The symbiote looked at Raven, who was held in his grasp, with a mocking expression. Normally, Raven would have gotten angry, but right now, the only person he could get angry at was Miles. Raven felt like he was about to cry from anger; his eyes were filled with blood, and he had bitten his lip, drawing blood. Being weak was his fault, no one else’s.

Miles, unable to stand, was still clinging to the symbiote’s leg. Raven stopped biting his lip, which he was nearly about to tear off, and while tears of blood streamed from his eyes, he raised his arm and began to shout:

"I swear I won’t die! In fact, when I get out of here, I’ll be so strong that not a single lowly creature like you will even be able to rival me!"

The symbiote, understanding human language, got the message, but this time, unlike before, he didn’t laugh. Although what Raven said seemed impossible, Raven’s emotions were so heavy that, at some point, the symbiote felt he should show respect. Miles, half-conscious, was listening to Raven, but he was too drained to make sense of what he was hearing. When the sounds of the forest, Raven’s voice, his breathing, and his heartbeat all mixed together, his eyes closed completely. The only thing he knew was that he wouldn’t be able to open them again.

After wiping the blood from his face, Raven stared at the symbiote for a few seconds. The symbiote, tightening his grip on Raven’s throat a little more each second, felt an overwhelming aura approaching from the forest. It was such an overpowering and intense aura that Miles jolted awake, and Raven’s heart started beating faster. Even the symbiote had to release Raven due to the force of the aura.

The symbiote, nervously watching the steps shaking the forest, saw Raven, who had fallen to the ground, clutching his sore throat from the strain. As figures began to form from the shadows, a tall figure of about 2.5 meters, with the long coat fluttering, became visible. Miles, half-awake, started to smile at the familiarity of the aura:

"A bad end for a symbiote who thinks of himself as an apex predator."

The symbiote equipped his hand with a weapon and maintained his uneasy stance. Raven, after realizing whose aura this belonged to, saw the figure finally step out from the shadows. With a humanoid shape and a deadly aura, this person was Edward Hunter. Similarly, when Raven began to smile, the symbiote realized that this was someone Raven trusted.

When Edward finally came face to face with the symbiote, there was still a 1-meter height difference between them. Although the symbiote appeared larger in size, standing in front of Edward made him feel like a cat scurrying under the foot of an elephant.

Edward Hunter, having fought countless battles throughout his long life, had no intention of killing. His hands were in his pockets, and he was simply staring at the symbiote’s face. What made him intimidating was not the aura’s intent, but its size. The symbiote started to think a few things:

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"No matter how large his aura is, from the looks of it, he has no idea what he’s up against. If I attack first, I might have a chance."

As the symbiote thought this, he released a killing intent, and with his right arm, he attacked Edward. However, before he even struck, he realized that Edward had already severed his arm. Although Miles was still dozing, Raven, with his ultra instincts, had already understood what was happening. The symbiote, when he first released his killing intent, found that Edward had already cut off his arm and returned his hand to his pocket. It was as if his arm had just spontaneously fallen off.

The symbiote was clearly frustrated by this and, when he narrowed his eyes, it was obvious he was angry. After loading some of his biomass into his hands, he created knives with both hands and jumped back.

“Dad, watch out! He’s way too fast!” Raven shouted, and Edward started walking with a smile.

The symbiote jumped forward again, merging the knives in his hands, planning to split Edward in two with all his speed. Edward, however, was still walking, his hands in his pockets. When the symbiote collided with Edward, an utterly nonsensical scene occurred. The symbiote, leaping at Edward with massive knives in his hands, was split in two upon impact. One of his pieces stuck to a tree in the back and began to reform. Since it had merged so many times, this time the reformation was very slow, and his biomass had shrunk.

Raven, once again, saw what was happening. Edward, this time without even taking his hands out of his pockets, kicked downward with incredible speed and split the symbiote in two. It was absurd for a human to be this fast or strong. He was practically playing with the symbiote.

The symbiote realized he couldn’t win. This man was not on his level; he had to be some kind of demon. He began running into the forest, and Edward sighed deeply:

“Foolish, useless creatures.”

He bent down and took three small stones in his palm. After bouncing them in his hand, he stretched his wrist, and after preparing, he threw them. The moment he threw them, the symbiote, whose silhouette could be seen in the depths of the forest, was torn into pieces. The stones were no more than one or two grams each and were three hundred times lighter than the ones Raven had thrown.

“But how did the stones not break from friction? They were faster than the speed of sound!”

Edward laughed:

“Magic, son, magic.”

Raven now understood that Edward’s inhuman strength came from strengthening his body with magic.

“So, you were that fast and strong because you covered your body with magic?”

Edward turned around, raised an eyebrow, and looked at Raven:

“No? Is this the first time you’ve seen physical strength, son?”

Raven was in shock. Although Edward had said that, after experiencing such immense power, Raven really felt like he had seen physical strength for the first time in his life. It seemed that the symbiote, after being torn into so many pieces, couldn’t merge anymore and had finally died.

Edward approached the sleeping Miles and reached into his backpack. He pulled out the return crystals he had given earlier and threw them to Raven, taking one for himself.

“For a moment, I thought Miles had lost his stones. Stupid kid…”

They both broke the stones at the same time and found themselves in front of the mansion.