The response came immediately.
The Verdant Maneater's trunk twisted.
All five crimson blossoms separated, spreading outward in different directions as the flexible branches supporting them stretched across the clearing.
David watched their movement.
"Don't bunch up!"
Gamma separated.
This time, deliberately.
Nyra moved left.
Lucian broke right.
Mira retreated toward the outer edge.
June sprinted in the opposite direction.
David remained near the center.
Castiel disappeared.
"Shadow Veil."
Darkness wrapped around him.
Within seconds, his body dissolved into the shadows cast across the torn clearing.
The Maneater lost him.
Four blossoms immediately selected new targets.
The fifth remained elevated.
Searching.
Waiting.
David saw it.
"It's looking for Cass."
A vine snapped toward him.
David twisted aside.
"Shadow Step."
System:
Skill Activated — Shadow Step
His body vanished.
He emerged several yards away.
The flower tracking him immediately changed direction.
Good.
David backed farther from the center.
"Keep pulling them out!"
Nyra sprinted toward the perimeter.
The flower pursuing her bent lower.
Its crimson petals opened.
She waited.
Ten yards.
Eight.
Six.
"Now, Nyra!" David shouted.
"Cyclone Domain."
Compressed wind exploded around her.
The blossom lunged.
Nyra pivoted.
The rotating cyclone caught the edge of the enormous flower and forced its strike several feet sideways.
Its mouth slammed into the ground.
Nyra was already moving.
"Tempest Dance."
Her Twin Wind Crest Swords flashed.
Compressed blades of air carved across the flower's outer petals.
Crimson pieces scattered through the clearing.
The Maneater recoiled.
But Nyra didn't pursue.
She backed away.
Exactly as planned.
The flower followed.
Farther.
The trunk bent.
The wound at the Maneater's base stretched.
Green fluid began flowing again.
David saw it.
"Keep going!"
On the opposite side, Lucian deliberately allowed another blossom to close the distance.
Its mouth opened.
He held his ground.
"Come on."
The flower descended.
Lucian waited until the last possible moment.
Then stepped aside.
The massive mouth snapped shut where he had been standing.
"Blood Weave."
Crimson energy flowed through the Bloodcrest Blade.
Lucian slashed across the side of the flower.
The blade tore through several layers of thick petals.
The blossom jerked upward.
Lucian ran.
It followed.
Another section of the Maneater's trunk stretched.
The wound opened farther.
Green fluid poured down the base.
Mira moved along the outer edge of the clearing.
Her flower wasn't attacking.
It hovered above her.
Tracking.
Waiting for her to make a mistake.
Mira watched it just as carefully.
"Prediction Field."
Her breathing slowed.
The movements became clearer.
A slight tightening of the stem.
A shift in the petals.
The trunk beginning to bend.
Mira moved before the flower attacked.
Its mouth struck empty ground.
She changed direction.
The flower followed.
Exactly where she wanted it.
June had no such patience.
"Kinetic Step."
Energy accumulated through his legs as he raced across the clearing.
His flower snapped at him once.
Missed.
Twice.
Missed again.
The third attack came from the side.
June ducked beneath it.
"You know..."
He glanced over his shoulder.
"...for something without eyes, you're really bad at aiming."
The flower opened wider.
June grinned.
"Yeah."
"I'd be mad too."
It struck again.
June accelerated.
The blossom followed.
Four flowers were now stretched toward the outer clearing.
The Maneater's trunk had bent in multiple directions at once.
Its central body strained under the pressure.
David looked toward the base.
The wound Castiel had created was completely open.
Deep inside the torn plant tissue...
Something pulsed.
David's expression changed.
A thick knot of pale green tissue contracted beneath the damaged trunk.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
Almost like a heart.
"There."
David activated his communicator.
"Cass."
No response.
David didn't need one.
He knew Castiel was listening.
"The wound."
A pause.
"Deep center."
Nothing.
Then—
A shadow moved beside the Maneater.
Castiel emerged directly behind its trunk.
The Shadow Blade was already raised.
"Rend."
The blade struck.
It entered the existing wound.
Deep.
The Maneater convulsed.
Castiel pulled the sword free.
Then struck the exact same place again.
"Rend."
The second strike tore through the weakened tissue.
The wound violently expanded.
Green fluid erupted across Castiel's uniform.
The pulsing structure inside became fully exposed.
The reaction was immediate.
The Verdant Maneater screamed.
The sound tore through the clearing.
Every crimson flower snapped upward.
The trunk straightened violently.
Nyra was thrown backward by the sudden movement.
Lucian barely avoided being struck by a retracting blossom.
June skidded to a stop.
Mira dropped beneath a whipping vine.
Castiel tried to retreat.
The ground beneath him exploded.
"Castiel!" David shouted.
A root wrapped around Castiel's waist.
Another caught his sword arm.
His Shadow Blade remained in his hand.
The roots lifted him from the ground.
Castiel struggled.
More roots erupted around the base.
They wrapped around his legs.
His chest.
His shoulders.
Then pulled.
Castiel's jaw tightened.
The roots began dragging him toward the exposed center of the Maneater.
David ran.
"Cass!"
One of the crimson flowers bent toward Castiel.
Its petals opened.
Castiel looked toward it.
Then toward David.
"Don't."
