The creature moved.
All twelve tentacles struck at once.
Arafial stepped forward.
The first tentacle crashed down.
He cut through it.
The Nihilfire Blade passed through the massive limb, leaving behind a line of black flame.
Before the severed flesh could regenerate, Arafial moved again.
Second.
Third.
Fourth.
SHING.
Three tentacles fell.
The creature roared.
The sound shook the forest.
Arafial disappeared beneath the remaining limbs.
The fifth tentacle swept across the clearing.
He ducked beneath it.
The sixth came from behind.
He turned and blocked with the blade.
BOOM.
The impact drove him several meters backward.
The ground fractured beneath his feet.
The creature attacked again.
Arafial accelerated.
His purple eyes tracked every movement.
He cut through another tentacle.
Then another.
Black Nihilfire spread along the wounds, slowing the regeneration.
But the creature refused to stop.
Its remaining limbs struck from every direction.
Arafial twisted between them.
One missed his shoulder by inches.
Another tore through his coat.
A third smashed into the ground beside him.
He drove the Nihilfire Blade into it.
Black flame erupted.
The tentacle recoiled violently.
Arafial pulled the blade free.
The creature suddenly changed its movement.
Instead of attacking him—
one tentacle turned toward Seris.
She saw it.
Her expression changed.
She ran.
Through the trees.
She didn't look back.
The tentacle followed.
Seris moved as fast as she could.
Branches struck her face.
Roots caught beneath her feet.
The sound behind her grew louder.
Then—
BOOM.
The tentacle slammed into her back.
Her body was thrown forward.
She hit the ground and went still.
Silence.
Arafial stopped.
His eyes turned toward her.
Seris did not move.
The creature's tentacle slowly lifted from the ground.
Arafial's grip tightened around the Nihilfire Blade.
The purple light in his eyes became colder.
He looked at the Devourer.
Then at Seris.
There was no anger in his expression.
Only something far more dangerous.
Decision.
He raised the blade.
The twelve tentacles surrounded him again.
This time—
Arafial stepped toward the creature.
And the forest became a battlefield.