The Primal Hunter

One became ten.

Each arrow split ten times each, making what would only have been light rain into a storm flood. Each arrow was still purely stable arcane mana as it fell. The Ashen Phantom Devourer reacted quickly as it tried to move away, but the King strained himself to contain the Unique Lifeform.

Not that he had to constrain it for long, as the arrows hit less than a second after becoming visible. The Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter hit the domain and instantly just disappeared as it sank into the Soulshape of the Unique Lifeform. This left the more than four thousand arrows and the many stable arcane bolts to just fall into the domain.

Jake, with blood running from his nose and a toothy grin, acted. The connection with the arrows had never been lost, and it took nothing more than a mental command. Every single arrow crackled with instability as, in an instant, they shifted from pure stability to pure destruction.

And then everything exploded.

From up in the air, Jake saw the entire world flash purple. Even with his high Perception, it took him a second to see again, and what was revealed could only be described as a cataclysm. What had once been a mountain range was now still kind of a mountain range, but with a massive crater in the middle.

However, Jake had no time or attention to spare on observing the environment. He had known that even if this attack went above and beyond his expectations, it would not be enough to kill a peak D-grade Unique Lifeform. And he had been right.

All the ash had been destroyed, but the domain remained. The King had managed to shield himself as he was not the primary target and did not hesitate to engage as the domain stirred. Ash began appearing as a figure assembled itself.

Jake pulled out his bow while flying down and released another barrage of arrows. A wall of ash appeared and blocked them all, but this left an opening as a golden wave cut across the domain and destroyed the assembled being of ash.

Another one appeared, but there was no time to rest. The domain had shrunk by nearly forty percent from that one opening attack, and as Jake released his second attack, the barrier did not manage to be assembled in time. It instead was conjured just after the arrows passed, allowing arcane explosions to destroy even more of the ash.

The neurotoxin was beginning to really kick in. Jake was also certain that every bit of ash now had an even higher cost to being summoned. The Unique Lifeform had also naturally noticed the poison and began eliminating it from its soul.

Oh no, you don’t!

Touch of the Malefic Viper activated as Jake controlled the poison from up in the air. The King also did his part as explosions rocked the domain and golden waves constantly ripped apart the creature. Soon, the Unique Lifeform tried to escape, but Jake slowed it down enough for the King to easily keep up.

Jake followed along as the domain ash moved across the vast mountain range, focusing solely on Touch of the Malefic Viper. With every second, the domain shrank by a little, and the King seemed to only increase the fervor with which he attacked.

After a minute or so of this, the Ashen Phantom Devourer seemed to realize it was actually in trouble. Big trouble.

“Pathetic to require the help of a mere human! An utter embarrassment to call yourself a Unique Lifeform! If you truly think this is enough to-”

“Funny,” the voice of the King echoed out as it interrupted the Devourer. “You sound like me just before this very same human killed me.”

The Unique Lifeform seemed shocked for a moment as Jake felt it stop fighting his poison for a fraction of a second. Yet it quickly collected itself as an odd calmness overtook its form. Jake felt the shift instantly, and a sense of danger appeared, telling him to stay the fuck away from the Devourer.

“I see.”

kept attacking, but Jake rapidly

warped. Space itself shattered and distorted as the domain collapsed in on itself, releasing a massive wave of energy, sending Jake flying upwards and pushing back the King who had barely managed to get out of the

the push came a pull. The entire Unique Lifeform was now nothing more than five meters across and looked like a miniature black sun…

Phantom Devourer had become what Jake could only describe

in the distance. The ground below rose as Jake felt

it as he flew upwards with all his might, and he even felt the poison be rapidly consumed and devoured as the black hole grew. Gritting his teeth, Jake

arm as he infused his hand with even more energy, intensifying the glow. The poison within the black hole got new life as the suction

next, he saw the King move. Rather than retreat, the Unique Lifeform flew forward as his barrier glowed golden. Power

was well-known that all Unique Lifeforms were innately born with one such unique skill. The Devourer had one…

and Jake helped as he channeled Touch to the extreme. He suddenly heard a crack. A deep scar had been formed on his

Jake saw the King enter the black hole as the mask slipped off his face, falling towards the ground. Falling, because the very moment the King entered the domain of

even his own poison be unable to move. Unable because what it resided

Shattered.

summoned a barrier of stable arcane energy and, to his surprise, managed to entirely block it out, making him realize this was mere remnants of

hole had been, a single figure remained as an ivory claw reached out. The shattered mask, still falling, re-assembled in mid-air and was telekinetaclly called over as the King put it back on. In the other hand he held a small

gone. The domain was gone. And all Jake felt were broken remnants of what had once been a soul floating in the air

Devourer – lvl 199] – Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy

Hunter] has reached level 195 - Stat

a hint of doubt

Jake felt the energy fluctuate within the King. He felt weak, far

it dead?” Jake asked as he

is effectively a living domain, further adding a massive toxic payload to the mayhem you created, and you question its efficiency?” the King scoffed. “The Devourer is dead. The soul was weakened and capable of destruction, so I capitalized

moment before grinning. “Turns out you Unique Lifeforms aren’t all you are

did not even bother responding to that. “I, too, had to use my trump card and will find myself weakened for a period. I apologize. You will have to deal with the rest

Jake said

the first matter to deal with. From up in the air, he had spotted a little nahoom rat keeping an eye on

servant observing the fight between the two Unique Lifeforms. He had

on without keeping a constant eye on it. It was sad he could only get a brief message without any details, but just knowing it was happening was good enough. He did expect a more thorough report from the observer soon, but there was no need to

prioritize returning to Haven over engaging the Unique Lifeform. That the Ashen Phantom Devourer had yet to defeat this Fallen King was as to be expected, and he didn’t have his servants interfere for a reason. Either Unique

if he said so himself. Keeping a Unique Lifeform loyal was difficult, but

not allow such a battle to go on without having a method of keeping an eye on it, and

had constructed was not just for him to reside in while waiting for the Malefic’s Chosen but also created to serve as a small hub for teleportation. Taking out a token, he called for one

towards him. Just before he could begin to gather the energy from the Sun and Moon array, he stopped. Something had suddenly appeared in the plains, looking like