Olivia nodded. "Then let’s end it."

The two vanished at nearly the same time, going straight into combat.

The [Grave Maw] immediately sensed danger and leapt backward, but Olivia was already there. Her twin blades carved through the air, silver arcs flashing between the trees. One sword slashed across its shoulder while the second ripped through its side.

SHHK!

Blood erupted from the creature as it roared. Its massive paw swung toward her head.

Olivia ducked beneath it, one knee touching the ground before she launched herself upward again. Her swords struck four more times in rapid succession, each cut opening deeper wounds than the last.

But before she could go on, the [Grave Maw’s] tail whipped around like a boomerang.

Olivia crossed her blades. The impact launched her backward through three trees.

"Class Rep!"

Cassien was already moving. The [Grave Maw] turned toward Olivia, intending to finish her before she recovered.

Which was a mistake.

SHHKKK!

Cassien threw one of his daggers toward the creature’s left eye, sprinting toward the [Grave Maw] before it got a chance to move viciously again.

"EHHHHHH!" Cassien jumped high into the air, holding onto the dagger as he swung around, then grabbed it. "Got it."

The creature began shaking like an uncontrollable beast and shook Cassien off.

He caught himself using both daggers in his hands, then dragged them across the ground before picking them back up.

"He’s tough!" Cassien yelled.

"No shit, Sherlock!" Olivia screamed in response.

Then Cassien moved forward again, appearing right beneath the thing as it tried to recover.

[Flow State] activated on instinct once more.

SHKKKKKKKK!

Cassien slid beneath the beast and drove both daggers upward. The transparent stomach split open, and for a brief second, everyone could see those same bones and armor pieces falling out.

A glowing blue crystal buried deep within the creature’s chest also became visible.

"The core!" Olivia shouted.

The [Grave Maw] instantly retreated.

Its regeneration surged wildly. Flesh began repairing itself around the exposed crystal.

"Leave it alone... It’s done! It’s getting away!" one of the students in Class-1C yelled, afraid they might get hurt.

Both Olivia’s and Cassien’s faces formed smiles.

"After we kill the damn thing!" they said simultaneously.

Cassien clicked his tongue. "It’s getting quicker."

"It can’t regenerate infinitely. There’s just no way."

The monster roared, turned around, and charged. Not at the students, nor at Olivia, but at Cassien for some odd reason.

"Back for more?"

Trees shattered apart as the Grave Maw chased him relentlessly. Claws ripped through the earth. Massive jaws snapped inches from his body. Yet every attack missed.

Cassien moved like flowing water, the students barely able to follow him.

Cassien laughed. "You’ve missed thirty-seven times; just give up!"

Olivia looked in his direction. "You counted?!"

"A strategic mastermind must include every sort of number in their theory for victory!"

SHIIIING!

Both swords descended. A massive cross-shaped wound exploded across its back. The [Grave Maw] collapsed onto one knee, and Olivia landed silently.

"Thirty-eight."

Cassien grinned. "Nice one."

The beast tried to stand, but it couldn’t. Now the regeneration was failing. The wounds were beginning to outpace the recovery.

Then the Game-System flashed.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[Core Stability: 17%]

Warning:

Critical Damage Detected

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"There," Cassien followed.

Olivia watched his eyes. The blue crystal was visible again, barely, but doable.

The creature’s body immediately curled inward, desperately protecting the exposed section of its chest.

"We can’t reach it," Olivia frowned.

"We definitely can." Cassien smiled. "Trust me."

The beast somehow stood, which looked to be its final attempt. It was pouring everything into this last offensive play.

Olivia tightened her grip. Cassien stepped forward, then both of them sprinted straight at it.

"What are they doing?!" Ren yelled.

The distance continued shrinking. The [Grave Maw’s] jaws opened.

But Cassien didn’t stop.

Three meters.

Two.

One.

Then he jumped.

The monster bit down.

CRUNCH!

Nothing.

Cassien had already moved above it.

Using the creature’s own skull as a foothold, he kicked off its head.

"NOW!"

Olivia launched forward. The [Grave Maw] finally realized the trap, but it was far too late. Cassien grabbed her from behind, one arm wrapped around her waist.

"Just this once."

Olivia’s eyes widened.

"Cassien—"

"Hit it."

The world seemed to suddenly turn into a low hum as the beast’s claws descended. The crystal began to glow, the distance decreased, and Cassien finally made his last push.

Every ounce of strength he possessed exploded through his body as Olivia felt the force behind her increase instantly, like being launched from a cannon.

Her swords aligned, both blades pointed directly toward the exposed core.

"BREAK!"

The creature roared.

"YOU DAMN VILE THING!"

SHHHHHHHHHK!

The twin swords pierced straight through the opening, and everyone heard it.

CRACK!

A fracture spread across the blue core, then another, and another, until finally it shattered completely.

A wave of blue light erupted from the [Grave Maw’s] body until its eyes finally dimmed, the gigantic beast finally collapsing.

The corpse remained motionless.

The system appeared before everyone’s eyes.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[Island Creature Eliminated]

Name: Grave Maw

Threat Level: B-

Rewards Distributed: Multiplied Supplies

Bonus Award: First B-Rank Elimination

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"..."

"..."

"..."

Ren stared at the crater.

Alex did as well.

"We killed that?"

Cassien stood up, exhaling calmly while feeling the pain throughout his entire body.

"We?"

Cassien walked over to Olivia, seeing how the female students carried her on their backs.

"See?" he said.

Olivia looked at him, her body aching.

"See what?"

"I told you we’d kill that son of a bitch."

Olivia couldn’t help but laugh.

As Class-1C finally finished having their small victory moment, one of the students stepped forward, looking embarrassed. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"What’s wrong?" Cassien asked, picking up on the sudden change in emotion.

"Well, how do I explain it...?" He tried sounding as apologetic as possible. "While you two were fighting, someone covered in a cloak walked up behind me while I watched both of you fight like brave warriors."

Cassien began tightening his grip.

He knew exactly where this story was going.

"And... um, while I was distracted."

"Get on with it."

"Someone stole our supplies."