Kai swept his gaze across the entire band of scourges of steel-tusked boars across from him.

Compared to the fish-monsters, the steel-tusked boars are far inferior. Not only are they possessed by animalistic instincts, but they also have nothing more than their beefy bodies. It was nothing compared to the fish-monster’s martial arts.

But it seemed he underestimated them too much.

Instead of attacking as an Awakened Monster would, blindly, the scourges flooded the other side.

Among them, one stood at the very front. No matter where it trotted its hooves, its eyes stayed focused on Kai with murderous intent. Is it the white smoke that made it berserk? No, I can somewhat sense its hate towards me. But why?

Just then, Kai remembered something.

Back when he was still mining, he had killed several steel-tusked boars.

And among those kills, he was spotted by another steel-tusked boar, caught in the act.

Like a wolf that’d remember the person who killed one of its pack members, this steel-tusked boar seemed to also be like that. They remembered Kai’s scent and appearance, and now, the time for revenge has come.

"I need to flee, but how?" Kai whispered and glanced at his right arm, which was now bruised. The punch from the senior earlier was stronger than anticipated. Now, even moving his right arm caused a sharp pain to stab into his bones.

He could try leaping over these scourges and make a run for it through the entrance.

But the senior was directly above it.

It was obvious that he’d be stopping Kai from leaving.

Roar—!

"Here it comes!"

Like an angry bull—the steel-tusked boar that was leading the scourges charged; the ground trembled underneath its weight. Right behind, the other steel-tusked boars followed, moving their hooves in a stampede.

Kai faked going left and then leaped over the leading steel-tusked boar.

He narrowly avoided the sharp tusks and then landed on his feet.

No time to recover—another steel-tusked boar lowered its head and charged faster, intending to impale Kai’s chest. His scimitar glinted as it sliced through the air, shattering the steel tusks as well as cutting its throat open.

Blood arced across the air.

Fluidly, he followed with a violent punch with his bare fist, launching it away.

It knocked several steel-tusk boars along the way, giving him some room to work with.

Kai’s scimitar carved expertly through another charging boar, and he pressed forward without pause. Not even the thick hide could hinder his blade from slicing through like slicing butter. He did not even feel much resistance.

Like a whirlwind, he kept going. Kept slicing, cutting, and cleaving.

A path of flesh and blood toward the main entrance was formed.

Four more steel-tusked boars dropped dead with cuts riddling their bodies.

Roar—!

Another one came from the blind spot, and Kai only had the time to brace himself.

A sharp hiss tore from his lips as the headbutt slammed into him; his chest muscles seized in a violent spasm. He drove one foot hard into the ground, killing the backward momentum— and his eyes blazed with dark light.

"Perion!"

Crack—!

From his forehead, a star emerged.

Perion burst into existence and seized the steel-tusked boar with both massive hands. With a single heave, he hurled it across the chamber. The monster crashed into a cluster of others like a living cannonball, scattering them as though they were bowling pins.

And with his superior strength, he pounded and threw more incoming monsters.

Crushing them all.

"I’m impressed," the senior praised from above. "I’ve never seen a Supernal of Moros use an imprint like yours. You really are a special case."

Kai gritted his teeth and lunged straight at the senior.

Since he was now dealing with Awakened Monsters, as long as he could drag the senior down from the wall, then the steel-tusked boars should also attack him. A chance to escape would appear then.

But he was too hopeful with that desire.

Something wrapped around his ankle and stopped him from reaching the senior.

Kai looked down and saw a tendril of bile water wrapping around his ankle like a tentacle, and before he could react, he was already pulled and slammed back down to the ground. His descent was thunderous, echoing across the chamber.

He caught his breath in the smoke and felt something wet against his palms. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

The ground had turned into vile water.

More tendrils erupted from the water, coiling around Kai’s body and locking him in place. He couldn’t move even when he really tried. The pounding of hooves thundered behind him. He twisted, glancing over his shoulder—the leading steel-tusked boar was already charging.

Its tusks were aimed straight at his spine.

"Perion!" He called for help.

Perion, who was dealing with multiple steel-tusked boars, snapped his head back.

He saw that Kai was pinned and wanted to help.

But more tendrils shot up from the water, snapping around his body and pulling taut with a shocking force. He stopped dead in his tracks. And Kai saw Perion couldn’t come to his rescue, and panic instantly flooded his chest.

Just as quickly, the panic ignited something else. Adrenaline. Strength.

He ripped his right arm free with brute force and wrenched his body sideways.

It was enough for him to pivot out of the kill zone.

Bam—!

Kai coughed a mouthful of blood as he flew across the chamber.

Even though he managed to avoid the sharp steel tusk, the charge still hurled him away.

