Draven watched as ferocious white flames flickered between the leaves, swinging toward them.
Selene finally stopped playing the horrific melody that had even driven a monster from its lair to silence her. Her face remained impassive as she gazed at the forest.
Draven stole a brief glance at her from the corner of his eye. 'Her expression didn't change, even after playing something so atrocious.'
But he shoved the thought aside, focusing instead on the approaching threat.
Moments later, they saw a brown creature swing through the treetops with fluid, rapid movements, closing in on the forest's edge.
Selene nudged her mount. The beast turned and bolted in response, fleeing at full gallop.
Seconds later, something massive—twice the size of a burly man—exploded from the forest's border. It landed with a ground-shaking impact, crouched on all fours.
The creature slowly stood and raised its towering hunched form, beady red eyes locking onto their fleeing mount.
The trio stared back. Draven could feel its rage radiating through that gaze. Two pairs of elongated canines protruded from its maw, its body thick with matted brown fur. Its arms hung grotesquely long, fingertips nearly brushing the ground even while standing.
Then, with a thunderous roar, it lunged forward, streaking like a released arrow.
Draven hissed through clenched teeth at the sight.
The monster gave chase in terrifying bursts of speed, alternating between bipedal sprints and quadrupedal lunges. Each step sending quakes through the ground.
'What speed…' Draven's grip tightened on his bow. 'Thank goodness I never got complacent and challenged a Third Order Transient monster, or I would have been dead. How can a human escape this without a mount?' The realization dawned on him. 'I'll need one of my own.'
"You shoot it," Selene broke the silence, her voice commanding and aloof.
Draven turned and arched an eyebrow. "Sorry?"
Selene's expression scrunched up. "I need you to be technical. Don't you know the description of that arrow?"
Draven frowned and couldn't understand where she was going.
Thankfully, Vera explained before he could reply. "What she meant is that you should use the arrow to harass and slow it down periodically. That's what is needed from you in this operation: to shoot and slow it down at key moments."
Nodding, Draven nocked an arrow and tracked the monster's movements.
The monster abruptly shifted from a straight charge to a zigzagging sprint, its movements erratic. The tactic made a clean shot impossible, though its speed barely diminished.
'Smart. Not like the others.' A cold realization settled in. 'This is a test of my archery level from them.'
He held his breath and calculated the movement pattern, observing its body with rapt attention.
'The depression on the ground becomes very deep and heavy with loud quakes when it changes direction,' Draven noted.
Just as the monkey veered diagonally to the left, Draven tilted the bow and fired.
The monster barreled straight into the arrow's trajectory. The strike was shallow—barely more than a scratch—yet the monster let out a deafening snarl, recoiling as if skewered through the gut.
Draven quickly recalled the arrow before it could seize it.
The monster charged again, its roar ripping through the air. This time, Draven sensed a fury tinged with unmistakable madness. Even from this distance, he could feel its burning gaze fixated on him, making his skin prickle.
'Is that Mental Serration? Or the ability of Wintervein?'
"What did you do?" Selene demanded.
"Nothing," Draven replied flatly.
Their eyes locked in a tense silence before she looked away. "Don't shoot again."
The chase stretched across open plains until the tunnel mouth appeared. The mount ran inside, and Selene summoned a crystal light, bathing the passage in pale radiance.
A minute later, the mountain shook as a monstrous roar echoed from the entrance.
"Get ready," Vera warned as they neared the battleground.
The moment they burst into the cavern, Draven vaulted upward, bow gripped overhead. Infusing it with Soul Vitalis mid-air, the weapon glowed blue, propelling him toward a narrow ledge. He flipped and landed in a one-knee crouch on the perch, pulling his arrow.
Gazing below, he saw an empty rocky floor illuminated by a crystal-white light. Vera stood at the center, twin swords in her grasp—one blue and the other thick and brown—her focus locked on the entrance.
Meanwhile, Selene pressed a palm against the wall, dead vines shuddering to life beneath her touch, greening as they uncoiled.
'What's she doing?'
The tremor grew louder as the monster closed in.
Adrenaline spiked in Draven's veins as he listened to the tremor. Everybody was in complete battle mode with their armor helmet on.
Suddenly, the place plunged into an eerie silence.
Draven's eyes narrowed.
With a ground-shaking bellow, the monster lunged from the tunnel. It swung at Vera—only for revitalized vines to coil around its waist and yank it backward. The restraints held for one precious second before snapping.
Vera darted in, slashing at its leg, but the monkey swung its arm at her in retaliation. She vaulted over it and slashed at its shoulder.
It twisted with unnatural agility, dodging her follow-up strike to drive a fist to her face. She crossed her blades barely in time.
The impact sent her crashing against the wall. Before she could rise, the monster pounced, massive hand descending to crush her skull.
"Draven!" Selene's snarl cut through the air as she lunged from behind, black blade gleaming.
Draven's arrow was already loosed, Soul Vitalis humming along its shaft.
The arrow cut through the air and plunged into the monster's neck. The creature froze—just long enough for Vera to scramble away—before unleashing a deafening, maddened roar.
Selene's sword bit deep into its back in that instant. It whirled with terrifying speed, but she'd already leapt beyond reach.
When the monster clawed at the arrow in its neck, Draven recalled it.
Those furious red eyes snapped upward—directly at him. The world seemed to freeze for one terrible heartbeat. Then the creature dug into the wall, wrenched free a boulder the size of a big shield, and without hesitation, launched it with perfect accuracy—not thrown, but hurled like a catapult's payload—straight at Draven's position.
'Oh hell—'