The ground quaked under the weight of their momentum, feet pounding, blades flashing, skills sparking. Dust curled around them like breath from an exhausted beast, thick with smoke and the smell of split vines.
Jin ducked a lashing root, pivoted low, and slashed upward. The katana in his grip hummed, striking true, but not deep enough. The vine split, only to regrow at the edges, curling back with a hissing pulse.
The monster was learning.
Again.
"Left!" someone shouted, Echo, voice resonating sharp across the battlefield. Jin shifted without thinking, just as a jagged limb tore through the space where he'd stood. He landed beside Areum, her arms covered in glittering cuts of hardened glass, each one sharpened to a weapon's edge. She flung a crescent blade toward the monster's core, and it struck, only to bounce harmlessly off the barklike plating.
