How strange it was—to hear a command voiced by his own pet.
"No one told you to speak! I'm in complete control of myself!"
Zhen felt the upper lid of his left eye twitch rapidly, as if signaling something. That alone wasn't enough—now his right ear began to ring.
"I'll end this quickly!"
He snatched the fireberry and swallowed it whole. This plan had already been carefully mapped out in his mind. The fireberry crushed between his sharp teeth, scraping his tongue, mixing with saliva—its burning heat singed his taste buds as if snuffing out every nerve ending. The mangled fruit slid down his throat.
'DAMN BASTARD!!!'
The fireberry morphed into a thousand needles—mercilessly stabbing through his throat. Thousands of razor-sharp tips ravaged the vocal cords of the Northern Hunter.
More black roots surged from the stone tree, forming massive hands that easily seized his weakened body—locking him tightly in a tangle of dead knots.
He was now prey—trapped.
In this dire, cursed moment befalling the Northern Hunter, the system had the audacity to speak.
[Hellhunt System Activated.]
[Target: Morith]
[Threat Level: S]
[Location: Drunken Horizon]
[Reward:]
• 500,000 Goldi
• 13 Sealed Soul Meals
[You've consumed the 13-Soul Fireberry—beloved fruit of the Horizon farmers. It's impossible to eat, as its seeds are fused with molten lava—unless you're willing to trade your voice! Now… wait and see what happens next.]
[In 5,000 years, you're the first to pluck and devour the Fruit of Hell!]
The gnashing of his own teeth echoed in his sealed mouth, muffled by the cruel reality. His soul screamed silently—pierced by scorching needles in his throat, again and again, without mercy.
"NOW YOU LOOK ABSOLUTELY PITIFUL."
"CURSED HUNTER!! I BET DECAPITATION FEELS LIKE AN EVERYDAY THING FOR YOU, HUH?!"
The thunderous voice—its vibrations dominating the entire horizon—arrived wrapped in joyful laughter.
"BUT… IF I DECAPITATE YOU WITH JUEHEN NO KAGE, I BET IT'LL FEEL DIFFERENT, WON'T IT?"
The stone monster, standing three meters tall, charged forward—aiming the Northern Hunter's own sword with movements that mimicked measuring the helpless man's neck, trapped within the black-root cage of the stone tree.
Zhen's gaze remained locked on his sword, its blade gleaming faintly blue as if whispering a victorious signal through its shimmer.
'So… it can still shine after all.'
A sincere smile, though laced with bitterness, rose on his face.
At the very least, he hoped his sword would remain honest—or simply offer him comfort in the final seconds at the edge of death's spear.
Morith burst into mad laughter, his eyes gleaming wild with anticipation as the tip of the blade closed in—fractions of a second away from slicing the Northern Hunter's throat.
"DIE, CURSED HUNTER OF THE NORTHERN TUNDRA!!! FALL INTO THE DEEPEST PIT OF HELL!!!"
"YOU DESERVE DEATH! YOU ABSOLUTELY DESERVE TO—"
A blinding blue flash stole away his focus. Morith felt his irises nearly melt as he struggled to keep his eyes open—trying to catch the source of that light erupting from the back of the trapped hunter.
But sadly, he realized it too late—the sword was no longer in his hands.
Confusion clouded him, and for a moment, his mind turned blank… until the unmistakable sound of shackled chains dragging across the sand crept closer—from behind him.
Morith turned his head back.
There—he saw it.
A skull figure, dragging a chain from its right leg. His gaze traced the chain… only to realize it was connected—deep into the back of the Northern Hunter.
Morith reacted instantly, releasing black roots from the gaps of his long claws, his body bracing in sharp alertness toward the skull figure.
"Y-YOU? M-MO-MONO? HOW COULD YOU END UP IN THE HANDS OF THAT CURSED HUNTER?? HE'S YOUR MASTER??"
Mono nodded—answering his foolish question with silence.
"AND YOU'RE GOING TO KILL ME?? FOR THAT CURSED HUNTER??"
Mono nodded again.
Without wasting breath, Morith summoned every root from the depths of the Drunken Horizon, forcing them to surface in rage—hoping to crush the damned skeleton standing in his path.
But Mono… He treated it all as if it were mere scraps of a petty illusion game. With the sword of his master, he cut through thousands of black entangling roots—swiftly, precisely.
Morith saw an opening.
Like lightning, he bolted toward the stone tree, aiming to end the cursed hunter once and for all. His long claws stretched forward, ready to rip apart the hunter's mouth and gut—the same cursed hunter who dared eat the 13-Soul Fireberry, a fruit he had waited for, hunted for, for thousands of years.
The black-root trap had loosened its death knots—causing the hunter's body to fall hard into the sand.
The grotesque black claws, sharpened and extended, were just inches away from tearing—but then came the sound.
A sound that drowned his imagination like an avalanche.
Mono's shadow was the last thing recorded by his sensory lens.
And then—Morith shattered. Shattered into countless shards, his sharp-edged remains rising into the air—piercing the fabric of the Drunken Horizon itself like a balloon ruptured by a hidden needle.
Zhen saw it all. The sky of the Horizon—cracked. The lines that once framed its limits—faded. And his pet skull… wielding his sword, using a technique that looked so much like his own.
'Why did you help me, Mono?'
He remembered—he couldn't speak right now. And his pet… couldn't answer either.
'Because Master fed us.'
Zhen froze for a moment upon hearing Dono's voice.
He thought of the 13-Soul Fireberry he had swallowed.
'So… you shared it? Then why is it only Mono who showed up? I can't see either of you fully.'
Mono drove his master's sword into the sand—right beside Zhen, who sat hunched and breathless.
Then, slowly, the skull vanished… melting back into his spine.
[Hellhunt System Activated.]
[Mission complete.]
[However, your body must now recover.]
[Rewards have been added.]
[A healing dimension will transport you for restoration and treatment.]
'A healing dimension? You mean… like a healer? Rusty?'
[You'll see soon enough.]
'Are they dimensional beings… or humans?'