[Faceless Hunter 2] Chapter 44: Collapse (Patreon)

"Cassius von Stormbringer," Xen said to the newcomer. "I didn't expect to see you here."

He had never met the man, but he was famous, and his appearance was distinct enough to pick from the many memories he had devoured. Cassius's long hair was a vibrant blue, flowing down his broad shoulders. His features were distinctly elven, and his eyes reminded Xen of Sarah von Stormbringer, whom he had encountered many times.

Out of every Hunter Xen had met, Cassius's towering, muscular build and demeanor exuded strength. But he could still tell that he was overall weaker than the Korean vampire beside him. Perhaps he was A-rank then?

"Neither did I expect the person my family has been hunting for those two murders to be hiding away here on the 11th floor!" Cassius grinned. "What a pleasant surprise. With you here, I can get that hefty bounty for myself."

Xen braced for an attack that never came. Neither he nor the vampire rushed him, despite Cassius claiming he was only a C-grade Savior. Both remained near the opening and seemed to be studying him while keeping a distance.

So they aren't total fools like the other Hunters I've encountered. Xen frowned behind his mask. Are they perhaps waiting for others? If so, I need to hurry things up to have a chance here. He side-eyed the Guardian's core. If I were to destroy the core, the Abyssal Rift would end, and I'd lose my leverage. But if more people arrive, my chances of survival shrink fast. I need to act now.

All he needed was an opening. So he cleared his throat with a fake cough, drawing their attention.

"Cassius, I assume you are here for the abyssal cores like everyone else?" Xen said to throw him off. "Does that mean you're also working with the infiltrators?"

Cassius failed to hide his surprise. "You know of the infiltrators?" he cautiously asked, instead of rushing in to silence Xen as he expected. A shame, but he just had to keep at it.

Xen snorted. "Did you think you were the only one working with them? I eliminated a group from the Ether Technocrats earlier with the same objective as you. Their leader was called Iris, if you know her?"

Cassius and Jeokhon exchanged an uneasy glance.

"It's possible he wiped them out. My blood-reading skill showed his level is in the hundreds." Jeokhon whispered to Cassius while they both kept their gazes glued to him. "We should wait—"

Xen made his move. He turned, and in one fluid motion reeled back his fist and launched his entire body at the Guardian's core.

"No!" Xen heard Cassius shout behind him, but it was too late. His fist was about to make contact—only for Jeokhon to appear beside him in a blur and put his palm between his fist and the Guardian's core.

Xen smirked behind his mask. He knew better than anyone how destructive 1,866 points in strength was. If it was enough to tear his own arms apart just from lifting, then poor Jeokhon didn't stand a chance.

The vampire's eyes widened as his palm was pulverized into a bloody mist against the Guardian's core. Xen's ruined fist kept going, delivering the rest of the punch into the center of the core, causing its surface to dent and the core to explode.

Xen and Jeokhon were hurled against opposite sides of the Guardian's stomach by an eruption of abyssal mana. Xen's world was spinning as multiple system messages flashed in his mind.

You have killed an opponent. Because it is the first kill of its kind, bonus experience has been awarded.

[Faceless One] has leveled up: 101 → 104.

[Myriad Forms] has leveled up: 78 → 84.

[Myriad Forms] has reached Level 80 (A-Grade). Class evolution available.

[Myriad Forms] has evolved into [Chimeric Forms]

Your mastery over your devoured forms has deepened. You may now graft parts of any unlocked form onto your current body. Grafted parts use the stat line of their origin form. The more forms blended, the greater the biomass drain and the more monstrous your appearance becomes.

Xen felt his [Nameless Existence] passive get triggered again, but he was too confused to provide an answer.

[The first Guardian of an Abyssal Rift has been slain by ???]

[Floor 11 is no longer sealed. The Abyssal Rift is collapsing]

"What have you done?!" Cassius's enraged voice tore through the cavernous space that was in a state of collapse. "The Abyssal Cores were supposed to be ours! The floor no longer being sealed means the vermin from the Guild Association will rush in here and seize them for themselves! Jeokhon, kill him!"

Xen saw out of the corner of his hazy vision as the albino vampire peeled himself from the wall with abyssal mana scorching his skin. His hand was regrowing, and his eyes were filled with hatred.

