The crimson warning pulsed in Kaelen's vision. The system explicitly told him he was going to die. A mortal fighting a Bronze-Rank beast was absolute suicide.
Kaelen ignored the warning. He kept his eyes locked on the discarded Vanguard dagger. It rested just inches from the Ironback Hound's massive armored paw. The beast was asleep, its metallic scales rising and falling with wet rattling breaths. Black blood pooled beneath a jagged tear in its side. Someone had wounded it badly enough to leave their weapon behind.
That weapon was his only ticket out of the slums.
Kaelen activated his Street Stealth passive. The cooling sensation washed over his skin, instantly lowering his center of gravity. His ragged breathing silenced entirely. He stepped out from behind the collapsed stone pillar.
The air in the ruined armory smelled of rust, ozone, and old blood. Kaelen moved inch by inch. His boots made absolutely no sound against the cracked stone tiles. Up close, the Ironback Hound was terrifying. Its jaws were large enough to snap a grown man in half.
Ten feet away. Five feet.
Kaelen crouched low. He extended his right hand toward the bloodstained dagger. His heart hammered furiously against his ribs. The Void Core in his chest throbbed with a dark, greedy anticipation. It wanted the beast. It wanted that massive pool of Aetheric essence.
His fingertips brushed the cold metal ring of the dagger's hilt. The grip was wrapped in worn leather. It felt perfect in his hand. He closed his fingers tightly around the weapon.
A single drop of acidic condensation fell from the rotting ceiling. It struck a puddle of the beast's blood with a sharp hiss.
The Ironback Hound's eyes snapped open.
Two molten gold irises locked directly onto Kaelen. The beast did not growl. It exploded into motion.
Kaelen threw himself backward just as massive jaws snapped shut exactly where his torso had been a fraction of a second prior. The sheer force of the bite cracked the stone floor. Kaelen rolled across the debris, clutching the Vanguard dagger tightly.
The Hound roared. The sound was a physical shockwave that blew the bioluminescent moss off the walls.
Kaelen scrambled to his feet and sprinted deeper into the armory. The beast lunged after him, completely ignoring its grievous wound. Its massive claws tore deep trenches into the stone floor.
"Too fast," Kaelen gasped, vaulting over a rusted weapon rack.
The beast smashed right through the heavy iron rack, sending rusted metal flying like shrapnel. Kaelen ducked behind a thick stone support column. He gripped the dagger. The blade was chipped, but the edge gleamed with lethal intent. However, he knew the blade would shatter against the monster's metallic back plates. His only target was the existing wound on its side.
He needed a trap.
Kaelen glanced upward. Right above the beast's current path hung a massive rusted ventilation grate. It was suspended by thick ancient chains connected to a counterweight system on the wall.
The Hound rounded the pillar, its golden eyes burning with absolute fury. It opened its jaws, preparing to unleash a torrent of Bronze-Rank kinetic force.
Kaelen did not run away. He activated Street Stealth, dropping low to slide directly under the beast's massive swipe. The claws passed a hair's breadth above his head. He lunged toward the wall mechanism and slashed the Vanguard dagger across the ancient rusted release cable.
The blade sliced through the oxidized iron like butter.
A deafening metallic screech echoed through the armory. The massive ventilation grate plummeted from the ceiling. It crashed down directly onto the Ironback Hound's back. Stone and iron exploded on impact, filling the room with a thick cloud of dust.
The beast shrieked in agony, pinned under tons of collapsed metal.
Kaelen stood up, panting heavily. The plan had worked perfectly. He gripped the dagger with both hands and stepped toward the trapped monster to deliver the final blow.
Suddenly, a thick scaly tail whipped out of the dust cloud. It struck Kaelen squarely in the chest.
Ribs cracked. Kaelen flew backward, slamming violently into the far wall. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, his vision swimming with dark spots. The Void Core pulsed in absolute agony, demanding energy his broken body did not have.
Through the settling dust, the Ironback Hound began to stand. The massive iron grate slowly groaned and shifted upward. The beast's eyes glowed with a terrifying, apocalyptic light.
It was breaking free.