Lucie's breathing came in with sharp gasps as she sprinted through the bushes and branches along the riverside.
She poured mana into the ground, quickly using her shadow element to vanish and travel at lightning speed through shadows from several other trees.
Reappearing on the surface again, she had overtaken both Anthony and Adam.
'Keep going!' she thought, gritting her teeth.
Suddenly, a loud scream tore through the air behind her.
She glanced back—and her eyes widened.
Adam, who had been all the way at the back, had stopped running.
He had both of his hands raised by his side as he glanced down at his stomach.
A thick, thorn-covered vine had pierced clean through his stomach, the bloody tip twisting around in the air in front of him.
"Ha… haha…" he laughed, his voice choked with disbelief and despair, as blood gushed from the hole.
Anthony and Lucie stared at him in horror, unsure what creature could have done this.
