(A massive roar echoes across the dungeon as the shadowed hyenas swarm the injured B-rank hunters. The alpha beast snarls in the distance, watching from the shadows like a predator waiting to strike. Agilan's system glows blood red, reacting to the threat level.)
System Notification:
> [Power Surge Detected]
[Monarch Form: Activated]
[Summon Capacity: 2 Units Enabled]
["ASCEND" Command Executed]
(Agilan's body lifts slightly off the ground. Flesh coils wrap his arms and chest in pulsating armor, glowing veins tracing through like circuits. His eyes turn a deep crimson. The Monarch of Flesh has returned.)
Agilan: (calm but chilling)
"Let's clean this up."
(He extends his arm.)
Agilan:
"Summon — Lycan Alpha."
(A huge humanoid wolf with glowing blue tattoos and razor-sharp claws lands beside him, growling.)
Agilan:
"Summon — Giant Worm Spawn."
(The ground splits open as a grotesque, armoured flesh worm bursts upward, snarling and coiling like a siege engine of meat.)
Vinod: (jaw dropped)
"What the hell are those?! You can summon monsters now?!"
Shalini: (quietly)
"This... this isn't human..."
(The Lycan Alpha tears into a cluster of shadowed hyenas with savage grace, claws slicing through their blackened hides. The Giant Worm Spawn swallows two hyenas whole and slams its tail into the rest. Every kill surges Agilan's interface with data and power.)
System Notification:
> [Combat Evolution Triggered]
[Agilan's Stats Increasing... Strength +2 | Perception +1 | Flesh Affinity +3]
[New Sub-Trait: "Instinctual Control" – Active Summons gain enhanced reflexes]
(Agilan stands still like a commander in war, eyes fixed on the carnage. Every movement calculated. Then — silence. The last hyena falls.)
Agilan: (breathing softly)
"Despawn."
*(Lycan Alpha and Worm dissolve into black mist.)
But a new presence approaches — a colossal beast, its black mane writhing with tendrils. Its bone jaws clack together as it roars. It is the Boss of the Shadowed Hyenas, twice the size of the others, with glowing white eyes and bone armor covering its limbs.*
Shalini: (terrified)
"Agilan... that thing… it's massive."
Vinod: (stammering)
"We're dead. We are absolutely, positively dead."
Agilan: (stepping forward slowly)
"No… It's time I show it what a Monarch can do."
---
Agilan:
"Vermicular Surge."
(The ground splits open. Flesh-coated tendrils burst out, slamming against rocks and twisting across the terrain like a storm of red vines. The entire battlefield transforms into a grotesque biome of skin, muscle, and bone. Tendrils whip forward — hundreds of them — moving 10 times faster and sharper than any previous weapon form.)
System Notification:
> [Ultimate Skill: Vermicular Surge – Activated]
[Warning: Duration Limited – High Energy Drain]
(The boss charges, but tendrils slice through its armor, pinning it to a wall. It fights back, biting and thrashing, but Agilan's tendrils regenerate faster than they can be destroyed.)
Agilan (internal):
"Every strike makes me stronger. Every wound I give... feeds me."
(A furious and cinematic battle unfolds: claws versus tendrils, brute strength versus precision evolution. After a long, grueling exchange, Agilan leaps into the air, forms a massive flesh blade around his arm, and brings it down, severing the boss's head.)
System Notification:
> [Boss Defeated: Shadowed Hyena King]
[Bonus XP + 5000]
[Trait Unlocked: "Territorial Domination"]
(The flesh biome retracts. Agilan floats in the air, coated in blood and steam. He looks down at his hands.)
Agilan:
"Descend."
(His body slowly morphs back to human form, the monstrous armor dissolving into mist. His skin clears, breath stabilizes — but he's completely clothed.)
Vinod: (yells, covering his eyes dramatically)
"Aaah! Tell me when he's done — I don't want to see my best friend's ass!"
(Beat. Silence. Vinod peeks.)
Vinod: (confused)
"Wait... you're not naked?"
Agilan: (smirking slightly)
"I upgraded it. You're welcome."
Shalini: (blushing)
"...Idiot."
---
(The three walk toward the shimmering gate. Behind them, the dungeon begins collapsing.)
Vinod: (cheerfully)
"We lived! Bro, we lived! And you saved my life! And hers! And theirs! And—"
Shalini: (quietly, staring at Agilan)
"You're not the same person you were yesterday, are you?"
Agilan: (glancing back at the destroyed battlefield)
"...Maybe not."
System Notification:
"Quest: Close 10 B-C Rank Dungeon Gates and 4 A-Rank Dungeon Gates."
(As they exit the gate, the B-rank hunters, bloodied and confused, stumble out behind them. They look around — the trio is gone.)
Hunter 1: (panting)
"...They saved us. That kid... he saved us."
(Inside the helicopter, the South Korean Chief Hunter sits silently as his men report.)
B-Rank Hunter:
"Sir, during the fight… I saw him. An 18-year-old boy, maybe Indian. He fought the Shadowed Hyena King... alone."
Chief Hunter: (raises eyebrow)
"An Indian hunter? What rank?"
B-Rank Hunter:
"That's the thing, sir. He wasn't dressed like a hunter. No ID. No guild tag. Nothing."
Chief Hunter: (leaning forward)
"...Find him. Whoever he is — he just changed the game."