Idalia turned. Pyrakit lay sprawled in the dirt, claws dragging trenches, her breath a ragged hiss. From her fur leaked faint lights, pieces of her soul tearing free.
The nearest Phantom Carnotaur snapped at the drifting motes. Its hollow skull flared brighter, feeding on fear.
Rage clawed hot through Idalia's chest. She wanted to bite, to rip, to guard her friend. But Pyrakit's strength was fading, pulled apart by something unseen.
Her stomach lurched at the awful sight. This was no ordinary hunt. Fear fueled the enemy, she reminded herself. "Be brave," she muttered. "It will take considerable courage to face this terror!"
She circled close. "Pyra. Stay with me! You're strong! Resist!"
Pyrakit whimpered. "Idalia... it hurts."
Idalia pressed her side against Pyrakit's, so she could be a warm bulwark against the cold dread.
"I'm here. I'm here," she said, licking Pyra's head. Her mind remained intent on the bond between them, which flared, igniting like a wildfire in the dark. Then the impossible happened. The siphoning slowed down and soon broke completely.
Unbelievable. What had happened? Idalia slowly peered up as a shadow fell over them; Pyra's mama was seen smiling warmly.
Idalia's gaze then swept over the other members of her pride. The more her pride trembled, the stronger the Carnotaurs would become.
They would become helpless. Helpless prey.
She wanted to roar, to prove herself, to rise as her father had always told her. But all she could do was feel that sickening tug deep inside her, like the monsters were already chewing on the edges of her courage.
Her mind jolted back into focus when the air split with a sound that wasn't a roar but a grinding, hollow scrape, like stone dragged against bone. The largest Carnotaur's maw had creaked open, and the pride's roars faltered under the weight of its unnatural cry.
The Carnotaurs took another step forward. Idalia's nostrils flared, the volcanic heat carried a new scent now, acrid and wrong, like burnt marrow.
The Pride itself seemed to shudder with each march of the enemy. Warriors bristled, some growling low, others exchanging flickers of unease in their eyes before rallying to their captains' calls.
Above it all, Alpha Pawail's sky-shattering roar cracked through the chaos, steady as bedrock. The answering bellows of the Hunt Captains rumbled like rolling thunder, but even their strength couldn't erase the tremor in the crowd's collective heart.
Idalia's chest clenched. Moments ago, she had been furious at Hirohowl, desperate to prove herself. How small that fire seemed now, compared to this.
Papa… are you out there already? Are you fighting these things? Are you even alive? Her claws dug furrows in the soil.
Then came the tremendous, haunting weight. It wasn't sound or sight but pressure, a suffocating aura that gnawed against her ribs.
Every instinct screamed at her to bolt for the caverns, to curl up beside Pyra and Pyrokit and shut her eyes tight. Her tail lashed instead. She forced herself to stay rooted. If I run, they'll run. If I fall, they'll fall.
Just then, she saw the first of the skeletal terrors without the zoom of her [Spatial Sight].
It stepped forward from the hill. The Carnotaur tilted its head in a motion no living beast should know, jaw clicking open and shut. Unhinged. Unnatural.
The air around it burned with an eerie darkness, warping heat into trembling waves. With every step, it shed motes of fractured light that fizzled into the ash. Then the others followed down the slope.
Idalia felt Pyrakit's whimper pressing against her flank. Pyrokit buried his muzzle under her tail, his voice muffled and raw.
"Make it stop… make it stop."
Idalia swallowed hard. The urge to cry, to hide, rose sharp in her throat. But instead she curled her tail tighter around them, forcing her voice steady even as her heartbeat thundered.
"Don't look away," she whispered. "We need to see them. We have to remember."
The ground shivered again. The nightmare hunters were closing in. Closer. Closer. And closer.
Suddenly, they stopped. They halted abruptly when their leader slashed a ghastly line of fire in front of its army. Idalia nearly asked, Why?
The sound that followed was horrible, disgusting! The volcanic cliffs quaked with a noise Idalia had never heard before.
The Phantom Carnotaurs hurled their skulls skyward and bellowed, hollow roars rattling like collapsing stone tombs. The sound clawed at the air, echoing long after their jaws had shut, as if the earth itself were mourning.