"He's too strong," Jeokhon said, clawing the tendrils of abyssal mana off his throat as if they were fat leeches. "Wait for the others to arrive, and we might stand a chance."

Xen peered at Jeokhon and Cassius through the small haze of putrid steam enveloping him as he burned the last of his biomass to repair his many broken bones, wondering how he was possibly going to get out of this now that the Guardian's core was broken.

That's when he noticed a system message in the corner of his vision that had been overshadowed by all the level-up notifications and warnings that the Abyssal Rift was collapsing.

[Grand Ritual: Reclaim the Fallen initial condition met. A fallen construct of the Dungeon has been detected within range. Reclaiming…]

As if it were living flesh, the abyssal mana-tainted stone he was embedded in from the explosion began to fuse to his skin.

"He's up to something!" Cassius yelled, but Jeokhon continued to keep his cautious distance. His blood-red eyes analyzed Xen as if trying to discover his secrets.

"My father will hear about your cowardice, Jeokhon," Cassius shouted and decided to take action. He sprinted through the cave with speed that would impress most, but was nothing compared to what Jeokhon had displayed when trying to prevent the Guardian core's destruction. He arrived before Xen, a halberd raised overhead, and brought it down.

Xen desperately raised his arm, which was fused with the abyssal-tainted stone, and ate the attack. The force of the strike dented through the stone armor, almost breaking his forearm.

"My turn," Xen said, grabbing the polearm with his other hand, and despite the weapon being made of mana-enhanced metal, he bent it with the twist of his wrist.

Cassius cursed under his breath and pulled his halberd back. Jeokhon rushed to Cassius's side, but it was too late for them. The chance to strike had passed.

[Ritual complete: Armor of the Fallen Guardian (A) has been crafted. Durability and style reflect a single S-grade construct]

[Your mana pool has been released. Stats are reverting]

Mana gained from the recent level-ups poured into his empty mana pool, and while he felt the stone armor weigh on him as his strength stat depleted, he was glad to have access to his magic again.

My stats are now (629 Strength, 356 Vitality, 528 Agility, 614 Resistance, 1,166 Magic) after factoring in the 20% boost from Solo Hunter, as I'm facing two enemies. The armor I'm wearing doesn't seem to add anything to my stats, but it said it had the durability of an S-rank, and I know how much effort it took to peel away the Guardian's outer layer.

Suddenly sensing people approaching through Geomantic Perception, Xen glanced at the hole and saw two more silhouettes. Now that he had finally had access to mana, he used Appraisal, but fished for only basic information as he was light on mana.

[Elf (Storm Bulwark: Level 81)]

[Elf (Lifebinder: Level 88)]

Two more A-grade elves. One seems to be a healer, while the other is a tank. Assuming they are with Cassius von Stormbringer, if they jump into the cavern, my stats will jump another 20%. Though I'm still lacking biomass, so any hits I take will hurt, and they will have a healer on their side. This is starting to look unfavorable for me.

Xen glanced away from the hole and focused on the two threats in front of him.

[Cassius von Stormbringer]

[Elf (Tempest Vanguard: Level 84)]

Cassius's information was easy enough to glean and confirmed Xen's hunch that he was A-rank. Jeokhon's information was more obscure and took Xen shoving more mana into the skill to finally get an answer.

[Aurel Josef Wenzel]

[Vampire (Elder: Level 132)]

1,148 Strength, 1,006 Vitality, 1,590 Agility, 742 Resistance, 908 Magic.

Level 132 and his stats are insane, Xen thought. Every one of them was higher than Xen's, except Magic, which was close enough that it hardly mattered. Weirdly, the system-provided name didn't match Jeokhon.

This isn't a foe I can realistically defeat. The only reason he's cautious around me is that he thinks my level is above his after trying to block my punch. But my strength has dropped from 1,866 to 629, so if we trade blows again, he will figure out that he can crush me with ease.

Xen had already won by defeating the Guardian and freeing his new human friends from the 11th floor. What he needed was to escape. He looked toward the hole. The warrior had jumped down into the cavern, with the healer about to follow.

A big mistake.

"Ghoststep," Xen said, and used all three charges of the skill in quick succession to close the gap and arrive behind the surprised healer. Hooking his abyssal stone-armored arm around her throat, he didn't outright kill her like he would have in the past.

He now had a hostage to keep the overpowered vampire at bay.