ShadowBound: The Need For Power-Chapter 607: Plan Execution

Once the discussion was over and everyone had agreed to play their part, Liam remained crouched exactly where he was, his posture low and grounded. Edith and the two girls stayed in their respective positions as well, while Yuriel stood close to the tree he had taken shelter beside earlier, his grip still firm around his weapon.

As the silence settled in, Liam focused inward, allowing his senses to spread through the earth beneath them. He paid close attention to the faint, almost imperceptible vibrations traveling through the soil—subtle signs that betrayed the Burrowmaw’s movement. From what he could tell, the creature was still close, lingering beneath the ground, waiting for an opening. Liam steadied himself, anticipating another false charge.

Then it happened.

In a single, swift moment, they all felt it—the earth quaking just slightly beneath their feet. The tremor was brief, but unmistakable. The Burrowmaw was on the move again. Yuriel felt the surge of vibrations rushing toward him and immediately reacted, signaling the others without hesitation. Just as the ground beneath him bulged upward once more, as though the creature were about to burst through the surface—only to stop short yet again—the entire group sprang into action.

They bolted from their positions all at once, scattering just far enough to create proper distance from where they had been moments before. Their movements were sharp but controlled, each of them executing the plan as discussed.

Liam, however, veered slightly away from the others. As he did, he could feel it clearly now—the Burrowmaw shifting its attention, its massive body tunneling toward him beneath the earth.

As the vibrations rapidly closed the distance, Liam suddenly dove forward, rolling across the forest floor just as the Burrowmaw executed yet another false charge beneath him.

He landed smoothly in a crouch and immediately turned his head, scanning the area he had just left. His eyes quickly found his teammates. They were all exactly where they needed to be—well spaced apart, positioned carefully, and doing their best to remain completely still.

’Good. Everyone made it to their positions,’ Liam thought as he took them in. ’Now comes the reckless part... the illusion of overconfidence.’

Rising slowly from his crouch, Liam began to walk.

His pace was steady and deliberate, as though the Burrowmaw didn’t exist at all. He didn’t rush, didn’t panic, and certainly didn’t move erratically. Each step was measured, cautious enough to seem aware, yet confident enough to suggest a lack of real concern.

He knew better than to make sudden or chaotic movements. One wrong step, one hint of desperation, and the entire plan would collapse.

’This should be enough to catch the bastard’s attention,’ Liam thought calmly.

At the heart of his plan was false certainty.

From the Burrowmaw’s repeated false charges and from what little knowledge he had gathered at the academy, Liam understood the creature’s behavior well enough. A Burrowmaw would not fully surface unless it was confident—absolutely certain—that its prey could not escape.

That was the instinct he intended to exploit.

If the Burrowmaw sensed that its target was aware of its presence but had grown overconfident because of the repeated false charges, then it would see an easy kill. And an easy kill was something a predator like that would never ignore.

As Liam continued forward with calm, assured strides, he cast a brief glance toward Edith. Her eyes were locked onto him, sharp and focused.

’The rest is up to you, captain,’ he thought, giving her a subtle nod.

Edith returned the nod immediately.

In that instant, she poured nearly all of her available myst into her perception. Her senses sharpened dramatically as she focused entirely on the ground beneath them, her awareness sinking deep as though she could see through layers of earth and stone. To some extent, she actually could.

As an Enhancement magic user, Edith belonged to a rare group—those capable of pushing their bodies beyond normal limits using Myst alone. Without an elemental affinity, their strength lay in turning themselves into something near-superhuman.

With her perception enhanced to its limits, Edith studied the ground carefully, tracking the faint displacement patterns left behind by the Burrowmaw as it tunneled closer and closer.

Her role was clear.

The moment the Burrowmaw fully committed to Liam’s position, she was to signal the group.

Technically, this role could have gone to Yuriel, given his earth affinity. However, Liam had dismissed that option early on. Yuriel’s delayed reaction to the Burrowmaw’s presence earlier had already told him everything he needed to know. His mastery over earth magic simply wasn’t refined enough.

Unlike Lucian—another earth-affinity user Liam had encountered, who could sense vibrations with frightening precision—Yuriel was nowhere near that level.

Drawing on the limited but valuable knowledge Liam had gained about Enhancement magic during his slumber in the Mind Realm, he had entrusted this critical role to Edith instead. It was still a calculated risk. He hadn’t known for certain whether she could push her perception far enough while restricted to only fifty percent myst output.

Fortunately for all of them, she could.

’C’mon, Edith,’ she urged herself silently. ’Focus. This entire plan hinges on you. You can’t afford to slip—not now, not ever. You’re their leader. You have to set the example.’

With that resolve tightening in her chest, Edith pushed her perception even further, spreading it through the ground beneath them. The earth seemed to speak to her in fragments—subtle shifts, compressed soil, the faint displacement left behind by something massive moving below. With her senses sharpened to their limit, she was now picking up far more detailed information about the Burrowmaw’s movements than anyone else present.

And she saw it.

The creature was biting the bait.

