Rise of the Apex Predator: A LitRPG Adventure

On-Ji Yoon

"Form a line," On-Ji yelled before ramming the butt of her spear on the ground.

The loud thud made several people jump and silenced those who were being disorderly. Her stern gaze made the low levels flinch and look to the ground like chastised children. She was overseeing the preparation for the upcoming siege, and making sure all the commoners had an equal opportunity to gain levels.

Jenny-nim's instructions were clear—lowest levels first. Many of the former elites and soldiers tried to cut in line or cause trouble. The large collection of frozen fighters to the side was a testament to that. Jenny-nim's wolves were patrolling the caravan of Players and NPCs. And anyone who objected was encased in unbreakable ice—not lethal, but they would take hours to thaw, by which time most of the fight would be over.

Several familiar faces were mixed in with the crowd. One in particular caught her attention. It was a local shopkeeper from Pinespire who had reprimanded On-Ji for begging for a job. The man had been a part of the exodus from Pinespire before the horde had hit. And looking at his sorry state, his life in the Alliance capital wasn't very comfortable. He was avoiding On-Ji's gaze like a timid mouse.

"You," On-Ji pointed her spear at him, making the man freeze in utter dread. But what she said next stunned the crowd. "Stand according to your level. Come forward three spots."

The man, too, was shocked but was too ashamed to ask anything. He probably expected retaliation for how he treated her earlier. And in another life, maybe she would have exacted her revenge. But she had outgrown the pettiness. Especially now when she had strict orders to follow.

On-Ji commanded one of her teammates to take over, before moving down the line. After a full sweep to ensure things were proceeding smoothly, she made her way to the wall where Jenny-nim was waiting. The unknown woman with red hair was still there, but collapsed in a heap to the side. She was the lowest leveled person On-Ji had seen so far, but the best dressed. The poor thing was just sitting lifelessly while staring at Jenny-nim's back. The condensation billowing out from her nose indicated she was still alive. But since Jenny-nim didn't acknowledge her, On-Ji too decided to ignore the broken woman.

Jenny-nim was still waiting with her eyes trained to the horizon. The chilly wind made her snow-white hair flutter, giving her still posture some life. Without it she looked like a statue carved from ice.

"Things are proceeding smoothly, Jenny-nim," On-Ji reported with a salute, her right fist placed atop her heart. "The citizens will be in position when the horde hits in a few hours."

"Good," Jenny-nim said.

On-Ji walked closer and stood beside her mentor. The scene was breathtaking. Ice and snow scattered among the frozen or broken defenses. On-Ji's teammates were busy repurposing several of the disabled traps, taking some help from the citizens too.

"Why did we have to break the siege weapons?" On-Ji asked. "We could have used them as is. We may not be able to reactivate all the traps."

"Because it would have given credit to the vicious leeches who govern this city," Jenny-nim's tone was stone-cold. "They'll get what's coming, but first we need to teach the people they oppressed to stand up for themselves."

"Like you taught me?" On-Ji said with a smile.

"The way I was taught," Jenny-nim replied with a smile.

On-Ji turned back to the horizon where a tiny black dot had emerged. "This is a strange world, Jenny-nim. So full of death and destruction. Yet it is abundant with life. I see what you meant that day: Fight for freedom, die for power. Everything in this new reality is up for grabs. If you are ready to take the risk. When I first got here, I hated everything about it. It was no different than my old life on Earth. A tyrant sitting at the top; his sleazy minions keeping everyone in check; and people like me at the bottom."

"An established pattern since we all accepted it. But I think it's time that something changed, don't you?" Jenny-nim said with a wink.

The black mark was growing in real time like a dark cloud heading their way. A dome of absolute darkness moving at a blistering pace was chasing after a big cloud of dust. The slow rumble of hooves and panicked animalistic screams was barely audible. Another shadow to On-Ji's side dissolved to reveal Venge-nim.

"Right on time," the scary Lycanthrope said with folded arms. Her tone softened a bit as she turned to Jenny-nim. "Your brother is safe. Badly beaten, but he will recover with time."

