Think there will be a boss somewhere? Or maybe the System has something else in store for us? Leo sent to Hunter as he stepped on the narrow path leading to the rger isnd. The vast Void loomed below him, waiting to e anything unfortuo fall.

  'Hiding. Waiting,' Hunter hissed back, their mind now fully ected.

  I guess you're right. Leo hummed, sing the shadow forest not that far away. They just wouldn't run away and then hide if there wasn't anythio protect them. The question is, what?

  'Soon.'

  Yeah, I know. Leo sighed and sped up a bit. It wasn't long before the dark, misty grass of the rge isnd ed his feet. He could feel the artificial pnts toug them, yet it was nothing like the real thing.

  Weird but not disf. Doubt it would be the same for anyone else though.

  Slowly, Leo steeped into the shadow forest, his eyes and head always moving to take in the sights. Up close, ail could hide from him, be it the uneven lines irees' bark or soft patterns burned into the leaves. Everythiruly resembled the real thing and, in some cases, seemed even more beautiful.

  I am probably a bit biased. Not everyone feel the shadows flowing through the entire isnd like me after all...

  Hunter's snort echoed through his mind, yet the beast didn't eborate on the cause of its amusement. Leed a walking forward, weaving through the shadowy rowth.

  He thought about using Hunter's Pulse to s the area, but going by what happened in the Earth's part of the , it wouldn't achieve much. Shadows provided the Voidlings here with the perfect cover, ae his ability being at Epic quality, it was either still too weak, or he had no idea how to use it correctly.

  Probably the tter and my Vision attribute being quite shit. Not that I have any more points to spare for it...

  'Careful,' Hunter growled suddenly. 'They close. See?'

  Leo nodded, knowing well what the beast meant. Ever since he ehe forest, he noticed tiny figures moving among the trees, him. Not once did the small creatures try to attack or even e closer, but the fact remaihat they refused to leave him alone.

  Shadow Tails. What an iing species. From what little we saw, they are probably the best-anized Voidlings I have met till now... Well, not ting the Ameists, but those are ants. Apparently, not even the Void kill off their inal purposes.

  'Focus.'

  Leo rolled his eyes. I am, but sure, whatever. I probably let my mind drift a bit too much. You 't bme me, though. There is just too much to think about...

  'Still. Focus.'

  Yeah, yeah. Leo let out a long sigh, his gaze jumping from one Shadow tail that decided to peek out from behind the tree to another. More are ing out. We are close to something important, or they are preparing an attack. Ready, Hunter?

  The beast answered with a roar, and Leo smirked just a bit. The bdes upon his arms extended, already covered in shadows and Kiss of Death. Essence alsed out of his soul, ready to assist his body with fresh Reinfort.

  The's see what they are hiding. Leo chuckled and broke into a sprint.

  It barely took half a minute, if even that, before he pushed past the st of the inanits and jumped into a vast circur clearing. Nothing seemed really out of pce there except for one huge pile of shadows resting in the middle.

  Before Leo could even take the first step toward it, the pile stirred, slowly expanding. A Voidling grew in front of his eyes, starting with a familiar, if much more powerful, feliorso and head. Three pair of legs followed, along with the same number of overly long tails tipped with a sharp, dark bde.

  Finished with the formation of its body, the monster howled, the wave of sound sending a tremble through the entire isnd. However, Leo didn't answer or even move, his eyes still glued to the beast that could easily reach his shoulders.

  An rown panther with way too many tails. Leo summed up as the beast's four hiensed, ready to jump into a. And its coat... It's like the thing is just another shadow struct. Only it isn't.

  Apex Shadow Cw (Voidling) | Rank: E- | LVL: 16 | Type: Shadow, Grace, Surface

  Well, Hunter, you wanted a good fight. I think you just got your wish. Leo grimaced. Apex Voidling. I don't think this will be anything like ht against the Ameist Queen. But hey, it at least isn't listed as a Special type; that has to t for something.

  However, despite the Apex Shadow Cw most likely taking the top spot of the monsters Leo faced, he didn't worry. Bloodlust and buddliement seeped into his veins, screaming at him to take a. Those feelings might not have beeirely his, but he embraced them heless, Hunter howling in glee in his mind.

  Bestiary.

  Race: Voidling | Subspecies: Shadow CwExpected Potential: E- to E+on of choice: Shadows, Tails, Cws, JawsKnown weaknesses: Essence reservesAn evolution in the Shadow Tail line. Just like their lesser kin, they hunt alo do not fear head-on frontations. Almost every part of their bodies evolved to bee a on, and each Shadow ows well how to utilize them in a fight. Additionally, their trol over shadows is superior to any other species of the same ranking. Unfortunately, they are often incapable of using any major teiques due to using most of their Esseo sustain their unique bodies.

  Apex variant: Only entered inside s. Thanks to the nature of the s, Apex Shadow Cws often form a deeper e with them, thus eliminating their worst weakness.

