Chapter 223: Unknown Enemy
As Adyr’s Malice-coated blade sliced through the mutant’s armored skin, it met resistance—but not enough to explain why the strike felt wrong. The cut was deep, yet it didn’t satisfy him. This wasn’t a matter of the mutant’s endurance.
The real problem was simpler, and more troubling.
During his attack, his footing had slipped. His swing had been just slightly off, not because of carelessness, but because something shifted beneath him.
At the final moment of his dash, the ground itself had moved.
"What’s going on?" He muttered, stepping back with a sharp frown.
The mutant’s chest wound, though deep, wasn’t fatal. Worse, the creature’s rapid regeneration had already begun, expected but unwelcome.
Adyr’s gaze dropped to the spot where his footing had failed.
That’s when he noticed the problem. There were no footprints where he had stepped.
Realizing this subtle but critical detail, he turned his gaze sharply to Selina. "Did you notice anything strange about these two mutants?" His tone was flat but firm.
Selina, standing just beyond the reach of the battle, answered quickly without taking her eyes off him. "Other than them being larger and stronger than usual? Nothing."
"There is something," Evangeline said softly, stepping cautiously from the narrow pocket of the cave. Her movements were slower now, but steady. The terror that had once paralyzed her seemed burned away. Her crimson eyes, dull and empty minutes ago, now carried a resolute clarity.
"Oh? And what would that be?" Adyr asked, his tone unchanged as he intercepted one mutant, slashing a deep line across its torso, then pivoted to kick the second into the stone wall, leaving it momentarily incapacitated.
In that brief moment, Adyr’s thoughts focused sharply. What he felt wasn’t a coincidence or instinct. Twice now, just as he moved to strike, the ground beneath his feet had shifted—not randomly, but with unsettlingly precise timing. This wasn’t some environmental hazard, nor was it a mistake.
Something was watching his movements, anticipating his attacks, and disrupting him at the exact moment that mattered most. This wasn’t a chance. It was deliberate, calculated interference.
The scene triggered a memory in Adyr’s mind. When he’d first fallen into these tunnels, he remembered how the collapsed ceiling behind him had sealed itself unnaturally, almost as if something had deliberately manipulated the earth to trap him. Now, the shifting ground under his feet felt too similar. Something wasn’t just moving the soil—it was controlling it. Maybe even the tunnels themselves.
"These two mutants... they’re Overlords. Known as Manipulator and Painter," Evangeline said quietly. Her voice trembled slightly as she watched Adyr’s relentless assault. The raw power he displayed, especially the ease with which he’d sent the large mutant flying with just a single kick, left her breathless.
"Those are the Overlords? Are you sure?" Selina’s expression tightened with surprise. It was difficult to recognize anything from the grotesque, deformed faces of the two mutants. To her, they looked no different from any others—just larger, more dangerous versions. But faces lost their meaning after such transformations.
"I’m sure," Evangeline nodded firmly. "No matter how much they change... I never forget a face."
Even Adyr found himself glancing her way for a moment. That wasn’t a common talent. Her talent for memory alone could have been the foundation of her Rank 2 advancement.
"Strange..." Adyr muttered as he pivoted, adjusting to the ever-shifting ground while keeping up his relentless offense. These mutants fought like beasts—driven purely by instinct, not thought. There was no intelligence in their movements. They couldn’t be the ones controlling the tunnels.
Whoever, or whatever, was moving the earth beneath him wasn’t one of these creatures. That much was clear now. Whatever controlled the mutants was likely the same entity controlling the ground itself.
If you can disrupt my blade, I’ll strike with something you can’t reach.
He realized trying to wound them with repeated slashes was futile. Each time he struck, their impossible regeneration healed the damage before he could land a follow-up blow.
So, he changed tactics.
Lifting one hand, Adyr extended his finger toward the nearest mutant. Energy surged in his palm as he activated Sonic Burst
."You two might want to fall back," he said flatly, his voice calm despite the tension thickening the air.
Selina and Evangeline exchanged a glance. Neither questioned him. The moment they saw the gathering energy, both turned and moved without hesitation, retreating swiftly down the corridor, further from the impending strike.
"You’re making me waste energy points. This better be worth it."
At Adyr’s fingertip, compressed sound waves rapidly gathered, forming a pulsating sphere charged at maximum capacity—5 energy units. Then, as black substance seeped through and merged with the vibrating mass, the sphere darkened, taking on an eerie, unstable appearance. A moment later, it launched like a cannon blast, slamming into the massive mutant’s chest with a deafening impact that shook the entire cave.
"He used a Rank 3 Spark?"
Evangeline nearly lost her balance from the shockwave. Turning back, she stared at the rising debris and clouds of dust ahead, her voice unsteady.
Echo Screamer was a Rank 2 Spark. But its skill, Sonic Burst, was pure offense—and with full charge, combined with Malice upgrades, it made sense she’d mistake it for a Rank 3 skill.
As the dispersing dust cleared, they saw the mutant rising again, despite the gaping hole torn through its chest—blood and shredded organs spilling onto the ground. Even an attack of that magnitude hadn’t finished it in a single strike. Worse, it seemed to be regenerating rapidly.
But before it could recover, another sonic blast—just as destructive and fast—slammed into the same spot. The impact rocked the cave once more, the air shaking with the force of the explosion.
"That makes 10. Just go down already, you stubborn mutant." Adyr frowned.
At last, seeing the mutant lying where it had crashed, its chest fully obliterated and no longer moving, he exhaled in quiet relief. Spending 10 energy points on a single enemy was irritating.
In his first attack, he’d aimed for its head, but the ground’s sudden shift had thrown off his balance, forcing him to redirect mid-shot. Luckily, even without a headshot, he’d hit its chest. And since the first strike had already damaged the area, his second blast to the same spot had been enough to finish it.
Without wasting time, he spun his finger, already targeting the next mutant charging towards him.
This time, he jumped mid-release, keeping balanced to avoid interference from the shifting ground. But whatever controlled the terrain wasn’t limited to the floor. From the wall, a jagged stone fragment suddenly hurled towards him, aiming to disrupt his shot.
Adyr’s awareness never left his surroundings. The instant he sensed movement along the wall, he drew the sword from his back, cleaving the projectile mid-air. In the same fluid motion, he unleashed the sonic burst, this time without deviation, aiming directly at the oncoming mutant’s head.
The blast struck clean. The mutant was thrown backwards, crashing hard onto the stone floor, where it lay still.
The shockwave hadn’t been strong enough to shatter its skull, but its face was left flattened. Most likely, the force had pulped its brain inside the cranium. One shot had been enough to kill it.