David ignored him.
"Shadow Step."
System:
Skill Activated — Shadow Step
David vanished.
He emerged beside Castiel.
His claws struck the first root.
The thick plant flesh split.
David attacked again.
Another root loosened.
The Maneater reacted.
A vine swept toward him.
David ducked.
The vine passed overhead.
"Predator Step."
System:
Skill Activated — Predator Step
David surged forward.
His claws became a blur.
One root.
Then another.
Then another.
Every movement carried him into the next strike.
The roots holding Castiel began falling away.
"Little faster, D."
David cut through another.
"You want to do this yourself?"
"Currently unavailable."
David almost laughed.
Then the flower above them descended.
"David!" Nyra screamed.
David looked up.
The crimson mouth filled his vision.
Too close.
No time for Shadow Step.
No time to dodge.
Wind struck them.
Hard.
Nyra's Cyclone Domain slammed into David and Castiel from the side.
Both were thrown across the ground.
The flower crashed down where they had been.
David rolled.
Castiel hit the dirt beside him.
The final root around Castiel's waist tore free.
Nyra ran toward them.
"You two alive?"
David pushed himself upright.
"Yeah."
Castiel sat up.
"Unfortunately."
Nyra stared at him.
David laughed despite the pain in his ribs.
"Definitely talking too much."
Castiel retrieved his Shadow Blade.
"You started it."
A violent tremor interrupted them.
The exposed structure inside the Maneater contracted.
The entire plant shuddered.
Lucian stared at it from across the clearing.
"You hit something important!"
"No kidding!" June shouted.
The pulsing core of plant tissue was damaged.
A deep black cut ran across its surface.
Green fluid poured from it.
But it wasn't dead.
Far from it.
The Verdant Maneater began changing.
Its crimson flowers closed.
Not slowly.
Instantly.
The petals folded inward.
The vines stopped attacking.
The roots withdrew.
Everything became still.
David's smile disappeared.
"Back up."
No one questioned him.
Gamma retreated.
Ten yards.
Twenty.
Thirty.
The Maneater remained motionless.
June glanced toward David.
"Please tell me that's it."
David watched the trunk.
"No."
The ground began vibrating.
A low rumble spread beneath the clearing.
Mira looked down.
"Something's moving underneath us."
The soil around the Maneater's base cracked.
Roots began pulling themselves from the earth.
Not the smaller roots they had been fighting.
These were enormous.
Some thicker than the Maneater's trunk itself.
They twisted upward around the central body.
One after another.
The clearing began changing.
Vines pulled inward.
Roots coiled around the wounded base.
The five crimson flowers rose.
Then opened.
Their petals had changed.
The brilliant crimson color deepened toward black along the edges.
The ivory thorns inside the mouths extended farther.
Longer.
Sharper.
June stared.
"You have got to be kidding me."
Nyra raised both Wind Crest Swords.
"It's defending the wound."
David shook his head.
"No."
He watched the enormous roots wrap around the trunk.
The Maneater wasn't simply covering the damaged tissue.
It was pulling everything inward.
Concentrating itself.
Abandoning its reach.
Sacrificing control of the clearing.
For power.
Castiel stepped beside David.
"Second phase."
David glanced at him.
"You've been playing too many combat simulations."
"Am I wrong?"
David looked back at the Maneater.
The ground cracked again.
One massive root ripped completely free from the soil.
It lifted into the air.
Then slammed down.
The impact shook the entire clearing.
Gamma spread out instinctively.
Another root rose.
Then another.
The Verdant Maneater's trunk bent forward.
All five crimson mouths opened.
A deep groan rolled from somewhere inside the plant.
David raised his Claw Gauntlets.
"No."
Castiel looked at him.
David watched the exposed wound disappear behind the twisting armor of roots.
"This is worse."
The Maneater attacked.
One enormous root swept across the clearing.
"Move!"
Gamma scattered.
The root tore through everything in its path.
Smaller trees at the clearing's edge shattered.
Boulders cracked.
The fallen log they had used for cover exploded into splinters.
David dove beneath the attack.
He hit the ground hard.
Before he could stand—
Another root descended.
"Shadow Step."
System:
Skill Activated — Shadow Step
David vanished.
The root slammed into the earth.
He reappeared several yards away.
Nyra and Lucian were already retreating from another attack.
Mira shouted directions as roots erupted around them.
June sprinted between two massive vines as they crashed together behind him.
Castiel disappeared beneath Shadow Veil again.
But this time...
The Maneater didn't hesitate.
A root swept directly toward the shadow where Castiel had vanished.
Castiel emerged and jumped backward.
David saw it.
"It can sense him now!"
Castiel landed.
"Roots."
David understood.
Shadow Veil concealed Castiel visually.
It didn't stop the Maneater from sensing his movement through the ground.
Their advantage was gone.
The Maneater struck again.
And again.
Gamma retreated farther.
For the first time since the battle began...
They were losing ground.
David's breathing grew heavier.
His ribs burned.
His arms ached from repeated impacts.
Around him, the others were beginning to show the same exhaustion.
Nyra's Cyclone Domain wasn't spinning as violently.
June's movements were still fast, but his breathing had become ragged.
Lucian's Crimson Threads appeared fewer each time he used them.
Mira remained focused, but sweat ran down the side of her face.
