Alynia shifted into a combat stance, while Veil tightened his grip on his dagger. She threw him a sharp glance and spoke in a clipped tone.

  “Take care of the Hydreon. I’ll handle the Corvaros,” she ordered, firm and commanding.

  Despite the urgency, Veil grimaced as he eyed the creatures circling them.

  “Seriously… do all monsters have ridiculous names, or is it just our luck?” he muttered sarcastically.

  Alynia didn’t answer. With a leap, she darted away, drawing the Corvaros that hovered high above. Veil turned back to the Hydreon, clenching his fists.

  “How the hell am I supposed to fight something like that...” he grumbled.

  No sooner had the words left his mouth than a crystalline sphere formed between the aquatic beast’s fangs. It launched straight at him.

  “Shit—!” Veil cursed, hurling himself to the side, boosting his leap with a burst of wind. He hit the ground and rolled, quickly scrambling back to his feet.

  Behind him, the sphere exploded against a boulder, shattering it into flying shards.

  “...Damn,” he breathed, stunned.

  His eyes flicked from the pulverized rock to the monster diving back beneath the water’s surface. He swallowed hard and steadied his grip on his weapon.

  Meanwhile, Alynia was closing in on the Corvaros. The bird unleashed bolts of lightning with every beat of its wings, making its movements nearly impossible to predict. She barely dodged a sudden discharge when something faster caught her attention.

  “Tch...” she hissed under her breath.

  The creature dove. She tried to back away, but its razor-sharp beak sliced across her arm in a flash of silver. A thin cut, but it burned like fire. Alynia clenched her teeth. The pain was manageable—but her growing fatigue was starting to slow her reactions. She couldn’t keep this up forever.

  “He’s really starting to piss me off...” she growled, breathing hard.

  The Corvaros rose again, wings spread, ready to strike. Alynia planted her feet firmly, analyzing every nuance of its movement.

  Veil, on his side, was dodging nonstop. The Hydreon alternated between launching water spheres and sweeping its massive tail, making it impossible for him to get close. He cursed as he jumped back again, his muscles aching in protest.

  “You’re really not coming out of there, huh…?” he panted.

  The Hydreon slipped back under the surface, its silhouette gliding like a threatening shadow. Veil had no way to attack while it remained submerged. He glanced quickly at Alynia, still locked in a fierce struggle with the Corvaros.

  “This is gonna be a problem...” he muttered, frowning.

  His mind scrambled for a solution, but both his stamina and magic reserves were nearly depleted. How much longer could he keep going?

  And Alynia—she was losing ground too. If she didn’t finish her fight soon, they wouldn’t last much longer.

  Just as she was trying to spot an opening in the bird’s erratic patterns—knowing it only dove after unleashing lightning—a deep vibration rumbled beneath her feet.

  Veil felt it too. His eyes shot toward Alynia.

  “What the...?” he said warily.

  The Hydreon seized the opportunity. A sharp hiss split the air, followed by a heavy impact.

  Veil didn’t have time to dodge fully. The monster’s tail slammed into him, sending him flying into a boulder with a dull, sickening crunch.

  “Gh—Goddamn it...” he groaned through clenched teeth.

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  His vision blurred for a moment from the impact. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth as he struggled to push himself upright, bracing against the stone.

  Meanwhile, beneath Alynia, the ground cracked dangerously. She didn’t hesitate—a sharp leap to the side, just in time to avoid the explosion of earth beneath her feet. Shards of stone flew in every direction as a colossal creature erupted from the gaping hole.

  A massive beast, its body sheathed in a stone-like carapace streaked with glowing red veins. A giant lizard, standing upright on two legs, with thick, muscular arms ending in claws so large they could tear through solid rock. Its spiked tail scraped along the ground, and its neck pulsed with a crimson glow—reminiscent of a fish’s gills. Its jaw, long and wide, stretched nearly to its collarbone, revealing a row of thick, jagged teeth.

  The monster let out a shrill cry and, with a deafening crunch, crushed a boulder between its jaws.

  “…Shit,” Alynia muttered, laser-focused.

  She understood instantly—those claws weren’t meant for battle. They were made to dig. To tunnel through stone. A predator of the deep.

  Without missing a beat, she lunged forward, bringing her blade down toward a gap between its rocky plates. But before steel could meet flesh, the creature jammed its claws into the ground and, with startling speed, burrowed a cavity beneath itself. In the blink of an eye, it vanished—leaving only a yawning hole in its place.

  “Tch…” she hissed between clenched teeth.

  The ground trembled again.

  A split-second later, a bolt of lightning struck her from above. The Corvaros’s electric blast slammed into her leg, searing through her tights and leaving a blackened wound on her skin. Alynia let out a sharp breath, staggering back.

  Three monsters. Their strength was waning. And now the enemy’s attacks were landing more and more.

  Something had to change. And fast.

  Veil, finally back on his feet after the hit, tried to focus again on the Hydreon. But this time, he felt it—the vibration in the ground beneath him.

  His eyes widened.

  “Oh no…” Veil panicked.

  He’d seen the underground beast strike at Alynia earlier, even while dazed. Without waiting, he threw himself to the side. Just in time. Another fissure ripped open exactly where he’d been standing, and the monster burst from the ground in a cloud of dust. But it didn’t linger—its motion fluid, it vanished beneath the earth once again.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me…” he gasped, breathless.

