A heavy silence fell after the other group got wiped out. Even the grass seemed scared to move. The wind that had teased the meadow earlier went still, as if the whole forest held its breath and listened.
Rakusha's cruel eyes shifted and locked on Ren's party next. The Boss stood half-shadowed by bone-white trees, its four horns slick with ectoplasmic light, its breath a low rattle that smelled like damp stone and burnt bone.
"Another soul to take?" the beast barked with a hyena laugh, and the system flared: [Engaged!]. The word flashed blood-red across their HUDs, and a drumbeat thudded in their ears that wasn't really there.
Ren huffed a quiet chuckle and flicked his wrist. Pii vanished into its [Pet House] with a soft pulse. He didn't want the little guy leaping at the Boss and dying for nothing—and worse, revealing his ace. Pii chirped once in protest before the light whisked it away.
