The trio couldn't believe their eyes—Ashtor had vanished.
Luke struggled to push himself to his knees, his entire body trembling from exhaustion. The searing pain from both stab wounds threatened to send him back down, each pulse of agony hammering through his arms. His breath came in ragged gasps, sweat dripping from his forehead as he fought against the dizziness creeping in.
Did he leave? No, there's no way. He was too set on killing us. Not to mention, he just said he's using his trump card. So how? How did he vanish?
Before he could even fully bring himself up, Ashtor reappeared—directly in front of him. His blade gleamed with malice, already descending toward Luke's skull.
Luke couldn't move. His body refused to respond, locked in place by sheer exhaustion and pain.
Then—
SHLK!
Kuro stepped in, taking the full force of the slash. Blood splattered across the floor as the blade carved through his flesh. His massive body trembled from the impact, his breathing uneven, his form staggering.
"Ashtor went invisible again!" Eleanor called out, frantically scanning the area, her bow drawn but useless against an enemy she couldn't see.
"Kuro!" Luke screamed, limping forward in desperation. His hands were trembling—not just from pain, but from the sheer helplessness clawing at his mind.
Kuro let out a deep, ragged breath, his voice firm despite the horrific wound on his torso. "Don't worry about me. He can't kill me."
Even as he spoke, his form shifted—his body liquefying, flesh knitting itself back together, rapidly closing the gaping wound as he entered his recovery form. The grotesque sight of muscles reforming, bones realigning, and blood retracting into his veins was almost disturbing, but to Luke, it was a small relief.
Kuro wasn't dead.
But even so… they weren't winning.
Eleanor had two arrows left. She stood ready, her hands steady despite the overwhelming tension. But her greatest strength—her accuracy—was useless when she couldn't even see her target. It didn't matter how fast she could fire if she couldn't aim before Ashtor vanished again.
The battle had become a cycle.
The Cycle of Death
Ashtor struck at Luke.
Kuro intercepted, taking the hit.
Ashtor disappeared.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Each interaction lasted less than a second.
A flash of silver. Kuro's body convulsed from impact. Blood sprayed.
An instant later— he reformed, healing the damage as quickly as it came.
A flicker of movement. Ashtor's presence vanished, slipping into the void.
Again. Again. Again.
They were stuck, forced into a pattern that was not theirs to control. It was suffocating—like being trapped in a collapsing tunnel, each second crushing their hopes of victory.
Kuro's movements grew slower. His liquid form, once thick and resilient, was thinning out. His recovery was fast, but not infinite.
Luke was useless. His body refused to move. His arms hung limp, bleeding, his mind fogging from exhaustion. His thoughts were growing sluggish. His heart pounded.
Eleanor was powerless. Her arrows couldn't hit an enemy that wasn't there.
Ashtor controlled everything.
And he knew it.
Each time he reappeared, his voice cut through the battlefield. A word at a time. A taunt. A declaration. A sentence carved into their impending deaths.
"DO…"
"YOU…"
"ALL…"
"SEE…"
"NOW…"
"YOU'RE…"
"NOTHING…"
"MORE…"
"THAN…"
"PREY!"
Luke clenched his teeth, rage clashing with despair.
Think, Luke! THINK!
Ashtor struck.
Kuro intercepted.
Ashtor disappeared.
Again. Again. Again.
Luke was getting slower.
Kuro was getting thinner.
Eleanor was running out of time.
His power is intangibility—so why can he become fully invisible?
This had to be Resonance. There was something here that only he could understand.
Use your modern knowledge!
Light.
Light is how the human eye perceives objects. Light hits an object, bounces off, and reaches the eyes—allowing people to see.
But what if light never made contact?
That's it!
Ashtor wasn't just turning invisible—he was using his intangibility to let light pass through him. That's why they couldn't see him. His body wasn't reflecting light.
A brilliant realization—yet a horrifying one.
Because it meant—
They had no way to counter it.
Everything they had relied on—sight, coordination, counterattacks—was meaningless against an enemy who didn't exist within the realm of visibility.
And worst of all, Ashtor knew it.
With every cycle, Kuro wore down. His body flickered, his once-liquid form starting to solidify from exhaustion.
He's going to break soon.
Luke gritted his teeth so hard his jaw ached. They were running out of time.
But amidst the fear… the doubt… the overwhelming sense of helplessness…
None of them noticed Eleanor.
Something had changed.
She stood on an elevated platform, her gaze locked onto the battlefield below. Her fingers tightened around her bow, but she wasn't aiming.
Her breath was steady.
Her shoulders were relaxed.
The atmosphere around her had shifted.
Advent leaked from her body— no, it overflowed. Wisps of power curled around her form like a living entity, her presence growing, deepening, sharpening into something primal.
Her lips parted, her voice a mere whisper—yet it cut through the chaos like a blade.
"I am a hunter."