Crack.
A faint sound echoed through the hall.
Then another crack.
And another one.
Lian did not take his gaze off the white-eyed man, but all his senses were focused on the massive egg in the center of the hall.
Its shell was no longer still. Every few seconds, a strike came from inside, like a heart trying to burst out of a chest.
The cracks spread quickly. The sound of something like bones breaking echoed in the underground space. Then part of the shell collapsed.
Something came out from inside.
But not what Lian expected. The creature was not complete. Half of its body was still inside the egg.
It had one complete arm. An arm covered in black, glossy plates that looked like nothing Lian had ever seen.
But the other arm was still forming. Muscle strands trembled in the air. Veins grew before his eyes.
Pieces of skin slid over the muscles and slowly covered them.
As if the creature was still being born. Or perhaps... still being made.
Lian’s eyes narrowed. At that moment, the system notification appeared.
But as soon as he saw it, a deep frown appeared on his face.
[Unknown Creature ???]
There was no information. No description. No level. And of course, no rank. Just question marks.
For a moment, the image of that cursed village in the Ruined Realm came alive in his mind.
Exactly at that time too, when he had faced the Mutated ones, because they were a new race, the system had no information about them. Only after he killed one of them did they get registered in the system.
And it seemed the same scenario applied to this strange new monster.
And something told him he was facing something far more dangerous than the Mutated ones of that village. Something that needed to be killed right now.
"I have to kill it now." The thought formed in his mind without any hesitation.
Not later. Not when it becomes complete. But right now, in its weakest possible state. He had seen many times how stupid people gave their enemies time to grow.
Time to evolve. Time to prepare. And then they paid the price with their lives.
But this time, such a mistake would not be repeated. He did not want to make that mistake.
Mana began to move inside his body. Thunder roared through his veins. At that moment, the white-eyed man laughed.
A loud, deep, and completely genuine laugh. As if he was mocking him with all his might.
"Hahahahaha..." He did not even try to stop his laughter.
"Nothing can kill my masterpiece."
His smile widened.
"Nothing."
"It will be your honor to be devoured by my masterpiece! So be proud, hahaha!"
But Lian was no longer listening. He considered those words the ramblings of a madman.
[Thunder Calamity]
A blinding blue light split the hall. The thunder did not descend from the sky. It exploded from Lian’s own being.
A line of compressed lightning shot toward the newborn creature with terrifying speed.
The moment of impact... an explosion. The entire hall shook. The shockwave made the walls tremble.
Even the massive Broodmother on the ceiling moved for a moment.
The unknown creature’s chest exploded. Its arm was torn off. Half of its body was destroyed.
Flesh.
Bone.
Organs.
Everything scattered in the air. But Lian did not stop. Just to make sure nothing of this monster remained, and that he had really killed it, he attacked again.
[Glacial Reaper Claw]
The air in the hall suddenly froze. Massive ice claws appeared around him and landed on the remaining pieces.
They crushed them. Froze them. Broke them. Powdered them. A few seconds later, nothing remained.
Only frozen pieces of flesh scattered on the ground.
Silence fell.
Lian stood without the slightest change in his expression. His gaze was on the remains. He was sure he had successfully killed this monster and nothing of it remained.
But something was wrong. The white-eyed man... was still smiling. No worry, no anger, not even disappointment could be seen on his face. And that was dangerous.
And that made Lian frown slightly. He did not like this calmness on this man’s face. It gave him a very bad feeling.
Then it happened. First, one of the flesh pieces trembled. Then another. Then dozens of others. The pieces started moving.
Slowly, sluggishly, but relentlessly. Like thousands of living worms, the pieces crawled on the ground. Toward each other. The bones reconnected.
Muscles formed. Veins grew. Skin stretched over everything. And only a few seconds later... the creature stood before him again.
Healthy and alive. For the first time in a very long time, Lian was truly surprised.
And he stared at the scene in disbelief. As if he could not believe what he had seen.
He was sure, completely sure, that no living creature could survive that attack. Even Fallen monsters could not revive themselves like this.
No... even Unholy ones should not have such an incomprehensible and unbelievable ability.
But this creature had not survived. It had... returned.
The white-eyed man watched the scene with satisfaction.
"Twenty years..." His voice had become quieter.
"Twenty years I worked." He placed his hand on his chest.
"Thousands of monster species. Tens of thousands of humans. Awakened, hunters, mages, warriors, assassins, archers, healers... Everything that was needed." His white eyes fixed on his masterpiece.
"Do you think something made from all of that... can die so easily?" And he smiled.
"Damn it." Lian wanted to curse. He had underestimated this man’s madness. He had created a monster that should not exist in the natural cycle.
But he was not willing to give up so easily. If it does not die from being killed once, then he would kill it a thousand times.
The battle continued.
But it had taken a different shape.
Thunder Calamity.
Glacial Reaper Claw.
One after another, without pause. Each time, the creature was destroyed. Each time, its body was torn apart. Each time, its head was severed from its body.
And each time... it returned.
But something was slowly changing. The first time, the creature could barely walk. It had no balance. But the second time, it learned to stand.
The third time, it could attack. The fourth time, it reacted when Lian attacked.
The fifth time... it dodged.
Very slightly, but it dodged.
Lian saw this, and he did not like it. Because he realized that this monster was learning with each death. And with each learning, it became stronger.
If this continued, the situation would get worse and worse.
A few minutes later, once again, he passed by it with a lightning-fast move.
Glacial Reaper Claw.
The creature’s head spun in the air. Its body collapsed. But this time, the regeneration started faster. Faster than the previous time. Much faster.
Lian stood quietly. His breathing was completely normal. The advantage was still with him. Control of the battle was still in his hands. He still killed the creature every time. But a quiet frown appeared on his face.
Something was wrong. The power gap was no longer like it was a few minutes ago. A few minutes ago, he had absolute dominance.
It was like a god facing an ant. He was the god, and this monster was an ant.
But now it was no longer like that. The advantage was still completely with him. He was still the god. But this monster was no longer an ant. It had become a predator.
And worse than everything... he could clearly see that the unknown creature returned stronger each time it died.
And this was only the beginning of its birth.
And the only way for him to win was to kill this monster. So how was he supposed to kill something that could not be killed?