The creature didn’t remain motionless for long.

Nyargoohl’s living chains remained taut around its body, sinking between plates and soft tissue, fixing its limbs against the ground. Each attempt at movement generated a thick friction, as if darkness had its own weight. Even so, something changed.

First it was a slight adjustment.

One of its long limbs stopped moving erratically and began tracing a more precise pattern. It flexed, tensed... and its surface hardened. The wet texture disappeared, replaced by a smoother layer, almost polished, that partially deflected darkness’s pressure.

Then another.

Plates that previously opened irregularly began fitting better together. Not completely, but enough to cover gaps the group had exploited moments before.

"It’s... changing," Lyria murmured, without lowering the spear.

Noelia retreated half a step, observing.

"It doesn’t just regenerate. It learns."

The creature emitted another sound, lower this time, as if adjusting its own internal rhythm.

Then it reacted.

One of its short, thicker limbs struck the ground forcefully. The surface hardened by Noelia fractured at that exact point. Texture changed immediately. Where before there was rigidity, now terrain gave, absorbing part of Nyargoohl’s pressure.

"It’s nullifying ground control," Noelia said with contained voice.

Bīng Xuě narrowed his eyes.

"And ice too."

The layer covering the creature’s legs began cracking from within. It didn’t melt. It broke, as if something from inside pushed in the opposite direction.

A different pressure.

More direct.

More violent.

The creature pulled.

Dark chains tensed.

One of them gave slightly.

Aku didn’t move, but his gaze sharpened.

The forest’s air changed.

The artificial star’s light, until then faint and golden, adopted a different tone. Colder. Paler. A soft blue descended among tree canopies, filtering in diffuse lines bathing the clearing with different clarity.

Shadows defined better.

Contours became harder.

The environment acquired a sharper, more exposed aspect.

Under that light, the creature was even more evident.

Its changes were visible.

Damaged zones didn’t just close. They reorganized. New tissue integrated more rapidly, forming more resistant structures. Plates grew in specific zones, reinforcing points where it had received more attacks.

"We’re not going to be able to break it like this," Marlon said, retreating after a failed attempt.

Kenji nodded from the flank.

"It adapts too fast."

Aku observed a second more.

Then took a step forward.

Nyargoohl’s mass tensed even more, but didn’t advance. It kept the creature contained, though with increasing difficulty.

Aku raised his hand.

Air around him vibrated.

Sparks.

Small, irregular, of intense purple tone. They appeared first as isolated points, suspended in space. Then multiplied, forming brief lines that opened and closed, like momentary cracks in air.

Pressure changed.

It wasn’t the same as before.

It was denser.

More ancient.

"Oh, I was wondering when you’d use that shameless copy of G.O.B," Gerald murmured from the ground, still conscious but unable to sit up.

Aku didn’t respond.

Cracks opened completely.

One after another.

From them began emerging objects.

First one.

Then three.

Then dozens.

Weapons.

Swords, spears, daggers, axes, chains, bows, projectiles of strange shapes. Each one different. Each with its own design, some polished and bright, others worn, marked by use. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

They floated in air for an instant before aligning around Aku, as if responding to a different gravity.

"...That’s insane..." Marlon whispered.

The creature reacted.

Its limbs moved more coordinatedly, striking air to intercept nearest objects.

Some weapons collided against its reinforced plates and deflected.

Others found gaps.

A spear with dark shaft, with tip made of a material both translucent and opaque, pierced one of the outer layers. Its impact didn’t generate a conventional wound. The affected zone began hardening from within, as if tissue lost flexibility.

"Pillar of Hozram," Aku murmured, almost to himself.

That spear had belonged to a guardian of a collapsed world, forged with remains of a crystalline structure reacting to vital energy flow. It absorbed movement and converted it to rigidity.

Another weapon followed.

A segmented chain with serrated links rotating on themselves. It coiled around one of the long limbs. When tensed, teeth began moving, tearing surface with constant pattern.

"Chain of Virel."

Created by an executor of marginal worlds, designed to immobilize creatures with accelerated regeneration. Each link interfered with tissue reconstruction.

The creature emitted a sharper sound.

It tried breaking it.

Part of the chain gave.

But didn’t disappear.

More weapons kept impacting.

A flat projectile, like a compressed metal sheet, spun on itself upon entering contact with the beast’s body. It didn’t cut. It embedded and began vibrating, generating microfractures around.

"Disc of Haleth."

An artifact used in prolonged conflicts, designed to erode defenses over time.

Even so...

It wasn’t enough.

The creature kept adapting.

Affected zones reorganized. Plates grew in response. Soft parts retracted or changed position.

Aku observed.

Evaluated.

And made another decision.

Among all floating weapons, one moved.

It separated from the ensemble.

It descended slowly.

A katana.

Without guard.

The edge presented evident wear, with corroded zones not reflecting light. The blade had a dark, irregular tone, as if it had been exposed to something that had consumed it from within.

"Putrid Reaper."

The name wasn’t pronounced aloud, but its presence imposed it.

That weapon had been wielded by an executioner in a world where death didn’t arrive easily. Its edge didn’t just cut flesh. It introduced a corruption advancing through tissue, stopping any regeneration process.

Aku held it an instant.

Then threw it.

The katana spun in air, describing a clean arc before heading toward Bīng Xuě.

"Go all out."

There was no more explanation.

Bīng Xuě caught it effortlessly.

His smile returned.

But it wasn’t the same as before.

His posture changed.

His shoulders descended slightly. His breathing became deeper. Energy around him stopped being stable.

"Finally..."

Air around him chilled suddenly.

Not like before.

This was different.

Denser.

Heavier.

An invisible pressure extended from his position, affecting even the ground under his feet.

His spiritual energy began transforming. It no longer flowed uniformly. It accumulated, compressed, as if something inside him were about to be released.

His eyes shone with different intensity.

"This is fun now."

Aku didn’t look away.

The creature kept fighting against Nyargoohl’s chains, adapting, regenerating, resisting.

But now...

Combat was going to change.

And just before that change materialized completely...

The scene stopped.