Even Castiel's Shadow Veil flickered when he moved.
They had hurt the Maneater.
Badly.
But they had also forced it into something far more dangerous.
David stared at the wall of roots protecting the wounded trunk.
Behind them...
The damaged structure continued pulsing.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
Still alive.
Still vulnerable.
They just couldn't reach it.
June stumbled to David's side.
"So..."
He took a breath.
"...any brilliant ideas?"
David didn't answer.
Not yet.
His eyes moved across the battlefield.
The roots.
The flowers.
The trunk.
The damaged center.
There had to be a way through.
The Maneater raised three enormous roots at once.
Gamma prepared.
David lowered his stance.
They weren't done.
Not even close.
The roots came down together.
David moved before the first one struck.
"Shadow Step."
System:
Skill Activated — Shadow Step
The world blurred.
David vanished from beneath the descending roots and reappeared several yards to the left.
The first root smashed into the ground.
The second followed.
Then the third.
The impacts sent violent tremors through the clearing.
David stumbled.
Not from the force.
From the pattern.
He looked down.
The ground beneath his boots rippled with each impact.
A root rose.
Struck.
The vibration spread.
Another root reacted almost immediately.
David's eyes narrowed.
There.
"Mira!"
She ducked beneath a sweeping vine.
"What?"
"The roots aren't sensing us individually."
Another massive root slammed down.
David watched the surrounding roots react.
"They're reading the ground!"
Mira's expression changed.
She understood.
"The vibrations."
"Exactly."
June looked between them while backing away from another flower.
"We already knew that!"
"No."
David shook his head.
"We knew they could detect movement."
He pointed toward the enormous roots.
"Now they're depending on it."
The Maneater had pulled most of its vines inward.
Its blossoms could track movement above ground, but the thick root armor surrounding its base had no eyes.
No independent way to see them.
Every attack was responding to vibrations traveling through the soil.
David looked toward June.
June stared back.
Then slowly smiled.
"Oh."
Lucian glanced between them.
"What?"
June spun the Kinetic Baton once.
"I think I know what he's thinking."
David nodded.
"We overload it."
Nyra looked toward the ground.
"Too many vibrations at once."
"From everywhere," Mira added.
Castiel wiped green fluid from the Shadow Blade.
"Confuse the roots."
David looked at June.
"Can you do it?"
June glanced across the ruined clearing.
His breathing was already heavy.
Sweat ran down his forehead.
But the grin remained.
"How much noise do you want?"
"All of it."
June laughed.
"Finally."
He backed away.
David turned toward the others.
"We keep the flowers off him."
Lucian raised the Bloodcrest Blade.
"And when the roots lose him?"
David looked toward the wall protecting the Maneater's base.
"We break through."
The Maneater attacked again.
A crimson blossom descended toward Nyra.
"Move!"
Nyra rolled aside.
The flower struck the ground.
June ran.
"Kinetic Step."
Energy gathered through his legs.
One step.
Two.
Three.
He accelerated along the outer edge of the clearing.
The roots reacted immediately.
One tore upward behind him.
Then another.
June changed direction.
More followed.
He didn't run in a circle.
He cut across the clearing.
Changed direction.
Doubled back.
Accelerated again.
Each footfall carried more force than the last.
The root network began reacting faster.
Too fast.
A root erupted where June had been.
Another struck where he was going.
June twisted between them.
"Come on!"
He slammed one foot against an exposed root and launched himself sideways.
The impact sent another vibration through the ground.
Three roots reacted.
None struck him.
David saw it happening.
The Maneater was losing track.
"Keep going!"
"I'm a little busy!"
A flower turned toward June.
Nyra intercepted it.
"Cyclone Domain."
Wind exploded outward.
The blossom was thrown sideways before it could strike.
Another flower descended from behind her.
"Mira!" David shouted.
"I see it."
Mira moved.
"Prediction Field."
She crossed the distance before the flower completed its attack.
"Echo Strike."
Her Twin Blades carved across the flower's supporting stem.
The first strike opened the tissue.
The second struck the exact weakness.
The stem partially split.
The flower recoiled.
Mira backed away.
"June, right!"
June changed direction without asking why.
A root erupted from the ground beside him.
He passed it by inches.
"Again!"
June cut left.
Another root missed.
His speed continued increasing.
Energy accumulated with every step.
The ground beneath the clearing trembled continuously now.
Roots began attacking empty spaces.
One slammed down twenty feet from anyone.
Another erupted beneath a severed vine.
A third struck one of the Maneater's own roots.
June laughed between breaths.
"It's working!"
David watched the root armor.
It was shifting.
Opening.
Closing.
Responding to vibrations that no longer meant anything.
"Lucian!"
Lucian understood.
"Crimson Threads."
Blood-red lines spread outward from his blade.
They wrapped around two of the enormous roots protecting the Maneater.
Lucian planted his feet.
Then pulled.
The threads tightened.
The roots resisted.
Lucian's arms trembled.
"Any time!"
Nyra moved beside him.
"Tempest Dance."
Her swords crossed.
Then separated.
Two compressed blades of wind struck the first root.
Lucian's Crimson Threads tightened through the damaged tissue.
The root split.
A gap appeared.
"Go!" Lucian shouted.
David moved.
Castiel followed.