On-Ji noticed Jenny-nim's shoulders relax. But her expression was still frozen as she didn't even turn towards them.

"Thank you," Jenny-nim said softly.

Venge-nim stroked Jenny-nim's back, an action that made the nameless woman agitated for some reason.

"Good job bottling up your rage," Venge-nim said. "You can unleash it now. Go ahead and join the Alpha. We will handle things here."

Some unspoken words were exchanged between the two fierce fighters, before Jenny-nim nodded.

"My mother is in command," Jenny-nim ordered. On-Ji heard a sob from behind them which was ignored yet again. "Luna, let's go."

The proud Snow Wolf emerged from seemingly nowhere. The pair jumped off the walls before dissolving into a howling wind that picked up suddenly. And it was moving towards the growing dome of nothingness.

Venge-nim smirked as she folded her arms, a proud look in her eyes. "A looming wall of shadow at their heels, and an all-consuming blizzard at the front." The Lycanthrope chuckled eerily. "We might not have much left for us once those two are through, spear-maiden."

On-Ji was taken aback at being addressed as such. But remembering who she was standing next to, she bowed quietly. Her grip on her spear tightened as a new goal was formed in her mind.

She would stand with them one day. On another battlefield; against some other tyrants. All she needed was time.

Only the black haired Lycanthrope noticed the snowflakes moving slower in a tiny sphere around On-Ji, a predatory grin showing her sharp canines.

* * *

Quenai Lightbringer

The empty halls of the palace echoed the despair that was racking Quenai's mind, body, and soul. Every report she received was the same—a horde on the doorstep of an unprepared settlement. And the appearance of a mysterious group that bolstered their defenses. A fire mage that commanded flames, a berserker that was in total control, and a pair of dwarves who used golem-like armor. Every satellite city that Quenai had doomed with the unleashing of the horde would now be safe thanks to this unknown group.

And the worst part was that she would get no credit for any of the successful defenses since the first thing they all did was wreck her remote-controlled wards. Almost like the entire thing was coordinated. Worse still, the wretched invaders had rallied the commoners from her own cities to rise and face the monsters she had unleashed. The very thought of letting the peasants harvest the carefully curated XP she had reserved for her elites was abhorrent. It was the worst insult to her prestige by far.

"No," she declared while chewing her thumbnail. "I can't let them take my Nobility. I will not lose what I have worked so hard for."

The other cities were a lost cause, but she could still salvage the rewards from her capital. She put on her high rarity gear and stormed towards the city wall. She may have lost the defensive wards, but she had enough offensive charms to slaughter through the monster horde. The reward for the city's defense would be awarded to the biggest contributor. And with her last resources, she could attain that easily. No one could stand in her way after that.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

The snow was starting to let up, making her trek towards the city defenses a bit easier. But her first obstacle was something she least expected: a line of peasants. She quickly covered her face to hide her identity. She couldn't afford to waste her tools just to fight her way to the horde. She was dipping into her reserve funds as it was.

Quenai bypassed the line, striding forward with utter confidence. Her high-ranking armor would make her a great addition to the ranks. Surely, the invaders would see the logic behind it. But she was dumbfounded yet again as she was rudely informed that the line was in ascending order of levels. Being the highest-leveled individual, she would be dead last in order. She thought of strong-arming her way forward, but the sight of one of her lieutenants struggling to break free from an ice cage, and the white wolf keeping a sharp eye from above made her rethink her strategy.

For the first time, her wealth and power put her at a disadvantage in matters of priority for the battlefield. She slunk back the way she came and unsuccessfully tried to find another opening. Seeing no other option, she snuck into one of the peasant houses. It wasn't hard since most of them were out and about.

The first thing that hit her was the obnoxious smell. In place of fragrant perfumes, the dwelling reeked of body odor. She dry heaved, but steeled her resolve and ran for the bedroom. She hoped whoever lived there would have a suitable dress that she could tolerate. But the contents of the tiny wardrobe repulsed her. There was just one set of clothes made from the roughest fabric she had ever felt. Even her palace carpets felt softer.