The pride stiffened. Warriors bristled, tails slashing. Kits whimpered, pressing into their mothers' flanks. Even Idalia felt her stomach twist, her heart hammering against her ribs as though it wanted to flee on its own.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Beside her, Mama spoke in a low, disdainful voice to Pyra and Pyrokit's mother. "They've grown arrogant. Once they skulked in shadow, but now? They dare to declare themselves."
"I heard their population has grown rapidly, Diama," the other mother replied, "but it's a mystery how it happened."
The words unsettled Idalia more than the roars. Arrogant monsters were dangerous monsters. Large populations were worse.
Near the stone barricades, Fangborns muttered to each other, their voices carrying just enough for Idalia to catch:
"They want us rattled before the clash."
"Feeding on fear, not flesh. That's their trick."
"Psychological war. That's why the elders whispered of them."
Idalia's fur stood on end. Fear as a weapon? That didn't make sense. Her claws dug grooves into the volcanic soil as she tried to steady herself.
Then the Carnotaurs moved.
They charged, but not like warriors. Their skeletal frames galloped and sprinted across air, feet finding purchase where no ground existed. They were fast, terrifying, surreal, like death had learned to live!
And yet.
Idalia keened her focus. For all their haunting speed, they weren't united. Their movements clashed with each other, a tide crashing without rhythm, every phantom for itself.
Her heart skipped. She hiccuped. "They have no formation."
In contrast, her kin moved as one. The Fangborns closed ranks, horns angled forward, tails aligned like a wall of spears. They were not scattered individuals; they were a living fortress.
Like Hornborn Phalanx of old, the unbreakable wedge her ancestors had perfected in hunts and wars.
The pride's unity thundered louder than the Carnotaurs' screeches.
Then a shadow passed over her.
Alpha Pawail. The ground shuddered beneath each step of the massive Liorex. His mane blazed like molten ore, his horns gleamed with sharpened obsidian.
He strode past Idalia without slowing, his grin wide and feral. His voice boomed over the battlefield, shaking ash from the stone arches.
"Rassith the Hollow!" He called the Phantom leader by name, rolling it with contempt. "You think fear alone will break us?!"
His grin sharpened into something colder, hungrier. He raised his head to the pride, eyes gleaming like burning stone.
"Excellent," he rumbled. "They've been forced out. We'll end this decade old war, soon. Phase one. Executed."
Idalia's breath caught in her throat, confusion swirling in her mind. She didn't quite grasp what the Alpha was getting at, but the synchronized roars from the Fangborns were clear as day. Thunder rolled from every throat, and it became obvious that the Liorex were not just defending; they had already launched their counterstrike.
The Phantoms were about to learn a vital lesson about challenging the pride, and oh, how they would regret it!
"Ah, here comes my favorite part," bellowed Alpha Pawail with a flourish. "This old fellow hasn't dropped a meteorite in a while!" He unleashed a mighty roar that splintered the very air around them. "BRACE YOURSELVES, MY KIN! YOU WILL HAVE MY WRATH, RASSITH!" The ground trembled beneath them, and excitement bubbled in Idalia's chest as she watched him lean his head back, ready to unleash his signature roar.
[Shatter Rift].
At his boisterous call, the dim sky above cracked open like frozen lightning bolts striking down from the heavens. A massive portal spiraled into existence, and from its depths descended the hugest rock anyone could ever imagine, one that would put even the tallest volcanic mountains to shame. Amazing. Glorious. Incomprehensible. It was so mind-blowing that Mama shot Pawail a bewildered glare, as if trying to make sense of the spectacle unfolding before them.
It took a moment too long for everything to sink in for Idalia. She had only witnessed the explosive force of a meteorite once in her life. What kind of cratering destruction could this one unleash? She could hardly fathom it, but something deep inside her knew it would be monumental.
But what if it misses? What if the monsters scatter? No! This was no ordinary hunt. They were fighting for survival! They had to stand strong, united, to face the oncoming storm.
The Carnotaurs had ceased their charge, lifting their freakish heads to the sky, jaws unhinged in bewildered horror. But their leader, the largest of them, seemed unperturbed.
None other than Rassith the Hollow. Its jagged maw snapped open, and a thick beam of incredible purple light clashed with Alpha Pawail's summoned meteorite.
The explosion was cataclysmic. The very world around Idalia shook as the two forces collided, light and darkness, life and death, colliding in a collision that sent shockwaves rippling across the valley.
