’These bastards aren’t just appearing and surviving in Nyx’s territory... they are actively downloading her stealth algorithms.’

Just a second later after that thought, a stream of highly pressurized, glowing green acid shot out of thin air, melting a solid iron pipe right next to Zen’s head.

"What the fuck?"

[NeonJunkie has pledged a 5,000 Mana-Credits]

NeonJunkie: They’re cloaked! 5k says you can’t kill the invis ones using only the environment!

"System," Zen thought calmly, rolling under another volley of acid. "Map the trajectory of the acid spray. Give me their coordinates."

[Calculating...]

[Target A located 4 meters at 2 o’clock. Target B located 7 meters at 10 o’clock.]

Zen didn’t swing his sword.

He sprinted sideways, running directly up the wall of the canyon for three steps to evade the visible hounds. As he reached the apex of his wall-run, he hurled his sword like a javelin.

It didn’t hit a hound; instead it pierced a massive, high-pressure coolant pipe running along the ceiling directly above the cloaked beasts.

The pipe burst with a loud, piercing shriek.

A thick, freezing spray of liquid nitrogen blasted down, instantly covering the alleyway. The hidden hounds’ cloaking technology short-circuited as soon as it hit the cold, making their forms flicker and spark as they let out painful, metallic howls.

Zen dropped back down, retrieving his blade from the pipe as he landed. With the hounds blinded, freezing, and visible, he moved like a shadow.

Slash. Pierce. Sever.

Zen killed all six hounds in a brutal but very efficient sword movement. He did not waste a single ounce of mana, relying only on his footwork and the System’s predictions.

AlleyDoc: Bro... his battle IQ is absolutely terrifying. Vanguard seniors don’t even think that fast.

[Bounty Condition Met. 5,000 Mana-Credits transferred to your account.]

Zen harvested the six stones, pocketing them as his breathing grew slightly heavier.

"Keep the bounties coming, chat," Zen said, rolling his shoulders.

He pushed deeper into the industrial sector. The yellow light of the Void tears pulsed unevenly now, like a dying heartbeat, and the air grew thick enough to taste.

He stepped into a wide, open clearing that looked like a destroyed central server hub.

The third wave didn’t drop from the ceiling or stalk from the shadows. They just walked out of the massive spatial tear at the center of the room.

Two massive, bipedal creatures stepped onto the metal grating. They resembled heavily armored executioners, standing nine feet tall and wielding huge clubs crafted from crushed junk and corrupted server towers.

[Target: Void-Goliaths. Threat Level: Low D-Rank.]

[Warning: Extremely dense physical armor. Blunt force trauma will exceed host’s kinetic absorption threshold by 400%.]

[EliteVanguard_7 has pledged a 10,000 Mana-Credits Bounty]

"You’re dead. No tricky pipe is going to save you from two Goliaths. 10k says you don’t survive three minutes!"

Zen exhaled slowly. He couldn’t parry them. If those clubs hit his blade, the sheer force would shatter his arms.

"System. Plot their swing arcs."

The first Goliath charged, swinging its massive club in a horizontal arc that ripped through three steel pillars like they were paper. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Zen dropped entirely to his knees, sliding under the swing. He channeled a sliver of the S-Rank ’Shadow’ mana he had stolen from Nyx into his legs, exploding upward the moment the club passed over him.

He didn’t aim for the thick armor on the chest. He drove the crystalline blade straight up, through the softer, unarmored joint of the Goliath’s armpit, severing the motor-nerves completely. The beast’s arm went limp, dropping the massive club.

Before the first Goliath could react, Zen used its dropping arm as a springboard, vaulting into the air.

The second Goliath swung upward, trying to swat him out of the sky.

Zen twisted his body in the air, in a move that seemed to defy gravity, and the club missed him by an inch. He landed right on the second Goliath’s shoulders, reversed his grip on the sword, and drove it straight down into the glowing Void-core at the base of its neck.

The Goliath erupted into ash beneath him. Zen hit the ground, turned, and threw his blade through the skull of the first, disabled Goliath.

The chat went completely feral. The donations were moving so fast the text blurred.

Zen walked over, retrieved his sword, and pocketed the two massive Heart Stones.

"Thanks for the ten grand, EliteVanguard," Zen mocked smoothly into the mic. "Keep doubting me. It pays well."

Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet violently shuddered.

The three observer drones immediately gained altitude, their lenses zooming in on the massive spatial tear at the center of the hub. The tear wasn’t closing... it was expanding.

The stench of rot pouring out of the tear became too much to bear. A massive hand made of twisting flesh and sharp, stolen server racks grabbed the edge of the rift, and the creature pulled itself out.

Standing fifteen feet tall, the nightmare was a hybrid of organic Void matter and hyper-advanced technology that radiated a suffocating pressure.

[Warning: Massive spatial anomaly detected.]

Zen tightened his grip on his sword, preparing to map its weak points.

But as the System ran its scan, the blue text in his vision flashed a violent red.

[CRITICAL WARNING: Target has forcefully assimilated Sector One military-grade magi-tech.]

[Enemy utilizing Automated Omni-Defense Algorithms.]

[Physical and magical resistance increased by 800%. Current core output (High E-Rank) insufficient for standard armor penetration.]

Before Zen could process the warning, the Zone Boss roared, and a shimmering, honeycomb pattern of hard-light flared to life around the beast’s body.

EliteVanguard_7: Wait. Is that a Sector One military-grade Hex-Shield? On a Void monster?!

ScrapRat99: SCRAPPER, GET OUT OF THERE! IT’S A HYBRID!

Zen didn’t have time to retreat. The beast lunged forward with terrifying speed, clearing the distance between them in a single bound. Its massive mechanical fist swung down like a meteor.

Zen ducked, entirely abandoning raw force to focus on precision. The System highlighted a microscopic gap in the hex-shield near the creature’s elbow joint.

Zen stepped in, thrusting the High C-Rank blade directly toward the gap with perfect, flawless timing.

CLANG.

The impact sent a bone-rattling shockwave up Zen’s arms. The blade didn’t penetrate. The assimilated Omni-tech algorithm had recognized the incoming trajectory and shifted the shield plates in a microsecond, reinforcing the exact point Zen had targeted.

It’s learning, Zen realized, his eyes widening behind the mask.

The deflected strike threw Zen entirely off balance, and the Zone Boss didn’t hesitate. It countered instantly, driving its heavy boot straight into the metal plating of the floor where Zen was standing.

The floor completely shattered.

The shockwave hit Zen like a freight train, destroying his footing and launching him backward. He crashed violently into a sparking server rack, the wind knocked completely out of his lungs.

[Warning: Host sustained kinetic damage. Core integrity fluctuating.]

Zen coughed, his vision swimming as he tried to push himself up.

The hybrid beast loomed over him.

The center of its chest split open, revealing a corrupted magi-tech cannon. Sickly yellow Void energy and crackling purple Omni mana began pooling in the barrel, charging a point-blank, lethal beam directly at his face.

The stream chat spiraled into pure panic.

AlleyDoc: SHIELD BROKE! HE HAS NO COVER!

ScrapRat99: MOVE! SCRAPPER, MOVE!

EliteVanguard_7: He’s dead. He’s actually dead on live feed.