OP Absorption
Chapter 31: Ancient Creature

Chapter 31: Ancient Creature

A few hours passed before Fin jerked awake with a splitting headache. He blinked several times, his vision gradually clearing as he took in his surroundings. The abandoned building, the broken zombie corpse nearby, the dried green blood on his knuckles.

"Shit," he muttered, pulling himself up and wincing at the pain shooting through his ribs. His mind snapped back to the mission, to Juliana, to the tower. He stumbled to the door and burst outside.

The streets were empty. No zombies, no Hunters, nothing but silence.

"How long was I out for?" He glanced at the sky, trying to gauge the time. The quiet unsettled him. No distant sounds of battle, no roars, nothing.

He ran toward the tower, hoping to find the other Hunters there. His legs felt stronger than before, powered by the energy he’d absorbed from the zombie. The streets passed in a blur as he pushed himself faster.

When he reached the area where the Guild teams had gathered, he found nothing but signs of battle—broken weapons, splashes of blood, crumbling buildings. But no bodies, no survivors. Just emptiness.

The tower loomed ahead, and he noticed something different. The massive door at its base stood open, darkness yawning beyond.

"This seems like a bad idea," he said to himself, approaching cautiously. He peered inside, expecting an ambush, but saw no movement. No zombies lurked in the shadows, no vines writhed along the walls.

He stepped through the doorway, and lights flickered on around him. The interior stretched impossibly far, much larger than the tower’s exterior suggested. Polished floors, high ceilings, pristine walls—it looked nothing like the crumbling ruin outside.

"What the hell?" he whispered, moving deeper inside. The place seemed untouched by the chaos that had consumed the city.

He wandered through empty hallways, checking rooms that appeared to be labs or living quarters. Nothing moved, and the overwhelming presence he’d felt earlier had vanished.

’What the hell is going on here?’ he thought, frowning. ’I can’t feel that overwhelming presence anymore. Am I too late? Did they win?’

He approached a wide staircase leading to the upper floors. His footsteps echoed in the silence.

"Hmm... no one is here." He paused, closing his eyes and focusing his senses. Something felt different—his awareness stretched farther than before, expanding outward like ripples in a pond. The zombie’s power had changed something in him.

"There," he muttered, eyes snapping open. "That presence has moved. A few miles from here."

Without hesitation, he sprinted out of the tower, following the pull of that energy. His legs pumped as he raced through the ruined streets, leaping over debris and dodging through collapsed buildings.

"I hope nothing bad has happened," he said between breaths, pushing himself harder.

An hour of running brought him close enough to hear the chaos—the unmistakable roars of something massive, the shouts of people fighting, screams of pain and terror. The presence grew stronger, making his legs feel numb, but he forced himself forward.

As he crested a hill overlooking a wide clearing, he finally saw it. A creature unlike anything he’d ever encountered—a colossal skeleton in the shape of a dragon, bleached bones gleaming in the fading light.

No flesh, no skin, just animate bones moving with terrible purpose. Hunters fought around its feet, looking like ants against its size.

"Holy shit," he whispered, staring at the bone dragon as it swept its tail through a building, sending Hunters flying. "That’s what was in the tower?"

The dragon reared back, jaws opening wide, and unleashed a beam of sickly green energy that carved a trench through the earth. Hunters scattered, some not fast enough.

Fin clenched his fists, feeling the power still surging through him. This was way beyond anything he’d faced before, but turning back wasn’t an option.

"Well," he said, a reckless grin spreading across his face as he slid down the hill toward the battle, "this is stupid but I can’t just stand here and do nothing."

---

The ground shook with each step the Dragon took. Its colossal frame dominated the clearing. Below, the remaining Guildmasters fought with determination.

Fin’s Guildmaster moved like a phantom, her sword a silver blur against the massive bones. She darted in, aiming for joints, chipping away fragments, then danced back before the dragon could retaliate.

Near her, another Guildmaster, a barrel-chested man wielding a shield that glowed with protective mana, stood his ground. He roared, slamming his shield into the dragon’s ankle, trying to unbalance the beast.

The dragon ignored the shield slam. Its empty eye sockets seemed to fix on the shield-bearer. It lowered its head, massive jaws creaking open. Sickly green energy gathered, swirling like toxic smoke.

"Move!" One shouted.

The shield man braced, mana flaring brighter, but the beam of concentrated acid that erupted from the dragon’s maw was overwhelming. It struck the shield, eating through the magic, melting the metal edge.

He cried out, stumbling back, his shield arm smoking.

The dragon swung its tail, a whip of bone that leveled a nearby ruin, sending debris flying. Fin’s Guildmaster dodged, rolling under the impact zone, but the other Guildmaster was clipped, thrown tumbling across the cracked earth.

"It’s getting stronger," Fin’s Guildmaster gritted out, getting back to her feet. She parried a claw swipe that gouged deep lines in the ground where she’d stood.

"This power... it wasn’t like this when we first engaged."

The shield Guildmaster pushed himself up, his shield damaged, his breathing harsh. "Where is it drawing this from?"

The Bone Dragon let out another silent roar, a wave of oppressive green energy pulsing outward from its ribcage. Its bones seemed to glow slightly brighter. It moved faster now, its attacks hitting with more force.

Fin’s Guildmaster "Jolly" found it harder to find openings, her precise strikes barely chipping the hardened bone. The shield Guildmaster "Sam" struggled to deflect blows that now threatened to shatter his defense entirely.

---

Miles away, in a hidden space untouched by the main battle, Juliana cried out softly. She lay curled on the ground, her body wrapped in a faint, pulsing green light. Thin tendrils of this light seemed to drift upward from her, fading into the air, pulled toward the distant battle.

Her face was tight with pain.

’F-Fin, please, help me.’ She thought, tears running down her cheeks.

Standing silently over her was a single zombie. Unlike the mindless shamblers, this one stood straight, its movements economical. It wore rusted, ancient samurai armor, and clutched a long, chipped katana in its desiccated hands.

Its eyes, devoid of pupils, were fixed on Juliana, its expression unreadable. It made no move to harm her, only to guard, impassive to her suffering as her energy was seemingly drawn away.

---

Fin slid down the dusty slope, his eyes wide as he took in the scene. The sheer size of the Dragon was staggering, dwarfing the Guildmasters fighting bravely below. The impacts of its attacks shook the ground even where he stood.

Green acid scarred the earth, and the air tasted foul.

He saw the Guildmasters struggling, saw the power radiating from the beast.

"Looks like you could use some help!" he yelled, hoping they could even hear him over the chaos.

He pushed off the ground, mana flooding his legs, and launched himself toward the fight. He landed near Jolly, just as the dragon’s claw swept down.

"Carver?" she exclaimed, surprise flashing in her eyes as she sidestepped the attack. "What are you— Look out!"

The dragon stomped, aiming for him. Fin reacted on instinct, rolling away as bone shattered the ground where he’d landed. He came up grinning, adrenaline chasing away the fear.

"Thought I’d drop in," he said, pulling out his extra dagger he bought before leaving the city. "Looks like the party’s really started."

"Please, no jokes, Carver, we might die here today."

"Right... no jokes," he was silent for a bit and looked at her, "like at all?"

"Carver!"

"Right, no jokes."