After swallowing Far's arm entirely, the creature lifted its gaze once more.
Its red eyes locked onto River, who froze in place, unable to move.
"Why is it staring at me?" the boy managed to say.
He didn't finish the sentence.
The beast was already on him.
Claw-like sabers tore through his abdomen in a single, effortless motion. It then licked its fingers, savoring the blood as if tasting something refined.
Another raider was out of the fight.
It wasn't killing them quickly. No—it was enjoying them. Their fear was part of the meal.
Silence seeped into their bones.
The speed it had displayed was beyond anything the Tower could match. The gap between a T2 and an F1 had become brutally obvious.
The remaining group stood frozen.
Then Icarus moved.
Seeing his brother fall, he lunged forward without hesitation, wind already wrapping around his body.
"I'll make you pay, you damn lizard!!!"
Rising into the air, he rode the wind as dozens of blades formed behind him—unstable, furious, tearing fragments of stone and dust from the cavern walls.
With a downward dive, he released them all at once.
"Fang of Eolus!"
The impact detonated into a massive cloud of dust and air pressure.
"Boom… boom…"
"Did he manage to hurt it?" Dune asked, still shaken by what she was witnessing.
Her whip was already charging with mana, ready to finish what was left.
Five seconds passed.
The dust slowly settled.
A shadow moved inside it.
Another body lay on the ground.
"KRRRSHHH…"
The creature emerged, dragging Icarus by the leg—unconscious, broken, barely alive.
"He's still alive… it's injured!!" hope flickered in Dune's voice.
But it was short-lived.
The beast lifted Icarus to its mouth and tore his head apart without hesitation, devouring it as if mocking their resistance.
"NO… NO!" Dune staggered backward.
Her fear drew its attention immediately.
In an instant, it vanished from where it stood.
A split second later, it was in front of her.
A bladed tail thrust toward her chest.
Dune's eyes widened—but she never registered the movement.
Something else did.
Silver eyes.
Seran stepped in and pushed her away.
Time fractured.
His perception slowed the world in half, while his mind accelerated threefold.
"Chrono Cognition."
Argent light wrapped around his body.
This was the first technique he had attempted to master the night before.
It didn't increase his physical speed directly—it distorted his perception. But the strain forced his body to compensate far beyond its limits.
Blood ran from his nose and eyes as the backlash hit instantly.
The Evox, Frost, and Schockwawe moved like broken frames, as if the world itself had become a corrupted recording.
Seran moved through it.
He drew his short blade with a reverse grip and struck.
The creature's already injured eye was torn out completely.
For a moment, even Frost and Schockwawe froze, surprised by his precision.
Blinded, the beast erupted into chaos, thrashing wildly and striking in every direction.
"Good job, kid! Keep going!" they shouted.
The fight shifted.
It became a brutal rhythm—speed, precision, instinct.
Seran stayed one step ahead of it, reading movements before they happened. His breathing sharpened, his body reacting a fraction earlier than reality itself.
His blade struck repeatedly—but still failed to pierce its dense hide.
From the distance, Dune rejoined the fight, her whip cutting through the air.
Frost restrained its movements with bursts of ice.
Schockwawe shattered its balance with heavy strikes aimed at its hind legs.
But a T2 remained a T2.
The creature adapted.
It accelerated.
It turned into a chaotic blur, ricocheting between walls, ceiling, and floor like a broken pinball machine. The cavern echoed with every impact.
Its attack frequency increased with each passing second.
The balance of the fight began to shift.
Even Seran's perception started to slip.
Then it happened.
Dune mistimed her attack.
She was hit cleanly.
Four deep claw marks tore across her back, blood soaking through her clothing.
The Evox loomed over her.
The finishing strike descended.
"FULL SHOT!"
A massive energy bullet the size of a machine slammed into the creature's temple.
The attack halted its motion.
A broken pistol fell to the ground along with what remained of Far's arm.
He smiled faintly, then collapsed unconscious—satisfied he had saved his ally.
The Evox reeled in confusion, half its face now torn apart, its presence even more grotesque than before.
Blood and scales covered its skull.
"If we keep going like this, we're done," Seran thought.
He drew his long sword and stowed his short blade into his ring.
"Frost, Schockwawe—we finish this now. It's weakened!"
"I can open a window… but I need a minute," Frost replied.
"Got it, boss. We'll hold it" Schockwawe answered.
Seran nodded.
A minute.
That was all.
He inhaled deeply, blood still running down his face.
"I need to push Chrono Cognition to its limit…"
His eyes flared brighter than before.
Muscles, bones, and mind ignited under extreme strain as he forced the technique beyond safe limits.
Once again, the world shattered into segmented moments.
The air around him twisted, forming a brief vacuum from sheer acceleration.
"ARRRRGH!" Schockwawe roared, charging forward with his axe. The ground cracked beneath his weight.
Frost sealed herself inside a dome of ice, preparing her hidden technique.
The fight for their lives would be decided in that one minute.
.