It was responding to Liam’s presence, circling cautiously, testing the situation. It drifted first toward her position and the others’, probing, then veered back again toward Liam, its movements deliberate and calculating. The Burrowmaw wasn’t reckless—it was thinking, gauging the risk, and measuring confidence against opportunity.

Edith immediately activated the Whisper spell, her voice slipping soundlessly into Liam’s mind.

"It’s falling for your bait, Liam," she said, controlled but urgent. "But it’s being careful."

Without turning his head or breaking the rhythm of his movements, Liam replied calmly, his voice steady within the Whisper.

"Then I’ll just have to make myself more tempting."

At that, he subtly changed his behavior.

His posture straightened, his steps grew more assured—borderline arrogant. He even dared to step near the bulging earth where the Burrowmaw’s false charges had surfaced moments before, deliberately testing the disturbed ground beneath his feet.

’Go on,’ he thought coldly. ’I dare you to ignore this.’

That was when Edith felt it.

The Burrowmaw’s movement shifted sharply and decisively. No more circling or hesitation. Instead of rising through one of the bulging surfaces ahead of Liam, it redirected—fast and aggressive—angling to erupt from behind him.

Edith’s heart lurched.

She instantly widened the Whisper spell’s reach, pushing her voice into everyone’s minds at once.

"It’s coming," she warned. "Behind you, Liam."

The words barely finished echoing before reactions followed.

Liam didn’t move—not immediately.

But Yuriel did.

The instant Edith’s warning reached him, Yuriel slammed both palms against the ground. Earth myst surged from his core, flowing through his arms and into the soil beneath Liam. The ground hardened rapidly, compacting and reinforcing itself into dense, stubborn stone.

’I know those two don’t see me as their equal,’ Yuriel thought grimly as he channeled his power. ’Maybe they never will. But I am not useless. Not to this group. I’ll prove it.’

As the earth beneath him hardened, Liam braced himself, fire myst flaring through his body in response. He knew full well that reinforced soil wouldn’t stop a Burrowmaw—not completely. But it didn’t need to.

It only needed to slow it.

The hardened ground forced the Burrowmaw to exert additional force to break through, altering its trajectory just enough. Instead of erupting cleanly, the creature surged higher than intended.

The ground exploded behind Liam.

The Burrowmaw burst from the earth in a violent eruption, its massive form lifting Liam off his feet as soil and debris flew outward. But before the creature could snap its grotesque jaws shut around him, Liam vanished in a flash of flames.

A heartbeat later, he reappeared crouched against the thick bark of a nearby tree, one hand gripping firmly to steady himself as embers faded from the air around him.

At the same time, Lily and Linda moved.

As soon as Edith’s signal had reached them, both girls sprinted into position, flanking the Burrowmaw from opposite sides while keeping a cautious distance.

Linda, positioned on the creature’s left and facing its exposed back, summoned her ice affinity. Frost surged outward from her hands, rapidly freezing the ground beneath the Burrowmaw and creeping up its massive body. The creature roared in fury, thrashing violently as ice spread across its hide.

But it wasn’t enough.

The Burrowmaw twisted and slammed its body from side to side, cracking and shedding chunks of ice with brute force.

"It’s breaking free!" Linda shouted, panic creeping into her voice.

That was when Lily acted.

From the Burrowmaw’s right side, she called upon her light affinity, releasing a blinding burst of brilliance directly in front of the creature’s face. Radiant light exploded outward, overwhelming its senses.

The Burrowmaw shrieked in pain and rage, thrashing even harder now, its massive limbs swinging wildly in an attempt to strike either of the girls.

One of its legs swept dangerously close to Lily.

She barely had time to register the impact that never came.

Instead, a sudden force yanked her backward, pulling her clear as she tumbled onto the ground, landing hard on her backside.

"That was... close," she muttered breathlessly, eyes still fixed on the raging monster.

She turned to see who had saved her—and froze.

Standing beside her was not a person, but a wolf-like creature formed entirely of shadow. Its spiky fur bristled unnaturally, four glowing blue eyes staring out from its dark visage.

Lily jolted in fear—then realization struck.

"...Liam," she breathed.

Her tension eased slightly as she reached out and hesitantly patted Smoke on the head.

"T–Thank you," she said softly, her voice almost gentle.

Meanwhile, the Burrowmaw strained violently against the ice still clinging to parts of its body, clearly preparing to retreat back underground.

That was when Liam struck.

He appeared above the creature in a streak of roaring flames, suspended in midair, his eyes glowing faintly with controlled intensity.

"Time to put you to sleep," he muttered.

He drew his arm back, muscles coiling as his gaze locked onto the Burrowmaw’s wedge-shaped maw, now gaping wide in fury. At the center of his palm, a small, impossibly dense orb of fire began to form—compressed, radiant, and seething with overwhelming heat.

A miniature sun.

Without hesitation, Liam twisted his body midair and drove his arm forward like a hammering punch.

The fire orb slammed directly onto the top of the Burrowmaw’s head.

The explosion that followed was deafening—but contained. A thunderous boom echoed through the forest as fire and pressure erupted outward in a controlled blast. The Burrowmaw’s head was obliterated instantly, vaporized in a flash of searing light as the rest of its massive body collapsed lifelessly beneath it.