"WOOOOOO—!!"
A terrifying howl rolled across the forest.
Unlike before, the sound did not fade.
It deepened.
Expanded.
Then the air itself seemed to bend under an immense spiritual weight.
Moments later, a colossal figure emerged through the skeletal trees.
It towered tens of meters above the forest canopy.
A black, cloak-like mantle of condensed reishi draped its body. Only pale hands, feet, and an enormous mask were visible beneath the flowing darkness. In the center of its torso yawned a vast Hollow hole, from which oppressive reiatsu radiated like a storm front.
Mirot had evolved.
He was now a Gillian-class Menos.
Sombravida stood near the unfinished trap site and turned to face the advancing giant.
"A long mask… elongated nose… hollow eyes…"
His gaze sharpened.
"It's a mindless Gillian."
Excitement flickered in his eyes.
"That's an opportunity."
He turned sharply.
"Lephas! Status of the pit?!"
"Not enough time!" Lephas shouted over the suffocating pressure. "The first pit is barely six meters deep!"
"There's no time to finish it," he added. "We only started moments ago!"
Sombravida made an immediate decision.
"Abandon it. Dig the second pit to three meters — fast as possible. Then evacuate."
He turned upward.
"Paric! Geese! Take flight! Begin visual interference. When I signal, disengage and prepare to evade Cero!"
"Yes!"
They launched skyward.
"How are the logs?"
"They're ready," Jacain answered.
"Sharpen one end. Deploy four Hollows to the trees flanking the pit. Ambush positions."
He turned.
"Feslina — conceal beneath the canopy. On my signal, web the eyes."
"Understood."
"Jacain, with me. We lure it."
"Inora, stay close."
"The rest: conceal yourselves and await command."
The team dispersed instantly.
Sombravida, Jacain, and Inora moved toward the advancing Gillian.
They had to draw it in.
Gillian Instinct Behavior
Though it had lost individuality, the Gillian still sensed spiritual pressure.
A newly formed Gillian instinctively seeks the Forest of Menos, drawn by the density of reishi below the sands.
On its journey, it devours any spiritual entities encountered.
This predatory compulsion is why few Gillians evolve into Adjuchas — most are destroyed by others of their kind.
Within this forest, everything was prey.
The Gillian's mask tilted downward.
Its mouth opened.
A vortex-like pull spread outward.
Soul Absorption.
Low-density Hollows within range were dragged helplessly into its jaws.
Bone snapped.
Bodies crushed.
Spiritual particles surged into its core.
Its reiatsu spiked.
Then dark red light began gathering inside its mouth.
Inora's voice shook.
"Its reiatsu is rising!"
Sombravida reacted instantly.
"Unfocused Cero forming!"
"Paric! Geese! Disengage and evade!"
"Everyone — clear the area!"
A deep compression hum filled the air.
Then—
BOOOOM
The Cero detonated.
The blast carved a massive crater through the forest, shredding trees into spiraling dust.
The power was overwhelming.
Sombravida looked skyward.
Paric and Geese had evaded.
The blast missed the trap zone.
Good.
But the terror of that pressure could break morale.
He could not allow panic.
"Jacain — release reiatsu and lure it!"
"Inora — run! Draw it toward the trap!"
"It cannot fire another immediately!"
Two reiatsu signatures surged.
The familiar pressure triggered the Gillian's predatory response.
It turned.
And began to follow.
Each step shook the earth.
The ground trembled beneath its weight.
"It's coming," Jacain muttered.
"Keep moving," Sombravida said. "Lead it in."
They ran.
The Gillian followed relentlessly.
The roar of its approach closed in.
If they failed…
half the forest would be annihilated.
Ahead, they saw Feslina concealed beneath the canopy and the trap zone beyond.
"Now!" Sombravida shouted.
BOOM
The Gillian stepped into the pit.
The ground collapsed.
Its massive body pitched forward and crashed down.
Shockwaves rippled through the forest.
"Success!" Jacain roared.
Sombravida did not hesitate.
"Feslina — blind it!"
Two strands of reishi silk shot upward, binding across the Gillian's eye slits.
Vision obstructed.
"Spike logs — legs!"
Massive sharpened trunks dropped from above.
THUD — THUD
They pierced the Gillian's lower limbs.
Dark fluid erupted.
Mobility crippled.
The team had achieved the impossible:
they had immobilized a Menos.
"Jacain — prepare to strike the mask!"
He surged forward—
"Inora — watch for Cero!"
Her voice cut through the air:
"Sombravida — IT'S FORMING!"
Sombravida felt it instantly.
Reiatsu condensed violently.
"DEFENSIVE EVASION — NOW!"
The Gillian raised its head.
Dark red energy erupted—
And detonated directly in front of its own body.
Without cognition, it did not avoid its own blast radius.
The explosion engulfed everything.
The mask cracked.
Blood sprayed from fissures across its frame.
But the shockwave tore outward in all directions.
Sombravida activated Shadow Strike, vanishing a hundred meters away—
Yet the pressure storm still hurled him through the air.
Silence followed.
Dust slowly settled.
Sombravida staggered to his feet.
The forest was gone.
Where traps once stood lay a wasteland.
A massive crater scarred the earth.
Only eight allies remained standing.
Sombravida released a sensing pulse.
Six reiatsu signatures were gone.
Three flickered near extinction.
The rest were wounded.
Paric and Geese, airborne, had survived with minor injuries.
Feslina lay collapsed — six legs destroyed.
Lephas had lost an arm and his tail.
Inora's tentacles were severed; her combat ability gone.
Jacain stood beside Sombravida, battered but upright.
"Only the four of us can still fight," he said grimly.
"What now?"
Sombravida rose, forcing his reiatsu to stabilize.
"We finish it."
"If it fires another Cero, we die."
"Attack before it can form one."
Without hesitation, he charged.
Jacain followed.
Paric and Geese dove from above.
The Gillian's reiatsu surged again.
It attempted to condense another Cero.
But the previous discharge had drained enormous energy.
The formation was slower.
This was their last chance.
Sombravida roared:
"FULL POWER!"
Techniques erupted simultaneously.
Shattering Slash!
Mountain Crushing Strike!
Steel Feather Blade!
Void-Piercing Shot!
Four converging attacks slammed into the Gillian's mask.
The impact detonated in a storm of dust and shockwaves.
This was the decisive moment.
Victory—
or annihilation.