Quenai considered trying her luck in another house, but she was short on time. She reluctantly removed her armor and put on the itchy rags. She would change back once she was out of the city. As she surreptitiously left the filthy place, the snowfall had almost stopped. Thanking her luck, she ran forward to join the line.

The experience was novel to her, but one she had no choice but to endure. An artifact concealed her true level, but any inconsistencies in her behavior would stand out like a sore thumb. She swallowed her pride and joined the abhorrent crowd. Every push, every rude remark made her blood boil. Even a lowly beggar dared to step on her foot and walk away with a simple one-word apology. If it were any other time, she would have him killed for the disrespect.

It took an inconceivable amount of time for Quenai to make it up the walls and in position. She never wanted to have to deal with that again.

"I will get you all for this," she mumbled.

She needed to swap her gear back. But there were two other peasants on each side. Quenai began to look for any opening to scale the wall and meet the horde early. Only then would she have sufficient time to fully utilize her hidden cards. But the scene beyond the wall made her clench her fist.

The ice warrior was already on her way to intercept the monsters. At least that is what she assumed the fast-moving blizzard was. The darker anomaly on the side worried her, but not as much as the ice storm. If that accursed Awakened made it, she would harvest most of the XP.

That was something she couldn't allow. Quenai looked around and surreptitiously used a fire wand to ignite a stray barrel behind her. As someone noticed it and raised an alarm, she used a weight reduction talisman to jump off the wall.

By the time people on the wall put out the fire, no one noticed the missing person from their ranks. Neither did they notice the wild-eyed woman dashing across the field towards the ice storm.

* * *

Aenon

While Jenny was doing her part in keeping the Alliance occupied, Aenon too had been quite busy scouring the area around the heavily fortified city. The number of monsters was higher than even Pinespire—close to 30000. But luckily, they were all concentrated in one spot. Aenon assumed this was to make the defense easier. If there was just one front, the preplaced traps and defenses would be that much more effective.

He had scouted the hidden node using his Sovereign's Dominion before spooking the human into abandoning their post. And once he destroyed their control rods, they had no choice but to flee. But that is where On-Ji and the rest were lying in wait. The experienced fighters had engaged the fleeing humans, methodically eliminating them one by one. The Alliance fighters had been hounded all the way back to the city, leaving only Aenon and Bane to face the army of monsters.

Bane, for his part, was having more fun than Aenon as they faced off against the horde. Something about his new form, and the use of fingers made the newly evolved Lycanthrope wild with glee. Which brought them to the current scene.

"Hahahaha. This form is great, Alpha!" Bane exclaimed as he wielded Aenon's twin daggers—Void Regent's Wrath and Void Regent's Gluttony. "And these weapons feel good too. I need to get a set for myself. My mate may also like a pair."

They were corralling the stampede of monsters towards the city, while cutting their numbers on the way. Bane had said he was interested in trying out daggers, which is why Aenon had tossed his over. Even though they were soulbound to him, Bane was able to use them due to their soul link. Aenon on the other hand was relying on his gauntlet's claws and Spells.

The Lycanthrope's excitement was infectious as even Aenon couldn't stop himself from grinning. They had taken two ends of the backlines, forcing the beasts in an almost straight line forward. It was still a challenge though as some monsters or the other kept breaking off. At some point, Aenon decided that it was time to reduce their numbers again, which is why he had cast Kingdom of Darkness.

Aenon fought using claws, Bane using daggers. But their coordination was airtight. And just when they had managed to reduce the numbers by a quarter, a snowstorm headed their way.

"Someone's in a foul mood," Aenon commented. He could sense Jenny's roiling emotions.

"Looks like my brat is also going to join us," Bane said with satisfaction.

"You know what this means, right?" Aenon asked with a grin.

Aenon could almost picture the savage smile on Bane's face. "Two Alphas with their second in command. Of course it calls for a competition."

As Jenny got within range for mental communication, Aenon delivered Bane's challenge to both Jenny and Luna. The reply came near-instantaneously.

