Eternal Freedom's Ascension-Chapter 113: "Interesting—only slightly."

Kaiser watched Aman and the others flee, then sighed tiredly. They were cowardly, but he couldn’t blame them. Any rational human would run in the face of death.

Ignoring the slight interruption, he resumed his journey. The Third Isle was connected to the Main Island through a real bridge. Although there were also vines connecting both islands, people mostly used the man-made bridge. Of course that didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous, but it was safer since several Nirad Hunters crossed it frequently.

’According to my memory, it’s towards the northeast.’

Kaiser thought, his pace unhurried. At some point, he stopped. In the distance, a Thunderhorn was grazing on the grass.

Kaiser studied the beast in silence.

It was enormous. A hulking predator with the body of a lion, built from slabs of muscle that shifted beneath a coat of dark fur. A thick white mane framed its head like a crown of frost, contrasting sharply with the rest of its body.

Two heavy horns jutted from the sides of its skull, curving slightly outward. Beneath them, long tusks protruded from its jaws, sharp and cruel, like natural blades meant to gore anything foolish enough to stand before it.

Its paws were massive, each step ending in thick claws that dug into the ground with quiet authority.

Kaiser’s eyes lingered on the creature for a moment before he exhaled softly.

"A troublesome one."

Just as he expected, the creature raised its head and looked at him. Despite it looking peaceful while eating grass, Kaiser was well aware that it was an omnivore.

The sharp claws, horns, and fangs were proof that it was used to killing. As much as he’d have loved to avoid fighting it, he knew escaping was impossible. A Skyrend Vulture was already circling the air, waiting to swoop down and attack either of them.

Kaiser summoned Unremarkable Sword and ran straight towards the beast.

The Thunderhorn snorted, shaking its head defiantly as it charged at him. It lowered its head, setting the horns in a way it would impale the prey.

’Predictable and avoidable.’

At the last moment, Kaiser flipped over it, landing right on its back. Straddling it, he tightened his legs around its neck, aiming to suffocate it.

’No. It won’t work.’

He decisively let go. The beast’s hide was too strong, and its body was filled with muscles. He distanced himself from the creature, watching as it turned towards him with a vicious glare.

Kaiser waited on a spot as the Thunderhorn charged at him, its steps shaking the ground massively.

When it got close to him, he slipped between the curved horns, then pressed its head downwards. He flipped over it again, summoning another relic.

The Glass String appeared in his hands, and he wrapped it around its head quickly. The thin blade constricted, immediately drawing lines of blood on the Thunderhorn’s head.

It moaned in pain, shaking its head violently. Its efforts were futile. Instead, the relic only cut deeper, drawing more blood.

While it was occupied with removing the thin strings, Kaiser summoned Nameless Fang, and stabbed into its heart.

Surprisingly, the weapon pierced through the thick hide, slicing straight into the heart.

ROAR!

The Thunderhorn roared furiously, throwing him off in a sudden burst of adrenaline. Kaiser rolled in the air, landing on his feet—skidding.

The creature thrashed around some more, then collapsed to the ground with a thud.

[You have slain an Awakened Beast, Thunderhorn]

Just in time, he felt the wind direction change. Something swiped down at him from the sky.

Without turning, he slashed his sword towards the left.

Clang! 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

His blade was met with a sharp set of talons. The Skyrend Vulture attacking him flew back into the sky, circling like a persistent predator.

Kaiser raised his head and regarded it for a while. Trying to shoot it out of the sky was possible, but would require several tries. It wasn’t like when he caught the Fog Predators unaware on the Worship Island.

’Too much of a hassle.’

Pocketing his hands, he approached the Thunderhorn’s corpse. At first, he wanted to dig out its crystal core, but reconsidered.

’I need a suitable mount. This wouldn’t be bad.’

With an indifferent expression, he said.

"Consume."

His own shadow writhed and surged, enveloping the corpse in pure darkness. The process was short, and when his shadow returned to normal, the corpse was gone.

Kaiser didn’t hesitate to summon the Thunderhorn Shadow immediately. The mass of darkness in his own shape rippled, and something enormous stepped out of it.

The Thunderhorn had the same physique, but was now made of solid darkness. Still, it felt like a living creature.

Its pair of white eyes burned with a mix of servitude and obedience as it turned to Kaiser.

"Hm. This is good."

He ruffled the dark mane slightly, then climbed onto its back. It was oddly comfortable, putting a faint smile on his face.

’If I am to guess, there’s a limit to how many Shadows I can create. I wonder what that limit is.’

Still cautious of the Skyrend Vulture, he gestured for the Shadow to start moving.

The massive body of the creature was surprisingly fast, crossing miles in minutes. Although a few Dreadfangs and other Thunderhorns tried to attack them, Kaiser easily deterred them with the crystal crossbow—Wraith’s Venom.

After a few minutes, he received notifications about the death of those creatures, killed by the poison in those crystal arrows.

Eventually, with the aid of his new Shadow, Kaiser arrived at a distance to the location of the bridge. There, he met a few Awakened humans who were either coming from the Main Island or about to depart to the Main Island.

He dismissed the Shadow, then made his way towards the bridge by foot. In order not to attract unnecessary attention, he didn’t bring the Thunderhorn with him.

Nonetheless, as he stepped onto the bridge, he felt several subtle gazes regarding him.

’Faint hostility? Killing intent?’

His brows creased in confusion. Since when had he made this much enemies?

’Could they be others from the Impact Guild?’

He immediately discarded that idea. These people were seemingly inconspicuous, wearing different attires like they had different purposes. However, Kaiser could immediately tell...

They were mercenaries.

’Oh? Interesting—only slightly.’