The serpent did not hesitate.
The moment it emerged from the fog, its long body coiling around broken stone, it struck with terrifying speed. Its head snapped forward like a launched spear, jaws wide, fangs dripping thick green poison that hissed when it hit the ground.
Eira barely managed to shove Ryn aside before the creature's head slammed into the stone pillar behind them, cracking it down the middle. Dust and fragments filled the air as Lara cried out and raised her staff, sending a thin stream of water that struck the serpent's face and splashed uselessly against its scales.
"Get back!" Eira shouted, stepping between the monster and the others.
The serpent pulled its head back and spat a glob of poison that burst against the floor, sending fumes into the air. Ryn coughed violently and stumbled, trying to activate a small device from his belt. Before he could finish, the serpent's tail whipped around and struck him across the chest with brutal force. He was thrown into a stone wall and collapsed to the ground, unmoving. A dark stain spread across his clothes where the poison had splashed him.
"Ryn!" Lara screamed.
Lara rushed toward him, panic in her eyes.
"Don't go near him. The poison's still active." Eira shouted.
Ryn's breathing was shallow, his skin already turning pale and cold. Green veins spread faintly across his neck and chest where the poison had touched him.
"He's been poisoned," Lara whispered. "If we don't treat him within a day…"
She couldn't finish the sentence.
The serpent hissed again, angered now, its body sliding around the chamber, cutting off escape routes. They backed toward a fallen pillar, pressing close together, trying to stay out of reach.
"I'm sorry," Lara said suddenly, her voice shaking. "This always happens. Things go wrong around me. My mana… it attracts disasters."
"This isn't your fault," Eira said firmly, though his hands trembled as he dodged attacks.
The serpent lunged again. Eira rushed forward and slashed, his blade cutting into its scales but barely breaking through. The impact jolted his arms and sent pain shooting through his shoulders. The serpent's body slammed into him in response, throwing him across the ground. He hit hard, breath knocked from his lungs, blood filling his mouth.
Lara screamed his name.
Lara raised her hands, trying to control her mana, but it surged wildly, light flaring and fading around her fingers. She bit her lip, forcing herself to stop holding back, to stop trying to contain it the way she always did. Her eyes glowed faintly as she focused everything she had into a single attack.
A sharp blade of condensed energy formed and struck the serpent's side, slicing into its flesh and drawing dark blood. The monster roared in pain, thrashing violently, but the wound was not deep enough to kill it.
Lara staggered, nearly collapsing as her mana drained dangerously fast.
The serpent turned on her immediately.
It lunged.
Eira pushed himself up, ignoring the pain, ignoring the dizziness, ignoring the blood soaking through his clothes. His vision blurred, his heart pounding so hard it felt like it would burst. The sword in his hand suddenly grew warm, then hot, light spreading through its white blade like veins of pale blue fire.
He felt something inside him break open.
Mana surged through him for the first time not as pressure, but as motion, flowing into the sword, into his muscles, into his breath.
He moved.
Faster than he ever had before.
He ran straight at the serpent as it aimed for Elira, leaping high, driving the blade down into the same wounded spot she had opened. The sword cut deep this time, slicing through scale, muscle, and bone. The serpent's body convulsed, its scream echoing through the chamber as it collapsed, crashing into the stone floor with a final violent shudder.
Silence followed.
Only their breathing remained.
Eira dropped to one knee, the sword dimming again, the sudden strength fading as quickly as it had come. His whole body shook from exhaustion and pain.
Lara rushed to Ryn, checking his pulse, then looked up at Eira with desperate eyes. "He's alive. But the poison… we need to get him out. Now."
Lara forced herself to stand, her face pale but determined. Together, the two of them lifted Ryn, supporting his weight between them as they stumbled through the dungeon corridors, guided by fading light and instinct. They moved slowly, carefully, every step a struggle, until at last they reached the collapsed passage and called for help.
When the rescue team finally arrived, they found students alive who should not have been.
And one A-rank monster, dead by their hands.