Jade hung in the air for a single suspended heartbeat.
Below him, the battlefield burned.
Broken wagons.
Splintered wheels.
Bodies.
Blood.
Monsters colliding against steel.
Firelight flickering across screaming faces.
And beneath it all—
the humanoid lion looked up at him.
Its golden eyes glowed like molten metal in the night.
Waiting.
Watching.
Its claws dripped with fresh blood.
Its mane danced wildly under the wind of battle.
Jade's breathing was ragged.
Blood ran down the side of his face from a cut near his brow.
His chest rose violently beneath the obsidian vine armor wrapped around his body.
One thought pounded through his mind.
How do I kill it?
His obsidian vine couldn't pierce it.
His raw strength wasn't enough.
Even Ant Demon was too far away amidst the chaos of the convoy.
The creature was too fast.
Too strong.
Too durable.
And if he landed carelessly—
he would die.
---
Then the lion bent its knees.
Jade's eyes widened.
It leapt.
Like lightning.
Its enormous body tore through the air toward him.
Claws first.
Jade twisted violently.
Too late.
SLASH!
Agony exploded across his side.
The claws tore through the obsidian vine armor and ripped flesh beneath.
Blood burst into the air like red rain.
Jade crashed downward—
BOOM!
He smashed into the earth hard enough to crack it.
Pain shot through his spine.
His vision flashed white.
His breath vanished from his lungs.
He rolled across dirt and broken stone before stopping beside an overturned cart.
For several seconds—
he couldn't move.
Only pain.
Pain everywhere.
His ribs felt shattered.
His side burned like molten iron.
Blood poured from the deep claw wound across his waist.
The flute's healing aura swirled through him—
soft silver currents threading through broken flesh—
but the healing was slow.
Too slow.
Far too slow.
The wound remained open.
Still bleeding.
Jade forced himself onto one knee.
His hand pressed against the ground.
Blood dripped between his fingers.
His entire arm trembled.
Then—
heavy footsteps.
The lion landed several meters away.
Its claws dug into the dirt.
Its amber gaze locked onto Jade like death itself.
---
Jade stood.
Barely.
His legs shook beneath him.
His vision blurred.
His breathing came ragged and uneven.
Blood soaked his clothes.
The obsidian vine around his body was cracked in several places.
And still—
he raised his hand.
The shadow vine uncoiled from his wrist like a black serpent.
Sharp as obsidian.
Alive with dark energy.
The lion charged.
Jade struck.
The vine shot forward like a spear.
The lion twisted past it—
too fast—
and slammed into Jade like a mountain.
CRACK!
Jade felt ribs break.
He flew backward through a shattered wagon.
Wood exploded around him.
His body bounced against the ground and rolled.
He screamed.
A raw sound.
Uncontrolled.
The kind torn from a body pushed past its limit.
He tried to rise—
and collapsed again.
Blood spilled from his mouth.
His left arm bent unnaturally beneath him.
Broken.
His breathing became wet.
His chest burned.
Every inhale felt like knives.
---
The lion stalked toward him slowly.
Confident now.
Like it knew Jade was finished.
Jade lifted his head weakly.
Blood blurred one eye.
His body refused to listen.
The flute aura still flowed—
but even that sacred healing could not close wounds this deep.
Not fast enough.
For the first time in battle—
Jade understood something terrifying.
He might truly die here.
---
The thought struck him harder than any claw.
Not fear.
Regret.
Was this how it ended?
Not after awakening.
Not after Ant Demon.
Not after surviving everything so far.
Here?
In mud and blood beneath a beast's claws?
No.
His hand clenched.
No.
---
The lion lunged.
Jade moved.
Not away.
Forward.
He forced himself toward death.
The claw came down.
RIP!
It tore through his shoulder.
Flesh split.
Blood exploded.
Jade nearly blacked out—
but kept moving.
He drove himself under the creature's reach.
Straight into its chest.
Then wrapped the obsidian vine around its neck.
The lion roared.
It reared upward violently.
Dragging Jade off the ground with it.
Jade coughed blood into its mane.
The creature slammed him against the earth—
once—
twice—
again—
each impact shaking his bones apart.
His vision flickered.
Darkness pressed at the edges.
Still—
he held on.
The vine tightened.
The lion clawed into his back.
Tearing flesh open.
Jade screamed through clenched teeth.
Warm blood ran down his spine.
His body was failing.
Breaking.
Collapsing.
But his grip only tightened.
---
Then Jade made his choice.
Everything.
All remaining strength.
All remaining essence.
Into one strike.
The obsidian vine around his arm hardened.
Dark.
Sharp.
Dense like black crystal.
Jade roared—
and drove his hand forward.
Straight into the lion's chest.
CRUNCH!
Bone shattered.
The lion's roar broke into a horrible scream.
Jade pushed deeper.
His hand sank through flesh—
through ribs—
through muscle—
until he felt it.
The beating core inside the monster.
Wild.
Burning.
Powerful.
His fingers closed around it.
And crushed.
---
The lion froze.
Its claws trembled.
Amber eyes widened.
Then dimmed.
Its body collapsed.
Massive.
Heavy.
Dead.
---
Jade remained kneeling over it.
His hand buried in its chest.
Blood dripping from his fingers.
His body swayed.
His breathing came broken and wet.
Every part of him hurt.
His shoulder hung ruined.
His ribs screamed.
His side still bled endlessly.
The flute aura circled helplessly through his body—
unable to mend damage faster than it was collapsing.
Jade pulled his hand free.
Then staggered backward.
Barely standing.
The dead lion lay before him.
He had won.
But it had cost nearly everything.
---
Then—
a whisper entered his ear.
Ancient.
Cold.
Soft as silk.
Yet impossible to ignore.
---
You have slain an Initiated Monster.
---
Jade froze.
His blood-covered face lifted weakly.
His heart pounded once.
Then again.
He waited.
For the second whisper.
For the reward.
For the words he hoped for most.
For the data.
Seconds passed.
Nothing.
Only distant screams.
Fire crackling.
Steel clashing.
And silence.
No second whisper came.
No data.
No gain.
Nothing.
Jade stared blankly ahead.
Then his expression tightened.
A bitter ache deeper than his wounds entered him.
After all that…
after nearly dying…
after bleeding enough to drown the ground beneath him…
he received nothing.
No data.
Jade laughed weakly.
A broken sound.
Then coughed violently.
Blood spilled from his lips.
His knees buckled.
He dropped hard to the earth.
The obsidian vine around him began to loosen and retreat.
Fading.
Weakening.
His strength was gone.
Completely.
---
The battlefield sounded far away now.
Muted.
Like hearing war through water.
His body felt cold.
Too cold.
His blood spread beneath him in a crimson pool.
His fingers twitched once.
Then stilled.
His eyelids grew heavy.
He tried to keep them open.
Failed.
Darkness swallowed the edges of his vision.
His last clear thought came quietly—
not of victory…
not of power…
but of frustration.
I almost died… and still no Data…
Then the darkness took him.
Jade's body fell fully into the blood-soaked earth.
Motionless.
And his consciousness sank—
deeper—
and deeper—
until even the battlefield disappeared.
And Jade fell into a dream.