The Obsidian Howler didn't hesitate. With a powerful push of its obsidian-clawed paws, it leaped at the Mutated Bone Serpent, moving like a black blur through the air. The serpent coiled instinctively, its bones rattling as it tried to react, but the Howler was too fast.
CRACK!
The wolf's jaws latched onto the serpent's spine, its obsidian fangs sinking between the reinforced bone segments. The undead beast thrashed violently, trying to shake off the attacker, but the Howler's claws dug deep, refusing to let go.
Keon watched, slightly intrigued, as the Howler's adaptive reflexes came into play. Each time the Bone Serpent twisted or coiled, the wolf shifted its weight, using the momentum to rip apart the creature piece by piece.
With a sharp growl, the Howler yanked its head back—a massive chunk of bone and necrotic energy was torn from the serpent's form. The undead screeched, but unlike living creatures, it felt no pain—only instinctual resistance.
But it was losing.
The Howler's relentless assault continued, biting, tearing, and clawing, its obsidian spikes crackling with unstable energy as it began to dismantle the massive undead piece by piece.
Keon sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Yeah… this thing's a menace."
Keon exhaled sharply and raised his hand. The Rift Barrier shimmered into existence, surrounding him in a faint, distorted glow. He could feel the wolf's chaotic energy within the space—wild, aggressive, and completely focused on ripping apart the Bone Serpent.
"Alright, enough of that," Keon muttered.
He contracted the Rift Barrier for a brief moment, feeling the wolf's presence fully contained inside. Then, in an instant—
BOOM!
He expanded the barrier outward with extreme force, sending the Obsidian Howler flying like a missile through the air. The beast twisted mid-flight, its obsidian spikes crackling as it tried to regain control, but the sheer force launched it far away, crashing through trees and ruins in the distance.
Keon lowered his hand and glanced at the Bone Serpent, now missing chunks of its form. Despite the severe damage, it still moved—twitching, shifting, slowly reassembling itself.
Keon tilted his head, eyes narrowing in thought.
It's still alive… well, undead, I guess.
He crouched down, watching it closely. If left alone, would it really adapt to the new energy source of this world? Or would it simply wither away without mana to sustain it?
Only one way to find out.
With one last glance toward the distant crash site of the Howler, Keon smirked.
"Let's see what happens."
A deep, guttural growl echoed through the ruins as the Obsidian Howler dug its claws into the dirt, stopping itself from tumbling further. Its glowing crimson eyes flickered between Keon and the Bone Serpent, its body tensed, fur bristling with unstable energy.
For a moment, the beast snarled, baring its obsidian fangs as if considering another attack. But something in its instincts screamed at it—this wasn't worth it.
Its wounds had regenerated, but it had been thrown, burned, and forced into a battle with something unnatural.
The Bone Serpent, though badly damaged, still moved. Its bones twitched and shifted, an eerie sign that it wasn't done yet.
And Keon?
That damned human had been untouchable from the very start.
The Howler exhaled sharply, ears twitching as it scanned the surroundings. No sign of the woman. No guarantee of an easy kill.
With one last, frustrated huff, the massive beast turned sharply and bolted into the wilderness.
It didn't look back.
It didn't care about ripping apart the undead anymore.
It didn't care about hunting the woman anymore.
It just ran.
The Bone Serpent lay motionless for a long moment, its massive skeletal frame half-buried in the cracked earth. The deep gouges from the Obsidian Howler's claws ran along its ribs, some bones even split or shattered.
Then—a twitch.
A faint blue ember flickered within the serpent's wounds, tiny at first, like the last breath of a dying fire. But then another spark ignited… and another.
The jagged cracks across its body pulsed weakly, struggling against the damage. Its tail jerked, bones grinding against each other as if refusing to stay broken.
Keon narrowed his eyes, watching closely.
The serpent was struggling, its body writhing in slow, disjointed movements. The blue embers that seeped from its injuries weren't like mana… this was something different.
For a brief moment, its skull lifted slightly, the flickering light within its empty sockets dim yet persistent.
Then, with a final shuddering pulse, the blue embers spread just a little further, mending a few of the smaller fractures.
Keon crossed his arms, intrigued.
It wasn't fully adapting yet… but it wasn't dead either.
The blue embers flickered and pulsed, struggling against the overwhelming damage. For a moment, it seemed like the Bone Serpent would remain broken, its skeletal form unable to sustain itself in this foreign world.
But then, something changed.
The embers gathered in the deepest wounds, lingering around the shattered bones. Slowly, the cracks began to fill, not with normal bone, but with a strange, translucent blue substance.
It was almost like crystal, solidifying where the breaks had been. The more the embers gathered, the more the serpent's body regained its structure.
Keon's eyes gleamed with curiosity.
Large chunks of missing bone were replaced entirely by these ethereal blue formations, reshaping the creature's body. Its ribcage, once shattered, now had jagged crystalline reinforcements.
The skull, still cracked, pulsed faintly with the same eerie glow. The embers hadn't fully restored it yet, but they were spreading—working.
Keon muttered to himself, "So it's really adapting…"
The serpent twitched again, its movements more stable now. It wasn't just recovering—it was changing.
Keon let out a long breath and plopped down onto a chunk of rubble, resting his arms on his knees. He didn't care about any lingering danger—the wolf had run off, the woman had vanished, and the undead serpent was in the middle of some weird transformation.
The sky above was shifting, the sun slowly dipping toward the horizon, casting long shadows across the ruined landscape. A faint orange glow stretched over the wreckage, blending into the cold blue embers flickering from the Bone Serpent's wounds.
Keon watched in silence, completely unbothered, as if he were just waiting for the next scene of a play to unfold.
"Guess I'll just see how this goes…" he thought, tapping his fingers idly against his knee.
The wind picked up slightly, rustling his cloak. Distant howls echoed from the wilderness, but he didn't even flinch.
Whatever happened next—he'd deal with it then.