Chapter 229 - Taming the Light

Published Mar 17, 2026, 07:38 AM

The strange creature writhed with evident rage, the tentacles severed by Ren’s dagger regenerating slowly as they undulated like serpents in the purple light. Ren tried to activate his knowledge, searching for information about the creature, but his ability seemed to fail. The information arrived fragmented, inconsistent, as if the beast were too anomalous to be understood through his usual parameters. It was then that Ren noticed something on one of the worm’s final segments: a distinctive mark, artificial, that stood out against the natural plates. He recognized it immediately: it was the mark that Julius had made on the lesser worm they had found the previous night. The precise pattern of cuts was unmistakable, even amid the creature’s grotesque anatomy. Understanding hit him like a physical blow. "It’s... it’s assimilating the beasts in the area," Ren murmured, his voice barely audible as the creature slowly approached. "Shadow stalkers, living tunnels, stone lurkers, mimics..." ’How is this possible? The residual abyssal energy? That hasn’t generated anything like this beneath the school, and it’s stronger there…’ His mind raced through possibilities. Ren observed the purple glow emanating from each segment until he distinguished one with an incrustation and a more intense brightness. Inside, a sphere very similar to the core of a corrupted male shadow stalker he had, pulsated with energy. The orb throbbed with sickening rhythm, veins of darkness spreading outward from its center like a parasitic network. "That must be what allows it to fuse such disparate characteristics." Ren recalled the agent who had merged with the monster that day beneath the academy, but was instantly pulled from his reminiscence. The creature emitted a sound that reverberated painfully in his ears, a discordant symphony of screeches and rumbles that seemed to vibrate the very air in the chamber. Its tentacles extended again, this time moving more slowly, with predatory curiosity. Ren evaluated his options, none promising. They were trapped in the monster’s main chamber, weakened, and facing a creature whose capabilities he couldn’t even fully comprehend. The thin tunnel he’d begun digging was too far, and even if they reached it, the creature would simply follow. Ren knew that even with his enhancements and his beast’s abilities, the odds were completely against him. The creature possessed the strength of multiple beasts combined, its regenerative capabilities were extraordinary, and its absorption powers were already draining the chamber’s ambient mana. The abyssal beast moved with terrifying speed. While Ren was evaluating his options, the creature had already made a decision. Its tentacles didn’t target him, but instead shot toward Han, who lay unconscious and vulnerable on the chamber floor. There was no time to think. Ren’s body reacted on instinct. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂 "NO!" The veins of light pulsed with great intensity, flooding the chamber with a radiance that battled against the abomination’s purple glow. The hydra responded to his desperation, manifesting not just as partial armor, but as the most complete fusion possible for a Yano tamer. Scales covered around 30% of his body, the hydra’s muscles merging with his own, reinforcing every fiber, every tendon. The claws weren’t typical tactical extensions, but blades of condensed light, fueled by the energy his mushrooms emitted in frantic pulses from within his body. With all his attributes enhanced by 120% thanks to the ring and hydra, plus additional improvements to defense at 140% and strength up to 160%, Ren became a living projectile. The months of training with Lin had transformed his body into a more efficient machine, and now that efficiency multiplied exponentially. He launched himself toward the monster’s head in a perfect straight line, intercepting it before it could touch Han. His light claws cut through the air with a whistle, impacting against the central mass. The chamber air crackled with displaced energy as he moved, leaving a brief afterimage of light in his wake. Yet, the resistance was greater than expected. Instead of cleanly separating, the monster’s plates barely suffered a superficial cut, but the impact force was enough to divert it from its course. The blow reverberated through Ren’s arms, nearly dislocating his shoulders despite his reinforced structure. "Too hard!" he grunted, regaining his balance in mid-air to land on his feet. "Its resistance is at least Silver rank..." The abyssal worm emitted a shriek that seemed to tear the air itself. More tentacles emerged, this time all oriented toward Ren. He at least had achieved what he wanted: drawing its attention. Ren dodged the first onslaught with a lateral spin, his movements fluid as water thanks to more than double his normal speed. His mind worked at full capacity, analyzing attack patterns, calculating trajectories, identifying the milliseconds between strikes where vulnerability existed. "Four main tentacles," he muttered to himself while evading another blow that impacted the ground, creating a crater where he had been a second before. "They emerge in sequence, with a 0.3-second delay between each." A tentacle managed to graze his leg in the next attack. The effect was instantaneous: an unnatural cold that penetrated even through his scales. Fortunately, Ren’s internal light quickly reduced the effect, pushing back against the siphoning energy with a bright pulse. But the pain cost him an instant of doubt. The monster launched forward with its tentacles leading, Ren rolled to avoid a complete grab, his claws cutting the nearest appendage before it could coil around his ankle. The absorption reduced his energy, the light recovering from the damage but losing some intensity. But Ren had a plan. Each movement took him farther from Han, but also closer to the backpacks they had abandoned when they fell. The creature arched its segmented body, preparing for a faster and more direct attack. Its multiple insect legs tore through the air, generating a disturbing rhythmic clicking that reverberated throughout the chamber. Ren seized that moment to launch into a direct run toward the backpacks. The creature pounced and the tentacles at its front pursued him, serpentining across the floor like rivers of purple death. As he passed the abandoned backpacks, his hand extended with precision. His fingers closed around the spear he had used against the male shadow stalker. The weapon, perfectly balanced thanks to Isaac’s work, felt like a natural extension of his arm. Its weight felt reassuring, solid, a connection to the world above. But the beast would give him no time to celebrate. A mass of tentacles converged on him from multiple angles, closing any escape route with nightmarish coordination. With an acrobatic leap that would have made Lin proud, Ren jumped over the first tentacle, rolled under the second, and executed a mid-air spin with the spear and claws to cut the third and fourth. The hydra and ring increased his agility to superhuman levels, allowing him to perform maneuvers that seemed to defy normal physics. Time itself seemed to slow as his enhanced perception processed each movement, each threat, each opportunity at more than double their real speed. Before falling, Ren drove the spear into the ground and used the momentum to catapult himself upward, just as the beast’s head collided with the spot where he had been. The movement carried him to land on one of the creature’s upper segments. The sensation was repulsive. Beneath his feet, abyssal energy emanated directly against his scales, slowly trying to corrode his protection and his light. The worm twisted violently, trying to dislodge the intruder from its back. Ren drove the spear in as an anchor to maintain balance. The beast roared, a sound that seemed to combine the agonized screams of all its prey. The walls themselves vibrated with the force of its cry, small stones and dust raining from the ceiling. From his new elevated position, Ren could clearly see the creature’s corrupted core: a pulsating mass of purple energy located just beneath the plates of the central segment. "There it is," he whispered, his eyes fixing on the target. Sweat stung his eyes, but he dared not blink. The creature seemed to sense his intention. It coiled protectively, partially hiding its core while more tentacles emerged from its posterior end. They whipped through the air with greater ferocity, their movements less controlled but more dangerous in their wild unpredictability. Ren breathed deeply, centering his mind as Lin had taught him. The light seemed to respond to his concentration, directing more energy to his arms. Ren jumped toward the backpacks full of skins again to land on something soft, avoiding the bite and tentacles that lashed the air behind him. With a movement that combined strength, precision, and all his desperation, Ren launched the spear directly toward the corrupted core during his mid-jump. The spear cut through the air like lightning, its trajectory aimed at the abomination’s only vital point. Time seemed to slow as the weapon flew, the chamber silent save for the whistling sound of its passage through the air.

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