The corridor had transformed into a battlefield no living creature could have imagined. Shattered walls leaned precariously, frost-covered debris glimmered under flickering firelight, and shards of glass and ice glinted like hidden blades across the floor. Smoke and steam mingled from ruptured pipes and shattered sprinklers, creating a dense fog that blurred the boundaries between predator and prey.
Patoa struggled to maintain his stance, hands pressed against a splintered wall. His chest burned with every breath, each inhale a reminder of the deep gash along his side. The earlier detonation marks had faltered, disrupted by lingering frost and unstable debris. His eyes, sharp despite exhaustion, tracked the boss as it lunged and twisted, claws scraping the floor with a metallic screech.
"This is… it's adapting too fast," he muttered, voice hoarse but steady. "Every move we make, it changes. It learns."
Eleanor's eyes narrowed. Frost glimmered across her skin as she floated just above the ground, her hands weaving intricate patterns of mana. Ice formed and shattered in rapid succession, each shard intended to restrain the creature, slow it enough for Patoa's next strike. Yet every movement she made seemed insufficient. The creature shrugged off the frost, moving with unnatural precision, as if it could anticipate the very laws of physics.
"It's… it's almost like it's thinking," Eleanor whispered, her voice low and tense. "Every time I freeze part of it, it compensates instantly. It's not just instinct anymore."
Patoa gritted his teeth. "Then we fight instinct with instinct. But I can't keep up like this—my energy's running out." He raised a hand, attempting to trigger another mark, but the ice beneath him shattered the focus. A minor explosion went off too early, sending shards of frozen debris flying dangerously close.
"Patoa, move!" Eleanor shouted, her tone sharp and urgent. The creature's claws struck the tiles near him, splintering stone and metal with a thunderous roar.
As they dodged, the faint stirrings of a presence began manifesting near the far end of the corridor. Eliel's Slasher instincts had grown stronger. Not yet visible, but the aura of something primal, violent, and deadly radiated through the air. Even the boss seemed to sense it, its crystalline limbs twitching as though recognizing a predator too dangerous to ignore.
"You feel that?" Patoa asked, voice low and urgent. "Something's out there… waiting."
Eleanor's icy glare swept across the corridor. "It's coming. And when it arrives… everything changes."
The boss's movements became more frenzied, almost desperate. Crystalline spikes erupted along its back, slicing the air as it lunged at both humans. Patoa detonated what remained of his energy marks, causing a series of controlled explosions. The impact staggered the creature slightly, but the frozen shards from Eleanor's lingering attacks created unpredictable rebounds. The corridor erupted into chaos — ice and fire colliding violently, debris flying in every direction.
Eleanor's voice cut through the chaos. "Patoa! Watch yourself!"
A shard of frost ricocheted off the wall, striking Patoa in the shoulder. He grunted, staggering backward. The monster lunged at him, claws aimed to pierce his chest. Instinctively, he dove to the side, barely avoiding death.
And then the shadow appeared.
It was subtle at first — a faint distortion at the edge of perception. A ripple in the air, a vibration in the corridor. The creature paused mid-leap, its crystalline form twitching. Its eyes narrowed, sensing the predator lurking beyond their awareness.
Eleanor noticed it too. Her frost aura pulsed, subtle tremors revealing a power she hadn't fully understood. "Something… not human," she whispered, teeth gritted. "It's waiting."
Patoa's voice was tense. "Whatever it is… it's big. Bigger than any threat we've faced. Be ready."
The corridor quaked violently as the boss attempted another strike, its claws smashing against the icy floor. Eleanor responded instantly, summoning a lattice of frost spikes to redirect the attack. Yet even as the lattice formed, the creature's crystalline body twisted in ways they couldn't predict. The spikes shattered under the force, splintering into countless shards that cut through the corridor like tiny blades.
Patoa gritted his teeth. "It's learning… faster than we can react!"
Then the faint pulse of Slasher instinct surged again. Eliel's presence, still tethered between life and death, brushed against reality. A subtle, almost imperceptible ripple of raw aggression radiated outward. The monster twitched, its movements suddenly uncertain. Its claws hesitated mid-strike, as if sensing a predator far beyond human comprehension.
Eleanor's eyes widened. "Do you feel that?"
Patoa's chest heaved with exhaustion. "Yes… it's not one of us… it's coming."
But the corridor offered no time for explanation. The boss lunged again, faster than ever. Frost and explosions collided in violent bursts, shaking the walls and floor. Debris rained down, smashing into both Patoa and Eleanor, forcing them to retreat.
Then it happened. A massive claw, larger and sharper than any before, swung directly at Eliel's latent position — the space he had occupied moments ago, still tethered to the world. The corridor's ambient energy flared as Slasher instinct thrashed against the void, reacting without awareness.
Patoa shouted, noticing the shift. "Eliel's here… something's happening!"
Eleanor's icy aura flickered. "It's not fully manifested… but it's… powerful."
The boss roared, sensing the disturbance. Its crystalline veins flared brighter, energy pulsing faster than ever. Every muscle in its form twitched as it tried to calculate the new threat it could not see.
And then, just for a brief instant, the corridor stilled. The air seemed to pulse with anticipation. Frost trembled, dust floated weightlessly, and the monster hesitated mid-leap, claws extended but frozen in indecision.
Somewhere, deep in the void, Eliel's essence thrashed violently. Rage, pain, and instinct burned inside him like molten steel. He could feel everything — the boss, Eleanor, Patoa, and the wreckage of the corridor — yet he could not act. Not yet.
Eleanor's eyes narrowed. "It's… it's growing stronger. Whatever it is, it's about to break free."
Patoa nodded, grim determination etched across his face. "We can't hold it for long. We're barely managing as it is. Once it's fully awake… the fight changes entirely."
The boss snarled, sensing the shift in the air. Its movements became more erratic, less precise. Energy pulsed violently from its body, shards of ice and crystal exploding outward as though the world itself trembled at the presence of the unseen predator.
Eleanor clenched her fists. "Then we buy time. No matter what."
Patoa adjusted his stance. "We survive… until it awakens. That's all we can do right now."
And in the heart of the chaos, a faint, primal pulse echoed — a whisper of power that made even the creature shiver. The corridor seemed to hold its breath, waiting.
The predator was stirring.
The battle was about to escalate beyond comprehension.