The Abyssal Ranked beast crouched low, its enormous limbs bending until its knuckles scraped the ground. Its face seemed to bow—almost in reverence or calculation—before it lunged forward with terrifying speed, aiming its gaping jaws at Shia's neck.
It was a swift and precise strike—one far too fast for any ordinary person to dodge.
The attack landed. Or so it seemed.
However, in that same split second, something unexplainable occurred. A mysterious switch had taken place—so rapid that even the beast, with all its heightened senses, couldn't comprehend it. Where it expected flesh and bone, it tasted only air and dust. Its powerful momentum caused it to slam onto the ground, and it skidded forward violently, its snarling fangs closing around nothing but the scattered debris.
At that moment, the creature hesitated. It froze, momentarily questioning the reliability of its senses. Had they failed it?
