Chapter 160: The First Blow
The crimson silhouette finished forming.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
It towered above the forest, its body stretching between the trees and the clouds. It had no face.
Only three enormous crimson eyes.
Noah stared upward.
The system trembled before his vision.
[UNKNOWN OBSERVER ANALYSIS: 55%]
[PHYSICAL MANIFESTATION: 12%]
[THREAT LEVEL: UNRESOLVED]
Noah swallowed.
"Unresolved?"
Eric tightened his grip.
"That doesn’t sound reassuring."
"It isn’t."
The Watcher’s head tilted.
Every movement was unnaturally slow.
Like something learning how a body worked.
Laura stepped beside Noah.
"What is it doing?"
Noah didn’t answer.
He could feel it.
The Watcher’s attention wasn’t on the others anymore.
It was studying him.
The Dead Zone emerged within his mind.
Its crimson eyes narrowed.
"It’s adapting."
To what?
"Us."
Noah’s expression changed.
"Us?"
The Dead Zone looked toward the enormous creature.
"It attacked with raw power first."
A pause.
"Now it’s learning."
The Watcher raised one arm.
The entire forest went silent.
No wind.
No insects.
Not even the sound of leaves.
Every tree seemed to freeze.
The hooded stranger suddenly stepped backward.
"No."
Damien noticed.
"You know what it’s doing."
"I know what comes next."
"What?"
The stranger looked toward Noah.
"It has finished determining that you are its target."
The Watcher’s arm slowly pointed toward him.
"It is determining how to kill you."
Noah’s eyes narrowed.
"Great."
The Watcher’s three eyes flashed.
[ANALYSIS: 56%]
The world changed.
A crimson line appeared across Noah’s chest.
His body suddenly became unbearably heavy.
His knees buckled.
"Gah!"
Laura grabbed his shoulder.
"Noah!"
"I can’t move!"
The crimson line spread across his body like a targeting mark.
[HOST MOVEMENT PATTERN IDENTIFIED.]
[MANA FLOW IDENTIFIED.]
[DEFENSIVE RESPONSE IDENTIFIED.]
Noah’s eyes widened.
"It analyzed everything from the fight."
The Dead Zone laughed.
"Now you’re understanding."
Noah forced Shadowfang upward.
"Can you stop it?"
"Yes."
Noah blinked.
You can?
The Dead Zone stepped closer.
"But you won’t like how."
Before Noah could respond, black-red energy surged through his arm.
His pupils briefly turned crimson.
The targeting line shattered.
CRACK!
The Watcher’s eyes flickered.
[ANALYSIS INTERRUPTED.]
Noah breathed heavily.
"What did you do?"
The Dead Zone smiled.
"I showed it something it wasn’t expecting."
Noah looked at his hand.
Black markings had appeared across his fingers.
Not the usual markings.
These were deeper.
Almost like veins.
Laura noticed them.
"Noah..."
"I know."
The Watcher suddenly moved.
Its enormous body descended.
The clouds split apart.
The forest bent beneath the pressure.
Sophia raised both hands.
"Barrier!"
A massive magical barrier appeared over the group.
The Watcher’s palm struck it.
BOOOOOOM!
The barrier shattered instantly.
Sophia was thrown backward.
Luna caught her.
"Sophia!"
Eric and Damien charged.
"Together!"
Their attacks struck the Watcher’s arm.
Nothing.
Not even a scratch.
The creature slowly turned its head toward them.
Eric froze.
"Uh..."
Damien’s face tightened.
"Run."
They did.
The Watcher’s other hand descended.
Noah moved.
Shadowfang flashed.
SLASH!
The crimson arm split apart.
But instead of blood, countless crimson threads poured from the wound.
They twisted through the air.
Laura’s eyes widened.
"Noah!"
The threads were moving toward everyone.
Noah stepped forward.
"Stay behind me."
Shadowfang began vibrating.
The Dead Zone whispered inside his mind.
"Now."
Noah raised the sword.
A dark crimson aura exploded outward.
[RAGNAROK DEAD ZONE RESONANCE: 36.8%]
The threads stopped.
For the first time...
the Watcher hesitated.
Its three eyes focused completely on Noah.
The system appeared.
[ANALYSIS: 57%]
Noah smiled faintly.
"So you’re learning."
His grip tightened around Shadowfang.
"Fine."
