The Alpha’s body thrashed violently against the grip of Tangible Shadows, its spectral form flickering between corporeal and immaterial, but Ren didn’t waver.

  The beast snarled, baring its silvered fangs as its claws raked against the ground, carving deep trenches into the earth. Each of its movements carried an unnatural weight—like reality itself twisted around it.

  Ren tightened his stance, his breath steady despite the tension in his muscles.

  This thing was powerful. Unnatural.

  But not invincible.

  “You’re not the first thing I’ve faced that refuses to die,” Ren muttered, watching as the Alpha continued to fight against the creeping tendrils of darkness constricting its limbs. “You’re just the first one that’s aware it’s already lost.”

  The wolf stilled.

  Those glowing, soulless eyes locked onto his.

  And then—it laughed.

  Not a sound. Not a voice.

  But in his mind.

  Bold words, hunter.

  Ren’s jaw clenched. The sheer pressure of the Alpha’s will pressed against his own, an overwhelming force threatening to drown him in an endless void.

  But he pushed back.

  The Alpha’s glowing fangs parted. A final test.

  Ren understood.

  Beat me in my domain.

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  Then the darkness surged.

  The world around him shifted, folding inward, and suddenly Ren wasn’t in the forest anymore.

  He stood in a realm of endless black, where the ground pulsed like the surface of a still lake. The only light came from the Alpha’s burning silver form, standing before him like a god of the abyss.

  A realm between life and death.

  A place where essence—true essence—was laid bare.

  Ren’s Abyssal Veil flickered around him, but here, in this realm, the Alpha’s dominance was absolute.

  It lunged.

  Ren’s body moved on instinct, the Veil shifting him back just as the beast’s claws carved through where he stood. A fraction of a second slower, and he’d be missing half his torso.

  Alright, no mistakes.

  This wasn’t a fight of brute strength.

  It was predator against predator.

  Ren twisted his fingers—Shadow Bonding coiling into thread-like tethers, linking him to the Alpha’s own shifting form.

  For a split second, they were connected.

  And in that instant—Ren saw.

  The Alpha’s memories. Its hunts. Its past.

  And its purpose.

  This thing wasn’t just a beast.

  It was a test. A creature woven from the same essence that bound this world together.

  And Ren had to prove he was worthy.

  The Alpha lunged again, but this time, Ren didn’t dodge.

  He stepped forward.

  The Abyssal Veil coiled inward. Shadows condensed around his arm, and with a single strike—he reached into the Alpha’s chest.

  Its essence roared against him, a raging tide of raw willpower.

  But Ren held firm.

  And he claimed it.

  A final, piercing howl echoed through the void—

  —before everything collapsed.

  The blackness shattered.

  And Ren was back in the forest.

  The Alpha’s body lay still, its essence fading into wisps of silver mist. The other wolves—**the ones still bound by Ren’s shadows—**vanished into the dark, their presence erased.

  The hunt was over.

  Ren exhaled. His heart thundered in his chest, but his expression remained still. Calm.

  Then, a notification appeared before him.

  —[New Ability Acquired: Abysswalker]—

  Ren’s lips twitched.

  Now that sounded useful.

  He straightened, rolling his shoulders as he glanced at the spot where the Alpha had fallen. No corpse. No remains.

  Just like that, it was gone.

  He turned away.

  Time to head back.