The flight back was less a journey and more a grim, efficient clearing operation. Adam's Hunter's Tri-Sense mapped the tunnels, avoiding major threats, but smaller flying predators bat-like creatures with metallic wings were drawn to his imposing silhouette.
He dispatched most with swift Ember Shard Shots or crushing bites. But Lilith, clinging to his back, was not idle. When one creature dove too close, a strand of her Pale Silk shot out with whip-crack speed. It didn't just bind; it sliced. The filament, reinforced with her will, wrapped around the creature's neck and, with a sickeningly precise tug, severed its head clean off.
The body spiraled away, a fountain of dark blood.
"Your methods are... excessively brutal," Adam remarked, feeling a twinge of his human sensibilities.