  Strong, Leo and Huhought at the same time.

  Uh the Guarding Two-tailed Shadow, the System didn't spare aails. A wele surprise as this Voidling definitely wasn't in the same css as the Amesit Queen. They his info if they wao win or even survive.

  No weakhough. Leo grimaced, preparing himself to jump into battle. Gono test it fully first. I want to know what it do before f a better pn.

  Yet, before Leo could even move, the Voidling acted first, its three tails stabbing into the ground.

  For a moment, nothing happened. But then a rumble shook the earth beh Leo. Reinfort filled his body as he jumped high, just barely avoidiing skewered by a rge cluster of bck spikes that erupted from the ground.

  Not that it was the end of the dahe sed Leo he earth shook once more, f him to dodge to the side. Of course, it would be too much for the Voidling to stop there, and so he had to roll away from another eruption of spikes before he could breathe again.

  Three eruptions. One for each tail. Leo noted, slowly letting more and more bloodlust fill his body and mind. I wonder how often it do this.

  It was a wrong question to ask as the Apex moook it upon itself to prove that it didn't have any cooldown, thus jumpstarting the game of cat and mouse. Only this time, Leo wasn't idle and rushed the beast.

  With a roar, he took the first swing at the beast, missing by just an inch as the Voidling jumped and spun mid-air. Its tails came free from the ground and shed out, the sharp-tipped edges hoping to skewer their enemy on the first try.

  Not today. Leo growled, battling the tails away with his own bdes. His own affinity also answered the call and formed a few spears that instantly flew at the Voidling that nded a few feet away.

  The Apex hissed, spping the projectiles with his paws as if they were annoying flies.

  As expected. Probably nothing short of a powerful Eruption will do anything here.

  With this thought in mind, Leo jumped into the fray again, Reinfort burning through his muscles. He was faster than the beast, not by a small margin at that. Yet, despite this, the Voidling had three tails and at least two other limbs to help against his onsught.

  To make matters worse, the beast often used one of its tails to create another eruption of spikes. As a result, more than once Leo had to retreat, with blood slowly coating his body ihere was just too much to defend against, and he had only two limbs as his own tails, which, while useful, weren't as mobile or long as the Voidling's.

  A thought for another day. Leo flinched, cradling his left arm. I think that's enough pying around. If it got anything else, I 't force it to act when I am like this.

  Hunter screeched in agreement, and another surge of bloodlust exploded through Leo's body and mind. However, this time, it didn't stop there; he led it right into his soul, creating a full circle betweehree pilrs.

  "Focused Bloodlust," Leo growled, the pain fotten as his mind cleared, red hues appearing in his vision. "e, kitty, show me what you got."

  With rerength and Reinfort boosted through the roof, Leo attacked, throwing swing after swing at the massive cat. The Voidling didn't back down and defended as well as it could, all of its limbs w together in a battle of dominance.

  The first time Leo scored a cut across the beast's frohe Apex howled, shadows immediately gathering around the wound. It didn't matter, though. A familiar silvery glow finally appeared on the Voidling's body, giving Leo another push.

  His speed somehow doubled for a sed, and the Voidling just barely dodged, trying to follow up with a tail strike of its own. However, it was all for naught. Leo slid uhe limb and brought one of his bdes down, the edge igniting with crimson fire the moment it ected with the Apex's side.

  Phantom Erasure.

  The power of the strike alone almost khe beast off its feet. Regardless, not even a sed passed before the deep wound exploded, filling the entire isnd with a pained howl.

  "End of the road, beast," Leo hissed, poung once more.

  With plenty of silver spots scattered across the Voidling's body, Leo had an easy way forward. Or at least it should have been easy...

  Halfway through his dash, the Apex suddenly roared and stomped hard on the ground.

  Every single warning bell rang inside Leo's head. He tried to jump, to dodge what he knew was ing, but there was no time.

  Like a wave, the earth exploded all around the Apex, spikes erupting right after. No inch of the clearing ared from the same fate.

  Leo screamed as one of the spikes went right through his left shoulder. Aried to pierce his leg, but even through the pain, his body listened and shifted to avoid the maiming. His tails also acted on their own, ing around the slowly disappearing spikes to stop the dest into the sea of pain.

  Fug hell, Leo hissed, jerking his shoulder off the spike. Blood splurted in waves out of the hole, but he didn't care. Only rage and never-ending hunger now flowed through his veins.

  "You will die."

  All the spikes finally disappeared, leaving the earth upturned yet safe agaiepped forward, his tunnel vision not breaking away from the growling Voidling oher side. With aep, the beast finally reacted, plunging two of its tails into the ground.

  Only no new spikes appeared. Instead, by the Apex's sides, shadows rose, slowly shifting into two more monsters, their ruby eyes glinting.

  Leo didn't stop.

  Chaos65