The opening was narrow.
Barely wide enough for one person.
David reached it first.
A root began closing across the gap.
"Predator Step."
System:
Skill Activated — Predator Step
David accelerated.
His claws struck.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
The rapid attacks tore chunks from the root before it could close.
Castiel passed beside him.
They were through.
The Maneater reacted.
All five flowers twisted toward the center.
David looked up.
"That got its attention."
Castiel raised the Shadow Blade.
"Good."
The first blossom descended.
David ran directly toward it.
Castiel's eyes widened.
"D."
"Trust me."
The mouth opened.
David waited.
Closer.
Closer.
Rows of ivory thorns filled his vision.
"Shadow Step."
System:
Skill Activated — Shadow Step
David disappeared.
The flower slammed into the ground.
David emerged behind it.
Castiel moved.
"Rend."
The Shadow Blade carved across the flower's supporting stem.
The first strike cut deeply.
Castiel reversed the blade.
"Rend."
He struck the same wound.
The stem tore apart.
The enormous crimson flower crashed to the ground.
For the first time...
One of the Maneater's mouths stopped moving.
June saw it from across the clearing.
"One down!"
The Maneater convulsed.
The remaining four flowers opened.
A violent groan rolled from the trunk.
David looked toward the fallen blossom.
Then toward Castiel.
"Think it noticed?"
Castiel glanced at him.
"Probably."
The response came from behind them.
Two roots tore free from the ground.
David and Castiel separated.
The roots crashed between them.
David rolled beneath one.
Castiel jumped over another.
The wall around the base began closing again.
"No!"
David sprinted toward the opening.
Too late.
Two massive roots intertwined.
The path disappeared.
Castiel stopped beside him.
"We're trapped inside."
David looked around.
The root wall completely surrounded them.
Outside it, the others continued fighting.
Inside...
David and Castiel stood alone with the Verdant Maneater.
Three flowers slowly turned toward them.
The fourth remained focused on June.
Castiel looked up.
"This was your plan?"
"No."
"Good."
David flexed his claws.
"Because it would've been a terrible plan."
Castiel raised the Shadow Blade.
"I was going to say ambitious."
David smiled.
"That's nicer."
The flowers attacked.
David and Castiel moved in opposite directions.
One mouth struck between them.
Another swept horizontally.
David ducked beneath it.
Castiel disappeared into Shadow Veil.
The third flower hesitated.
But the roots didn't.
A thick root swept toward Castiel's position.
He jumped.
The attack passed beneath him.
David saw the exposed trunk.
The wound was close.
Maybe fifteen yards.
But the pulsing structure was hidden behind overlapping layers of thick plant tissue.
They needed to open it again.
"Cass!"
Castiel landed.
"I know."
They moved together.
David attacked first.
"Predator Step."
System:
Skill Activated — Predator Step
His claws hammered into the damaged trunk.
One strike flowed into another.
He didn't attack randomly.
Every slash landed near Castiel's previous wound.
Green fluid covered his gauntlets.
The Maneater twisted.
David stayed with it.
His movements chained together.
Faster.
More aggressive.
The damaged tissue began peeling apart.
A flower lunged.
Castiel intercepted it.
His Shadow Blade cut across the lower petals.
The blossom recoiled.
"D!"
David saw the opening.
He drove both gauntlets into the wound.
Then pulled.
The plant tissue tore apart.
The pulsing structure appeared.
Castiel moved.
"Rend."
His blade struck the exposed tissue.
The Maneater screamed.
Castiel prepared the second strike.
A vine wrapped around his wrist.
His sword stopped inches from the wound.
Another vine caught his shoulder.
"David!"
David cut the first vine.
A flower descended.
He couldn't reach the second.
Castiel twisted.
The vine pulled him backward.
The flower opened.
David made his choice.
"Spatial Severance."
System:
Skill Activated — Cosmic Spatial Severance
Space fractured.
The invisible slash crossed the distance instantly.
The vine holding Castiel's shoulder separated.
The attack continued.
It carved through the edge of the descending flower.
Half of the crimson blossom split away.
Castiel dropped.
He landed on one knee.
The Shadow Blade remained in his hand.
The wound was still open.
Castiel looked up.
"Rend."
The second strike landed.
The damaged structure split.
The entire Maneater convulsed.
The root wall around them exploded outward.
David was thrown backward.
Castiel disappeared beneath flying dirt and shredded plant tissue.
Outside the barrier, Gamma was knocked from their feet.
June's Kinetic Step ended instantly.
Nyra's Cyclone Domain collapsed.
Lucian hit the ground beside Mira.
For several seconds...
No one moved.
Then David heard it.
A slow creaking sound.
He pushed himself onto one elbow.
The Verdant Maneater leaned sideways.
One flower hung uselessly.
Another had been partially severed.
The remaining blossoms trembled.
Green fluid poured from the massive wound in its base.
David's vision flickered.
System:
Critical Damage Inflicted — Verdant Maneater
System:
Cosmic Spatial Severance Mastery Increased
Current Mastery — 19%
The windows faded.
David stared at the Maneater.
Not dead.
The System hadn't given him the notification.
He forced himself onto his feet.
"Cass?"
A hand emerged from behind a shattered root.
Then Castiel stood.
His uniform was torn.
Green fluid covered half his body.
