Here's an enhanced version of Keon using Rift Barrier more accurately in this chapter. I've refined the mechanics of how the barrier works while keeping the intensity of the battle.
The monster moved—too fast for something that massive.
A blur of muscle, claws, and writhing, pulsing flesh, closing the distance in an instant.
Keon's instincts screamed—MOVE.
But there was no time to dodge.
Rift Barrier.
Reality folded.
A ripple of violet energy erupted around Keon, distorting space itself. The monster's jagged claws didn't slam into the barrier.
They vanished.
For a fraction of a second, the tips of the monster's claws simply ceased to exist—phased into nothingness.
Then, with a shuddering CRACK, they reappeared ten meters away, embedded deep into the crumbling ruins behind Keon. The ground split apart where they landed, a delayed explosion of force obliterating everything in their path.
Keon exhaled sharply, heart pounding. That was close.
The Mutated Bloodwick lurched back, its skeletal head tilting, empty sockets locking onto Keon with unsettling awareness.
Then—movement.
Again?!
The monster's grotesque, oversized arms flexed, raw flesh writhing as it launched another strike—this time faster.
Keon gritted his teeth.
Rift Barrier.
Space twisted.
Instead of blocking the attack, the violet sheen of the barrier shifted, bending the attack's trajectory. The monster's claw, aimed directly for Keon's chest, was displaced mid-swing—warped away and redirected into the air beside him.
The creature's momentum carried it forward, its own attack betraying it.
Keon saw the opening.
"Stella! Now!"
Stella had already raised her weapon, the plasma gun humming with lethal energy. She fired—a brilliant arc of searing light tearing through the air.
For a second, Keon thought it would work.
Then the plasma bolt struck the monster's shimmering, almost liquid-like flesh—
And bounced off.
The energy dispersed harmlessly, scattering into the darkened wasteland.
Stella's breath hitched. "You're kidding me."
The monster reacted instantly.
It twisted, shifting its full weight toward her. Its grotesque back-arms flexed—lunging forward.
Keon didn't hesitate.
Space fractured.
A second distortion flared into existence, this time encasing Stella in a shimmering violet field.
The monster's claws reached her—only to phase straight through, transported elsewhere in an instant.
CRACK.
The redirected attack reappeared mid-air, hundreds of meters away, striking the barren landscape instead. The sheer force obliterated a distant ruined tower in an instant.
Stella staggered, wide-eyed. "Holy shit."
The monster paused.
It flexed its back-arms again, slower this time—deliberate.
Keon's gut twisted.
It was testing the barrier.
Then—
[System Alert: Anomaly Identified]
Keon's vision flickered.
Golden text carved itself into the air, illuminating the grotesque horror standing before them.
[Mutated Bloodwick - Experimental Aberration]
[Rank 6: Catastrophic]
[Status: Unstable]
Keon's stomach turned cold.
Mutated. Experimental.
The system had scanned thousands of enemies before.
It had never used those words.
And the worst part?
The monster wasn't attacking anymore.
It was analyzing them.
Stella's breath was unsteady. "Keon…"
The Mutated Bloodwick flexed its arms again, this time with a deliberate slowness.
Then—
It smiled.
A grotesque, impossible smile, skeletal jaws stretching just a little too wide.
It wasn't hunting them.
It was toying with them.
And it had just decided—
They weren't prey.
They were entertainment.
Keon's hands clenched into fists.
This wasn't going to be a fight.
It was going to be a war.
The air grew heavier, thick with something unseen—an oppressive force pressing down on Keon and Stella like an invisible weight.
The Mutated Bloodwick took a slow step forward, its towering frame casting a monstrous shadow beneath the moonlight. That grotesque smile never wavered.
Then—
It spoke.
A voice like fractured stone, grinding and broken, yet too precise to be mindless.
"You…"
The sound vibrated through the ruined landscape, guttural and ancient, as if countless voices had been stitched together into one.
Keon's fingers twitched. His entire body tensed on instinct.
"You are not like the others."
Stella exhaled sharply, gripping her weapon tighter. "It… talks?"
