Jagger crouched in front of the corpse, his focus already shifting, his mind narrowing into something colder, sharper. The world beyond the carcass dimmed, pushed to the edges as instinct took over.

Then he felt her again.

This time, she did not touch him. She simply crouched beside him, her movements cautious, measured, as if approaching something dangerous yet fascinating.

‘She is annoying,’ Ophilia’s voice slipped into his thoughts, cold and edged. ‘And she is touching what is mine.’

Jagger’s jaw tightened, a faint muscle ticking along his cheek.

“Ignore it,” he muttered under his breath.

“What?” Soo-min blinked, tilting her head slightly, her brows knitting in confusion.

“Nothing.”

He reached forward at last, gripping the Bowie knife. Without hesitation, he drove the blade down hard and deep into the Skitterer’s torso. The edge slid through chitin and flesh with disturbing ease, his movements efficient and deliberate, as though he had done this a hundred times before.

Behind him, the others watched.

No one stepped forward. No one spoke.

Soo-min didn’t move away.

Instead, she shifted closer.

Closer than before.

Her shoulder brushed lightly against his arm as she crouched beside him, her warmth a sharp contrast to the cooling corpse in front of them. She lingered there, just at the edge of his space, testing it without asking.

“You’re different from the others,” she said quietly, almost as if thinking out loud rather than speaking to him. “You’re not panicking. You’re not hesitating.”

Her gaze moved over him again, slower this time, studying rather than observing.

“You knew exactly what to do.”

‘She is trying to attach herself to you,’ Ophilia said, irritation threading through her voice now, sharper, more possessive. ‘Weak things do that. They look for something stronger to cling to.’

“Not helping,” Jagger muttered under his breath.

Soo-min’s brows furrowed slightly again. “You talk to yourself a lot.”

Jagger ignored her completely.

He carved out a large section from the center of the monster, his blade sinking in and dragging through dense, resistant tissue. Then he wedged his fingers and toes into the cut edges and pulled upward, muscles tightening as he forced the carcass open. The resistance gave way with a sickening stretch.

Viscera and sinew tore apart with a wet, heavy peeling sound that filled the sudden quiet of the street.

The Skitterer’s insides spilled open.

Dark organs glistened under the dim streetlight, slick and swollen, shifting as the cavity split wider. Thick, blackened blood oozed sluggishly from ruptured tissue, pooling around Jagger’s boots and seeping into the cracks of the pavement. Steam-like heat rose faintly from within, carrying a stench that hit immediately.

Coppery. Rotten. Sharp enough to claw at the back of the throat.

Behind him, someone gagged.

“Jesus Christ…” Nico muttered, turning his head away, one hand clamped over his mouth as his stomach churned.

Abdul grimaced, forcing himself to watch despite the instinct to look away. His grip tightened around the med-kit until his knuckles paled. “That’s… that’s how you get the loot?”

Jung said nothing.

His face had gone pale again, drained of color, but his eyes remained locked on Jagger. He watched every movement with an intensity that went beyond fear, like he was trying to understand something fundamental, something that separated survival from death.

Soo-min didn’t look away.

If anything, she leaned in closer, her curiosity overriding any trace of disgust. There was calculation there too, quiet and deliberate.

“What are you looking for?” she asked, her voice softer now.

‘She is persistent,’ Ophilia’s voice slipped in again, colder, displeased. ‘And irritating.’

Jagger ignored both of them.

His hands moved with purpose, steady and unflinching.

He pushed aside a slick coil of torn muscle, his fingers sinking into the heat and wetness without hesitation. Then he drove the blade deeper into the chest cavity, prying through resistant bone and cartilage with a sharp twist. There was a brief, jarring crunch, followed by a wet tear as the structure finally gave way.

“Found it.”

His voice was low, almost absent.

He reached in.

The heat inside the corpse was fading, but it still clung to his skin, thick and suffocating as his fingers searched through the mess. Flesh shifted under his touch. Bone scraped against his knuckles. Blood coated his wrist.

Then he felt it.

Something solid.

Something pulsing.

“There you are.”

His grip tightened.

He pulled.

It came free with a thick, wet sound, strands of tissue stretching before snapping as it broke loose.

Jagger lifted it into the light.

The core was smaller than the Boomgut Toad’s, but denser, heavier in a way that had nothing to do with weight. Its surface was jagged, like fractured obsidian, uneven planes catching and bending the dim streetlight. Faint red lines ran through it, pulsing in slow, irregular beats, like a dying heart refusing to stop.

Energy coiled inside it.

Tight. Compressed.

Unstable.

Like something waiting for the slightest excuse to snap.

“…That looks dangerous,” Abdul said quietly, his voice edged with unease.

“No shit,” Nico added, still refusing to look at it directly.

