It was only a guess… but if the rift was actively hunting me, then things were once again about to take a turn for the worse.
I had already seen countless asura creatures moving toward the rift from every direction imaginable. At first I thought it was instinct… beasts gathering around power like moths drawn toward fire.
But now I wasn't so sure.
They were feeding on it.
Growing stronger from it.
And the rift itself…
That thing was conscious.
Not alive in the way humans understood life, but conscious nonetheless. Ancient. Twisted. Vast beyond comprehension. Even remembering that presence made something deep inside me recoil instinctively.
It could command the asura.
Which meant one horrifying possibility had begun taking shape inside my head.
The great hornbill was not searching randomly.
It was scouting.
And somewhere behind it, an army of strengthened asura creatures could already be moving toward us with that thing acting as their guide.
Coupled with the fact that it somehow sensed me despite my concealment, the situation became even worse.
Still… we had one advantage.
A head start.
Which meant there was only one thing left to do.
Run.
Now the real problem was figuring out how the hell I was supposed to explain any of this to the tiger.
Thankfully, it already seemed intent on following me anyway.
So I simply started moving.
Not fast enough to destroy what little remained of my body, but fast enough to cover ground efficiently while making it obvious that danger was approaching.
The tiger remained still for a few moments at first, watching me disappear between the trees.
Then it followed.
The great hornbill passed overhead several times throughout the day.
Each time its massive wings hammered the sky with those same dreadful booming sounds.
Not attacking.
Not descending.
Just watching.
Almost as if it was reminding us that running and escaping were two entirely different things.
Night eventually fell, but neither of us stopped moving at our usual time. Darkness swallowed the forest whole, forcing me to slow down slightly to avoid tripping across roots and uneven ground, but I still pushed forward as quickly as I could.
Then a small roar sounded out behind me.
I stopped immediately and turned around.
The tiger stood several meters away, breathing heavily.
"…ah."
I stared at it for a second before rubbing my face tiredly.
"I forgot… you weren't built for endurance."
As weak as I currently was, I still possessed enough atma to keep forcing my body forward.
The tiger didn't.
I looked deeper into the dark forest ahead.
Then back toward the exhausted tiger.
I only had two choices.
Abandon it.
Or stop and continue once it had recovered enough strength.
The answer came easier than it should have.
I chose the latter.
In a way, it had saved my life when we first met.
I wasn't going to abandon it now.
No way.
We settled down beneath a cluster of thick trees. I gathered water from one of the bamboo containers into a broad leaf and pushed it toward the tiger before drinking some myself.
Yet even while resting, panic continued building quietly inside me.
Because I already knew what was coming.
I had seen it once before.
Fighting an entire swarm of asura creatures was not a battle.
It was suicide.
I still hadn't recovered enough to fight the way I once could. If I tried maintaining a vajra field powerful enough to face an army while simultaneously reinforcing my body…
…I would kill myself long before the enemy managed to.
The strain alone would tear me apart from the inside out.
And I no longer possessed enough flesh on my body to endlessly repair the damage caused by excessive strengthening through atma.
The tiger, meanwhile, had already fallen asleep.
Its breathing remained slow and steady despite everything.
"…ha. Sometimes I wish I were you."
One ear flicked lazily in response.
"…and I still haven't found a name either."
I leaned my head back against the tree.
"I guess I'll just call you Tiger-san until I come up with something better."
The tiger's tail twitched once.
Still asleep.
I couldn't.
Sleep simply refused to come.
So after some time, I quietly stepped away from our resting spot. The tiger reacted immediately despite being asleep, ears flicking sharply toward me before relaxing again once it realized I was nearby.
I wandered aimlessly through the dark forest, trying to calm the growing pressure inside my chest.
That was when I spotted movement.
At the end of a fallen tree, something bulky was tearing apart roots and insects beneath rotten bark.
A boar.
The creature was so absorbed in eating that it remained completely unaware of my presence.
Catching it wouldn't be easy.
The moment I got too close, it would run… and chasing down a panicked boar through a forest at night sounded absolutely miserable.
Still…
It was a boar.
And boars were stupidly aggressive.
Which gave me an idea.
I slammed my palm hard against the fallen tree.
The sharp crack echoed through the forest.
The boar jerked violently, finally noticing me. I bent down, scooped dirt from the ground, and threw it near its face.
The boar stamped once, ripping apart mud beneath its hooves.
I pushed further, making mocking snorts and sharp whistles toward it.
For a brief second, the beast looked more offended than threatened.
Then its ears flattened.
And it charged.
The thing came at me like a collapsing wall of muscle and tusks.
Honestly, that was what made boars terrifying.
They rarely hesitated.
Once they committed to a charge, they simply became destruction moving forward.
I waited until the final possible moment before shifting out of the way.
The boar crashed directly into the tree behind me with a heavy crack.
Exactly as planned.
I immediately grabbed onto it before it could recover, forcing atma through my weakened body to strengthen my limbs enough to contend against its raw strength.
The boar shrieked violently beneath me.
Mud and hot breath exploded into my face as it bucked and twisted wildly.
I drove the small knife downward.
The blade disappeared through coarse fur and hardened flesh near its neck.
The boar convulsed once.
Then again.
Its strength gradually weakened before finally collapsing into the mud with one last rattling breath.
The next hour disappeared into grim work beneath the trees.
By the end of it, the smell of iron clung stubbornly to my skin no matter how much dirt or water I used to scrub at it.
I cut away enough meat to properly fill myself before dragging the rest of the carcass back toward our resting place.
The tiger was already awake by the time I returned.
Maybe it heard the struggle.
Maybe it smelled the blood.
Either way, it met me halfway through the trees.
I held eye contact with it briefly, a small grin pulling at my face despite the exhaustion.
Then I dropped the carcass and stepped back.
An invitation.
The tiger's gaze locked onto the torn remains instantly.
It circled the carcass once before lowering its massive head toward the exposed flesh. A deep rumble vibrated through its chest.
Not a warning.
Not satisfaction either.
Something in between.
Strangely enough, watching it eat felt more satisfying than finally easing my own hunger.
I cooked part of the boar meat afterward and bit into the still-warm flesh quietly beneath the trees.
The effect came quickly.
Warmth spread through my body once more.
Muscles slowly tightened back into shape.
Strength began returning to areas that had felt hollow and dead only days ago.
A much needed improvement for what was about to come.
Because deep down…
I no longer believed outrunning the approaching disaster was possible anymore.