'What kind of evolution causes this?' Liam wondered as he took in the sheer size of the creature before him.

The three-headed Gravecoil towered above the swamp, its massive body still half-submerged beneath the black-green water. Dark liquid streamed from its armored scales in heavy sheets, dripping from the jagged thorns along its ridges. Each of its heads moved with its own awareness, yet there was no disorder in their motion. They shifted like extensions of the same will, watching him from three angles at once.

'With the level of Myst I'm sensing from it, there's no doubt this thing is an Advanced Horror,' Liam concluded.

That made the most sense.

Considering how coordinated the lesser Gravecoils had been under the command of this monstrous one, Liam understood exactly what had happened. This creature had evolved beyond a regular Feral-class Gravecoil. It had climbed past mere instinct, developing enough intelligence and control to command its own kind.

A Feral-class Gravecoil had become an Advanced Horror.

'If that's the case,' Liam thought, his eyes narrowing, 'then this thing has a healing factor now… which is going to make this a pain.'

His gaze shifted across the creature's three heads.

'Second, killing it will require destroying its core and heads.'

He paused for a moment.

'Or just the core and one head.'

His attention settled on the middle head.

It was larger than the others, rising higher, more dominant. Its three backward-curving horns formed something close to a crown, and the way the other two heads subtly responded to its movement made the hierarchy obvious.

That was the head in control.

Then Liam's eyes lowered toward the demon's body, most of which remained hidden beneath the swamp.

'But if the core is located down there,' he thought, his expression hardening slightly, 'then I'm going to have to use more Myst than I'd like.'

He paused again, reconsidering.

'No.'

His gaze shifted, scanning the surrounding canopy, branches, and stretches of swamp for any possible path out.

'There has to be another way.'

His fingers tightened around the strap of his bag.

'I can't waste my Myst on something this trivial.'

His eyes moved from one tree to the next, calculating distance, angles, and possible footholds. He needed to break away from the immediate area, escape the range of the creature and its lesser Gravecoils, then look for stable ground. Fighting here gave the enemy every advantage.

'I need to get out of here,' he thought simply.

But before he could properly form a route, the left head of the giant Gravecoil moved.

For something that large, it was too fast.

One moment it was watching him from the swamp. The next, it shot forward like a siege weapon unleashed, jaws opening wide as its horns tore through branches and vines in its path.

Liam's eyes sharpened.

He had expected speed, but not that much.

A burst of flame erupted from beneath his boots as he launched himself sideways, the branch beneath him splitting from the sudden pressure. The left head snapped through the space he had occupied a fraction of a second earlier, its jaws crushing the branch and half the trunk behind it. Wood exploded outward, splinters cutting through the damp air.

Liam twisted through the debris, his eyes still scanning as he aimed for a neighboring branch.

Then the right head came.

It curved around from below, moving through the trees with terrifying control, its mouth opening upward to intercept him before he could land. At the same time, the middle head shifted forward, not rushing blindly, but cutting off the path he was about to take.

They moved in perfect unison.

Liam's expression remained cold, but his body had already reacted.

He released a burst from his left palm, forcing himself higher than intended. The right head snapped shut beneath him, close enough that its teeth clipped loose fabric from his attire. Before he could rise too far, the middle head surged in, its crowned horns carving through the canopy as it drove straight toward his chest.

Liam turned his body midair and kicked off a falling branch which barely held his weight for a heartbeat.

But that heartbeat was enough.

A small detonation of flame burst from his heel, shifting him diagonally through the narrow space between the middle and left heads. Their jaws slammed shut behind him almost together, the force of their bites sending pressure through the air like a shockwave.

He landed hard against the side of a tree trunk, boots scraping down the bark.

For half a second, he had distance.

Only half a second.

Then the regular Gravecoils attacked.

They poured from the canopy like living ropes of armor and teeth, surging from every direction with renewed aggression. The moment Liam created space from the evolved one, the lesser ones filled it. They came from branches above, from coils wrapped around trunks, from beneath the hanging vines. Their red eyes burned through the shadows as they lunged to hem him in.

Liam clicked his tongue.

'So that's how you're using them.'

He pushed off the tree and moved.

A Gravecoil came from his right. He ducked beneath it, cutting the underside of its neck with a shallow flaming slash rather than a killing blow. Another dropped from above, and Liam shifted with a burst from his palm, moving just far enough for its jaws to snap empty air.

