Lina looked at Fenric’s body. A dark, heavy haze rose from his fur, curling like smoke from freshly scorched flesh. Parts of his coat were pitch black like a wolf’s, while others still gleamed faintly in their original golden brown, signs that he could no longer maintain his transformation through the pain. Black lines pulsed beneath his skin, crawling across his face like veins filled with venom.

  His jaw was locked tight, muscles twitching as if he were forcing himself to swallow something vile just to stay conscious. His eyelids fluttered, every breath coming in ragged bursts, half growl, half gasp.

  So once more, the gods mocked her. They had shown her a glimpse of hope only to snuff it out again. Yet, seeing Vierna fight, just seeing her alive, was enough for Lina to defy the fate written for her.

  She forced her body to move. Her feet felt like torn meat, every nerve screaming as she tried to stand. She let out a hoarse cry as her legs wobbled beneath her. Blood gushed from the claw wounds the humanoid mana beast had left earlier, dripping down to mix with the mud. She managed to rise for a second before her knees buckled, sending her crashing back to the ground.

  She tried crawling like before, dragging her weight forward inch by inch, but her arms spasmed, her fingers twitching uselessly in the dirt. Every attempt only smeared more blood beneath her palms.

  Then came the sound.

  A heavy, splintering crunch tore through the storm.

  The beast burst from the treeline, its many arms thrashing wildly, muscles spasming beneath its stitched flesh. Its eyeless face turned toward her, and even through the rain, she could see the sick delight twisting its expression. The mouths along its arms smacked and drooled, strands of saliva hanging between its teeth like melted wax.

  It stepped closer, slowy as if savoring her terror.

  Then suddenly, its body began to sizzle. Smoke rose from its skin like steam escaping from boiling tar. The creature screamed, a raw, guttural wail that swallowed the wind and thunder alike. But it didn’t stop. It kept moving forward, each step more frantic, its flesh blistering and splitting apart. The eyes that Vierna and Fenric had pierced now bled freely, thick black veins swelling outward as if something inside was fighting to escape.

  Lina flinched, shielding her face from the heat radiating off the monster. The stench of burning flesh stabbed her senses, making her stomach twist. Yet through the pain and fear, confusion clawed at her mind.

  Why now?

  Back in the forest, even with spears driven through its eyes, it had kept fighting without slowing. But here, out in the open, it was breaking apart, burning from within as though the air itself was poison to it.

  She stared, trembling, unable to look away. The creature’s shrieks shook the ground, its many limbs thrashing as the smoke thickened around it. And yet, despite every sign of agony, it still dragged itself closer, refusing to die, refusing to stop.

  Lina’s heart pounded in her ears. The more it screamed, the louder her thoughts became. What kind of thing would rather burn alive than let me go?

  “Linaa… Linaa… Come here…”

  The voice slithered into her mind, sweet and venomous, wrapping around her thoughts like a lover’s whisper and a curse at once.

  Lina gritted her teeth, forcing her voice through her shaking throat. “GO TO HELL, YOU MANY-ARMED FREAK!”

  The creature’s mouth trembled violently. Then, with a sudden tear of flesh, the stitches over its eyes snapped open one by one. From the ruined sockets glared a pair of black irises with red pupils, cold and unblinking, staring at her like a verdict.

  It confused Lina to no end. Why was this creature so hell-bent on her? It had been falling apart ever since it left the forest, which meant it could only survive inside it, yet still it did not stop. Was there something in her that made the monster obsessed with her? She wasn’t sure.

  It lurched forward. Each movement sounded wrong. Its bones cracked, its muscles tore under their own weight. Every step made it convulse as if invisible chains were trying to drag it back. Steam rose off its skin, and the smell of burning meat filled the air. Yet it kept forcing itself onward, clawing through the pain, dragging its blistered hands across the ground just to reach her.

  Black blood poured from its eyes and the corners of its mouth, sizzling where it hit the dirt. The veins on its body bulged, writhing like snakes under the skin, some bursting open entirely.

  Still, it didn’t stop.

  Lina tried to move again, but her body still betrayed her. Fear rooted her in place as the beast crawled closer, each motion accompanied by a horrible, wet snap. Its chest heaved in sharp, jerking spasms. Its many hands clawed at the ground, some breaking at the joints, fingers tearing off, but still it pushed forward, driven by pure hunger, pure hatred.

  She could only lie there beside Fenric, whose ragged breathing had turned into shallow gasps. The sound of his pain merged with the monster’s tortured advance until the air itself felt heavy, suffocating, soaked in agony.

  The creature dragged itself closer. Each step sounded like meat tearing off bone. Its shrieks had faded into wheezes now, breath hitching, body convulsing with every movement. Smoke poured from its wounds, thick and black, carrying the stench of burning blood.

  The beast was close enough that she could see the strands of drool dangling from its jaws, hear the wet rasp in its throat as it tried to breathe through the pain.

  It stopped just a few steps away, its ruined face lifting toward her. The bleeding eyes fixed on her with a focus that felt inhuman. For a heartbeat, the world went silent, only the rain falling between them.

  Lina met its gaze, unable to move, unable to breathe. Something passed between them, something raw, primal, and full of hate.

  Then the creature screamed.

  A horrible, shattering sound that split the night. Its body twisted violently, flesh cracking as if the very air was burning it alive. Still, it took one more trembling step forward before collapsing to its knees.

  Yet it didn’t relent, dragging its ruined body inch by inch. Black blood poured from its wounds, thick and foul, filling the air with the stench of rot and pus from a wound long festering. The rain couldn’t wash it away; it only spread the filth across the ground in oily streaks.

