Chapter 185: Hidden Prey [@Thomasinho Golden Ticket Bonus - ]

Chapter 185: Chapter 185: Hidden Prey [@Thomasinho Golden Ticket Bonus Chapter]

Alex focused on the [ => Live Points Rankings ].

The full ranking list opened in front of him.

When he saw his current ranking, his eyes widened slightly.

"This—!"

***

[LIVE POINTS RANKINGS]

1. Alexander Abyss : 12700 Points.

2. Kerin Vectorian : 11000 Points.

3. Serin Sol : 10100 Points.

4. Zara : 9700 Points.

5. Marlin Bloodworth : 9500 Points.

6. Felin Winterfang : 9000 Points.

7. Thorin Stonehelm : 9200 Points.

8. Andrew Nightveil : 8010 Points.

9. Seranil Sakura : 7900 Points.

10. Zarina Crimsonvale : 7000 Points.

(Click To Expand Fully)

***

’When did I get on the first position?!’

Alex was completely perplexed.

He had only just found the time to open his bracelet after the fight ended.

The number sitting next to his name did not feel real.

’Well, Alex, you were not even in the points ranking at the start,’ Zara’s voice came through the bond, thoughtful and steady.

’But now that you killed that Violet Chitin Mindlord, and also the other creatures you killed along the way, I think they must have given you these points, still, this is a lot of points even for that.’

And Zara was right, while Alex had eliminated a dangerous Level 17 and many smaller beasts, leaping straight to first place this early did not fully match the numbers she was calculating in her head.

’Oh, I do remember many of the participants got caught between our fight,’ Alex said after a moment.

’Maybe that caused me to gain enough points as well.’

He recalled the youths who had appeared near the collapsing walls and the falling flying-beast carcasses.

He had not paid them much attention at the time because none of them had been strong enough to matter in the middle of the duel.

Most of them had probably been extracted by the CBI official the moment the danger became lethal.

If the system still counted those near-eliminations or the surrounding chaos toward his total, that would explain the sudden jump in points.

The ranking list remained open.

His eyes flicked down for a second and caught movement on the second-place entry.

Kerin Vectorian’s points were increasing in real time.

Alex’s expression sharpened at once.

’Hey, now that I have this first rank, no way am I letting anyone take it from me, Zara.’

’I will try to keep my ranking while moving toward you.’ He made the decision without hesitation and sent it clearly through the bond.

Zara’s reply came back more serious than before.

’Alex, just don’t run into anyone from the top five rankings, they are all probably inside the higher end of the Peak Awaken stage and even though you have gotten stronger, I cannot say for sure that you can fight any of them and win.’

’It might get you eliminated, so if you feel them, just try to avoid them, and you will feel the mana they radiate yourself, and with your new mana sensitivity from the Eye of Flesh, you might know immediately.’

There was no sarcasm in her tone this time.

She did not want him eliminated simply because he became reckless again.

He had survived everything so far.

He only needed to stay alive until she reached him.

Even if he scored no more points from this moment onward, the amount he already held should be more than enough to qualify.

That did not mean he should stop eliminating weaker threats for more points.

That would be stupid.

She simply wanted him safe until they reunited, nothing more.

Alex accepted the warning without arguing.

He was already moving.

The section of the ancient city he had just left was little more than rubble and shattered towers from the final exchange with the spider.

The part he was entering now was different.

The buildings were still ruined by age rather than by recent destruction.

Collapsed roofs and cracked streets remained, but the overall structure of the old city was still readable.

Broken columns lined the wider avenues.

Faded murals clung to some of the remaining walls.

The air carried less dust and more of the dry, ancient stone scent.

Alex kept the Eye of Flesh active.

The world within a few meters of him remained sharp and open.

He could see the thin currents of mana moving through the cracked pavement under his boots.

He could feel the denser flows that still clung to the older stones of the larger structures.

Even the dust that drifted past carried faint traces of residual energy.

Nothing within his current range was hidden.

He moved at a controlled pace.

Fast enough to close distance toward Zara, careful enough to notice any sudden change in the mana around him.

As he walked, a slight tingle of mana brushed against his newly sharpened senses.

Alex stopped dead in his tracks.

The sensation was faint, almost easy to miss if he had still been relying on ordinary perception.

With the Eye of Flesh active, however, the small irregularity stood out clearly against the quieter background currents of the ruined city.

He turned his eyes toward the direction of the sensation and spent several careful moments analyzing it.

The flow was tighter and more concentrated than the ambient mana of the stones.

Something living was there, and it was trying very hard not to be noticed.

"There, behind that wall... I feel something."

He muttered the words to himself and began moving along that direction, Amethyst Paradox ready in his hand.

His steps stayed light.

The Eye of Flesh continued feeding him every small change in the mana ahead as he closed the distance.

The tiger-like monster was crouched silently in the darkness of the fallen structure’s wall.

It was so well hidden that it was barely visible, and even then only if someone already knew it was there.

It had sensed something moving toward its position.

A new prey at last, it thought.

It was tired of every prey it tried to attack and kill suddenly disappearing before it could rip their throats out.

By now it had developed a new theory.

It would capture this new prey instead of killing it immediately.

That might work.

If it did not, then it would have to go back to the jungle and hunt the same old goblin meat that tasted like shit.

The prey was almost there.

The tiger settled lower on its paws. Its body coiled and went taut, ready to jump the instant its prey passed by the wall, completely oblivious of the cruel future waiting for it.

The moment its prey came into view, the tiger lunged at blinding speed, aiming directly at the legs to incapacitate—

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End of Chapter 185: Hidden Prey

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