Chapter 125: [A HUNTER’S LIMIT]

Every hunter had a limit.

A threshold etched into the very core of their ability.

Even the strongest weren’t exempt. They just knew how to skirt the edge without tipping over, how to weaponize their limits, or hide them behind flawless strategy.

Like Kairo.

Some, like Caelen, turned their limits into strength, training their bodies until even without powers, they were weapons.

Others, like Mio, had abilities restricted by design—threads that excelled at binding, slicing, restraining—but exhausting when overused.

For Eli—for Elione—the pounding in his skull had always seemed like a nuisance, a side effect.

He assumed the headaches were the price of his ability.

Annoying, but tolerable.

It never really crossed his mind that the headaches might only be the warning signs.

That pushing past them could be worse.

Fatal.

Because limits, once crossed, could kill a hunter.

Not immediately, not always violently—but slowly, insidiously. Systems collapsing. Abilities consuming the vessel that carried them.

And for Eli, it was happening now.

He was drowning in danger he couldn’t escape. Even when Mio wasn’t attacking, even when the threads stilled, the alarms inside his skull kept screaming.

Continuous. Relentless.

His ability was being hijacked, forced into overdrive—and whether Mio was doing it intentionally or not didn’t matter. Eli couldn’t think through the agony long enough to tell.

“Damn it.”

Kairo’s voice cut through, sharp but low, a rare edge of frustration grinding against his calm. His black eyes narrowed, the scarlet glow of his blade flaring hotter as he exhaled. “I have no choice but to knock him out, but…”

Eli’s stomach sank. He knew exactly what that but meant.

If Kairo knocked Mio out, they’d lose their only lead. There was no guarantee they’d even find the monster controlling him.

No proof, no clue. Just silence. And worse—what if knocking Mio out triggered the thing to look for a new host?

Eli’s chest clenched, breath catching sharp in his throat. ’What if it chooses me? Or worse… Kairo?’

The thought dug into him like claws.

If it was him, he could maybe fight it, maybe resist—but if it was Kairo?

No. There’d be no chance. Eli wouldn’t last a second.

If that happened, there would only be one of them left standing.

One against an unseen monster. One against the ticking clock of the dungeon.

And that was assuming Eli didn’t collapse first.

His stomach twisted. ’If Kairo’s the one taken… I’ll definitely die.’

And still—the boss. The boss was out there, waiting. Another nightmare layered on top of the one already in front of them.

The pressure spiked in his skull. Eli groaned, doubling forward as if the weight of it might crush him entirely.

His body shook, muscles locked and straining under the overload. The agony wasn’t just pain anymore—it was suffocating, like being crushed beneath invisible stone.

Mio’s aura flooded the cavern, smothering everything. It was unbearable, wrong.

’This isn’t just some small monster. This isn’t even like those phantoms. This is strong—too strong.’

His fingers dug desperately into Kairo’s sleeve, nails biting through damp fabric. ’Whatever’s controlling Mio… it’s S-Class at least. Has to be.’

But it didn’t feel like a boss.

Bosses announced themselves. Their aura pressed down, heavy and absolute, bending the air and warping space like gravity itself. This wasn’t like that.

This was quieter.

Parasitic.

Like a shadow threading itself into cracks you didn’t know you had.

The realization made the hairs on Eli’s neck rise, even through the blinding agony.

’Then what the fuck is it?’

Below them, Mio’s laughter rang out—shattered and jagged, wrong in a way that scraped along Eli’s bones.

His silver threads lashed violently, sparking against stone in manic arcs, every strike briefly lighting the cavern.

In each fractured flash, Eli caught glimpses of his face: twisted, contorted, a fury that didn’t look like his own.

It wasn’t Mio. Not really.

Something else was peering through his eyes.

Eli’s stomach lurched. The words slipped out before he realized. “We… can’t…”

Kairo’s head turned slightly, sharp, black eyes narrowing. “We can’t?”

Eli’s lips trembled, his throat raw, voice a cracked whisper. “…Knock him out… we can’t risk it. If he’s knocked out… we might get controlled next…”

The thought settled in like ice.

They didn’t know the rules. They didn’t know how Mio had been chosen, or why. Was it because of his strength? His mind?

Was it opportunistic—waiting for Kairo to leave before striking? Or had the thing been hiding in him longer than they realized, waiting for the perfect moment?

They knew nothing. Nothing but the danger suffocating them.

Eli’s nails dug deeper into Kairo’s sleeve as he forced himself upright, jaw clenched against the pain. He couldn’t let Kairo knock Mio out. Not yet.

’I have to endure this.’

“Please. Kairo, I’ll be… fine.” Eli whispered, his voice hoarse, barely audible against the cavern’s echo.

But the moment the words left his lips, agony spiked through him again.

More pain.

Like a serrated blade twisting deeper, like Mio himself was pushing harder, deliberately sharpening his malice to grind Eli down.

Eli choked on the groan that tore out of him, nails clutching into Kairo’s sleeve until his knuckles went white. His body trembled violently, every muscle stiff under the pressure.

’How is this even possible? How can he just… will himself into being more dangerous?’

The answer didn’t matter. He couldn’t fight it. He couldn’t even think through it. His head felt like it was splitting open.

With no other choice, Eli pressed his face against Kairo’s shoulder, burying himself there, as though hiding could shield him from the storm ripping through his senses.

“Are you sure, Eli?” Kairo’s voice came low, steady, but the undercurrent was different now—tight, almost strained, a shadow of something rare.

Eli’s chest constricted. ’I’m not allowed to lie.’ The System wouldn’t let him. Not with this question. Not with him.

His throat burned as the word cracked out of him. “No.”

Silence.

Kairo didn’t answer right away. He only stood there, still as stone, scarlet blade humming faintly in the dark. The only sound was Eli’s ragged breathing, his chest hitching against Kairo’s arm.

Eli couldn’t see his face, couldn’t read his expression. All he could feel was the steady grip holding him up, the strength anchoring him in place when everything else was spinning.

And yet—there wasn’t much time. They both knew it.

Unless they figured out what was controlling Mio, and how to break it, they were just burning seconds in a dungeon where every second mattered.

“What do you want me to do, then?” Kairo asked finally, his voice sharp, deliberate.

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