The crimson aura around him intensified.
"Let’s see how fast you learn."
Far above the forest, the Watcher’s three eyes opened wider.
And somewhere deep inside Noah...
the Dead Zone smiled.
"Finally."
"Something worth fighting."
The Watcher moved.
Not quickly.
Not slowly.
It simply appeared closer.
One moment it stood above the forest.
The next, its enormous crimson hand was already in front of Noah.
He raised Shadowfang.
CLANG!
The impact shook his entire body.
Noah’s boots carved trenches through the earth.
"Ghh!"
The Watcher pushed harder.
Noah’s arms trembled.
Laura shouted from behind him.
"Noah!"
"I’ve got it!"
The Dead Zone appeared inside his mind.
Its expression was calm.
"No."
Noah gritted his teeth.
What do you mean, no?
"You don’t."
The Dead Zone reached toward Shadowfang.
"Let me."
Noah’s eyes narrowed.
Not yet.
A strange silence followed.
The Dead Zone stared at him.
Then it smiled.
"Good."
Noah suddenly twisted his body.
He stepped beneath the Watcher’s palm and slashed upward.
SLASH!
A crimson wound opened across the creature’s arm.
This time, the Watcher reacted.
It pulled back.
Noah immediately followed.
One step.
Two.
Three.
Each movement became faster.
Shadowfang struck repeatedly.
CLANG!
BOOM!
SLASH!
Crimson fragments scattered through the forest.
The Watcher blocked the first attack.
The second.
The third.
But the fourth cut through.
[ANALYSIS: 58%]
Noah noticed.
"It learned my movement."
The Watcher’s body shifted.
Its left arm became thinner.
Its right arm elongated.
Its posture changed.
It was copying Noah.
Eric stared.
"Is that thing seriously learning how he fights?"
The hooded stranger answered quietly.
"Not just learning."
Everyone looked at them.
"It is building a countermeasure."
The Watcher vanished.
Noah’s eyes widened.
"Where?"
A crimson blade appeared behind him.
Noah barely turned.
CLANG!
Shadowfang blocked it.
The impact sent him crashing through three trees.
"Noah!"
Laura started forward.
"Stay back!"
Noah emerged from the broken branches.
Blood trickled from his forehead.
He looked at the Watcher.
Its arm had transformed into something resembling a sword.
The Dead Zone laughed.
"Now that’s interesting."
Noah wiped the blood away.
"You think?"
"It copied Shadowfang."
Noah looked down.
The Watcher’s crimson weapon had the same shape as his sword.
But there was something wrong with it.
It wasn’t actually Shadowfang.
It was an imitation.
A weapon created from observation alone.
Noah smiled.
"Then let’s give it something it can’t copy."
He released his grip.
Shadowfang dropped.
Laura stared.
"Noah?"
The sword struck the ground.
For a moment, everything became still.
Noah closed his eyes.
He stopped moving.
Stopped attacking.
Stopped resisting.
The Watcher’s three eyes focused on him.
[ANALYSIS: 59%]
The crimson sword rose.
The Watcher prepared to strike.
Noah whispered:
"Dead Zone."
The presence inside him opened its eyes.
"Yes?"
"Take the sword."
The Dead Zone smiled.
"Gladly."
Noah’s crimson aura exploded.
His eyes changed.
The atmosphere around him became unbearably heavy.
[RAGNAROK DEAD ZONE RESONANCE: 41.2%]
Laura immediately stepped back.
"That aura..."
Sophia felt it too.
"It changed."
Eric tightened his grip.
"That isn’t the same Noah."
The Watcher raised its sword.
Dead Zone Noah slowly picked up Shadowfang.
He looked at the creature.
A grin appeared.
"Your turn."
The Watcher attacked.
Dead Zone Noah disappeared.
BOOM!
The two crimson blades collided above the forest.
The shockwave tore through the trees.
For the first time since it appeared...
the Watcher was pushed backward.
Its three eyes flickered.
[ANALYSIS: 59%]
[ERROR.]
[MOVEMENT PATTERN INVALID.]
The Dead Zone laughed.
"That’s better."
The Watcher’s eyes burned brighter.
[RECALCULATING.]
Dead Zone Noah raised Shadowfang.
"Go ahead."
His grin widened.
"Learn."
The Watcher vanished.
And this time...
Noah vanished with it.