The group hobbled along a narrow path between misshapen hills. The gray sky looked ready to collapse into rain at any moment, and the scent of soot and blood hung in the air like a reminder of what they had faced.

  Lysa kept one hand pressed against her broken ribs, her bloodied dagger strapped to her belt. Kael moved slowly, using one of his swords as a cane, his shoulder bandaged with a torn piece of Andrel’s cloak. Andrel, for his part, whispered maintenance spells into his own nerves, trying to stay conscious.

  “If we follow this trail straight, we should reach Mirellen before sunset,” Kael said, panting. “It’s a small village, but it has a hot spring and some infrastructure. Perfect for hiding and healing.”

  “As long as we don’t have to fight anything else until then,” Andrel muttered, his voice strained and his eyes sunken.

  Lysa didn’t answer. Her senses were on constant alert. Since the battle with Thorne, the System had seemed to withdraw... but she knew: silence was a trap.

  They advanced for another hour until they reached a stretch of dense forest. Twisted trees formed natural tunnels, and the darkness there felt alive. Lysa stopped.

  “Something’s wrong.”

  “Again?” Kael glanced around, turning his already worn blade. “We don’t have time for another ambu—”

  The ground exploded.

  Three humanoid beasts burst from the earth, covered in thorns, with hollow eyes and long claws. Creatures of enchanted mud, shaped by corrupted magic — designed to hunt silently and kill in packs.

  Entities: Rak’huls

  Class: Monstrosity

  Collective Value: 38

  Status: Linked to the System

  Lysa spun instinctively, stabbing the nearest one cleanly. The mud split apart, but the inner core — a pulsing sphere — resisted. She jumped back just in time as the creature tried to explode into stone tentacles.

  Kael slashed at the second with circular strikes. His style was brutal but precise — each blow landed on joints, on gaps in the carapace. One by one, the monster’s limbs were severed.

  Andrel, facing the third, whispered quickly while charging a seal.

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  “Runic combustion... level two... now!”

  The creature melted in green flames, screaming with a sound that came not from its mouth, but from its code.

  It was over in less than two minutes.

  Lysa was panting. Not from the effort — but from how fast it had all happened.

  “That was too easy,” she muttered.

  “It was,” Kael agreed. “They were just there to delay us. Not to kill.”

  Andrel nodded, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth.

  “Bait.”

  Then the forest trembled.

  A sound came from deep within the earth, like a guttural thunder. The trees bent. Birds scattered. And from the valley ahead, tearing through the mist, came the real threat.

  An orc.

  But not an ordinary one. This one was massive, nearly three meters tall, muscles coated in natural bone plating, long tusks, and blue eyes — unnatural ones. The System pulsed within him.

  Name: Grozth

  Class: Bound War Warrior

  Life Value: 74

  Status: Partial Dominion — Controlled by Suppression Core

  Kael took two steps back.

  “He’s... being piloted.”

  Andrel also stepped away.

  “We don’t stand a chance if we stick together. He was made to fight groups. Dispersal strategy, probably.”

  Lysa stared at the monster. The orc roared, but his expression was... vacant. As if he were being forced to fight, a puppet moved by something unseen.

  “If it’s a dispersal strategy, the best way to beat him... is to fall into the trap.”

  She twirled her dagger.

  “Kael, go left. Andrel, climb that rock.” She pointed to a nearby outcrop. “I’ll draw him in.”

  Kael hesitated.

  “You’re in no shape to—”

  “Now!”

  She ran.

  The orc saw her.

  Grozth roared, raising an axe that looked more like a bladed gate. The weapon came down with thunderous force. Lysa rolled, dodging by inches. The explosion that followed cracked the ground.

  Kael attacked from the side, aiming for the knee. But the orc’s hide was too thick.

  Andrel, from above, cast small blasts to distract him.

  Everything seemed under control — until the orc screamed.

  The scream wasn’t sound. It was code.

  A shockwave burst from his chest, a suppression surge.

  Lysa felt her body weaken. Her abilities flickered, unstable.

  Stealth — offline

  Adaptation — read error

  Enhanced Strength — connection failure

  Kael was thrown into a tree. Andrel fell from the rock, unconscious.

  Then the orc charged.

  Straight at Lysa.

  She tried to move, but her body wasn’t responding like before. Each step was an effort.

  The orc’s blade descended.

  She dodged by reflex, the blow hurling her downhill between roots and rocks. She tumbled for meters before everything went black.

  Lysa woke with her face covered in leaves and her chest on fire.

  Alone.

  She looked around. No sign of Kael. No sign of Andrel. No sign of the orc.

  The forest was silent again.

  She stood with difficulty, gazing at the cloudy sky barely visible through the canopy.

  Then, the notification appeared:

  Party separated

  Distance between allies: 3.1km / 4.7km

  System: High Interference

  Communication: Blocked

  She spat blood and gritted her teeth.

  “Damn you, Grozth.”

  But deep down, what hurt the most... was the doubt.

  Were Kael and Andrel still alive?

  She had no way of knowing.