Bloodwick tilted its head—slowly, deliberately. The motion was eerily human.
"I have seen countless. They break. They scatter. They run. But you…"
It flexed one of its grotesque back-arms, the muscle shifting unnaturally beneath the warped flesh.
"You bend space."
Its hollow eye sockets locked onto Keon.
"You—warp the hunt."
Keon's heartbeat thundered in his ears, but he forced himself to remain still. "And what does that mean to you?"
Silence.
Then—
Bloodwick's impossible grin widened.
"Amusing."
Keon's gut twisted. This thing wasn't just strong. It was aware.
Stella took a cautious step back. "Keon, whatever this thing is, it's not just a beast."
Bloodwick laughed.
Not a sound that belonged in this world—deep, distorted, layered with something unnatural.
"You struggle to name me. You look upon my form and falter."
The ground beneath its feet cracked as it took another slow, deliberate step.
"That is good."
The air around them felt colder. Sharper.
Keon could feel the change—not just in the monster's stance but in its intent.
"If you cannot define me…"
Bloodwick's clawed hand lifted, twisting, warping as if reality itself recoiled at its presence.
"Then you cannot control me."
Then—it moved.
Keon's instincts flared. Bloodwick moved.
No hesitation.
Rift Storage.
Space split open beside Keon—an abyssal tear in reality itself. A swirling void of inky darkness yawned wide, the temperature plummeting in an instant. From its depths, something crawled out.
A skeletal form—long, winding, coiled in endless bone. Faint, ghostly blue fire flickered within its hollow eye sockets. Its very presence drained the air, leeching the warmth from the battlefield.
The Undead Serpent had arrived.
And it was furious.
The moment it sensed the Bloodwick, the spectral flames in its eyes flared violently, burning with unnatural hatred. It hated the living. It despised all that pulsed with blood, all that dared to breathe.
And Bloodwick?
It was the most living thing Keon had ever seen—an amalgamation of writhing, mutating flesh, shifting, adapting, surging with chaotic vitality.
The Undead Serpent lunged.
A soul-piercing screech erupted from its skeletal maw—a sound that wasn't made by vocal cords, but by the wailing echoes of countless lost spirits.
Bloodwick's unnatural grin faltered.
The first time it had reacted.
And then—
Collision.
The Undead Serpent coiled around Bloodwick, its cursed bones locking onto the abomination's shifting flesh. Where the skeletal body touched, something horrific happened—
The Bloodwick's regenerating, mutating flesh halted.
It rotted.
Chunks of shifting muscle withered away, shriveling into something black and decayed. The Undead Serpent's presence was corrupting it—not with poison, not with magic, but with pure, antithetical existence.
Life and Death.
Opposites.
Bloodwick shrieked, its voice no longer mocking—this was pain. True pain. It lashed out, trying to rip the serpent away, but the Undead did not care.
It only existed to consume the living.
And now, it had found a feast.
Stella staggered back, eyes wide. "What the hell is that?!"
The Undead Serpent writhed around the Bloodwick, its skeletal form burning with eerie blue flames, yet the fire didn't consume it. Instead, it clung to the serpent's bones like a ghostly aura, flickering unnaturally.
It wasn't normal fire.
It wasn't even real fire.
Stella could feel it. Not heat, not warmth—but an unnatural coldness radiating from its presence, seeping into her bones like a creeping rot.
She gritted her teeth, forcing herself to stay steady, but her hands trembled on instinct. Whatever that thing was… it shouldn't exist.
"Keon," she hissed, barely keeping her voice steady. "What the hell did you just pull out of—wherever the hell you keep things?!"
Keon didn't answer immediately. His Rift Storage still pulsed, the portal behind him shuddering like it was barely containing whatever else lurked inside. His gaze stayed locked on the battlefield, analyzing, calculating.
Stella's breath hitched as she watched the blue flames spread along the serpent's body, licking at the air like living entities.
It wasn't fire.
It was something worse.
Something that ate away at life itself.
And judging by the way the Bloodwick screamed, it was working.