Chapter 59: Uh-Oh!

I kept my eyes peeled on the brutal mayhem ahead, creeping ever closer. The battlefield was pure bedlam. Craters gouged out by the behemoth’s rampage. Earth ripped apart where its colossal body had barreled through. Thick mist billowing where fire clashed with that serpent’s water magic. The destruction sprawled everywhere. Trees snapped like twigs, boulders reduced to rubble, and plants uprooted, tossed about like confetti. Sobering, really, to think of all that senseless destruction. Collateral. That's all it was. Just... scraps in the wake of something so incomprehensibly strong.

Deep inside, the dragon stirred. I'd hoped, rather foolishly, that witnessing the sheer scale of these creatures’ carnage might knock some humility into the beast, perhaps dull its insatiable thirst for power. But no. Each roar, each tremor, each bloody shockwave ripping through the ground only made the hunger grow sharper. More delicious. I craved it. That raw, unbridled force that could reduce all opposition to dust. One day. Someday.

Another deafening crash split the air, and the ground shuddered beneath me. A violent gust of mist-laden air followed, strong enough to nearly send me sprawling. But wind? Pfft. Child’s play by now. My wings unfurled, catching the current with a deftness that bordered on arrogant, bending and weaving like the trees themselves. Flight was becoming second nature. I steadied myself, heart pounding. Well, damn. That was something.

The roars ahead grew louder as I neared the edge of the battlefield. Corpses were strewn about. Mangled. Ripped apart. Squashed flat or half-devoured. Even clawed beyond all recognition. The ground was drenched in blood. Even the smell was overpowering. Once, as a mere half-human, I’d have gagged. But now? The scent of fresh blood, the charred flesh tinged with a smoky undertone, that sharp metallic bite, mmm, it all made my mouth water.

I kept low, slinking through the outskirts, hugging the bushes that hadn’t yet been reduced to mulch. Scales shifted each time I moved, blending perfectly with the surroundings. Thus I slipped through unseen. I wasn’t here to join their little brawl. Oh no, I had a far smarter plan, reap the spoils, then disappear before any of the bigger players noticed my presence.

My enhanced gaze darted over the macabre, picking out the details. Bloodied corpses, shattered remains of monsters too slow to dodge the crossfire. Some were still fresh, oozing crimson from gaping wounds; others had been squashed into indistinguishable mush. A severed claw here, a torn-off tail there, nothing more than unlucky fodder. But among the carnage, my eyes locked onto it—the largest corpse in sight. My mouth practically watered.

But I wasn’t alone.

On the periphery, I sensed them—the breaths of other opportunists like me. My Air Sense flickered with their presence, but even without it, I could see them. Small creatures hiding in the underbrush, waiting for their moment. One wolf-like beast gnawed at a half-eaten monster, dragging the remains into a shadowy thicket. Above, vulture-like creatures with absurdly long beaks perched on the treetops, their claws already clutching torn flesh, tearing into it hastily. Others waited, eager to swoop down and grab more of what the battlefield offered.

There were even more of them. Rodent-like creatures scurried from body to body, ripping chunks of meat and retreating as quickly as they’d come. Winged insects, larger than ones I saw in sap chamber, buzzed about, feasting on the blood pooling in the cracks of the earth. Even the plants looked... hungry, vines creeping toward the bodies, latching onto anything within reach. Holy shit, there were so many of them.

The wolf noticed me as I emerged from the shadows, but it did nothing. Just dragged its prize deeper into the underbrush, its eyes locked forward. The vultures overhead, perched with their long, twisted beaks dripping, gave me a glance—cautious, not curious—before returning to their meal. None of them challenged me. And I understood why.

It was simple, really. Brutal, but simple. A delicate balance between survival and growth. These creatures weren’t looking for dominance, not here, not now. This was a place for calculation, for restraint. I didn’t look around either; making eye contact just felt wrong. No one watched me directly—just the sidelong glances. Eye contact here would break the unspoken rules. You don’t make eye contact. You don’t challenge. Because the moment you do, the whole ecosystem shifts. Suddenly, you’re not just a scavenger. You’re prey.

Every twitch, every glance carried intention. But not aggression. It was measured. Growing strong in the dungeon wasn’t just about raw power. It was a game of patience. There was no glory in standing out, no reward in being noticed. You blend in. You move carefully. It wasn’t a conscious thought—just instinct. Primal.

It all felt transactional. You took what you needed, no more, no less. The dungeon didn’t give a damn about morality or fairness—it cared about opportunity. And when opportunity presented itself, you grabbed it. Eat your fill, vanish without a trace.

It wasn’t always about thriving. It was about enduring. Until, one day, you reached the level of power where thriving wasn’t a question anymore. None of it was personal. Just survival.

I smirked. Yeah. I could play that game.

The massive corpse lay ahead of me, untouched save for a lone rodent that scurried away the moment I approached. I wasn’t the biggest predator around, quite the opposite really. Except for my long neck, my body wouldn’t even reach the height of a human thigh. But that didn’t mean I was weak. Far from it.

The corpse in front of me had been stomped to death. Its head flattened, the body still mostly intact—hefty, well-built, but gone in an instant. No struggle, just a quick, brutal end. It had hooves, but without the head, I couldn’t tell exactly what kind of monster it was. Not that it mattered.

