CH176 Nightmare Eagle
***
A week later...
Alex, Fen, and Udara pressed on, through the eastern stretch of Dankrot Forestâs western corridor, their path hugging the borderline leading deeper into the inner rim.
It had been a full week since the Wendigo encounter.
Alex continued to follow the faint golden traces visible only through his Spirit Sight. Yet, after days of pursuit, the destination still eluded them, leaving Alex to wonder just where the golden energy was trying to lead him this time.
The only upside was that the path aligned closely with his original route, requiring little to no deviation. It felt like he was hitting two birds with one stone.
The journey hadnât exactly been smooth sailing. Several times, they wandered into predator hunting zones.
A common theme among these predators was their expert camouflage and their uncanny ability to slip away if the hunt failed.
Ambush and retreatâthese were the rules the forestâs top-tier predators lived by and mastered.
These two traits seemed to be the minimum requirement for any creature hoping to earn the title of apex predator in this unforgiving terrain.
One other notable detailâthereâd been no signs of active goblin territories all week.
To describe Wendigoes as vindictive would be a gross understatement.
The trio had discovered three goblin settlements during their trekâall of them ravaged.
Alex found plenty of evidence that pointed to the Wendigoes as the culprits. And the scenes they left behind... were something else.
Each time, the goblinsâHobgoblins includedâhad been rounded up, tortured in unspeakable ways, and left to die slowly from their injuries. The carnage was deliberate, methodical.
Not a hunt, but a brutal torturous massacre.
Alex didnât feel a shred of pity.
If anything, his Furor blood whispered a dark suggestionâto find a goblin nest before the Wendigoes did, and show them what real suffering looked like.
âMake them wish for death... and deny it to them.â The voice murmured.
Thankfully, Calm Madness, coupled with the stabilising influence of the Auramir side of his fused bloodline, kept those urges buried.
Instead, Alex turned his focus to the settlements themselves.
With Udaraâs help, he examined each site and came to a key conclusion: all three were far smaller than the Hidden Meadow village.
That made sense.
The Hidden Meadow was just thatâhidden. Sheltered from apex predators that would otherwise suppress goblin population growth.
Of course, that also meant the goblins who did survive long enough to evolve into Hobgoblins in the open like this were likely stronger. But since the Wendigoes had already butchered them, that wasnât going to be a problem.
The state of the destroyed villages gave Alex a little peace of mind.
It showed that the Hidden Meadow was an outlier. Its scale and strength werenât the norm, but the result of a lucky, strategic location.
Scout reports from the other three groups trailing behind confirmed itâthe same pattern repeated across their sectors.
Alex briefly considered ordering a faster advance, hoping to eliminate the goblins before the Wendigoes got to them.
But he ultimately shelved the idea.
As much as he wanted his unit to land the killing blow, risking his people wasnât worth it. Pride didnât matter. In the end, whether it was the platoon or the Wendigoes who wiped out the goblins, the result was the same.
Still, he didnât tell his men to stand down either.
The platoon advanced as plannedâsteadily combing through their assigned zones.
Alex, Fen, and Udara moved with grave caution.
They were in dangerously hostile territory, and none of them dared lower their guardânot even for a second.
Many times, theyâd nearly been ambushed by Dankrotâs predators. They had long grown used to the constant threat and had developed a sixth sense for imminent danger.
In fact, by now, they felt uneasy when nothing ambushed them.
And it had been well over an hour since their last encounter.
The trio hadnât been certain before, but now they were.
They had entered the hunting grounds of one of the forestâs apex predators.
Unfortunately, they didnât yet know which one.
Everywhere they moved, they saw the local wildlife scrambling for coverânot in fear of them, but of whatever was stalking them.
"Master, the trees..." Udara nudged Alexâs attention upward.
Alex glanced toward the canopyâmid to high tiers.
Even the creatures that dwelled in the upper trees were ducking for cover.
That alone told him enough.
Based on everything heâd experienced so far in the Dankrot Forest, only a powerful jumper, a skilled climber, orâ
âA bird.â
Alexâs eyes narrowed as he scanned the upper canopy.
Spirit Sight flared.
A faint, flickering mana signatureâpartially cloakedâwas hidden near the top of a towering tree.
When he followed the trace to its source, what he found was...
"A Nightmare Eagle," he muttered grimly.
-
[Nightmare Eagle]
[Standing at 1.5 metres tall, with a wingspan of 4 metres, this massive bird of prey boasts jet-black and ashen-grey feathers that shimmer with a spectral glow. Its eyes glow with a dull crimson light in the dark, capable of striking terror into the hearts of weaker creatures who meet its gaze. Each of its 20cm-long mana-infused, dagger-like talons can shred through even hardened knight-class armour. Its grip strength is second only to one among all known eagle species.