"May the best pack win," Jenny accepted the gauntlet. Her sour mood got a bit better.

"Good luck old man," Luna shot back towards her father.

The four of them broke formation and took up positions in the four cardinal directions around the panicked monsters. The stampede came to a screeching halt as the monsters didn't know how to break the encirclement.

Four Auras descended on the cowering prey—two void, and two ice.

And with that, the wholesale slaughter fest began. Like killer whales hunting a school of fish, the four dove in.

* * *

Quenai Lightbringer

Quenai was stunned speechless, her left eye twitching. She was in full combat gear carefully selected by her family to face off against armies such as these. But the scene before her was so ludicrous and alien that her body was rooted in place. The offensive talisman in her hand lay forgotten as she tried to understand what she was seeing.

A horde of more than 25,000 monsters was being hounded by four individuals. And instead of feeling pressure, she could hear the animalistic laughter echoing across the battlefield. Not to mention the Auras. She was standing around three kilometers—1.8 miles—away from the massacre, but all she felt was utter dread. For there was not one, but four distinct Auras.

"This is not possible," she whispered. "One city cannot have these many Awakened."

The part that confused her the most was the statistical impossibility of such a high concentration of Awakened beings. When she received reports that the invaders in the satellite cities also had incredibly powerful warriors at their helm, a faint doubt had crept in her heart. That they too might be Awakened beings. But she crushed that line of thinking immediately. The chances of two Awakened gathering in one place were already astronomically low. But after sensing three more Auras, her preconceptions were shattered.

Quenai collapsed, her knees unable to hold her weight. Everything she thought she knew about battle tactics and power scaling was crushed. She had powerful items to wreak havoc and claim a sizeable portion of the horde. But she knew that her biggest attack would feel like a spark competing against an explosion.

Explosions boomed in the distance, sending shockwaves that made trees fall over. Ice lances the size of trebuchets rained from above, while a mysterious shadow streaked across leaving nothing but emptiness in its wake.

"He is not a dark magic user," Quenai muttered. A knot formed in her stomach as she uttered the most feared line in the Multiverse. "He is using void magic."

Quenai had been hailed as a once-in-a-lifetime genius strategist. There was no one from her generation who compared to her in terms of planning. She had beaten every obstacle in her path using her superior intellect and carefully laid out schemes. And yet her Patriarch never favored her due to her lack of raw power. She was useless in direct confrontation since she could only control light wisps efficiently. And even in that she was weak: her illusions were pathetic; her damage potential was nonexistent. The only way for her to bridge the gap was to use magical items. Unfortunately, they didn't come cheap, and had it not been for her doting father, she would never have had any degree of success. He basically showered her in wealth and resources. And using her guile, she pulled strings from the shadows.

Being a light magic user, the only magic she could beat was dark. Which was why she had so desperately clung to the idea that Fenrast was a dark mana user. She could easily beat shadows, even with her weak light magic. But against that, she had no defense. No one did.

The realization that her enemy used void magic had finally made her give up completely. Worse still, he was an Awakened void user. Something the Multiverse had not seen since the Purge five millennia ago. For no affinity was more feared than the void. An element that couldn't be combined with others, nor exist in harmony with anything. Its very nature was one of isolation, and anything that attempted to get close was simply erased from existence.

Power beats politics.

Her Patriarch's words reverberated in her mind. She had tried so hard to beat that notion, to prove that she too could rise to great heights. No move was vile enough, no strategy too abhorrent. She did everything she could to win for that was the only way she knew how. And yet, as she saw the intensity of the one-sided slaughter, she finally understood the truth in those words.

She was beaten.

Quenai sat there on her knees until the fight concluded. The four fighters could have eliminated all the monsters. But they only took half down and directed the rest towards the city in the distance. She looked on with empty eyes as snow and darkness coalesced before her.

Four figures stood before her. But the one in the lead had her attention.

A man with a mask so dark that no light bounced off it.

"Hello Lightbringer," a calm male voice reached her. "We meet at last."

And the world was plunged in shadows.