I dug my sharp, curved teeth into the soft tissue at the base of its neck, where the spine meets the shoulder—the optimal spot for dragging. My claws sank into the tough muscle just below its ribs, finding perfect purchase between the tendons. For the first time, I truly felt my physical power. This thing was massive, easily twice my size, yet it felt so light in my grip. If I wanted to, I could take to the air with it, no problem.

With a little effort, I spread my wings, a half-flight, half-sprint dragging me across the field without too much hullabaloo. I didn’t activate Quick Dash—I didn’t want to startle the other scavengers. We had an understanding, and I had no desire to muck it up.

A few rodents scurried by, grabbing whatever scraps they could. Overhead, a vulture monster swooped down, snagging a rib from a shredded corpse before flying off again. No one bothered with me as I slipped into the underbrush. Once in a secure spot, I crouched, my senses reaching out—Air Sense confirming no threats nearby.

I dug in.

The taste—oh, Thalador, the taste—was exquisite. No time to savor it, though. I ripped hefty chunks of meat from its bones, my teeth tearing through flesh with rapid efficiency. The entrails were slurped up in seconds, their rich, gamey flavor filling my senses. I worked quickly, taking the corpse apart with the precision of a predator honed by necessity. The bones crunched between my jaws as I cleaned them of marrow. In minutes, it was gone. Devoured. Whatever stamina I had spent coming here was fully replenished, and my reserves? Brimming.

But more importantly, the morphogen. That’s what I was really after. That, and the monster cores. I plucked one from the chest cavity of the beast I’d just stripped clean and popped it into my mouth. Another two points of mana.

It was almost too easy.

I didn’t slow down. I found another corpse, this one still fresh but already attracting a crowd of vultures and vermin. I kept my distance, waiting for the nearest vulture to hop off before darting in, sinking my claws into its hindquarters and ripping it back to the bushes. My teeth found the weak spot at the spine, and with a quick twist, the body was mine to devour.

No time to waste. I kept at it—corpse after corpse, carefully assessing, waiting for the perfect moment. My claws dug into the tender spots: under the ribs, near the spine, at the base of the limbs. My teeth shredded flesh, tendons snapping under the pressure. Each body stripped of value in minutes. No waste. No trace. Just blood-soaked earth and splintered bones left behind.

I wasn’t alone, either. All the scavengers around me were doing the same—picking the battlefield clean, working in eerie synchronicity as the chaos of the ongoing battle raged on. The serpent and behemoth clashed ahead, their roars rattling the earth with each collision. And we all just got used to it. Shockwaves? Just background noise. An injured oxen beast and a feathered serpent ventured too close to the edges of the battlefield, but every scavenger gave them a wide berth. No one wanted to risk tangling with a live one, not here, not now.

Soon, though, I had gathered a decent haul.

Maximum mana: bumped up to 46. I hadn’t found every single core—some were buried too deep, and the hues in the air, while helpful in locating them, were unreliable here. The concentration was too dense, too chaotic. But it didn’t matter. Morphogen was where I’d won. Nearly 38 points gained from here alone. Combined with the two I already had, that put me at 40. Not bad.

But soon, the outskirts would be picked clean. I would have to move deeper into more dangerous areas if I wanted more. And that came with risks. I crouched in the bushes, watching the chaos unfold ahead of me. Venturing further into the thick of battle seemed foolish. The monsters there were feral, wild with rage and madness. Magic was thrown about haphazardly, fire and water clashing like living forces. Monsters didn’t even recognize their allies anymore. I watched as an oxen creature impaled one of its own kind with its horns, trampling it in a frenzy.

The most bizarre sight, though, was happening right in front of me. A feathered serpent, barely clinging to life, slithered desperately across the torn-up battlefield. Its body was mangled, torn apart from below, and I thought for sure it was done for as an ox monster closed in to stomp it to death. But then, something happened. The dungeon itself came alive.

Tendrils of soil, thick and writhing like living roots, erupted from the ground, wrapping around the serpent. The ox tried to stomp it, but it was like hitting an invisible wall. A cocoon of force surged from the earth, flinging the ox backward with the same force it had tried to crush the serpent with.

I blinked.

Ahh… it was evolving. The dungeon itself had become its guardian. I’d always thought the dungeon simply masked one’s presence beneath the soil, but this—this was something else. Reflecting damage? That was new. The evolving description had mentioned being in "Her embrace"—Gaia, was it? Maybe that was the dungeon’s name. I nodded. A rather powerful tool. Nothing would touch that serpent until its evolution completed. I wondered if it could heal its torn body, though—it had been ripped in half when it started.

Well, I guess I’d find out soon enough.

For now, more morphogen. My eyes scanned the battlefield again, locking onto another opportunity. A hefty feathered serpent, not too far from the chaos but far enough for a quick grab. I moved without hesitation—half gliding, half sprinting—my teeth sank deep into its hide.

And then… it hit me. A strange feeling of wrongness.

I froze, my instincts screaming. Immediately, I checked my Air Sense. There were four new breath signatures in the vicinity. Different. Controlled. My gaze shifted to a small hill on my right. And I knew—I knew the cause of that wrongness.

Because I recognized those breathing patterns. I had breathed just like that—once, not even a week ago.

Elves.

Four of them. My eyes widened. Before I could even process what that meant, a wave of blistering heat passed over me, searing the air. I glanced up as the cavern sky above turned an ominous shade of red.

A gigantic fireball.

And it was coming… straight for the nearest monster group.

I was definitely in the blast radius.