But he still held the Shadow Blade.
"I'm here."
The others began rising.
Nyra first.
Then Mira.
Lucian helped June to his feet.
All six were battered.
Exhausted.
Covered in dirt, blood, and green plant fluid.
But standing.
The Maneater wasn't finished either.
Its damaged trunk slowly straightened.
The remaining crimson flowers opened.
The root network beneath the clearing began moving again.
Only this time...
Something was different.
The movements were weaker.
Slower.
The wound in its center wasn't closing.
The pulsing structure Castiel had struck was split almost completely through.
David could see it contracting irregularly.
The Maneater was dying.
But it wasn't dead yet.
June wiped blood from the corner of his mouth.
"Please tell me we're almost done."
David stepped beside him.
"We are."
Lucian raised his blade.
"How sure are you?"
David watched the damaged heart of the plant pulse again.
Weakly.
"Very."
Nyra came to his other side.
"Then we finish it."
Mira joined them.
Castiel walked from the ruined root wall and took his place beside David.
June looked across the line.
Then toward the wounded Maneater.
He raised his baton.
"All right."
His breathing remained heavy.
"One more time."
David looked at Gamma Squad.
No one needed instructions.
Not anymore.
They had fought together long enough.
They knew what came next.
David turned toward the Verdant Maneater.
The crimson flowers opened above them.
The roots began rising.
Gamma Squad moved forward.
The Verdant Maneater struck first.
Two enormous roots tore upward from beneath the clearing and swept toward Gamma from opposite directions.
"Mira!" David shouted.
Her eyes sharpened.
"Prediction Field."
She saw the attacks before they completed.
"Forward!"
Gamma surged ahead.
The roots crossed behind them.
The impact shook the clearing.
"Left!"
Everyone shifted.
A crimson flower slammed into the ground where Lucian had been less than a second earlier.
"Right!"
Another blossom missed June by inches.
They didn't stop.
That was the difference now.
No retreat.
No trying to control the entire battlefield.
No wasting energy destroying everything the Maneater threw at them.
One target.
The exposed structure buried inside its trunk.
David led them toward it.
Twenty yards.
A wall of vines rose.
"Lucian!"
"Crimson Threads."
Blood-red lines spread from the Bloodcrest Blade.
The threads crossed.
Tightened.
Several vines split apart simultaneously.
"Nyra!"
"Tempest Dance."
Her Twin Wind Crest Swords swept forward.
Compressed currents of air tore through the damaged vines, throwing them aside and opening a path.
Gamma pushed through.
Fifteen yards.
The Maneater's trunk twisted violently.
Three flowers descended together.
"Mira!"
"Separate!"
Gamma split.
David and Castiel went through the center.
Nyra and June broke left.
Lucian and Mira moved right.
The blossoms struck between them.
The ground shook.
David didn't look back.
Ten yards.
A massive root rose directly ahead.
"June!"
June changed direction.
"Kinetic Step."
Energy built through every stride.
He accelerated.
The root turned toward David.
June ran straight at it.
One step.
Another.
Another.
His speed increased.
"Momentum Break."
The Kinetic Baton struck.
All the energy June had accumulated released at once.
The massive root buckled.
Its outer layers split.
The entire limb folded sideways.
June stumbled from the impact.
David caught his shoulder before he fell.
"You good?"
June grimaced.
"My arm hates me."
"Can you move?"
"Unfortunately."
David released him.
"Then move."
June grinned.
"That's the spirit."
A vine whipped toward them.
Mira appeared from the side.
"Echo Strike."
Her first blade cut across the vine.
The second struck precisely through the same wound.
The vine separated.
"Go!"
David and June moved.
The others converged around them.
Eight yards.
The exposed center pulsed.
Weak.
Irregular.
The Maneater knew what they were doing.
Every remaining flower turned toward them.
Lucian looked up.
"That's a lot of teeth."
June tightened his grip on his baton.
"I liked them better from farther away."
The flowers opened.
David saw the stems tense.
"Mira?"
"Three seconds."
Gamma continued forward.
"Two."
The blossoms began descending.
"One."
David shouted.
"Break!"
Everyone scattered.
Five crimson mouths crashed into the center of the clearing.
David vanished.
"Shadow Step."
System:
Skill Activated — Shadow Step
He emerged beyond the flowers.
Directly beside the Maneater.
Castiel appeared from the opposite side.
Nyra and Lucian came around the flowers.
Mira followed.
June was last.
All six were inside the Maneater's reach.
And for the first time...
The flowers were behind them.
David looked at the wound.
"Now!"
Lucian attacked first.
"Crimson Threads."
The blood-red threads shot into the damaged trunk.
Instead of cutting outward...
They entered the wound.
Lucian crossed his arms.
Then pulled.
The wound tore wider.
The Maneater convulsed.
Nyra stepped forward.
"Tempest Dance."
Her swords moved together.
Compressed wind drove directly into the opening Lucian had created.
The damaged tissue peeled apart.
More of the pale green structure appeared.
Mira was already moving.
"Prediction Field."
Her eyes tracked the irregular contractions.
Once.
Pause.
Twice.
Pause.
Then—
"There!"
She moved.
"Echo Strike."
Both blades entered the exposed structure.
The first strike opened it.
The second drove deeper through the same wound.