Idalia, flinging herself protectively over Pyrakit and Pyrokit, felt her body vibrating with the impact. The force knocked her off her feet, but she quickly scrambled to shelter her kin.
She peered at the sky then. Fiery rocks rained down in spectacular arcs, illuminating the twilight sky with colors no living creature had ever seen. The Carnotaurs, once so menacing, were swallowed by the brilliance of the energy that burst forth.
Their bellowing cries turned to shrieks of panic as the ground quaked beneath them, and fragments of the shattered meteorite rained down upon their position.
Idalia's heart raced in time with the pulsing energy of the battlefield. Roars filled the air, a unified declaration of defiance that ignited a fire in her core. The pride's collective spirit rose like a tide.
Morale had risen. It had returned!
"Look, Idalia!" Pyrokit squeaked, his eyes wide with awe as bits of debris rained down. The remnants of the Carnotaurs scattered like ash in the wind.
And at the forefront of the settlement, Alpha Pawail stood resolute, a beacon of strength amid the chaos unfolding around him.
Idalia caught a glimpse of his fierce grin, and it fueled her resolve. She recalled the stories her father had whispered to her in the safety of their den, tales of legendary warriors who faced insurmountable odds with heart and valor. She wanted to be one of them; she wanted to etch her name into the annals of their pride's history.
But the moment shattered as the Carnotaurs snapped back into focus. The leader, Rassith, howled in retaliation, summoning his grotesque minions to regroup. Their scattered remains reformed with unnerving cohesion, creating a relentless wave of bone and shadow that bundled back together into their original shapes.
It was an impossible, uncomfortable, uncanny sight. The fallen Carnotaurs had returned!
Alpha Pawail clicked his tongue in response. "Tch. Like a necromancer. As long as Rassith lives, his bloody minions will keep returning! We must sever the head of this twisted serpent!"
Idalia's mind whirled with the challenge and she yowled to her grandfather. "We can't let them regroup! We can't! If Rassith is their heart, then we have to split it apart!"
She glanced at her friends, who were still trembling but finding their strength in her presence. "Pyra, Pyro! We can't back down! We have to fight!"
She now saw their spirits rekindled by the display of power from their Alpha. She could see the flickering courage in her friends' eyes, and her heart bolted with pride.
She peered over to the other side of the volcanic field. The Phantom Carnotaurs charged once more toward Alpha Pawail and the pride, their screeches echoing like a banshee's wail. Idalia's grip on Pyra and Pyrokit tightened. They were frightened, and of course, she was too!
Yet she refused to succumb to fear after Pawail's fearsome demonstration. She would be the force that steadied them!
"Don't look away!" she repeated, feeling the weight of their eyes on her. "Stand with me!"
Alpha Pawail's roar exploded through the air, explosive and full of fury, drowning out the chaotic sounds of the approaching enemies. Idalia could see it now. The tide of Carnotaurs had faltered. They were unnerved, uncertain. The sight filled her with a rush of exhilaration. Yes! They could do this!
But then, something shifted, and fear took hold in a new way.
ENTER THE SANCTUM: The CHIMERon Sovereign AWAITS
Monster-LitRPG Clan & Guild Building Isekai Fantasy Overpowered MC
She was human once. Thrust into a savage world of monsters, she awoke in the body of one of its weakest creatures. Survival should have been the end. Instead, she stared destiny in the eye and said: not if I can build a home for the weak.
Welcome to Chimeron Sanctum, the first true sanctuary in a realm ruled by claws and cruelty. Led by the indomitable KiAera, it's a haven for the hopeless, a beacon of hope in a land built on fear.
But darkness stirs. Sovereigns, Overlords, and long-dormant systems awaken. An Ultimatum looms and the world is watching. For KiAera, building a home is one thing. Protecting it may demand everything she has.
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What to Expect
- Guild & clan building in a monster-ruled world
- A sanctuary built from compassion and strength
- Political intrigue, looming ultimatums & high stakes
- LitRPG, isekai fantasy & monster evolution vibes
- From prey to protector — an underdog's rise to legendary
Featuring:
- Monster society politics & world-building
- One thousand {Chimera} hybrid forms
- Guild life, growth & found-family dynamics
- Isekai + LitRPG tropes, ideal for system & evolution fans
- High stakes, suspense, and a looming system Ultimatum
New release! Emerging monsters & shifting power. Dive into the chaos now!