He crashed against the wall and slid down, blood spilling from his mouth in a fresh surge. A sharp, stabbing pain lanced through his chest with every shallow breath. He could feel it; one of his ribs had cracked, and the sharp edge was kissing his lung.

Punishing him for inhaling too deeply.

More steel-tusked boars came in; three of them, and all are aiming to impale him.

Kai forced his body to move and leaped out of the way.

All three steel-tusked boars collided in a tangle of tusks and bulk, slamming into the wall with a thunderous crack before slumping unconscious. Kai sucked in ragged breaths and glanced back, bracing for the next wave, but what he saw was something else entirely.

Just a few steps away, the carcass on the floor was dissolving.

Throb—!

Kai clutched his chest, right above his heart, with his hand hard. Fingers digging into his skin. He felt a painful throb coming from his Primordial Lock. Before he could make sense of it, the carcass dissolved entirely.

Its entire form unraveled into dark energy and shot straight toward him.

His Primordial Lock greedily absorbed it.

And worse, the percentage increased to eighty-one percent.

"No..." Kai’s eyes widened completely in shock, not knowing what was going on. "What...? I didn’t. What?" He was at a loss for words, but like a domino effect, more and more carcasses dissolved into dark energy and shot towards him.

He watched in horror as the percentage rose one by one.

Kai hurled himself sideways—barely avoiding another charging steel-tusked boar. Inside his mind, he wanted to scream at Perion to stop the killing. Every steel-tusked bear that fell was being automatically converted into fuel for his Primordial Lock against his will.

Each death was inching him closer to the Night Elevation phenomenon.

One thing that he didn’t need right now.

He only needed twenty Awakened Monsters more; now it was even less.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Kai cursed aloud, not knowing what to do. "I can’t go through it right now."

Swish—!

Just then, the Primordial Lock in him glowed.

Its light crept downward until it reached another spherical object embedded in his stomach.

His second Primordial Lock.

Kai tried searching for a desperate solution—but the sleepiness struck without warning. And it struck hard. A wave of crushing, unnatural exhaustion that crashed over Kai forced him to stay on his knees.

Both his eyelids turned to lead—the world blurred.

It was the same blur that showed the darker side of the world, but the blur wasn’t the problem; the weight is. The impossible, bone-deep heaviness dragging at his consciousness. And then the whisperers from the Nightborns, telling him to let go.

Telling him to close his eyes and let the night comb his soul.

Pah—!

Kai slapped himself hard, trying to stay awake, but the sting barely registered.

Come on! Stay awake. Stay awake!"

A steel-tusked boar rammed him from the side, and the impact drove the air from his lungs and his body backward, crushing him against the cave wall with a wet, sickening crunch. Pain detonated through his ribs, his spine, his skull, everything.

Blood flooded up his throat and spilled over his lips—as the steel-tusked boar’s skull ground against his sternum, pinning him firmly against the wall. The pain should have snapped him awake, but it didn’t.

Nothing can stop the sleepiness.

Kai pushed against the steel-tusked boar’s skull, arms trembling.

His strength was a dying candle.

No chance for him to summon the strength needed to shove the monster back even an inch.

Don’t... Fall asleep.

Kai knew that if he did, he would most certainly wake up in the House of Night. And there, in that void, the Nightborns would eat him alive. They’d swarmed him before, and now, they would no doubt swarm him again.

He’d survived by luck, by Noxian’s intervention.

Luck like that didn’t strike twice.

If he entered the House of Night right now, weak and barely conscious, they’d tear him apart before he could even call for help. And even if he somehow survived, his body in reality would still be here—pinned and helpless.

If not the steel-tusked boars, the senior would finish him off while he was unconscious.

Either way, if he fell asleep, he’d die.

Kai shook his head violently, teeth clenched so hard that he tasted blood, fighting the weight with everything he had. But his hands were failing. His arms sagged. The Primordial Lock in his chest pulsed like a second darker heart, siphoning the dregs of his strength.

As more steel-tusked boars died, it absorbed more and more energy.

And soon, the percentage reached one hundred percent.

His vision narrowed as darkness claimed the edges. The cave, the boar, the senior—all of them dimmed, swallowed by a creeping tide of blackness. A curse slipped through Kai’s clenched teeth as his head dropped forward, chin touching his chest, too heavy to hold up.

Like something inevitable, the darkness took him.

Kai fell asleep.

On the wall above the entrance, the senior raised a brow behind the mask, confused.

’What happened? I was quite sure he’d survive for longer, considering how strong and durable he was,’ He thought inside, remembering that Kai was doing well but then faltered. ’He must run out of mana or something. Either way, it’s done.’

Lightly, the senior dropped down and headed out of the cave to search for his partner.

Kai is dead, and now, all he needed to do was wait.