The Maneater screamed.
The sound was weaker now.
But the response was violent.
Roots erupted around Gamma.
A vine wrapped around Nyra's waist.
Another caught Lucian.
June swung.
"Momentum Break."
The baton smashed through Nyra's vine.
Castiel severed Lucian's.
A flower began rising behind them.
Mira saw it.
"Behind!"
David turned.
Too close.
"Spatial Severance."
System:
Skill Activated — Cosmic Spatial Severance
Space fractured.
The invisible slash crossed the flower's supporting stem.
The damaged blossom separated completely.
It crashed behind Gamma.
System:
Cosmic Spatial Severance Mastery Increased
Current Mastery — 20%
David's vision cleared.
Two flowers remained fully functional.
Another was badly damaged.
The Maneater's trunk sagged.
David could see the exposed center.
It was still moving.
Barely.
"Again!" he shouted.
Gamma attacked.
Lucian's Bloodcrest Blade tore into the opening.
Nyra's swords followed.
Mira struck the same damaged section.
June drove his Kinetic Baton into the exposed tissue.
The Maneater twisted violently.
One root struck Lucian and threw him across the clearing.
"Lucian!"
He hit the ground hard.
"I'm good!"
Another root swept toward Nyra.
Castiel stepped between them.
His Shadow Blade intercepted the attack.
The force drove him backward.
Nyra grabbed his shoulder and steadied him.
"Thanks."
Castiel glanced at her.
"Don't make it a habit."
The root came again.
Nyra smiled.
"Cyclone Domain."
Compressed wind erupted around them.
The root was forced sideways.
David reached the wound.
The pale green structure filled his vision.
It was torn open.
Blackened around the edges.
Green fluid poured from it.
Still...
It pulsed.
Once.
Weakly.
David raised his gauntlets.
The Maneater reacted.
Every remaining vine surged toward him.
"David!" Mira shouted.
He didn't move.
The others did.
Lucian forced himself upright.
"Crimson Threads."
Blood-red lines intercepted the first vines.
Nyra's Cyclone Domain caught another.
June smashed one away with his baton.
Mira cut through another.
Castiel stepped beside David.
The last vine came directly toward them.
"Rend."
The Shadow Blade struck.
The vine split.
David had his opening.
He drove both Claw Gauntlets into the exposed center.
The plant convulsed.
David pulled.
The damaged tissue tore apart.
The pulsing structure split open.
But still...
It moved.
David's eyes narrowed.
Not enough.
"Spatial Severance."
System:
Skill Activated — Cosmic Spatial Severance
Space fractured directly in front of him.
The invisible blade entered the wound.
For a fraction of a second...
Nothing happened.
Then a thin line appeared through the center of the Verdant Maneater.
The pulsing structure separated.
The cut continued through the opposite side of the trunk.
The Maneater froze.
Every vine stopped.
Every root stopped.
The remaining crimson flowers hung motionless above the clearing.
David remained in front of it.
His gauntlets dripped with green fluid.
No one moved.
June slowly lowered his baton.
"Did we..."
The Verdant Maneater's trunk creaked.
A long fracture spread upward through its central body.
One crimson flower folded closed.
Then another.
The massive trunk bent.
Not like the controlled serpent-like movement they had seen before.
There was no strength behind it now.
No purpose.
The plant sagged.
Its flowers descended.
Its vines collapsed across the ground.
The enormous roots surrounding the clearing fell one after another.
The Verdant Maneater crashed into its own garden.
Silence followed.
David waited.
His vision flickered.
System:
Enemy Eliminated — Verdant Maneater
Classification — Epic Beast
Level — 15
System:
Experience Earned
System:
Cosmic Spatial Severance Mastery Increased
Current Mastery — 21%
The blue windows disappeared.
David released the breath he'd been holding.
"It's dead."
For several seconds...
Nobody said anything.
Then June dropped onto his back.
Flat.
His arms spread across the torn ground.
"Good."
He stared at the sky.
"Because I'm not doing that again."
Lucian laughed from where he sat several yards away.
"You said that after the Razorhides."
"Those were different."
June pointed weakly toward the enormous corpse.
"That thing was a salad with teeth."
Nyra started laughing.
Mira tried not to.
She failed.
Even Castiel smiled.
David looked around at them.
Dirty.
Bruised.
Exhausted.
Lucian had a torn sleeve and a dark bruise forming across his side.
Nyra's uniform was covered in soil and green fluid.
Mira had several shallow cuts across one forearm.
June was still lying on the ground complaining to anyone willing to listen.
Castiel looked as though someone had dipped half of him in green paint.
David probably didn't look any better.
But all six were alive.
They had done it.
Gamma Squad had killed an Epic Beast.
David sat down.
For the first time since the battle began...
He allowed himself to stop.
The clearing looked nothing like the beautiful garden they had first discovered.
Crimson petals covered the ground.
Severed vines lay everywhere.
Massive roots had torn trenches through the earth.
The Maneater itself rested crookedly across the center, its once-beautiful flowers collapsed around its body.
June eventually pushed himself upright.
"So..."
Everyone looked at him.
He pointed toward the Maneater.
"Who gets to stick their hand inside that thing?"
Lucian smiled.
"You volunteered."
"I absolutely did not."
"You brought it up."
