For one brief moment, the swamp seemed to hold its breath.

Then Liam disappeared from the branch.

The evolved Gravecoil's three heads snapped toward where he had been—

But he was already gone.

The first lesser Gravecoil died before the others could even react.

A line of flame cut through its throat, and its head separated from its body in a clean, burning arc. Liam appeared behind it only long enough for his foot to touch the branch, then vanished again in another controlled burst.

The second fell.

Then the third.

Then the fourth.

He moved faster now.

Not recklessly or wastefully, but with the restraint removed from his intent.

Each burst of flame placed him exactly where he needed to be. Each swing of his dagger ended a life. He no longer cut shallow wounds or avoided unnecessary kills. He struck the soft points with surgical precision, sending fire deep into flesh, burning through tissue before the Gravecoils could defend or retreat.

A Gravecoil lunged from above.

Liam appeared beneath it.

Its throat opened in a flash of fire.

Another tried to coil around the branch he landed on.

He stepped onto its body, ran along its armored back, and drove his dagger beneath its skull before kicking away as flames consumed its head from within. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Three more came together.

Liam moved through them like a shadow wrapped in fire.

One head fell.

Then another.

Then another.

The canopy erupted into chaos.

Bodies dropped from the trees in heavy succession, crashing into the swamp below with violent splashes. Steam rose where Liam's flames touched the wet air. The smell of burned flesh and scorched bark filled the zone. The lesser Gravecoils, once coordinated and relentless, began to lose formation as their numbers were cut apart faster than the evolved one could direct them.

The three-headed monster recoiled slightly, its outer heads spreading wider as if trying to track him.

But tracking him was no longer enough.

Liam appeared above the left head, eyes cold, dagger burning white-orange at the edge.

The head snapped upward.

But it was too late.

He dropped toward it.

And what followed was not a fight.

It was a massacre.

Liam struck the evolved Gravecoil from every side.

He didn't commit to one angle or linger after each attack.

One moment, he was beneath the creature's left head, his flaming dagger carving across the armored scales along its throat. The next, he had vanished in a sharp burst of flame, appearing near the right side of its massive body and driving the blade into a gap between overlapping plates.

The dagger bit in.

Barely.

A shallow line of scorched flesh opened beneath the edge, but the cut was nowhere near deep enough to matter.

The evolved Gravecoil hissed, more annoyed than harmed.

Liam noticed.

'Too tough,' he thought, pushing off the side of the creature before the right head snapped toward him. 'The armor is thicker than it looks.'

His dagger dragged along the ridged plates as he moved, sparks and fire scattering from the friction. Even with Inferno Edge active at a low output, the blade failed to reach deep. The flame burned the outer flesh where it managed to enter, but the creature's body immediately responded. Dark tissue shifted beneath the armored hide, the shallow wounds closing almost as quickly as he created them.

The demon was regenerating. Fast, but not instant, just fast enough to make minor damage useless.

A regular Gravecoil lunged from above, trying to catch him while his attention was on the larger demon.

Liam didn't even look at it.

He twisted his wrist, released a short burst from his palm, and shifted just enough for the lesser demon's jaws to pass beside his shoulder. His dagger flashed upward.

The Gravecoil's throat opened.

Flame surged through the wound, and the creature dropped into the swamp below in two burning halves.

Another came from behind.

Liam turned, stepped onto its snout as it lunged, and drove his dagger beneath its skull before kicking off and launching himself back toward the evolved one.

The lesser Gravecoils still trying to interfere met the same fate as the ones before them.

Quick.

Clean.

Final.

But the massive one remained different.

Liam slammed his dagger into the side of the middle neck, where the scales looked thinner near the base. The blade scraped through the outer layer, finally cutting enough to draw a thick line of dark blood.

For a second, it looked promising.

Then the flesh beneath tightened and the wound began closing.

Liam's eyes narrowed.

The left head twisted toward him, jaws open, and Liam released a burst from beneath his boots, sending himself upward as the attack tore through the branches beneath him. He flipped once, landed briefly against a tree trunk, and pushed off again before the right head could follow.

The three heads moved faster now, adjusting to his speed.

The outer heads attacked in wide arcs, forcing him away from the body. The middle head watched more carefully, striking only when Liam tried to approach the core region. The lesser Gravecoils still alive circled around the edges, ready to punish any mistake.

But Liam had already stopped thinking of escape.

His supplies were gone.

His earlier plan was dead.

Now, only one thing remained.

He had said he would kill them all.

And Liam did not make a habit of speaking without intent.

The evolved Gravecoil roared, all three throats releasing a rattling, guttural sound that shook the water beneath it. The swamp churned around its submerged body as it drove forward, smashing through trees with the sheer weight of its frame.

Liam moved along the destruction.

He ran across a falling trunk, flames bursting faintly beneath his heels with every step. A lesser Gravecoil surged up from the water beneath him, but Liam leapt before it reached him, dragging his dagger across its eye as he passed. The creature screamed, blind and thrashing, before his second strike opened its throat.

He landed on the evolved Gravecoil's back.

For a brief second, he was standing on its armored body.

The plates beneath his boots were slick with swamp water and thick blood, uneven and jagged, but he adjusted instantly. He lowered his stance, drove Myst into his legs, and sprinted across the ridged spine toward the base of the middle neck.

The right head noticed and snapped toward him.

Liam slid beneath the bite, his back nearly brushing against the armored scales, and slashed upward at the underside of its jaw.

The dagger cut and the flames burned, but produced no results.

The right head recoiled, but not from pain—more from irritation.

Then the left head swung in.

Liam jumped, using another short burst to pass over the snapping jaws, but the middle head finally moved. It came straight at him, faster than the others, mouth open and horns lowered.

Liam crossed his dagger in front of him and angled his body midair.

The impact didn't fully connect.

But the pressure of the head passing near him still threw him off course, sending him spinning into the side of a tree. His boots struck bark first. He bent his knees, absorbed the force, and kicked away again before the trunk shattered under the monster's follow-up strike.

The evolved Gravecoil began taking his attacks head-on after that.

It understood.

Or at least, it thought it did.

His dagger couldn't pierce deeply enough and the flames at their current output couldn't overwhelm its regeneration.

So the creature stopped evading as much.

It let him strike.

A cut across the left neck.

A stab between the side plates.

A burning slash beneath the right jaw.

Each wound opened... and each wound closed.

The Gravecoil's three heads began moving with more confidence, pressing closer, accepting damage if it meant narrowing his space. Its body coiled through the swamp and trees, turning the entire area into a cage of armor, horns, and teeth.

Liam saw the shift immediately.

'Overconfident now, are we?' he thought. 'Good.'

His expression remained cold as he allowed it.

A lesser Gravecoil lunged from his left, trying to coil around him as he landed on a branch.

Liam cut it down without looking.

Its head dropped first and its body followed.

Then he pushed forward again.

The evolved Gravecoil's left head came at him, mouth open. Liam moved toward it instead of away. He ran along a slanted branch, flames trailing faintly behind his boots, dagger raised as if he intended to make another useless cut.

The monster accepted the challenge.

The left head lowered, intending to crush him outright.

Liam swung.

But just before the dagger connected—

He dismissed it.

The flaming dagger vanished into shadow, and in its place, a longer weapon formed in his grip.

His longsword.

Dark metal caught the dim light beneath the canopy as flames crawled along its edge. Inferno Edge surged through the blade—not at full strength, but higher than before. Just enough.

The left head realized too late.