The maw of the monstrosity loomed over her like an omen of hell, vast and inescapable. Nyx felt herself being dragged through the water, pulled helplessly toward it, toward her end.
Then, just as its jaws began to close—
It spasmed.
Violently.
Its limbs locked, its massive body tensing as something unseen tore through it from within. The tension in its tongue faltered, going slack for the briefest instant.
Nyx did not hesitate.
Her tail whipped forward, the spear-like crystalline tip driving straight into its left eye. It pierced clean through, and thick, green ichor burst outward, clouding the water around them. The creature convulsed, a silent, maddened howl rippling through its body as it recoiled, releasing her at once. It thrashed wildly, retreating in blind terror as pain—deeper than flesh—ravaged it. Its skin pulsed and quivered, its movements breaking apart into erratic, uncontrollable spasms.
The soul decay had finally taken hold.
Nyx surged forward, something fierce and vindictive igniting within her. She struck without restraint, her fangs sinking again and again into its rotting flesh. Her tail lashed with brutal precision, the crystalline tip driving into its abdomen, its throat, wherever she could reach. Blood—thick, foul, and endless—spilled into the water, blooming around them as she tore into it like a vengeful wraith.
The creature faltered, Twitched, Then stilled.
Its massive body sagged, lifeless, its tongue lolling uselessly from its ruined maw.
It was dead.
Thoroughly. Completely.
But Nyx was not safe.
The paralysis had nearly claimed her entire body now. Her limbs were stiff, heavy, barely responsive, and the cold of the depths clung to her like a second skin. She was still at the bottom of the lake—and her lungs burned with the strain of holding on for far too long.
No more time.
She forced herself upward, her body moving in broken, desperate jerks. Each motion felt slower than the last, as if the water itself resisted her ascent. The faint light above wavered, distant and fragile, but she fixed her gaze on it and did not stop.
Up.
Just a little further.
At last, she broke through the surface.
Air.
Her body drifted there, rigid and unresponsive, floating like something already dead. For a moment, she simply remained, suspended between survival and collapse.
Slowly, her form began to change.
The great serpent receded, her body shrinking and reshaping until she returned to her Issyrix form—her lower half still coiled and serpentine, her upper body shifting back into something more human… or perhaps something more demonic. .
"Ah..." she breathed weakly, her voice barely more than a whisper. "I wonder if today can get any worse."
A pause.
"...Wait."
Another pause.
"...I didn't say that out loud, did I?"