarding the system, haven't you?

I'm tempted to explain the reasons to you, but I'll refrain. If you are patient, all of this will be explained later.

But well, if you are in a hurry and curious, you can ask your questions, and I will answer you as much as possible.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.