"That isn't how volunteering works."
Castiel wiped the Shadow Blade clean.
"Sounds like volunteering."
June looked betrayed.
"You too?"
Castiel sheathed his sword.
"Especially me."
David laughed.
"Give it a few minutes."
June looked toward the enormous corpse.
"Take all the time you need."
David leaned back on his hands.
His eyes moved toward the dead Maneater.
The fight was over.
But their work wasn't.
An Epic Beast meant Epic cores.
And unlike the Razorhides...
Finding them inside something this large wasn't going to be simple.
David gave everyone several minutes to recover.
They needed it.
The clearing had fallen silent around them.
Severed vines covered the ruined ground. Massive roots lay twisted where they had fallen, while crimson petals were scattered across the battlefield like pieces of torn cloth.
At the center of it all rested the Verdant Maneater.
Dead.
David pushed himself to his feet.
"All right."
June looked up from where he sat.
"Please tell me you're about to say we're going back to camp."
"We still need the cores."
June closed his eyes.
"Of course we do."
Lucian stood and tested his injured side.
"We didn't go through all of that to leave Epic cores behind."
June opened one eye.
"We also didn't go through all of that to get eaten while digging through a dead plant."
Castiel wiped the last traces of green fluid from his Shadow Blade.
"It's dead."
June looked at him.
"Thank you, Cass. Very reassuring."
Castiel's eyes shifted toward him.
"Don't call me that."
June smiled.
"Touchy."
David laughed quietly.
"Come on."
He started toward the Maneater.
June groaned as he climbed to his feet.
"Why am I coming?"
"Because you're helping."
"I knew there was a reason I shouldn't have stood up."
Nyra retrieved her scanner and followed them toward the massive corpse.
The closer they came, the larger the Maneater seemed.
Its flexible trunk had collapsed across the clearing, partially resting upon its own enormous roots.
The crimson blossoms that had once towered above them now lay against the torn earth.
Some remained intact.
Others had been shredded during the battle.
One of the severed flowers rested on its side near David.
Its crimson petals had folded partially inward, but the rows of long ivory thorns inside remained visible.
June stopped beside it.
He stared into the enormous mouth.
"Nope."
David looked back.
"What?"
"I'm just confirming that I still hate it."
"Confirmed."
"Good."
Nyra approached the base of the Maneater and activated her terrain scanner.
A pale blue light swept across the thick trunk.
Once.
Then again.
She adjusted the scanner and directed it lower.
The light passed through the enormous root structure surrounding the base.
Three points appeared on the holographic display.
Nyra stopped.
"I've got them."
David stepped closer.
"How many?"
"Three."
June immediately became more interested.
"Three Epic cores?"
Nyra enlarged the scan.
The three energy signatures sat close together inside the Maneater's central root structure.
"Looks like it."
Lucian let out a low whistle.
"Not bad."
June looked at the dead plant.
"I take back some of the things I said about you."
Mira glanced toward him.
"Some?"
"Let's not get carried away."
David studied the projection.
"How deep?"
Nyra rotated the image.
"About four feet inside the root crown."
David looked toward the massive tangled structure.
"We can reach them."
Nyra deactivated the scanner.
"I'll guide you from here."
David nodded.
Then looked toward the others.
"Perimeter."
The change was immediate.
Lucian moved toward the northern edge of the clearing.
Mira headed east.
Nyra stepped away from the Maneater and took position where she could watch both David and June while monitoring the western approach.
Castiel moved south.
Within moments, the four of them had formed a defensive perimeter around the center of the clearing.
No one assumed the fight had made H-09 safe.
The Maneater was dead.
The jungle wasn't.
David crouched beside the root crown.
June joined him.
"Four feet?"
"That's what she said."
June looked at the thick mass of roots.
"This is going to take forever."
David extended the claws of his gauntlets.
"Then stop talking."
June stared at him.
"You really have been spending too much time with Castiel."
From the perimeter, Castiel answered without turning around.
"I can still hear you."
June smiled.
"Good."
David drove his claws into the outer layer of the root crown.
The dead plant tissue resisted at first.
He pulled harder.
Fibers tore apart.
A large section came free.
June crouched beside the opening.
"Move over."
He extended the Kinetic Baton.
A narrow energy blade emerged from the side of the weapon.
June carefully inserted it between two thick roots.
The blade sliced through them.
David pulled the severed section away.
They continued.
Cut.
Pull.
Clear.
Then repeat.
Slowly, the opening grew deeper.
Pieces of dead root accumulated beside them.
June cut through another thick section.
David grabbed it with both gauntlets and pulled.
The root tore free.
Something glowed inside.
They both stopped.
A faint purple light illuminated the hollow space.
June leaned closer.
"There we go."
David cleared another layer.
The glow strengthened.
One crystalline surface appeared.
Then another.
And finally a third.
Three purple cores rested deep inside the root crown.
Each was nearly the size of David's fist.
Their crystalline surfaces shimmered with deep violet light, while faint currents of energy moved through their centers.
June stared.
"Okay."
He smiled.
"Those are worth digging for."
David examined the surrounding root fibers.
The cores were tightly embedded within the Maneater's central structure.
Thick strands of plant tissue wrapped around each one.
"We cut them free one at a time."
June positioned the energy blade.
"Carefully."
