Grrreecchh.
My boots scraped against the stone, sparks kicking up as my heavy sword clashed with the mammoth's earth attribute mana wave.
The impact rattled up my arms, nearly ripping the hilt from my grip.
No time to breathe, no time to settle back into stance, because the damn jaguar blurred past me, one second in front, the next behind.
Instinct screamed. I dropped low, and sure enough, its massive claw sliced horizontally right where my head had been.
A clean decapitation avoided.
The ground rumbled. "Oh, shit!"
I jumped sideways just in time to see a spike of stone erupt from where I'd been standing.
"Yeah, called it," I muttered, skidding on the rough floor, the soles of my boots grinding down.
Then came the static, tiny threads of lightning snapping in the air before slamming toward me.
First strike. I blocked with my sword. Wrong move.
The force blasted me into the air like some ragdoll in a storm. And then came more bolts. A rainstorm of them.
"...Tsk."
"Dark Hole," I whispered.
Space cracked. A void yawned open between me and the lightning bolts, sucking them up like hungry mouths.
Another hole tore above the mantis's head, and all that crackling thunder poured right down on it.
Lydia noticed and zipped away, her movements sharp and precise.
BOOM.
The chamber lit up like midday, every wall glowing white-blue.
I slammed back down to the ground. A sharp pain knifed through my skull, right behind my eyes.
My vision fuzzed. I grabbed my head, blinking at the blue box floating in front of me.
[Mana: 110 → 43.]
"What the hell?! That was just one Dark Hole!"
[That's what happens if you use mana without circles.]
He wasn't wrong. The more circles carved into your core, the smoother mana flow is guided.
Back in my prime, I could've popped hundreds of holes like that for maybe thirty points. Now... I'm a rookie with a headache.
"RUNE!"
Lydia's shout cut through my groan.
I looked up, just in time to see a vertical arc of green energy screaming toward me.
No time to dodge.
Crimson burst from my sword as I swung, cleaving the arc in half.
"Ghh!"
Pain tore through my arms as the two halves slammed into the walls beside me.
Explosions roared, stone shattered, debris rained down. My whole body buzzed with the shock.
A scythe slash?
My gut tightened.
I looked at the mantis, expecting a roasted bug from the jaguar's thunder.
Nope.
Just a tiny bruise on its shiny head, like it had been beaned with a pebble.
"You've gotta be kidding me."
Lydia landed beside me, her lips pressed tight, daggers ready.
"This mantis is surprisingly tough," she said, tossing a water bomb between me and the charging jaguar.
Steam hissed up, cloaking us in a temporary fog.
[Told you. Their abilities and attributes compliment each other. Thunder's useless against earth mammoth, bug type mantis, or body-less slime. Slime's acid is target specific. Jaguar can dodge mammoth's slow but powerful swings, mantis just flies over earth attacks. It's like a team comp nightmare.]
I bit my lip.
"Commander Lydia."
Her purple eyes locked onto mine. Her stance was steady, daggers poised.
"I'll take mantis and jaguar. You deal with mammoth and slime."
Her gaze sharpened, then she nodded.
[Good decision.]
Lydia's the fastest here. Pairing her against the two slowpokes was the best call. Plus, her Aqua Regia armor eats slime's acid for breakfast.
"Not ideal to try and kill them in here with poison and traps, but if we find an exit…" Lydia said, already moving.
"Got it," I replied.
She blurred forward, her aura cutting purple trails, straight at the mammoth.
I turned back to the jaguar. Its blue sparks danced in the air, muscles coiled, waiting for me to slip.
"Alright," I said, lifting my heavy blade.
Crimson and black mana spiraled from me, curling like smoke into the air.
"Playtime's over."
***********
"Kuro! Kuro!"
Drane's voice cracked through the dim chamber, hoarse with panic.
The black-haired human didn't stir at first.
He sat slouched in a chair, long strands of hair spilling lazily across his eyes, his face lit only by the flickering glow of a screen.
On it, the massive colosseum-like chamber played out in detail.
Lydia and her human companion fighting the beasts, the air split with flashes of crimson and thunder.
Kuro's posture was careless, his boots propped on the table in front of him as if he were watching a dull drama rather than the orchestrated deathmatch.
He yawned, lips curling slightly.
"What is it?" His tone was bored, almost sleepy.
Drane's temple pulsed, a vein rising under the skin.
He marched closer, fists clenched.
"What do you mean, what is it? Lydia is here like we wanted, but the arrangements aren't even done yet! If this falls apart, we're both dead!"
Kuro finally lifted his head, his hair shifting to reveal eyes far too calm for the urgency in the orc's voice.
He stretched, repositioning his legs on the table like a man adjusting in a warm bath.
"It still takes some time for them to arrive," he said coolly. "Why are you shouting?"
Drane nearly exploded. His knuckles cracked as he restrained himself from grabbing the man.
"I listened to you. I lured them here! And if we can't kill her, Kuro, we will die."
Kuro rolled his eyes. He whispered a single word, soft but deliberate.
"Elowen."
Drane's jaw tightened. That damned name again.
Kuro's gaze unfocused, staring into the air as if reading something invisible.
His lips quirked in a small, confident smile.
"The probability of this scenario ending in our favor is still well above eighty percent. Don't worry."
Eighty percent. Always with the numbers, the cold percentages. Drane's stomach knotted anyway. Something felt wrong.
"What about the corruption rate?" Drane snapped, refusing to let the unease fester in silence.
"You projected Lydia would be at thirty percent by now, after betrayal. But.." He jabbed a finger at the screen. "..she seems fine."
That pulled Kuro upright. The lazy posture stiffened. His long hair shifted as he tilted his head, black strands catching the dim light. His eyes sharpened.
"Strange…" he murmured.
Drane narrowed his eyes. "What is it?"
"The model showed thirty percent corruption through betrayal, but right now…" Kuro's lips pressed together, tension creeping into his voice. "…it's only eight."
For the first time, Drane felt the same cold unease pass through Kuro.
"Is it because of that human?" Drane asked, his voice dropping.
He couldn't peel his eyes away from the monitor. The boy fought recklessly, laughing through pain.
Kuro smirked. "No way. His statistical hand in the scenario is zero."
He leaned back slightly, regaining his calm, though his fingers tapped against the armrest.
"Even the beasts have more weight in pushing outcomes than him. Ten percent activity at minimum."
"Then explain it!" Drane barked. "If betrayal doesn't sink her, then what the hell does?"
Kuro's eyes glinted, sharp as blades in the dim light. "I don't know."
That silence after those words was more terrifying than any projection.
Drane's chest rose and fell as his thoughts spiraled. This had never happened before.
The models he presented were always accurate. The numbers always aligned.
The corruption rate of Lydia's captains and vice-captains had played out perfectly, each following the trajectory Kuro had promised.
But Lydia? something made her resist.
"This isn't right," Drane muttered, clutching his head. "The captains, the units, everyone fell as predicted. And her corruption should have matched the projection..."
"Relax," Kuro interrupted, his voice returning to that nonchalant rhythm.
"The probability of this scenario ending profitable to us is still above eighty percent."
Drane didn't relax. He couldn't. His eyes remained glued to the human on the screen, the one standing beside Lydia, crimson aura and black mana swirling like fire and shadow around his body.
Kuro spoke again, his tone carrying the weight of command.
"Of course, that probability only holds… if our preparations are completed in time."
His feet slid back onto the table, posture loosening once more. The grin returned to his face, cold and self-satisfied.
"They'll be exhausted by the beasts and the poison. Once they're weak, we execute the plan and kill Lydia. That's when Merin's chances of winning rise dramatically."
The name grated on Drane's nerves. His hands balled into fists.
"Who is this Merin? And what if she refuses to work with us? You keep throwing her name around like she's salvation."
Kuro's grin widened, manic now, teeth flashing in the glow of the screen.
"Merin is the way to profits. Elowen never lies. Hehhheehe"
His laugh echoed in the chamber, a low, unsettling sound that made Drane's skin crawl.
Drane turned away, lips pressed tight.
If not for Kuro's credibility, if not for how far he'd brought him already, he would've dismissed this entire "Elowen" nonsense as madness. But Kuro had always delivered. Always.
He exhaled through his nose, forcing his nerves into order, and strode into the adjoining chamber.
The room was dimly lit, the air heavy with the metallic tang of alchemy and machine oil.
Groups of orcs in white coats huddled together, their tusked faces drawn with fatigue as they muttered over sheets of parchment. Charts. Equations. Failure rates.
Drane clapped his hands sharply.
"Enough. We need to hurry. They're here faster than expected."
The orcs straightened at once, their confusion swept aside by urgency.
They shuffled quickly toward the center of the chamber, where enormous pods stood in a perfect circle.
The pods loomed like silent giants, their thick glass walls glowing faintly with inner light.
Inside, clusters of cells writhed together, pulsing as though alive, forming grotesque shapes that were neither beast nor man.
Bubbles churned the thick liquid around them, each violent burst echoing against the chamber walls.
The head researcher, an older orc with a scarred jaw, adjusted his coat and barked the order.
"Activate the Biogenesis Pods!"
The dim glow of the pods surged brighter, casting shifting shadows across the chamber.
The masses inside twisted and writhed as if eager to be born, their forms still indistinct, their power undeniable.
This was the cornerstone of Kuro's plan. The final trap for Lydia.
And yet, as the pods flared to life, he couldn't shake the image from the monitor.
The human boy, standing tall beside her, smirking through the chaos ans judging its intensity.
And for the first time, Drane wondered if the numbers would fail them.