Cain didn't waste time staring at the glowing golden eyes now opening all across the wasteland.
He was already moving.
Sprinting across jagged bone fields, leaping over cracked ground, pushing his body way beyond anything he thought possible.
Behind him?
The growls started.
Not human.
Not monster.
Something worse.
Predators.
Not just beasts.
Creatures born directly from the leftover power of dead gods and corrupted worlds.
[Executor's Trial Active: Chaos Predator Detected]
Cain cursed.
"Why can't I just die like a normal person…"
The first Chaos Predator erupted from the ground.
Long.
Shadow-black.
Covered in bone-like plates twisted over muscle that seemed to shimmer like liquid darkness.
Its head was a mass of writhing eyes — some blinking sideways, some upside-down.
[Chaos Predator – Tier 1]
Status: Hunter of Chaos Candidates
Strength: High
Speed: Ridiculous
Weakness: Unknown
Cain didn't even finish reading.
It charged.
Faster than anything so far.
It blurred across the ash, closing the distance in seconds.
Cain ducked just in time as a jagged tail sliced past his head, carving a trench into solid stone.
[Skill Activation: Chaos Flame – Lv.2]
Cain spun, hurling fire directly at the monster's exposed side.
The flames hit — and for a moment — the thing shrieked, recoiling violently.
Weak to Chaos Energy.
Cain's eyes sharpened.
Gotcha.
But it wasn't over.
The creature's body began to mutate, patches of its skin hardening, adapting.
[Warning: Chaos Predator is evolving mid-battle.]
Cain's stomach twisted.
"These things ADAPT?!"
Suddenly, a voice echoed — not from his system — but from the surrounding shadows.
Smooth.
Female.
Amused.
"You're making quite the mess, little candidate."
Cain froze.
Who—?
From atop a ruined pillar of bone, a figure appeared — draped in crimson and black robes, a strange mask covering the lower half of her face.
Long silver hair shimmered like liquid moonlight.
But her eyes?
Those glowed with the same eerie purple as Cain's flame.
[Unknown Entity Detected.]
Status: ???
Threat Level: Unknown.
"Who's there?!" Cain demanded.
The woman chuckled softly.
"Someone who watches mistakes like you with great interest."
She extended her hand lazily.
A flick of her finger.
BOOM.
A surge of chaotic wind pressure SLAMMED the predator into the ground, pinning it like a ragdoll.
Cain stared, mouth slightly open.
"You— you're using Chaos Energy too?!"
She tilted her head.
"Maybe. Maybe not."
"Survive the trial, little god-to-be."
"If you do… we might talk."
And just like that — she vanished.
No teleport.
No flash.
Just… gone.
Cain turned back toward the pinned predator.
It was already struggling to rise.
"Right… focus, Cain."
[Chaos Draw Available. Use Lifespan for Mana?]
He grimaced.
Not yet.
This fight… he'd win it properly.
For the first time, Cain felt it.
Not just fear.
Not just survival.
But hunger.
The hunger to win.
To ascend.
He raised his burning hand.
"Let's dance, ugly."