[Detected: Fragment Resonance Reaction ]
[They're not for you ]
[...]
[They're here for fragments.]
The forest is frozen.
Not in silence, but in anticipation.
Dozens of eyes glow through the thick, moving mist, every pair of eyes burning with intensity. The air was becoming heavy around Limbo, Rin and Gaja like someone was squishing them in a tight space.
Something deadly, wild and terrifying had stepped into the woods.
And it wasn't the Beta wolf.
Somethi...
System Notify
Multiple Signals detected...
Unidentified pack approaching ...
Limbo's breath skips.
He wasn't ready — not in this condition.
At least...
Gaja gripped his twin blades tight, with little fear.
Rin pulled her vines closer, ready to bind.
Even the Beta wolf— bleeding, shaking, and almost half collapsed. Slowly lifted its head in the direction of the source of that haunting aura. The smoke around its body trembles like it senses something far beyond itself.
The ground trembled thump... Thump.. thump... In a rhythm.
No one is charging at each other. Not the Beta wolf nor the trio.
Only the Hunters... We're ready for..
Hunting.
A shape moved in the mist, low, crawling along the shadows, shaped almost like wolves but thinner ... Sharper... More like a skeleton, but not all.
Their bones shifted visibly under their dark skin, their joints making sounds unnaturally as they marched.
Rin covered her mouth with her hands.
She then whispered, "What...are those..?" In tremble.
Limbo remained silent, but the system did.
[Fragment Hunters Identified]
[Target: Fragments ]
[Priority level: CRITICAL]
Limbo's blood turned cold.
He stood in place.
His fragment...
The Beta Wolf's fragment...
And the impure fragments inside him...
They came for everyone, everything.
One of the hunting wolves stepped forward from the pack.
Though he was smaller in size than the Beta, it's Presence was suffocating. Its jaw opened unnaturally wide, reveling sharp knife like teeth arranged in three rows.
Sound of footsteps can be clearly heard.
It's gazed ignored Limbo...
Ignored Rin...
Ignored Gaja...
It was locked into the wounded Beta wolf.
Beta wolf snarled weakly, trying to stand tall.
But its legs gave up.
And then...
The first hunting wolf pounced at Beta wolf.
Wait —! Limbo shouted.
But the attack had already begun.
Also, Rin grabbed Limbo's shoulder. To hint to don't act recklessly.
The hunters started to slam into the beta wolf with savage precision and coordination. Tearing into flesh, ripping through the corrupted smoke. The Beta Wolf howled.
A deep. Tortured sound that shook even Gaja's chest.
Rin covered her mouth.
Are they... Eating him... Alive?
Limbo's eyes narrowed.
"No. I think..."
Limbo said with a small face.
He also wanted to kill the Beta Wolf... but with dignity. Up until now, Beast and Limbo had fought with all their strength.
Limbo was amazed by its stubborn will to never give up.
But now....
"They're stripping its fragment."
He said.
The hunting wolves weren't here for battle. I guess they're for...
They were here for resources.
What resources are in this dead, corrupted land?
The core source of the other beasts.
And this Beta wolf has a stronger and huge core full of energy.
The beta wolf fought back with a last burst of rage, but the hunters were too much and attacking in cordinate—all at once. One was attracted to its neck, another snapped at its chest.
Two more tore into its back legs.
Gaja..fliched.
"That's..brutal."
It was.
But it also brought them time.
LIMBO started to think. Running his mind, calculating possibilities and outcomes. Looking for ways.
Limbo stepped back from the Chaos
And whispered to both of them.
"Stay close and sharp. Now."
Rin and Gaja moved instantly to his side.
Limbo unclipped the last remaining Silver Bloom from his pocket.
The shimmering petals glowed faintly even in the dark mist.
"It won't last long," Rin warned in a hurry, your body is already —" at its limits.
"I know." But it can help me with...
LIMBO swallowed the bloom in one bite.
Warmth.
Light.
Stabilization.
It hit him like a burning breeze fading through all his veins.
System Notify
Silver Bloom essence absorbed
Stability: +14%
Mana Purification Rate: Enhanced
Authorised to begin: Fragment Integration Sequence
[Y/N]
YES.
Limbo exhaled sharply as the Fragments inside him hummed.
Buzzing, syncing, aligning.
The process began.
This was it.
"Gaja, Rin," Limbo said without looking at them, sitting cross-legged in padmasana on the soil.
"Buy me ten minutes."
Gaja raised his eyebrow.
"Ten minutes? That's a bit... In this situation..."
"Five minutes, then."
"What?!"
But Rin already stepped in front of Limbo,
Eyes burning with full determination.
Her vines surge outward like a blooming maze of thorns. Forming a circular barrier.
Gaja took a position on the opposite side,
Blades ready.
Limbo places both palms on the ground.
And activates a light barrier in the system. But it was weak due to exhaustion from battle. "This will ease your burden."
"A little, I guess!"
And he whispered again.
"Began integration."
Light cracked the earth beneath him.
Golden-blue circuit line spread around him like a forming ritual circle. The fragments inside him tremble, pulling energy, syncing in violent flashes.
System Notify
Core Network: Activating
Fragment Resonance: 3 active
Purification process: 24%... 31%... 40%...
Warning: external signals detected.
The purification energy, sensed by a hunting wolf.
Gaja frit his teeth.
"They're looking at us."
"Just hold them back," Rin Said, with a shaking voice but with determination.
Here, take a sip quickly.
He grabs and takes a sip of the potion of silver bloom. This gives them an instant boost and recovery.
The hunting wolves that attacked the Beta wolf turned their heads slowly.
Blood dripping from their jaws, silver-white eyes unblinking.
They sensed it.
The integration.
One of them growled while lowering its head— a deep rumble vibrating through the mist.
And it charged.
At them with force.
The vines held for 30 seconds —
SNAP—!
The barrier cracked.
"Rin!" Gaja yelled.
"I KNOW!"
But there's still a second barrier Limbo created. The beast stepped out a few steps and marched forward with full force.
But it replied back.
He tried again, with Mana force—and this time...
The Second Barrier Cracked...
"We're doomed..."
The beast growled.
Like mocking with a smile and saying you're next...
The protection Barrier.
...Both of them are gone...