The chaotic fever still smoldered within Rune, but he now had a clear objective. He was no longer merely a monster hunting for survival. Now, he was an assimilator, an assassin bearing a grotesque promise: to turn his enemies' power into his own. Thanos was living (or formerly living) proof of this ability, and Rune needed a stronger subject to test his own limits.
Rune moved stealthily through the ruined streets, heading towards the tightly controlled central district of Vorn. He didn't have to search long. The chaos he'd caused at the Night Hunters Guild warehouse, coupled with the disappearance of Seraphina and Thanos, must have enraged Vorn. Before long, he sensed the familiar energy fluctuations of elite Awakened patrols, far stronger than those he'd faced before.
He concealed himself atop a leaning skyscraper, his crimson eyes sweeping over the desolate landscape below. In the center of a ruined plaza, under the dim, eerie glow emanating from corrupted buildings, a large patrol group was active. At the heart of that group, one Awakened stood out.
He was a tall man, his entire body covered in diamond-hard crystals, shimmering faintly in the weak light. He moved slowly, but each step produced a dry, clinking sound, and he exuded a nearly impenetrable defensive aura. Rune had heard of him before. Kael, one of Vorn's high-ranking generals, known as "The Crystal Wall," possessed extremely powerful Quartz Manipulation abilities. He was considered invincible in defense and could turn his body into sharp, diamond-like blades for offense.
"A wall," Rune growled, his deep voice rumbling in his throat. "Let's see how hard you are."
Kael was directing his squad to investigate a collapsed area, where there were signs of a monster nest. He had no idea he had become the target of an entirely new kind of predator.
Rune didn't hesitate. With a horrifying shriek, he launched himself from above, his transformed body a meteor streaking into the plaza. His target was Kael, and he would let nothing stand in his way.
"Alert! Intruder!" A guard screamed.
Kael instantly turned, his crystalline eyes seeing Rune's terrifying form plummeting towards him. He reacted immediately, his entire body shimmering as his defensive crystal armor doubled in thickness, transforming him into a living fortress.
CRASH!
Rune slammed into Kael like a colossal biological axe. The impact created an earth-shattering explosion, sending crystal and concrete shrapnel flying everywhere. Kael's squad was blown away by the shockwave.
Kael was embedded deep in the stone ground, but he remained standing, his crystal armor showing deep fissures, and he groaned in pain.
"What... what are you?!" Kael roared, black blood oozing from the cracks in his crystal armor. He swung his hand, and razor-sharp crystal shards erupted from his body, hurtling towards Rune.
Rune absorbed the brunt of the attacks. The crystal shards embedded themselves in his bone armor but failed to fully penetrate. The chaotic fever surged again, but this time, Rune fought to control it. He sensed the essence of those crystals – their hardness, their ability to shift form.
"You... will be the key," Rune whispered, his voice filled with savage exhilaration. He lunged at Kael, not with brute force, but with an unstoppable will to assimilate.
This was the ultimate test. And he would not fail.