  The ground was no longer safe. At any moment, that thing could rise beneath them. And he was still stuck dealing with the Hydreon.

  He glanced toward Alynia, still battling the relentless Corvaros.

  “Alynia! I can’t get to the Hydreon, and if I have to dodge some damn lizard jumping out of the ground too, I’m gonna die out here!” he shouted.

  Alynia knew it. She tightened her grip on her weapon, eyes never leaving the sky.

  “I’m working on it—but this is getting out of hand,” she replied, sharp and focused.

  Three monsters. One in the lake, one underground, and one in the air. How were they supposed to fight back without getting blindsided?

  Their injuries were slowing them. Every move brought a fresh wave of pain, and fatigue had become a crushing weight.

  But giving in now meant certain death—or worse, leaving the other to face it alone.

  And these enemies… they were far tougher than anything they’d faced so far. It was as if they knew exactly how to keep them under pressure—how to chain their attacks just enough to prevent them from thinking. Alynia clenched her teeth. The way they used magic, how they stayed just out of reach… it was a deadlock.

  Meanwhile, Veil was still trying to keep the Hydreon busy, dodging its attacks while also avoiding the underground beast that lunged at him at irregular intervals. Thankfully, the rocky terrain allowed him to hear the tremors before each strike, giving him just enough warning to avoid being caught off guard.

  As he rolled to the side to dodge another eruption, his eyes fell on a stone lying nearby. Without thinking too much, he grabbed it.

  “I’ve got nothing to lose…” he muttered.

  He channeled what little mana he had left into his palm, pulled his arm back, and hurled the stone with all his strength. As he let go, he released his remaining energy into the throw—amplifying the projectile like a slingshot bolt.

  The stone flew straight at the Hydreon… and bounced harmlessly off its scales, plopping uselessly into the water.

  Veil’s eyes widened.

  “…You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” he muttered in disbelief.

  He hadn’t expected to kill the thing—but not even a scratch? Those scales were too thick. Even a stone at full speed wasn’t enough to pierce that armor.

  Frustration surged through him like wildfire. He was tired of dodging, tired of taking hits, tired of chasing a solution that refused to come. His body ached, his muscles screamed, and every breath came shorter than the last.

  Alynia, too, was running out of patience. Normally, she was calm, methodical, calculated. But this time… she knew they wouldn’t survive unless they gave everything.

  She didn’t like that thought.

  But she had no choice.

  She would have to do it.

  Otherwise, they’d die here.

  Alynia turned to Veil, her gaze cold and resolute.

  “Forget the Hydreon. Come draw the Corvaros,” she commanded, firm.

  Veil blinked, caught off guard.

  “What? Are you sure about that? Leaving it alone when it can just keep blasting us from range? Doesn’t sound like the best plan…” he replied, skeptical.

  She didn’t wait for his approval.

  “Move. Now,” she snapped.

  Her tone left no room for debate. Veil didn’t argue. For a moment, their eyes met—and he understood he had no choice. He bit his lip and obeyed, springing into motion.

  “Alright, alright…” he muttered.

  He darted toward her, weaving through the chaos of attacks. Once he reached her side, he bent forward, hands on his knees, gasping for breath.

  “So... you gonna explain your plan now?” he panted.

  Alynia looked at him for a second, then answered plainly:

  “You’re going to distract them.”

  Veil frowned, visibly confused.

  “Wait—what? You want me to do what exactly? Be live bait?!” he shouted, barely dodging a lightning bolt.

  The look she shot him was enough to shut him up instantly. He clenched his jaw and took a deep breath.

  “I don’t need long. Just a bit of time. Hold them off,” she said—calm, yet urgent.

  Veil opened his mouth to argue, but stopped as he caught a flicker of something in Alynia’s eyes. A shadow of hesitation—barely there, invisible to anyone who didn’t know her.

  “What are you planning?” Veil asked, wary.

  She didn’t look away, but her voice softened—just slightly. Something deeper crept into her tone.

  “A solution that might work,” Alynia replied, calm… but tinged with quiet sadness.

  She said nothing more.

  A heavy silence settled between them, broken only by the beating of wings above and the rumble of shifting earth beneath their feet. Veil stared at her for a moment, trying to decipher what was going through her mind.

  He couldn’t.

  But one thing was certain—he didn’t like it.

  “Be careful,” Veil said quietly, his voice softer now, touched with concern.

  The fear in it was subtle, but real. He didn’t understand her plan—but he could feel it wasn’t just another tactical maneuver.

  Alynia raised her chin slightly.

  “Don’t worry. If this fails… it’s over anyway. We’ve got nothing left to lose,” she said, steady and fatalistic.

  Veil bit the inside of his cheek, his grip tightening on his dagger. He didn’t like this. Not one bit.

  But he had no choice.

  He gave a stiff nod, casting one last glance at Alynia before turning back and falling into position.

  “Alright then… I hope your plan’s worth it,” Veil murmured, resigned.

  Alynia didn’t answer. Her gaze remained fixed on the enemies surrounding them. A tense silence hung in the air.

  Then—with a piercing cry—the Corvaros swooped down from above.

  Veil took a deep breath.

  The fight wasn’t over.

  It was only just beginning.