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  Lina’s heart pounded faster with every step the creature took. Fear clawed at her chest, but rage burned inside her, raw and aimless. She looked around, searching for anything to fight back with. But there was nothing.

  “Fucking let me go, you freak!”

  Her trembling hands scraped against the mud. She tried to lift a rock, but her body wouldn’t listen. Every nerve screamed, every muscle twitched uselessly. The beast loomed closer, one of its bloodied arms stretching toward her face, dripping with black ichor that hissed where it touched the ground.

  And then, a flash cut through the rain.

  The beast turned just as Vierna came from the side. She was glowing, a pale bluish light that wrapped around her body, dimmer than usual but still steady. It wasn’t the radiant brilliance Lina had seen before, just a faint shimmer clinging to her skin like moonlight through fog. Lina recognized it at once, the Eidrecht.

  Vierna had forced a full-body enhancement.

  Even from where she lay, Lina could see the toll it took on her. Black veins bulged under Vierna’s skin, crawling up her neck and face. Wisps of smoke seeped from her arms, the same eerie haze she’d seen rising from Fenric’s body when he pushed himself too far. The Hairon root was eating her alive from the inside.

  And still, she kept running.

  Each step tore something deeper inside her, but she didn’t slow. The pale blue light rippled across her soaked body as she closed the distance, her weapon gleaming faintly under the storm.

  The sight crushed Lina’s chest, stealing her breath. The whole reason she had endured all this, the running, the pain, the terror, was to help Vierna. To spare her from pushing herself again. And yet here she was, forcing her body past its limit because Lina had failed.

  Because she had been too weak to resist the beast’s call back in the forest.

  Her hands trembled, her throat closing as guilt surged through her. This was her fault. Vierna was dying right before her eyes, and all she could do was watch.

  Vierna grabbed the weapon by the hilt and the base of the blade, swinging it like an ice pick, hammering it down from above again and again. The blade wasn’t meant to be used that way, but she didn’t stop. The metal screeched, warping with every hit, shards of broken edge flying into the rain.

  “AAARGHHHHHH!”

  The beast roared, flailing its limbs wildly. One blow slammed into her side, another struck her shoulder, but she didn’t falter. Blood ran from her mouth; her body shook with every impact. Still, she lifted the sword again, her arms trembling, and slammed it down with another desperate cry.

  Whether it was the body modifications numbing her pain, the beast’s exhaustion, or pure stubborn will, it didn’t matter. Vierna simply refused to stop.

  It went on for a while, the beast shrieking in agony despite the stabs being shallow. Under normal circumstances, such wounds would have been little more than a tickle to a creature of its size, but now, its body was too far gone to endure even that.

  The smoke that had once risen in thin wisps was now pouring out in torrents. It no longer looked like steam but like thick tar burning alive, black and heavy, rolling off its skin in suffocating waves. The air around it shimmered from the heat, carrying the stench of scorched flesh so sharp it made Lina gag.

  Its torn hide blistered and peeled with every movement, black ichor gushing from the open seams and hissing where it met the rain. The more it thrashed, the more Vierna struck, her blade rising and falling in desperate rhythm. But it was clear now, the beast wasn’t suffering from her blows alone. Every second it remained outside the forest, its pain deepened, its flesh cracking and smoking as if the open air itself were burning it alive.

  Vierna’s assault only held it there longer, forcing it to writhe in its own torment. Its limbs jerked and slapped the ground, spraying blood and other liquids. It was no longer just a beast but a silhouette of fire and darkness, trying to crawl back to the trees that had once shielded it.

  Her breathing turned ragged, her arms trembling, the blade dull and bent in her hands. Still, she kept hammering it down, not to kill it, but to keep it from escaping, until the beast’s shrieks thinned into a hoarse, bubbling rasp, its body collapsing into a steaming heap of blackened flesh.

  “Vierna… please just—”

  Lina wanted to tell her to run, to leave her there, to escape while she still could. The words sat at the edge of her tongue, but she couldn’t say them. She knew Vierna would never listen. Worse, she knew Vierna would be furious if she even tried.

  And somewhere deep inside, past the guilt and fear, Lina found that selfish, ugly truth she couldn’t deny. She didn’t want her to go. Even as Vierna’s body shook, even as blood and smoke poured from her, Lina wanted her to stay. To live long enough for both of them to live. To not die here.

  Finally, the beast relented. It stopped striking back and pulled away, its many arms trembling as it stepped backward through the mud. Its burning eyes stayed locked on Vierna, red irises cutting through the rain like spears aimed at her and Lina alike.

  Vierna shifted slightly, moving closer to Lina’s side, positioning herself between the girl and the creature’s gaze.

  The beast hesitated. For a moment, the world stood still, only the rain falling, the hiss of steam rising from its body. Thunder rolled across the sky, and a violent gust swept through the field, sending flowers and dusk hued leaves swirling around them like a storm of crows.

  Neither moved.

  The creature’s burning eyes locked with Vierna’s, twin embers of hatred and hunger boring into her. Its breath sounded like fire grinding through flesh. Vierna stood her ground, drenched and trembling, yet unyielding, her gaze sharp enough to cut through the downpour.

  The air between them felt ready to snap. One wrong twitch, one blink too slow, and everything would end.

  But neither broke.

  Rain hammered against the earth, thunder cracked overhead, and in that endless second, the fate of both hunter and prey balanced on nothing more than a stare.

  Then, with a final guttural roar, the monster staggered backward, retreating towards the darkness of the forest. The black haze swallowed it whole, and within seconds, it was gone, vanished into the stygian abyss as if the storm itself had erased its existence.