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.”

Ashen Phantom Devourer said as it stopped completely. The King kept attacking, but Jake rapidly threw him a look

in on itself, releasing a massive wave of energy, sending Jake flying

meters across and looked like a miniature black sun… no. What

Phantom Devourer had become what Jake could only describe as a black hole. And as

distance. The ground below rose

had to resist it as he flew upwards with all his might, and he even felt the poison

hand with even more energy, intensifying the glow. The poison within the black hole got new life as the suction lessened and became more unstable. The black hole

considered what to do next, he saw the King move. Rather than retreat, the Unique Lifeform flew forward as his barrier glowed golden. Power revolved around him, and Jake

card of the Ashen Phantom Devourer. It was well-known that all Unique Lifeforms were innately born with one such

extreme. He suddenly heard a crack. A deep scar

as the mask slipped off his face, falling towards the ground. Falling, because the very

been floating in the air before had stopped, and Jake felt even his own poison be unable to move. Unable because what it resided within – the Soulshape

Shattered.

wave erupted from within the black hole. Jake summoned a barrier of stable arcane energy and, to his surprise,

the black 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 black

of what had once been a soul floating in the air before dispersing – a bit of it entering Eternal Hunger,

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

Arcane Hunter] has reached level 195 - Stat points allocated, +10

was there, but a hint of doubt still remained in his mind. It

also descended to the ground. The Unique Lifeform landed and sat down as Jake felt the energy fluctuate within the King. He felt weak, far weaker than usual, and looking at the mask on

dead?” Jake asked

attack capable of destroying an entire region upon a creature that 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

you Unique Lifeforms aren’t all you are hyped

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

was the plan,” Jake said with a

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

got the message from the servant observing the fight between the two Unique Lifeforms. He had now sent a message that it appeared like someone else had also joined the fight, with

Lifeforms going on without keeping a constant eye on it. It was sad he could only get a brief message without any details, but just knowing

the Ashen Phantom Devourer had yet to defeat this Fallen King was as to be expected, and he didn’t

the Malefic’s Chosen there, the Unique Lifeform should be pressured, giving Ell’Hakan quite an opportunity if he said so himself. Keeping a Unique Lifeform loyal was difficult, but if he could get it to feel

naturally not allow such a battle to go on without having a method of keeping an eye on it, and in the same vein, he would not allow such

he 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 of the two people stationed in Haven to come over and operate the teleportation circle for him to use. The distance required for the teleportation made it

before he could begin to gather the energy from the Sun and Moon