David looked at him.
June sighed.
"Yes. I know."
David placed one gauntlet around the first core.
"Start on the outside."
June carefully sliced through the first group of fibers.
David pulled them away.
Another group remained underneath.
June repositioned the blade.
Cut.
David cleared them.
They worked slowly.
Neither rushed.
The core was too valuable to damage.
After several minutes, the first purple crystal finally loosened.
David wrapped his hand around it.
"Got it."
June cut the final strand.
David pulled.
The Epic core came free.
Purple light reflected across his gauntlets.
June smiled.
"One."
David carefully placed the core inside the reinforced collection case.
He secured it.
"Two more."
June looked toward the remaining cores.
"At least we know what we're doing now."
They returned to work.
Around them, the others remained alert.
Lucian slowly scanned the jungle.
Mira watched the opposite tree line.
Nyra occasionally glanced toward David and June before returning her attention to the surrounding vegetation.
Castiel stood with the Shadow Blade resting against his shoulder.
Nothing moved beyond the clearing.
No beasts approached.
No monsters emerged from the jungle.
The forest seemed strangely calm after the violence of the battle.
David and June freed the second core.
June cut the last strand.
David lifted the purple crystal from the root structure.
"Two."
He placed it inside the collection case beside the first.
June looked at the final core.
"One more and we're done."
"Then we head back."
"Best thing you've said all day."
They started on the final core.
This one sat deeper than the others.
David had to widen the opening while June cut through several thick root fibers surrounding it.
"Left side," David said.
June repositioned the blade.
"This one?"
"Lower."
June moved it.
"There?"
"Yeah."
The energy blade sliced through the root.
David pulled the severed tissue away.
More of the purple core became visible.
June shifted closer.
"I can reach the bottom."
"Go ahead."
June stretched his arm into the opening.
The blade extension disappeared between the roots.
David held the surrounding tissue apart.
"Almost."
June cut another strand.
The core shifted.
"There."
David reached for it.
Then—
The ground violently trembled.
Both of them froze.
"What the—"
The vibration came without warning, powerful enough to shake the massive root crown beneath them.
A deafening crack ripped through the clearing.
The earth split between David and June.
"June!"
David yelled.
Across the clearing, Castiel spun around.
The earth split beneath the dead Maneater.
He saw the cracks racing beneath their feet.
Saw the ground beginning to sink.
Saw David reach for June.
Castiel's face changed to fear as he screamed.
"D!"
"Shadow Veil."
Darkness swallowed him.
David had seen Castiel use Shadow Veil countless times.
He had watched him disappear in training, in the arena, and in battles where a fraction of a second meant the difference between life and death.
But David had never seen Castiel move this fast.
Not even close.
Castiel became little more than a streak of darkness tearing across the clearing.
At that same moment, the ground beneath June collapsed.
"David!"
Nyra screamed and started running.
June dropped.
David lunged.
His hand closed around June's forearm.
"I've got you!"
Then the ground beneath David started to disappear too.
David jumped.
He didn't know what waited beneath them.
He didn't have time to look.
With June hanging from one arm, David threw himself toward the remaining edge.
His free hand reached desperately forward.
His gauntlet struck dirt.
The claws buried deep.
David's body slammed against the earthen wall.
Pain tore through his shoulder.
June swung beneath him.
"David!"
"I've got you!"
David tightened his grip around June's arm.
Above them, cracks raced through the ledge.
Dirt spilled past David's face.
His claws shifted inside the crumbling soil.
Then Castiel appeared.
He came out of Shadow Veil at full speed and threw himself onto the ground.
"D!"
Castiel slid to the edge on his stomach.
His arm shot into the opening.
David looked up.
Castiel was right there.
"Cass!"
"Give me your hand!"
David looked down at June.
Then back at Castiel.
He couldn't release June.
Castiel understood.
He stretched farther.
"Reach!"
David shifted his weight.
The ledge groaned.
His claws began pulling through the soil.
Castiel reached farther over the abyss.
David stretched his free hand toward him.
Castiel's fingertips nearly touched David's.
"Come on, D!"
David reached as far as he could.
Almost.
The ground beneath his gauntlet shattered.
David's eyes widened.
The entire edge broke away.
Castiel lunged.
"No!"
David and June dropped into the darkness.
Castiel's hand snapped shut around empty air.
For one stunned heartbeat, he simply stared into the abyss.
Then he pushed himself onto his knees.
He planted one foot beneath him.
He was going after them.
"Castiel!"
Nyra hit him from behind.
Her arms wrapped around his chest as she tackled him away from the collapsing edge.
They crashed hard onto the ground.
"Let me go!"
Castiel fought against her immediately.
Nyra tightened both arms around him.
"Castiel, stop!"
"Let me go!"
He dragged both of them toward the opening.
Tears filled his eyes as he stared into the darkness.
"Let me go!"
Nyra held him tighter.
"You'll fall too!"
Castiel reached toward the abyss.
David and June were disappearing beneath him.
Smaller.
Farther.
Castiel watched his best friend being swallowed by the darkness.
Tears streamed down his face.
"D!"
His scream tore through the chasm.
His voice echoed through the darkness.
"D..."
David forced his eyes toward the shrinking light above as he screamed.
"Cass!"
Then David's and June's world faded to black.