The corrupted spikes remained jutting from the earth like fractured crimson bones, spreading in jagged formations around the clearing where the creature stood. The forest itself had become warped from its presence alone. Trees near the battlefield twisted unnaturally, their bark cracked with faint red veins spreading beneath the surface as though the corruption underground was slowly infecting everything around it.
The massive creature screeched again.
The sound was wrong.
Not simply loud.
Distorted.
Like several different cries layered together imperfectly.
Ayan steadied his footing against the uneven ground, his eyes locked on the creature as it shifted violently before him. Up close, its unstable body looked even worse than before. Entire sections of black armor plates twitched and repositioned themselves inconsistently while exposed crimson tissue pulsed visibly beneath the cracks.
And those eyes—
Too many.
Some focused directly on him.
Others moved independently.
Still developing.
Still changing.
"…Incomplete."
Ayan muttered.
Aelira remained beside him, her gaze colder now than before.
"…It should not exist in this condition."
Ayan narrowed his eyes slightly.
"…Meaning?"
Aelira's expression tightened faintly.
"…The transformation was forced too early."
The creature suddenly lunged forward again.
BOOOOM.
The ground shattered beneath its weight as it charged with terrifying speed, its enormous claws tearing through the forest floor while crimson energy spread beneath every step.
Ayan moved instantly.
This time he didn't retreat fully.
He shifted sideways at the last possible second as one massive claw crashed downward beside him before sprinting directly toward the creature's exposed side.
"…If the armor's too strong…"
His eyes sharpened.
"…Then target the unstable parts."
The creature reacted unnaturally fast.
Several of the red eyes embedded across its face rotated sharply toward him at once before its tail whipped violently through the air.
Ayan barely raised his sword in time.
CRASH.
The impact launched him backward across the clearing, pain exploding through his arms as he rolled violently through dirt and broken roots before forcing himself upright again.
"…Damn!"
Even incomplete—
The thing was monstrously strong.
The creature screeched again before opening its partially split jaw wider than should have been physically possible.
Then crimson light gathered inside.
Ayan's instincts screamed instantly.
"…Aelira!"
The beam erupted forward violently.
Not concentrated.
Chaotic.
A massive wave of unstable crimson energy tore through the forest, erasing trees completely as it surged toward them.
Aelira stepped forward calmly.
One hand raised.
The crimson wave stopped.
Not blocked.
Stopped.
Like reality itself had frozen around her.
For half a second the battlefield fell silent.
Then the corrupted energy collapsed inward violently before dispersing into harmless fragments of red light.
Ayan stared briefly despite himself.
"…Seriously…"
No matter how many times he saw it—
Her power still felt absurd.
The creature staggered slightly afterward, parts of its body twitching violently from the unstable attack it had just released.
Ayan noticed immediately.
"…It damaged itself."
Because the beam hadn't stabilized correctly.
The creature was forcing power through a body not fully adapted to contain it.
"…Then overloading it might work."
The thought sharpened his focus immediately.
Ayan rushed forward again before the creature could recover fully, his movements faster and more precise despite the lingering pain in his body.
The creature swung another massive claw downward.
Ayan slipped beneath it.
Too close.
Dangerously close.
But intentional.
The underside of the creature's torso lacked full armor plating, exposing unstable crimson tissue beneath blackened muscle.
Ayan's sword flashed upward instantly.
SLASH.
Black blood exploded outward.
The creature shrieked violently.
Its entire body convulsed.
The crimson lines beneath the ground pulsed uncontrollably.
"…Good."
Ayan immediately retreated backward before the creature could retaliate.
But this time—
It didn't attack immediately.
Instead its body began changing again.
Ayan's expression hardened instantly.
"…No way."
The black armor plates across its body shifted violently, expanding and repositioning themselves while the exposed wound along its underside began sealing unnaturally fast.
"…It's adapting mid-fight."
Aelira's gaze narrowed slightly.
"…Not naturally."
The creature's distorted eyes locked directly onto Ayan again.
And this time—
The recognition felt stronger.
More focused.
The crimson lines beneath the earth surged toward it visibly now, feeding directly into the unstable body.
Ayan felt cold realization settle into his chest.
"…The network's trying to stabilize it."
Not just reacting randomly.
Actively correcting it.
The creature roared again before launching itself toward him with even greater speed than before.
Ayan barely reacted in time.
Its claw tore across his side as he twisted away, blood spraying across the forest floor while pain exploded through his ribs.
"…Tch—!"
The creature followed instantly with another strike.
Too fast.
Ayan raised his sword desperately.
But before impact came—
The creature's entire arm froze mid-motion.
Aelira stood nearby, crimson light glowing faintly around her eyes.
"…You are becoming reckless."
Her voice remained calm.
Ayan gritted his teeth slightly.
"…Kind of busy right now."
The creature screeched violently as it tried forcing movement back into its frozen limb.
Aelira's expression darkened slightly.
Then—
The entire arm shattered apart.
Black armor and crimson flesh exploded outward across the battlefield.
The creature stumbled backward shrieking.
But instead of dying—
The broken limb began regenerating immediately.
Faster than before.
Ayan's eyes widened sharply.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
The unstable tissue rebuilt itself violently, malformed bone and black armor reforming in seconds while the crimson lines beneath the ground intensified further.
Aelira looked toward the earth beneath them.
"…It is drawing directly from the network."
Ayan's thoughts moved instantly.
"…Then cutting the connection—"
His eyes snapped downward toward the crimson veins spreading beneath the battlefield.
"…That's the key."
The creature lunged again.
But this time—
Ayan ignored the creature itself.
He sprinted directly toward the largest cluster of crimson lines spreading through the earth nearby.
The creature reacted immediately.
Too immediately.
Its entire body twisted unnaturally toward him, abandoning defense completely in order to stop him from reaching the ground network.
"…So I was right."
Ayan's eyes sharpened.
The creature's claw came crashing downward.
Ayan slid beneath it at the last second before driving his sword directly into the corrupted earth.
CRACK.
The crimson lines beneath the ground shattered violently.
The creature screamed.
Not from physical pain.
But destabilization.
Its body convulsed uncontrollably as multiple sections of armor cracked apart simultaneously.
The regeneration stopped instantly.
Ayan ripped the sword free and leaped backward as the creature staggered violently through the clearing.
"…Its body can't maintain itself anymore."
The unstable evolution was collapsing.
The creature thrashed wildly now, parts of its massive body breaking apart faster than they could regenerate while crimson light erupted chaotically from within the cracks spreading across its armor.
But despite that—
It still moved toward Ayan.
Still tried to kill him.
Even while dying.
Ayan's breathing slowed.
His grip tightened.
"…Then let's end this."
The creature roared one final time before charging directly toward him through the collapsing battlefield.
And Ayan stepped forward to meet it.