The wind swept across the canyon rim as Nekeili slowly pushed himself upright.
The climb that had nearly killed him ended several meters behind him, the jagged cliff wall now dropping away into the endless abyss below. Open land stretched forward across the plateau—uneven stone plains broken by scattered ridges and long cracks that split the barren ground.
For the first time since awakening in this nightmare, there was space to move.
But freedom had not come with safety.
Behind him, the canyon echoed with distant screeches.
The swarm was still climbing.
Nekeili steadied himself as he stood fully upright, his legs trembling under his weight. Every movement reminded him how close he had come to dying. His ribs ached with a deep grinding pain, dried blood coated his skin, and the stone beneath his feet was still wet from the trail he had left during the climb.
The regeneration granted by **Void-Resonant Physiology** had repaired the worst damage, but his body still felt like it had been dragged through a storm of broken glass.
Yet another sensation remained.
Hunger.
It pulsed inside him like a second heartbeat.
Not the hollow ache of starvation.
Something deeper.
Something sharper.
Nekeili looked down.
The severed head of the mutated centipede lay beside him, its armored plates cracked where space itself had torn them apart during the teleportation. Thick strands of dark ichor still leaked from the ragged edge of its severed neck, slowly dripping onto the stone.
Moments ago the creature had nearly crushed him in its mandibles.
Now it lay motionless at his feet.
Dead.
The system stirred.
---
**System Notification**
Biological Resource Detected
F-Tier Apex Organism Remains Available
**Void Assimilation Compatible**
---
Nekeili swallowed slowly as he read the message.
"Void… assimilation."
The hunger surged the moment he spoke.
His eyes drifted back to the corpse.
Something inside him already understood what the system meant.
His body needed it.
Not food.
Fuel.
He crouched beside the creature, his bare knees pressing against the cold stone as he reached toward the torn flesh of the severed neck. Up close the monster looked even more grotesque than it had during the fight. Its mandibles were large enough to crush bone, and the layered plates of its carapace formed a natural armor thicker than most animals possessed.
The scent of its blood was heavy in the air.
And strangely…
Inviting.
Nekeili hesitated.
Then the hunger sharpened again.
A powerful instinct rose from somewhere deep within him—older than reason and far more primal than fear.
His hand pressed against the corpse.
The system reacted immediately.
---
**Void-Resonant Physiology Activated**
Assimilation Process Initiated
---
A strange sensation spread through his palm.
The flesh beneath his hand began dissolving, breaking apart into a dark vapor that resembled drifting shadow. The black mist flowed upward along his arm and seeped into his skin as if his body were drinking it.
Nekeili gasped.
Pain erupted through his veins as the foreign energy flooded into him.
But beneath the pain came something else.
Strength.
The centipede's head began collapsing inward as more shadowy vapor flowed into him. Its armored plates cracked and crumbled while the once massive structure shrank rapidly, its substance being drained away piece by piece.
Inside Nekeili's body the change was immediate.
His muscles tightened.
His bones vibrated under a strange pressure as the absorbed energy fused with his own.
The system responded again.
---
**Assimilation Complete**
Biological Mass Converted to Void Energy
Growth Detected
---
# SYSTEM RESPONSE
Experience Gained
Minor Evolutionary Stimulus Recorded
---
## LEVEL PROGRESS
F-Tier Level **5 → 7**
Experience overflow detected from high-quality biological mass.
*(F-Tier Level Range: 0–50)*
---
## Attribute Growth
Strength
14 → 16 (+2)*
Endurance
18 → 20 (+2)*
Agility
14 → 15 (+1)*
Perception
24 → 30 (+6)*
Willpower
22 → 24 (+2)*
---
## Passive Adaptation
**Void-Resonant Physiology**
Efficiency Increased
12% → **15%**
Assimilation compatibility improved.
---
## New System Function Unlocked
**Void Assimilation**
Allows the host to convert slain biological organisms into void energy.
Efficiency increases with organism tier and biological density.
---
The final fragments of the centipede crumbled into dust beneath Nekeili's hand until nothing remained.
Nekeili slowly rose to his feet.
The hunger faded slightly, settling into a quiet throb deep within him. It wasn't gone—only subdued, waiting patiently for the next opportunity.
Behind him, the canyon suddenly erupted with violent screeching.
Nekeili turned sharply.
The swarm was climbing over the rim.
Dozens of the smaller cliff insects spilled onto the plateau, their hooked limbs clattering against the stone as they surged forward. Larger shapes dragged themselves over the edge behind them, grotesque bodies writhing as they pulled free from the darkness below.
They had followed him.
Nekeili scanned the open land ahead. Uneven plains of cracked stone stretched outward, broken by scattered ridges and jagged rock formations. It wasn't shelter, but it was space—space to move and perhaps survive a little longer.
The swarm spread outward across the plateau, fanning across the stone as they began closing the distance between them.
Then the system spoke again.
---
**System Warning**
New Hostile Presence Detected
Threat Level: **Unknown**
---
A faint tremor passed through the ground beneath Nekeili's feet.
It came again moments later, stronger, spreading through the plateau like a slow pulse beneath the stone.
The swarm reacted first.
Several of the leading insects slowed, lowering their bodies as their antennae twitched violently.
Stone cracked somewhere far across the plateau.
Nekeili slowly lifted his gaze.
Beyond the scattered ridges, something enormous moved.
At first it looked like the land itself rising, a dark mass pushing upward behind the jagged rock formations. Then the shape continued climbing until a colossal silhouette revealed itself against the dim sky.
The creature dwarfed the terrain around it.
When it shifted its weight, the ground trembled.
The swarm behind Nekeili faltered.
Not retreating.
But hesitating.
Instinct warned them something larger had entered the territory.
The system attempted to respond.
---
**System Analysis Initiated…**
…
**ERROR**
Target exceeds current analysis capability.
---
The massive creature pulled itself fully over the distant ridge, sending cascades of dust and stone tumbling down the slopes around it. Its enormous body shifted once, then again, each movement causing the plateau to shudder beneath the weight of its presence.
But it never looked at Nekeili.
Instead, its attention turned toward the swarm.
The creatures chasing him froze.
A moment later, chaos erupted.
The colossal predator moved with terrifying speed, its massive form crashing forward across the plateau as it descended upon the swarm. Insects scattered in every direction, their screeches turning from hunting cries into panicked shrieks.
It did not chase them.
It devoured them.
Massive limbs tore through the swarm as if they were nothing more than scattered debris. Chitin shattered beneath crushing force while bodies disappeared beneath the predator's overwhelming size.
The plateau became a feeding ground.
And Nekeili stood at its edge, watching the carnage unfold.
Not once did the creature look in his direction.
To something that large, he simply did not exist.
The realization sent a quiet chill down his spine.
Because if monsters like that roamed even this small stretch of land—if creatures powerful enough to ignore him entirely existed just beyond the horizon—then whatever world he had been reborn into was far larger than he could see from this lonely plateau.
And far more dangerous than he had begun to understand.