He was limiting his Myst with every burst being small, precise, and efficient.

But the pressure kept increasing.

The lesser Gravecoils weren't trying to kill him by themselves anymore. They were blocking paths, forcing choices, closing the gaps he needed to maneuver. Every direction he could move in was being occupied before he took it. Every branch he aimed for became crowded with scales and jaws. Every possible escape route narrowed.

Then the evolved Gravecoil moved again.

The middle head came straight through its own minions.

Two lesser Gravecoils were crushed beneath its weight as it surged forward, its mouth opening wide enough to swallow Liam and half the tree behind him.

Liam tried to shift left.

A Gravecoil was already there.

He tried to drop.

Another came from below, its body coiling upward through the space beneath him.

He tried to rise.

The right head of the evolved creature was waiting.

For the first time since the fight began, Liam's maneuvering space collapsed completely.

'How annoying.'

He drove Myst into his legs and released a stronger burst than before, forcing himself through the only gap left between two closing bodies. He nearly made it.

Nearly.

The left head of the evolved Gravecoil struck from his blind side.

Its horned skull slammed into him with the force of a collapsing wall.

Pain flashed through his ribs as the impact ripped the breath from his lungs and sent him flying.

Liam's body tore through branches, vines, and leaves, smashing through one tree's outer limbs before slamming into another. Bark cracked beneath his shoulder. He was thrown past it, spinning uncontrollably as more branches shattered against his back and arms.

Then his grip loosened as his bag began to slip. For a moment, the strap caught around his fingers, then another branch smashed against his wrist.

The bag was torn away.

Liam's body continued flying through the canopy, crashing through layer after layer of wood and foliage. His vision blurred for half a second, not from panic, but from the sheer force of the hit. He forced his body to twist, his dagger still in hand.

A thick tree trunk rushed into view and Liam didn't hesitate as he drove the blade into it.

The dagger bit deep and his arm snapped taut.

The sudden stop nearly wrenched his shoulder from its socket, but he held on, boots swinging forward before slamming against the bark. He clenched his jaw, dragging himself into control as the flames along his dagger scorched the wood around the wound.

For a moment, he hung there.

Then he pulled himself up and landed on a thick branch, one knee bent, one hand braced against the tree.

His breathing was still steady,

but slower now.

He looked back in the direction he had come from.

The evolved Gravecoil was deliberately moving toward him.

Its massive body dragged through the swamp, splitting the water around it. The lesser Gravecoils moved with it, spreading through the trees like a living net, waiting for the order to attack again. All three heads watched him, their red eyes glowing through the mist.

Liam stared back.

Then he realized something.

His hand shifted slightly.

The strap was gone.

His bag was gone.

His eyes lowered toward the swamp below.

There, among the ripples of dirty water and drifting leaves, his supply bag floated for a few seconds. Torn and soaked. Already sinking beneath the black-green surface. One of the smaller Gravecoils slid past it, disturbing the water just enough to pull it under faster.

Within moments, it disappeared completely and Liam watched the spot where it sank in silence, his whole body still.

The assessment was seven days.

His food, water container, basic tools, stabilizers, everything he had prepared, was now gone. Swallowed by the swamp before the first hour had even passed.

For a few seconds, nothing in his expression changed.

Then his gaze lifted back toward the approaching creature.

The air around him shifted.

The flames along his dagger burned brighter in a focused.

Cold even.

A thin layer of fire began to crawl over his frame, tracing along his shoulders, arms, and back like a cloak being formed from heat. The damp air hissed around him as the surrounding moisture turned to steam. The branch beneath his feet blackened slightly from the pressure of his Myst.

The evolved Gravecoil slowed.

All three heads stilled.

The lesser Gravecoils hesitated as well, their bodies tightening around the branches.

For the first time, the creature's rhythm faltered.

They hesitated.

Liam's eyes remained fixed on the middle head.

"I was planning on leaving you and your minions alone," he said, his voice calm, low, and terribly cold.

The flames around him flickered higher.

"But now I've changed my mind."

The middle head's jaw opened slightly, a low hiss building in its throat.

Liam straightened.

"To compensate for making me lose all my supplies…"

His grip tightened around the dagger.

"I'll kill you all."