The Ravager reappeared a few feet away. Still standing in place. Still grinning. Ben's heart pounded. 'It's shifting its presence.' His mind worked fast. 'It's not dodging. It's not teleporting. It's making me perceive its position differently.' The moment realization clicked, the Ravager struck again.
Ben saw the faintest shimmer. This time, he didn't react to the image in front of him— He reacted to the air behind him.
His elbow slammed backward, colliding with something solid. The small Ravager reeled, clicking in shock. Ben grinned through gritted teeth. "Got you." He whipped around, pickaxe flashing, But the Ravager was already gone.
'Dam, it's escape again, just how did he do this?' His eyes flicked to the Ravager. 'Is it somekind of magic?.'
The illusion wasn't visual. It was perception itself. His body wasn't reacting late— His mind was processing false information.
Ben exhaled sharply, twisting mid-step as a Brute Ravager charged from the side.
His pickaxe swung upward, splitting the beast's skull open like a ripe fruit. The gurgled screech barely left its throat before it collapsed, twitching, dead before it hit the ground.
Another Brute rushed him—he didn't even look. His foot snapped out, caving in its ribcage with a single kick. The monster stumbled, gasping, but Ben was already moving.
The small Ravager appeared again, right at the edge of his vision. Ben grinned. 'Predictable.' It was always repositioning the moment he got close. It had to. The moment he made actual physical contact, the illusion failed. That meant— 'It's real body is always nearby.'
Ben dashed forward, pickaxe raised Then at the last second he twisted. Instead of striking where the illusion stood, he turned his entire body, swinging into the empty space behind him.
His weapon slammed into something solid. The small Ravager shrieked, its body flickering back into reality. Ben's grin sharpened. 'Predictable.' The creature twitched, instinctively trying to phase out again—but this time, Ben didn't give it a chance. His free hand shot out, fingers closing like a vice around its throat.
The Ravager thrashed, claws raking furiously at his arm, but his chitin armor barely even scratched. Ben tightened his grip. The Ravager's spines flared, pulsing rapidly—a distress signal. Ben snorted. "Go ahead. Call them. It won't save you."
Two Brute Ravagers burst forward from either side, their massive bodies hurtling through the air—a perfect pincer attack. Ben didn't move. Instead—Two sharp tentacle shot out from his back like harpoons, impaling them mid-air.
The three monsters collided, pierced straight through the gut, twitching violently as they thrashed, their screeches turning wet and garbled. Ben didn't even blink. His muscles tensed. With one vicious pull— The skewered Ravagers lurched toward him, dragged helplessly onto his waiting pickaxe.
One. Two. His blade tore through flesh, split bone, crushed organs. Blood splattered in thick arcs, coating the battlefield in a fresh layer of carnage.
When the movement stopped, the small Ravager lay at his feet, twitching feebly. Ben loomed over it. His boot pressed down against its skull. "Try vanishing from this."
The brittle skull split like rotten wood. Ben paused, frowning slightly. 'Weaker than a normal Ravager.' He lifted his foot, as he doesn't want to kill it . "Consume." His leg warped, flesh twisting, forming into a gnashing maw. With a single snap, it swallowed the corpse whole.
[Phantom Ravager Consumed. Acquired 32 Biomass, and body part: Ravager Eyes.]
Ben's lips twitched. 'Pointless, but better than nothing.' His eyes flicked toward the nest. A slow grin stretched across his face. 'Time to claim my loot.'
Ben scanned the remains of the nest, eyes sweeping over the crude burrows and tunnels carved into the earth. He moved through the chamber, kicking aside scraps of half-eaten carcasses—some insectoid, others beast-like, but nothing humanoid. 'So, they aren't hunting sentient prey… or at least, not here.' That was an important detail. It meant they doesn't have any other rival, at the very least not on this area.
Then, his gaze landed on something else. Smaller Ravagers skittered in the shadows, watching him with wary eyes. At first glance, they looked like juveniles, but Ben already knew better. After consuming the phantom ravager he gain more understanding on them. These weren't young—they were females. Smaller, leaner, lacking the reinforced armor of the Brutes. And beyond them, nestled deeper in the tunnels, a writhing mass of pale, squirming bodies. Hatchlings. Ben didn't even pause. His hand transformed. "Consume."
The cavern erupted into a frenzy of shrieks and roar as the skill activated, a dark void swallowing everything in its path. The young ones didn't even get the chance to react. The females tried to scatter, but they were weak.
[Ravager Matriach consumed. Acquired 38 biomass.]
[Ravager Matriach consumed. Acquired 50 biomass.]
[Ravager Hatchling consumed. Acquired 8 biomass.]
[Ravager Hatchling consumed. Acquired 7 biomass.]
[Ravager Hatchling consumed. Acquired 9 biomass.]
Ben clicked his tongue as the notifications rolled in. "Tch. No body parts this time?" He muttered, annoyance creeping into his voice. It wasn't surprising—hatchlings and weaker Ravagers weren't going to give him anything useful—but it still felt like a waste. It may have cool name like matriach but in the end it's focus is just for procreating. Still, the biomass haul was decent. And more importantly, the knowledge gained from the Matriarchs was invaluable.
Ben leaned against the cavern wall, pulling up the fragmented memories from his latest kills.
Hierarchy. Structure. The Surrounding area. The Brutes were foot soldiers. The Phantom Ravagers acted as battlefield tacticians, coordinating strikes, using their speed and phasing ability to issue commands. The Matriarchs didn't fight—they oversaw the nests, managed the young, and ensured food distribution.
And then there was something else.
Ben frowned. The deeper he dug through the memories, the more he saw… something above them. Elemental Ravagers, and finally The true Alpha He exhaled, rolling his shoulders. "So, they really use mana," he muttered, a smirk forming. "Now if I can get that body part…."