Carine Forest — Forward Battlements
"Battery Seven, thirty degrees left."
Logos never raised his voice.
He didn't need to.
"Target the regenerating mass."
"Battery Nine."
"Increase elevation by four degrees."
"Fire on my mark."
Across the battlements, officers repeated the commands almost instantly.
Signal flags rose.
Crystal amplifiers echoed the orders.
Artillery crews adjusted their weapons with practiced efficiency.
Massive barrels shifted together.
Steel groaned.
Runic rings rotated around reinforced breeches.
Below—
Adrean continued fighting.
The colossal intelligence had recovered from his first strike far faster than expected.
Entire sections of its ruined torso were already rebuilding.
Black roots erupted from open wounds, weaving together into fresh muscle and bark before hardening into new armor.
It was not merely healing.
It was rebuilding itself.
"...Fascinating," Logos murmured.
Kleber looked toward him.
"I was afraid you were going to say that."
"It isn't regeneration."
"What?"
"It's redistribution."
Logos pointed toward the monster.
"The damaged areas aren't growing new tissue."
"They're borrowing it."
Kleber narrowed his eyes.
"...Borrowing?"
"The lower limbs have become thinner."
"The rear support roots have shortened."
"The biomass is moving."
Only now did Kleber notice it.
The giant's legs had become noticeably narrower than before.
Not by much.
Enough for Logos to notice.
"...Saints."
"He isn't healing."
"He is reallocating."
Below—
Adrean's sword carved another enormous trench through the creature.
Golden force split an arm completely away.
The severed limb crashed through the burning forest.
Before it even hit the ground—
Thousands of roots burst from the stump.
Already replacing it.
Darian watched from the walls.
"...That isn't fair."
"No," Mirelle answered quietly.
"It isn't."
Logos continued observing.
Not the attacks.
The timing.
The delays.
The responses.
"The regeneration interval has increased."
Kleber blinked.
"What?"
"It was immediate."
"Now it requires nearly three seconds."
A pause.
"The acid is working."
Another pause.
"Continue saturation."
The signal officer saluted.
"Yes, my lord."
"Mark."
One hundred artillery pieces fired together.
The battlements erupted beneath the recoil.
White smoke rolled across the walls.
Dozens of shells screamed overhead.
Instead of striking the creature—
They landed around it.
One after another.
The ground exploded.
Green chemical clouds erupted in expanding circles.
The gigantic intelligence immediately tried to move.
Too late.
Every direction became another sea of poison.
Its lower roots entered the mist.
Immediately—
They began dissolving.
The monster recoiled.
Thousands of mouths screamed simultaneously.
The sound rolled across the battlefield.
Even Adrean looked upward for a brief moment.
"...Good."
Logos nodded slightly.
"It dislikes the barrier."
The creature adapted.
Instead of walking—
Its upper body lurched forward.
Thousands of roots shot ahead like grappling hooks.
Anchoring into distant hills.
Then dragging the enormous body forward.
Logos immediately noticed.
"Interesting."
Kleber looked toward him.
"It changed locomotion."
"It sacrificed stability for speed."
Another pause.
"Battery Eleven."
"Target the anchor roots."
The guns answered.
Shells struck the extended roots before they could fully harden.
Explosions ripped them apart.
The giant stumbled.
Entire hills collapsed beneath its weight.
Adrean did not waste the opportunity.
Golden light exploded across the battlefield.
His greatsword carved completely through the exposed shoulder.
A mountain-sized section of the creature crashed into the forest.
The soldiers erupted into cheers.
"We got it!"
"It is falling!"
"Keep pushing!"
Logos did not react.
"...No."
The cheering slowly faded.
The severed mass had not stopped moving.
Thousands of roots burst from its underside.
Instead of dying—
The detached section began crawling.
Like an enormous severed limb searching for its owner.
Kleber's smile disappeared.
"...That shouldn't be possible."
"It isn't."
Logos folded his arms.
"But reality appears unconcerned."
The detached limb reached the main body.
The roots intertwined.
The missing shoulder rebuilt itself.
This time—
Faster.
"...Regeneration efficiency has improved."
Darian stared.
"You mean it learned?"
"It optimized."
"That's worse."
"Correct."
Adrean landed atop a broken cliff.
Even from that distance he could see the creature changing.
Every injury.
Every strike.
Every explosion.
It remembered them.
Adjusted.
Improved.
"...So that's how you want to play."
He smiled beneath the visor.
"Fine."
Golden mana erupted again.
The battlefield shook.
The gigantic intelligence answered.
Thousands of mouths opened together.
Not screaming.
Watching.
Learning.
Back atop the battlements—
Logos finally moved.
He walked toward another map spread across a portable command table.
Small wooden markers represented artillery positions.
Others represented the monster.
Several had already been moved.
He picked up another.
Placed it farther back.
Then another.
Then another.
Sous watched him.
"You've already abandoned the first line."
"Yes."
"It is still intact."
"For now."
"You think it will reach it?"
"I know it will."
Sous frowned.
"Then why build it?"
Logos looked up.
"To measure."
Silence.
"Measure what?"
"The distance."
Another pause.
"The speed."
"And the amount of firepower required to stop it."
Sous looked back toward the battlefield.
Only now did he understand.
Everything.
The corridors.
The artillery.
The poison.
Even Adrean.
Every phase of the battle had become another experiment.
Not reckless experimentation.
Controlled observation.
Each one producing another answer.
"...You're mapping it."
"Yes."
"The entire battle."
"Yes."
Sous looked toward the towering intelligence.
Then back toward Logos.
"...You planned for failure."
"No."
Logos corrected him calmly.
"I planned for adaptation."
Far below—
The gigantic intelligence raised its countless heads toward the battlements.
Thousands of eyes fixed upon the black-clad young baron.
Then—
Every mouth smiled.
The expression spread slowly across the enormous body.
Not human.
Not animal.
Recognition.
It had finally understood.
The greatest threat on the battlefield was not the Hero cutting it apart.
It was the scholar watching from the walls.