The sky darkened.

  Kael didn’t notice it immediately.

  At first the valley simply felt colder, as if a cloud had passed over the sun.

  But the longer he stood beside the crushed Direwolf, the more the air seemed to thicken.

  The wind stopped.

  The birds vanished.

  Even the insects fell silent.

  Kael slowly looked up.

  Something was wrong.

  The clouds above the mountains were moving in strange patterns—circling, folding inward like a whirlpool in the sky.

  And at the center of it—

  A single point of light.

  Cold.

  White.

  Descending.

  Kael frowned.

  “That doesn’t look natural.”

  The lotus lamp in his hand suddenly grew warmer.

  Its golden petals flickered rapidly, reacting to something in the air.

  A panel appeared.

  [LOTUS LAMP – INTERNAL RESONANCE]

  Synchronization: 8%

  Threat Detection: Extreme

  Recommendation: Movement

  Kael didn’t argue.

  He grabbed his pack and began moving toward the deeper forest.

  But he had taken barely three steps when the sky cracked.

  A streak of white light tore through the clouds like a falling star.

  It struck the valley floor several hundred meters away.

  The impact was silent.

  No explosion.

  No thunder.

  Just a pulse of cold energy that rippled through the ground.

  Kael felt the shockwave travel through his boots.

  Then the System panel flickered into existence.

  [SYSTEM ALERT]

  Hunter Unit Deployed

  Target: Kael Ashbound

  Threat Classification: Emerging Anomaly

  Kael’s stomach dropped.

  “So it begins.”

  He had suspected the System would escalate.

  But he hadn’t expected it this quickly.

  Slowly, cautiously, he moved toward the ridge overlooking the impact point.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  What he saw made his breath catch.

  The Hunter stood nearly three meters tall.

  Its body resembled a humanoid figure built from dark metallic plates, each one etched with glowing silver lines that pulsed like living circuitry.

  Four long mechanical limbs extended from its back like folded wings.

  Its head was smooth and featureless except for a single glowing lens where its face should have been.

  A faint energy field rippled around it.

  A System panel hovered above its head.

  SYSTEM HUNTER UNIT

  Designation: HX-01

  Level: 10

  Directive: Eliminate Deviation

  Kael swore under his breath.

  “Level ten.”

  That was absurd.

  Even trained cultivators would struggle with something like that.

  Yet the System had deployed it for him.

  The Hunter’s lens rotated slowly.

  Scanning.

  Calculating.

  Then it stopped.

  Locked onto Kael’s position.

  The lens flashed crimson.

  Target Confirmed

  The Hunter moved.

  Not with speed.

  With inevitability.

  Each step cracked the ground beneath its feet.

  The mechanical limbs on its back unfolded with a metallic hiss.

  Four bladed appendages extended outward like the legs of some massive insect.

  Kael’s mind raced.

  He couldn’t fight that directly.

  Not yet.

  He turned and sprinted toward the forest.

  Behind him the Hunter accelerated.

  The ground shook as it crossed the clearing in seconds.

  Kael triggered Ember Step.

  Golden flame burst beneath his feet.

  His body shot forward through the trees.

  Branches blurred past his vision.

  The lotus lamp burned hotter now.

  Another panel appeared.

  [LOTUS LAMP – INTERNAL RESONANCE]

  Synchronization: 9%

  Flame Pressure Rising

  New Response: Ignition Instability

  Kael frowned while running.

  “Ignition instability?”

  He didn’t have time to think about it.

  The Hunter crashed through the treeline behind him like a living battering ram.

  Trees snapped.

  Stone shattered.

  Its lens glowed brighter as it tracked his movements.

  Kael used Ember Step again.

  Golden sparks streaked across the forest floor.

  But the Hunter adapted instantly.

  One of its mechanical limbs fired forward.

  The blade tore through the air.

  Kael barely twisted aside in time.

  The strike carved a trench three meters long into the earth.

  Too close.

  Way too close.

  Kael’s breathing grew heavier.

  Ember Step was useful—but it wasn’t enough to escape something this powerful.

  The Hunter raised its arm.

  Energy gathered along its metallic palm.

  A beam of white light erupted.

  The blast tore through the forest like a thunderbolt.

  Kael dove behind a boulder as the beam passed overhead.

  The stone exploded into fragments.

  Fragments of rock rained down across the clearing.

  Kael coughed through the dust.

  “Okay,” he muttered.

  “That thing definitely wants me dead.”

  The lotus lamp suddenly flared brighter.

  Heat surged through his arm.

  A new panel appeared.

  [LOTUS LAMP – INTERNAL RESONANCE]

  Synchronization: 10%

  Flame Threshold Reached

  Ability Unlock: Ember Burst

  Kael blinked.

  “New ability?”

  He barely had time to process it before the Hunter stepped into the clearing.

  Its crimson lens focused directly on him.

  Energy gathered again in its palm.

  Kael inhaled sharply.

  “Guess we’re testing it.”

  He raised the lotus lamp.

  Golden fire swirled inside the petals.

  The warmth in his chest intensified.

  For the first time—

  The flame moved outward.

  Kael felt it surge through his arm.

  Then he thrust the lamp forward.

  “Ember Burst.”

  The lotus lamp erupted.

  A sphere of golden fire blasted outward from the petals.

  The flame struck the Hunter head-on.

  For a moment the entire clearing exploded with light.

  The mechanical giant staggered.

  Its energy field flickered violently.

  Metal armor blackened where the flame touched it.

  Kael stared.

  “That actually hurt it.”

  The Hunter’s lens flickered.

  System panels erupted across its body.

  ERROR

  UNKNOWN ENERGY SIGNATURE

  The machine recovered quickly.

  But something had changed.

  It moved more cautiously now.

  More carefully.

  The lotus flame had forced it to reassess the threat.

  Kael exhaled slowly.

  “So you can bleed.”

  A System panel appeared again.

  [SYSTEM INTERFACE]

  Strength: 13

  Agility: 14

  Endurance: 12

  Deviation Index: 15% → 18%

  Kael’s eyes widened.

  “Eighteen already?”

  The number glowed faintly.

  Dangerously close to twenty.

  And the moment it rose—

  The sky above the valley trembled.

  Far beyond the clouds—

  Inside the Celestial Registry—

  Another alarm activated.

  Subject: Kael Ashbound

  Deviation Index: 18%

  Threshold Event Approaching

  The Observer watched silently.

  Then issued a quiet command.

  Prepare Containment Protocol

  Back in the forest, Kael faced the Hunter again.

  The mechanical giant stepped forward slowly.

  Its crimson lens burned brighter than before.

  It had recalculated.

  And this time—

  It intended to finish the hunt.

  Kael tightened his grip on the lotus lamp.

  Golden fire flickered between the petals.

  His Deviation Index continued rising.

  The forest burned with tension.

  Two forces stood on opposite sides of the clearing.

  The System’s hunter.

  And the man who refused to obey it.

  High above them—

  the heavens waited.

  Because once the number reached 20%—

  Everything would change.

  End of Chapter 7