NOVEL NEXT Chapter 73: Mourn
It was getting ready to fire its "bazooka" again, and judging by the way the ground hummed under my feet, this one would hit harder than anything I'd seen so far.
But I didn't move.
I stood my ground, meeting its stance with stillness of my own. Not out of recklessness—well, maybe a little—but because I wanted it to take the shot. One [Swap], and another member of its herd would be nothing but smoking venison.
But even as the thought formed, I doubted it would happen.
This wasn't some low-level deer locked into predictable attack patterns. This thing was smart—smart enough to know the last thing it should do was take that bait.
The Alpha Deer… chuckled.
Not a sound I'd ever expect from something with hooves and antlers, but there it was—a low, throaty rumble that carried the smugness of a predator who already knew it had the upper hand.
And then, much to my surprise, it released the beam.
My grin came easily.
Perfect. In my head, I gave the alpha deer a silent thumbs-up for helping me put another one of its kind six feet under. And triggered [Swap] without hesitation, trading places with the Level 25 Gnarlbeast I'd injured before the Alpha showed up.
Reappearing where it had been standing, I turned to watch the beam tear into it.
Except…
That's not what happened.
The Alpha's attack swerved mid-flight. The blazing stream of energy curved like it had a mind of its own, ripping away from whom I thought would be the target. Snapping toward me instead.
Nani.
The smugness I'd been feeling evaporated instantly, replaced by the sharp, cold realization that this fight wasn't going to follow the rules I'd been playing by.
I triggered [Swap], trading places with another Gnarlbeast just to be sure.
And once again, the beam curved mid-flight, completely ignoring the deer and angling straight toward me.
That settled it—the Alpha's beam wasn't just powerful, it had a homing effect. No matter what I swapped with, it would hunt me until it either hit or burned itself out.
The stags nearest to where their ally had stood lunged at me the moment I reappeared, antlers lowered, aiming to gore me from both sides. They didn't bother with their own beams—probably under strict orders from their Alpha not to interfere with its attack.
Thinking about it. I hadn't heard the alpha deer speak. I was sure it was an Elite monster.
Maybe it was just quiet.
The two Gnarlbeast deer moved to cut off my escape angles. But coordination didn't mean much if I didn't give them time to adjust.
I slipped between their strikes with minimal effort, my movements tight and economical, then planted a hand on each of their bodies. And in the next heartbeat, [Warp] tore the three of us from the ground.
We reappeared high above the battlefield, the cold night air roaring in my ears. I released them instantly, letting gravity claim them, their legs flailing as they plummeted toward the forest floor.
I remained suspended for a fraction longer, suspended in that stillness where everything seemed distant.
The Alpha's beam still tracked me upward, its blazing trail cutting through the air. But as it neared, the glow began to fade, the energy beam sputtered out like it had run out of gas, its blazing trail dissolving into harmless sparks before fading completely.
The height had been enough to kill its momentum.
I narrowed my eyes.
The beam behaved like a guided missile—relentless, locked on, and smart enough to follow my movements.
Dealing with it head-on would be a chore, but I had other ways to handle the Alpha.
I pressed both palms outward and triggered [Swap].
In an instant, I stood where the Alpha had been, and the massive deer was now suspended in midair, momentum already pulling it into a helpless fall.
While it dropped, I kept moving, turning my attention back to the herd.
And one by one, I cut down the weaker stags, targeting those already slowed by the poison from [Venomous Slash]. Their movements were sluggish, their attempts to dodge clumsy, and Gravefang had no trouble finishing what the venom had started.
But my real target was the Level 25 deer—the one that had nearly trapped me with its ocular ability earlier. The rest might be dangerous, but none of them could lock me in place the way that one could.
If I left it alive, the fight could turn ugly fast.
Its death was my priority.
I blinked into existence directly in front of the Level 25 deer, and it reacted instantly, jerking its head up, those cursed eyes already beginning to swirl with that paralyzing pattern—but I was gone before it could lock me in place, [Warp] snapping me behind it in less than a heartbeat.
Gravefang plunged into the back of its neck, the point sliding between bone and sinew. I ripped the blade free in a single pull, then drove it down again, this time straight through the skull. The fight drained out of it immediately, its body going limp before it even hit the dirt.
That's when I saw the light.
A beam—not from the herd, but from above. Coming from the Alpha. Seriously?
Even as it fell through the air, it had managed to line up and fire on me, the attack screaming downward like a lightning strike.
I warped out of the way, the beam carving through the ground where I'd been standing. Of course, it didn't just vanish—it arced midair, following me as if tethered to my position.
I warped again, this time high above the treeline, far enough that the beam's energy sputtered out before it could reach me.
From that vantage, I watched the Alpha hit the ground and land without so much as a limp.
It had pulled the same trick I'd seen the goblin shaman use: firing its own attack downward mid-fall, using the recoil to kill its momentum. A controlled landing, perfectly executed, like he had rehearsed the move a hundred times before.
It moved, closing the distance to the fallen Level 25 Gnarlbeast in seconds, its hooves churning up the earth.
Then it threw its head back and released a guttural, almost mournful bellow—a sound raw enough to make the remaining herd stir uneasily.
I couldn't help but...