Chelsie swallowed hard, then slowly turned her body until her face tensed. Her face paled. Her entire body trembled as a bat-like creature burst out from the shadows and lunged straight at her.

"Chelsie, watch out!"

’Clink!’

Shaan reacted instantly. He crossed both of his short swords and blocked the incoming strike. Metal rang. Sparks flew. He pushed forward and counterattacked, but the creature moved fast. It dodged every one of Shaan’s strikes with ease.

"Damn it!" Shaan grumbled in frustration. "Chelsie, focus on healing Phoenix." Shaan walked, crossing his two short swords, preparing for the next attack. "I’ll handle it."

Chelsie nodded slowly. "Uhm... okay."

[System is active]

[System has reconnected to daemon]

’Nice timing.’ Shaan smiled contentedly. ’At least I can reconnect with Robin Hood now.’

[Shaan, thank goodness you’re okay] Robin Hood smiled contentedly [I’ve been trying to contact you for a while, but suddenly—]

"Robin Hood, we’ll talk later." Shaan tightened his grip on his dual short swords as he scanned the area. "Dark creatures. I need your help to take it down."

Robin Hood’s expression sharpened instantly. Without hesitation, he drew his bow. [Alright, leave it to me.]

The bat-like creature shot straight toward Shaan at blinding speed. Robin Hood deftly fired several of his arrows in rapid succession. The creature flapped its wings and twisted through the air, dodging every shot with unnatural agility.

[Damn, this creature isn’t as easy as I thought.] Robin Hood smiled, his eyes beginning to sparkle with determination. [You know what, this is getting more interesting]

"Robin Hood, I have an idea. Use the Swift Quiver skill and distract this creature for a little while." A stream of mana slowly enveloped the surface of Shaan’s dual short swords. "I’ll take care of the rest."

[Gotcha, easy peasy for me.]

In an instant, Robin Hood fired multiple shots at once, creating a relentless barrage that forced the creature to dodge again and again. It kept evading—but its movements started to slow. It was only a matter of time before it was no longer able to dodge.

’Good. Now’s my chance.’

He burst forward at full speed, closing the distance in a blink. The creature focused entirely on the incoming arrows, unaware of Shaan’s presence right up close.

’Slash!’

Shaan’s strike succeeded in wounding one of the creature’s wings, leaving it quite badly injured. In the blink of an eye, the creature lost its balance, giving Shaan a prime opportunity to finish it off.

"I won’t let this creature live!"

Seeing the opening, Shaan quickly spun around, ready to finish it off. With great confidence, he unleashed his ultimate attack to eliminate this terrifying creature.

"Now, die."

However, just as he launched his attack at the bat, for some reason, the bat instantly cloaked its body and vanished into thin air. Shaan immediately halted his attack and froze.

"...What?"

He was confused. Even though the creature was clearly right behind him, why had it become completely invisible in the blink of an eye?

"Damn it... did it just run—"

In a very short time, for some reason, Shaan suddenly felt a hard blow flying straight at his face. In fact, there was absolutely nothing visible around him. Not just once, but the attack repeatedly struck Shaan’s face from various directions, making him furious. Without a second thought, he launched his attacks in all directions, hoping his strikes would injure the figure attacking him, but he only cut through the air around him.

"Argh, why am I completely—"

Hit after hit kept coming relentlessly, spreading rapidly to other parts. Each strike slammed into a different part of Shaan’s body—his jaw, his ribs, his shoulder—sending waves of pain through him. He couldn’t keep up. He couldn’t even see what attacked him, and his body wasn’t able to react fast enough.

Even Robin Hood hesitated. It was because every time he tried to strike, the creature vanished and suddenly reappeared in a different spot, attacking Shaan before vanishing again, leaving him overwhelmed.

"Damn it..." Shaan wiped the blood from his lips, his breathing growing heavier. "At this rate, I won’t be able to kill it."His eyes darted around, searching. ’I need to pinpoint its exact position... then I can finish it. But how the hell am I supposed to—’

[Vivus vitae!]

A pulse of crimson light appeared several meters to his side. The light shot rapidly toward Shaan, preparing to strike him yet again. Perfect, it appears that thanks to Carmen’s help, he can now clearly see the creature’s whereabouts.

’Got you,’ he smiled, satisfied.’Now I can read your movement."

Without hesitation, he jumped high and managed to dodge the bat’s attack. He then launched his counterattack at the creature and succeeded in injuring one of its wings.

"Good, this time I won’t let you get away," Shaan ordered Robin Hood to launch his attack. "Robin Hood, use your skill. Right now."

[Alright, Shaan.]

Robin Hood quickly released his arrow and successfully struck the bat’s body. In the blink of an eye, the bat’s body froze solid, preventing it from camouflaging itself any longer.

’Feel this.’

Shaan released his mana until the entire surface of his dual short swords was completely enveloped. Without a shred of hesitation, he slashed the creature’s body into several pieces, finally killing it.

[You successfully killed a bat vampire]

[You obtained 4 vampire fangs]

[Your bond increased by +8]

"Finally." Shaan let out a long breath, the tension leaving his shoulders as he lowered his blades. "Without your help, we would’ve had a hard time locating that creature."He turned his gaze to the side. Carmen stood not far away. "Thank you, Carmen."

["Glad to help you, Romani man," Carmen said, bowing her head slightly. ["I’m just following orders from my daemonist to help you."]

"We have to go back now; Chelsie might need our help."

***

"Shaan!" Chelsie shouted, calling out to Shaan. "Thank goodness, you’re okay. Come here—the others have already gathered."

"Alright."

"Oh, weakling... looks like you actually managed to kill that annoying thing too." Theo narrowed his eyes as he glanced at Shaan, who walked toward them with his dual short swords still stained in dark purple fluid. A faint smirk tugged at his lips. "Interesting."

"...We don’t have time to talk about that," Nalira cut in, folding her arms as she shifted her gaze toward the Phoenix. "Elsie—how is it?"

"Uhm... the potion worked," Chelsie said, nodding without hesitation. Relief softened her expression. "All the wounds are gone. The Phoenix can fly again."

"Good," Theo said as he stepped forward. "At least now we can get out of this place."

He reached out casually, trying to pat the Phoenix’s head—

"What the—?!"

The Phoenix snapped. Its beak lunged forward, stopping just inches from Theo’s arm.

Theo jumped back instantly. "What’s wrong with this bird?! It just tried to bite me!"

"Uhm... " It’s still sensitive after recovering," Chelsie said, quickly stepping in. She gently stroked the Phoenix’s head, her movements slow and careful. "But don’t worry. It will calm down soon."

After Chelsie gently stroked the phoenix’s body, the creature finally began to calm down. One by one, they climbed back onto the Phoenix’s back. continuing toward the Twilight Sanctum without realizing that a huge surprise was waiting for them there.