Soo-min’s gaze stayed on the core for a long moment, her eyes reflecting the faint red glow. Then, slowly, it drifted back to Jagger.

“You don’t even flinch,” she said, something close to awe in her voice now.

‘Of course he doesn’t,’ Ophilia muttered. ‘He is getting used to it.’

Jagger turned the core once in his hand, studying the way the light shifted across its fractured surface. Then, without ceremony, he sent it to his inventory.

Gone.

As if it had never existed.

He stood, rolling his shoulder once, the movement slow, testing. Then his gaze flicked briefly toward the group behind him.

“That’s all from me,” he said simply. “I should be on my way.”

He turned, already moving.

“Wait.”

Jung’s voice stopped him.

“Hyeong-nim, please,” Jung said, stepping forward quickly, respect thickening his tone. “You can’t just leave us here. We have nowhere safe to go.”

Soo-min stepped in beside him, her expression earnest, her composure thinner now. “You’re strong. Stronger than anyone we’ve seen. Alone… we won’t last the night.”

Nico nodded quickly, eyes wide with barely contained fear. “And with the Heralds that could be around the corner, we need your help.”

Abdul shifted on his feet, grimacing as he spoke. “We’ll pull our weight. Whatever it takes, we swear.”

‘Don’t.’

Jagger’s jaw tightened again.

Ophilia’s presence sharpened in his mind, a cold, watchful silence pressing in. She did not need to speak further.

Dead weight.

He already knew.

“Look,” Jagger said, turning slightly but not fully facing them. “There is a group at Takashimaya called the Bastions. They are hunters and survivors. They take in refugees and help fight off these monsters. You head there if you want to live.”

He started to move again.

“Please, we are not from here. We don’t know where that is,” Jung said, desperation bleeding into his voice. “We were part of a tour group. Everything went to hell, and we got stuck here. We’ve been hiding and running for seven days.”

“Please,” Soo-min cut in softly.

She stepped closer.

Too close.

Her hands reached for his, wrapping around them and pulling them against her chest.

‘Soft. Too close.’

Jagger stiffened, his thoughts snapping tight as he forced himself not to react.

A tear rolled down Soo-min’s cheek, silent, unchecked. Her grip trembled, not weak, but strained.

“We’ll do anything.”

‘She is doing it again,’ Ophilia said, colder now. Sharper.

‘Stop it, Ophilia,’ he shot back, irritation cutting through the tension.

For a long second, the only sound was the distant drip of water and the faint hum of a broken city.

Then Jagger exhaled.

“Fine.”

The word came out heavy.

“I’ll take you close to Takashimaya and drop you off. After that, I’m gone.”

Relief hit them like a wave.

Jung stepped forward and pulled him into a quick, firm hug, catching Jagger completely off guard. “Thank you, hyeong-nim. Thank you.”

Jagger stiffened, one arm hanging awkwardly at his side. He did not return the gesture, but he did not push him away either.

Jung stepped back, clapping him on the shoulder, gratitude shining openly in his eyes.

Soo-min’s grip loosened, but she did not let go immediately. Her thumb brushed slowly across his knuckles, a small, intimate motion that sent a faint, unwelcome awareness up his spine.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

‘I am going to kill her,’ Ophilia said flatly.

Jagger pulled his hands free and took a deliberate step back.

“Alright,” he said, voice firm again. “Questions. Are you all hunters? Can you fight?”

The moment fractured.

Abdul cleared his throat, shifting his stance. “All of us are hunters, but Jung and I have the highest levels. I’m a level 5 warrior, and Jung is a level 7 shield bearer.”

The others looked down.

Soo-min’s gaze dropped, her fingers twisting into the hem of her oversized shirt. “I just awakened. I’m… I’m a level 3 water elemental mage,” she admitted quietly. “I haven’t even used my magic.”

Nico let out a short, humorless laugh. “Same. Recently awakened. Level 3 brawler.”

Jagger took it all in, quickly processing it.

Low levels. Inexperienced. One is completely untested.

Not a team.

A liability.

But balanced in ways he was not.

“Alright,” he said. “First order of business. We can’t stay here.”

He jerked his chin toward the corpse.

“The blood. The body. It’s a beacon. More will come. And I don’t want to be here when they do.”

Jung nodded immediately. “Right. Right. Where do we go?”

“Somewhere with doors we can lock,” Jagger said, already turning. “You all look like shit. We find a place, clean up, then head for the Bastions.”

He paused just long enough to look at them again, his gaze hardening.

“And we get you better gear.”

His tone shifted.

Cold. Controlled. Absolute.

“You follow. No questions. Don’t wander. If I stop, you stop. If I run, you run. If I attack, you listen to my commands. Clear?”

No one argued.

They nodded, a silent, unified submission.

“Good,” Jagger said.

He turned and started walking.

“Let’s move.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep