The shift was abrupt. One moment, the sterile, echoing coliseum. The next, the humid, chattering chaos of a primordial jungle. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth, rotting vegetation, and something else… something charred and metallic.
"Your target is a Nuisance-class entity," K's voice echoed in their minds, a disembodied phantom. "Ignis Aper. The Scarlet Boar. It is fast, its hide is resistant to low-level energy attacks, and its tail wields a flame that can sear the soul. Do not underestimate it because of its class. Corner it, and it will fight to the death. Your objective: subdue it. Begin."
The connection severed. Anya immediately crouched, her enhanced senses scanning the dense foliage. "It's close. I can smell the ash."
Deo nodded, his own senses overwhelmed. This was real. The air was real, the dirt under his boots was real. Death here wouldn't be a simulation. The thought sent a familiar, cold trickle of fear down his spine.
They found its trail easily—a path of trampled undergrowth and scorched earth. They set a trap near a watering hole, using Deo's rudimentary spatial knowledge to try and create a hidden pitfall. It was a good plan.
It was also useless.
The Scarlet Boar didn't amble into the trap. It charged out of the brush, a blur of crimson hide and molten rage. It was the size of a small car, muscles rippling under its glowing red skin, a wreath of fire dancing around its snout and tail.
Anya met its charge. "Enhancement: Kinetic Redirection!" She braced, her hands glowing gold, aiming to use its momentum against it.
But the boar was smarter. At the last second, it veered, its flaming tail whipping around like a scorpion's stinger. Anya had to throw herself backward, the heat singeing the hair on her arms. The boar plowed through the space she'd occupied, directly toward Deo.
"Fire!" Deo yelled, summoning a wall of flame.
The boar ran through it, emboldened, its own flames merging with his. It was like offering a match to a bonfire.
"Spatial Shear!" Deo cried, trying to tear a rift in its path. The rift opened, sputtered, and collapsed three feet to the left, taking a large fern with it into nothingness.
The boar slammed into him.
It wasn't like the demion's punches. It was a world of pain. A tonne of enraged muscle and bone lifted him off his feet and sent him flying into a thick tree trunk. He felt something crack in his ribs. The air left his lungs in a pained gasp.
« WARNING: MINOR FRACTURES DETECTED. INTERNAL BRUISING. »
Anya was on the beast in an instant, her fists a blur of jade light. She landed blows that would have shattered stone, but the boar's hide glowed brighter with each impact, dissipating the force. It was resistant. It bucked and spun, its fiery tail forcing her into a relentless, evasive dance.
"Deo! A distraction! Anything!" she shouted, her voice strained.
He pushed himself up, pain flaring in his side. He reached for the ocean. He begged. He pleaded. He saw the boar about to gore Anya. The fear spiked.
The familiar hand clamped around his throat. Nothing.
The boar, sensing his weakness, suddenly changed targets again. It abandoned Anya and charged the easier prey.
Panic. Pure, unadulterated terror.
"I CAN'T!" The scream was torn from him, raw and shameful.
The boar, startled by the sheer despair in the sound, skidded to a halt mere feet from him. It snorted, a puff of smoke and contempt, then turned and vanished into the jungle with shocking speed, leaving only the smell of ozone and defeat.
Silence descended, broken only by Anya's heavy panting and Deo's pained, ragged breaths.
She didn't look at him. She stood with her back to him, her shoulders rising and falling rapidly. Slowly, she turned. There was no anger on her face. No fury. Just a deep, weary disappointment that was infinitely worse.
"It's getting dark," she said, her voice flat. "We should make camp. It'll be back. They're territorial."
She walked away without another word, starting to gather firewood. The chasm between them had never felt wider, or deeper.