[Strength varies depending on age and hunting environment. However, if thereâs even a suspicion that the Eagle has reached Elite rank, anyone below Veteran rank should flee or hide immediately!]
-
Alexâs eyes locked onto the Nightmare Eagleâone of the true apex predators of the Dankrot, even in its inner and core regions.
It was one of the rare avian beasts known to reach the Legendary Rank purely through longevityâwithout needing atavism.
Spirit Sight instinctively broke down the creatureâs energy signature.
This worldâs version of a Harpy Eagleâonly larger, more intelligent, and far more dangerous.
Even in its current stage, it could lift an average unarmoured human and fly a short distance.
At Elite rank and above?
Even fully armoured heavy knights became fair game.
âSize: 1.5 metres. Energy signature: Peak Intermediate Rank.â
Alex exhaled with visible relief.
The creature hadnât yet undergone the speciesâ explosive growth spurtâcharacteristic of Nightmare Eagles nearing the Elite threshold.
More importantly, it hadnât developed the devastating racial trait that earned the Nightmare Eagle its dreadful name.
"Master...?" Udara gave him an askance look.
"Do whatever you can to take it down in one engagement," Alex ordered, his voice tight with urgency. "Iâll take point."
"Understood."
Woof!
Fen shot forward, aiming a crushing strike at the tree where the Nightmare Eagle perched.
[Fire Bolt]!
Alex unleashed a bolt of fire at the creature.
"Caw!!"
The Nightmare Eagle screeched and launched off the branch, its feathers releasing a dark shimmer before it vanished mid-air.
[Dream Dive]!
The creature initiated its signature diveâphasing into shadow as it descended.
This was no ordinary aerial assault. [Dream Dive] allowed the Nightmare Eagle to bypass projectile defences and even slip through magical barriers for a brief moment.
Its sharp gaze locked onto Alexâthe source of the firebolt.
Halfway through its dive, it extended dagger-like talons toward the seemingly frail mage whose weak barriers wouldnât protect him in time.
[Shadow Dash]!
But Alex wasnât alone.
A shadow burst from the earth.
Udara flashed into existence mid-air, propelled by a burst of Internal Energy beneath her feet. She twisted in the air and delivered a spinning kick directly to the Eagleâs wing joint, forcing it back into physical space.
[Shroud Cloud]!
The moment her strike connected, the impact point on the Eagleâs feathers exploded into a cloud of dark smoke. Multiple illusionary copies of the Eagle emerged from the cloud, attempting to obscure the real oneâs escape.
Still, the original Eagle maintained its dive. It tore past Udaraâs interferenceâstill gunning for Alex.
Its claws extended, its intent to kill unmistakable.
Yet, just as it was about to strikeâAlex, who had seemed frozen in fearâgrinned.
Human-like confusion flickered in the Nightmare Eagleâs eyes.
Too late.
[Radiant Sun]!
A radiant burst of golden Solar Mana exploded from Alexâs body, flooding the space with high-intensity light.
The Nightmare Eagle screeched mid-air, its dive interrupted as it tumbled. Its darkness-infused feathers could not shield it from a Solar spell like the one Alex intentionally chose.
The sudden light overwhelmed its senses, burning at its wings and blinding it completely.
Alex was about to cast a binding spell to capture the avian beast, but someone moved before him.
[Frost Breath]!
Fen seized the moment, unleashing a frigid breath onto the Eagleâs injured wing joint, freezing it solid. The frost penetrated deep, locking the joint in place and disabling the Eagleâs defensive abilityâ[Shrouding Mist].
Before the creature could recover, Udara arrived againâthis time bringing down both her short swords in a devastating cross-slash.
Crack!
The frozen joint shatteredâone of its wings snapped clean off.
"Nooo!!" Alex wailed. "Why did you cut off its wing? You were only supposed to break it!"
"You didnâtâ" Udara started to protest, but it was too late.
[Ice Lance]!
Fen, full of enthusiasm, followed through without hesitation.
A thick lance of iceâcast using the improved version of Alexâs original spellâpierced through the Eagleâs lower jaw, bypassing its dense feather armour.
Thud!
The great beast fell.
Its body crashed into the dirtâlifeless.
Alex stood still.
A moment passed.
Then he staggered forward, fell to his knees beside the corpse, and gathered it into his arms.
"No... no... no..."
His voice broke.
He clutched the creature tightly.
"My Senu!!!"
***