The obsidian shard sank deep into the Gloomfang's throat. A shudder ripped through the colossal beast, its roars turning into wet, gurgling gasps. Its good eye rolled wildly, blood and dark fluid oozing from its ruined left socket. It thrashed, stumbling, its movements less coordinated now, but no less lethal.
Adam watched, his breath catching in his throat, as the monstrous form slowly began to deflate, its heavy breaths coming in shallow, desperate puffs. But even as its life ebbed, a chilling defiance remained in its one good eye, fixed on him with undiluted hatred.
"It's dying, Lyra," Adam wheezed, his voice raw. He felt a surge of grim satisfaction, quickly overshadowed by a profound sense of exhaustion.
"Affirmative," Lyra's voice was calm, but a flicker of something in her tone suggested urgency. "Its respiratory system is failing. However, its mana core is still intact. Gloomfangs possess a desperate, final resort when critically wounded. It is attempting to channel its remaining internal mana."
Suddenly, the air around the beast began to crackle violently. The ground beneath Adam's feet vibrated. A horrific, guttural sound, like a furnace roaring to life, tore from the Gloomfang's mangled throat. Its remaining eye glowed with an incandescent, malevolent red.
"Adam! Critical threat!" Lyra's voice was sharp, cutting through his fatigue. "It's preparing a Mana Incineration Beam! This attack will obliterate anything in its path. You must avoid it at all costs! To your immediate left, there is a narrow fissure in the rock face, barely wide enough. Dive into it! Now!"
Adam didn't think. He didn't have the energy for thought. He just reacted. He threw himself forward, a primal scream tearing from his own lungs as he squeezed into the impossibly tight crevice.
A blinding, searing beam of crimson fire erupted from the Gloomfang's maw, tearing through the forest. Trees vaporized. Earth turned to molten slag. The heat was immense, even within the narrow confines of the fissure. Adam screamed, a sharp, white-hot pain lancing across his exposed arm and side. He could smell burning flesh.
A New Peril Emerges
When the terrifying roar of the beam finally died down, Adam slowly, cautiously, pulled himself out of the fissure. The forest where the beam had struck was gone, replaced by a smoking, molten trench. The Gloomfang lay still, a grotesque husk, its remaining eye finally dark. He had won. He had survived.
But his victory was short-lived.
The burns on his arm and side throbbed, angry red welts already blistering. They were minor, as Lyra had said, a testament to his quick reflexes. But then, a new sensation began to spread through him.
A strange tingling, like pins and needles, intensified into a deep, pervasive ache. His head pounded, and his vision swam. The vibrant colors of the mana-rich world around him seemed to intensify, overwhelming his senses. He felt lightheaded, nauseous.
"Lyra?" he mumbled, clutching his head. "What's happening? I feel... strange."
Lyra's response was immediate, her voice now laced with a rare note of concern.
"Adam, you are experiencing the onset of mana poisoning. The Mana Incineration Beam was a concentrated surge of raw mana. Even though you avoided a direct hit, your body, unaccustomed and un-attuned to such high concentrations, has absorbed a significant amount of residual mana from the surrounding environment."
"Your symptoms are consistent with initial-stage exposure," Lyra continued, "but if left untreated, mana poisoning can lead to severe neurological damage, organ failure, or even mana overload, where your physical form cannot contain the energy and… dissipates."
Adam stared at the lifeless Gloomfang, then at his trembling hands. He had faced death and won, only to find himself staring at another, insidious threat. This world wasn't just dangerous; it was fundamentally hostile to his very existence.
"Is there… a cure?" he whispered, his voice barely audible.
"There are remedies, yes," Lyra affirmed.
"Specific herbs, refined mana crystals, or specialized mana-infused water can mitigate the effects. However, the most immediate and effective solution would be a Mana Stabilizer Potion. It is a rare item, but I registered a faint, scattered energy signature that matches its component profile, located approximately one kilometer due west of your current position. It would have been among the items intended for your initial insertion."
Adam's blood ran cold. One kilometer. In his current state, reeling from exhaustion, minor burns, and the growing dread of mana poisoning, it felt like a marathon. He had survived the monster, only to be chased by an invisible killer.