The ground turned red with blood. The valley had become a field of corpses.
But before his chest could draw a full breath, the earth rumbled once more. Not like before—this wasn't the footsteps of mere beasts. It felt like death whispering, crawling from another world.
From the east, black mist slithered like liquid poison.
From the west, low howls rose... like the wails of creatures who failed to be born human.
Brama stood tall. His wounds from the previous wave still gaping—blood streaming from his temple and gut—but his eyes stared into the distance, unflinching.
"System. Report."
DING.
> Wave Three: Leveled Beasts and Mutants – 23 Targets Identified.
All enemies confirmed at Level 5.
1. Armed Stone Troll – Level 5
STR 31. VIT 53. AGI 17
Wields a massive stone hammer. Slow but devastating strikes.
2. Three-Headed Wolf – Level 5 (Symbiotic Mutant)
AGI 51. STR 27. VIT 41.
Each head has a different function: fire, lightning, and poison. Requires tactical head separation.
3. Tree-Man – Level 5 (Parasitic Mutation)
VIT 81. STR 21. AGI 27.
Capable of regenerating from fatal wounds. Use fire or complete decapitation.
4. Living Corpse – Level 5 (Corrupted Entity – Failed Cultivation Experiment)
VIT 45. STR 67. AGI 51.
Cannot live. Cannot die.
Intense death aura. Presence distorts the mind. Do not let it get close.
---
Brama clenched his still-trembling hand, bloodied from wounds.
"Ruda."
From the skies, the giant crimson bird descended like a streak of hellfire. Its wings sliced the mist, its body radiated heat like a broken sun.
"Watch the eastern route. If you see that Corpse... burn it down from afar. Don't go near it."
Ruda nodded solemnly. His eyes conveyed complete understanding—this was no time for games.
Wave Three... had begun.
---
First Clash – Stone Troll
Two Stone Trolls emerged from the mist first. Their bodies as massive as war chariots, stomping forward with hammers the size of fortress gates.
Each step struck the ground like a cannon blast.
Brama didn't wait.
He charged—ignoring the pain. Like a wounded beast grown more feral.
The first troll raised its hammer and slammed it downward.
BRAKKK!!
Air quaked. Earth cracked.
Brama twisted left, fingers brushing the ground, spinning—sweeping his leg behind the troll's knee. Not enough to topple it, but enough to stagger.
In a flash, he had climbed its back.
The second troll roared, swinging its hammer at its companion's torso. But Brama leapt—landing just behind the first troll's head.
He raised his spear and drove it into the eye.
THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!
Thick black blood spurted like living mud. The troll growled and tried to rip him off, but Brama kept stabbing until the spear pierced its skull and scrambled its brain.
The troll fell.
The mountain-sized body slammed into the ground. Earth split. Corpses scattered.
The second troll roared and swung its hammer with shocking speed.
Brama was a beat too slow.
BOOOOM!!
The hammer struck a boulder behind him, and the shrapnel tore through Brama's body. A shard embedded in his shoulder. He was thrown back two spear-lengths, slamming into a tree.
His spine... partially fractured.
But Brama rose. Stood with whatever strength remained. Blood flowed from his back and ears, but he was still alive.
Still a killer.
The second troll approached. Hammer raised.
Brama didn't retreat. He hurled his spear—it struck between neck and shoulder. Not fatal, but distracting.
Brama leapt, planting his foot on the troll's chest, and smashed its temple with a death-laced fist.
CRAAACK!!
The skull cracked.
Second punch.
Third.
Fourth.
Blood burst from the troll's nose and eyes. Brama drove his knee into its face, then stomped its skull until a final, deafening crack echoed.
The troll fell. Motionless.
---
Second – Three-Headed Wolf
The air pulsed.
Hot.
Cold.
Toxic.
A giant wolf bounded from the mist. Three heads screamed in dissonant harmony—the center spewing fire, the right crackling with lightning, the left exhaling green mist that melted leaves.
Brama didn't wait for Ruda.
He dashed into the underbrush, circling toward the left flank.
The center head breathed fire. The ground turned to cinders.
The right head lunged at Brama, unleashing lightning.
ZZZZAAAARRRR!!
The bolt struck a tree. The tree instantly ignited.
Ruda dove from above, blasting fire at the left head, drawing its attention.
Brama seized the moment.
He leapt, smashing the wolf's front right leg joint—CRACK!
Bone snapped. The wolf staggered, half-collapsed.
The center head spewed again. Brama rolled, dodged, and gouged the right head's eye with a jagged stone.
That head howled. Lightning lashed wildly, but Brama had shifted—vaulting onto its back.
He stomped on the central skull and rained down lethal punches.
KRAK!! KRAK!!
Jaw shattered. Skull crumpled.
One head down.
Ruda swooped from behind, clawing the left head's throat, while Brama stomped the right until its jaw dislocated and its tongue lolled like a red worm.
With two heads down, Brama grabbed a bone shard from the ground and stabbed it into the left head's neck.
Blood sprayed.
The wolf collapsed.
Three heads.
Three deaths.
---
Third – Tree-Man
The mist parted slowly.
A gaunt silhouette emerged from the valley's center, walking sluggishly, dragging its feet like a boneless elder. But from its back, thorns branched like spikes. From its eyes, small roots wriggled like living worms.
Tree-Man.
A decaying human body embraced forcefully by malevolent flora. Its chest torn open, revealing tangled, pulsing root-flesh. Its steps wobbled, but the air around it pulsed... something was off.
Brama clenched the dirt.
"Parasitic roots."
> System: Confirmed. This entity doesn't rely on strength, but on extreme regeneration and living-root attacks. Suggestion: Sever all vital root networks at once, or burn the root core.
Brama didn't wait for the second option.
He charged.
Tree-Man slammed its hand into the ground—living roots erupted like snakes, trying to entangle Brama.
One coiled around his leg.
But Brama twisted and yanked the blade still lodged in his shoulder. With it, he slashed the root clean.
CRASH!
More roots lashed from the sides.
Brama leapt, kicking both feet into Tree-Man's chest. The creature staggered but didn't fall. From its chest wound, roots surged forth, wrapping around Brama's body.
It laughed—a creaking sound like dry twigs rubbing.
Brama slipped a fire grenade—salvaged from the last wave—into the chest cavity. A simple device filled with dry oil and flint.
"Enjoy the warmth."
BOOOMMMM!!!
Small, but precise.
Tree-Man burned from the inside. Fire licked the living roots, which screamed in unnatural agony. They tried to escape... but too late.
Brama broke free, falling hard, his shoulder nearly dislocated.
He rose, barely.
The creature still stood, half-burnt, roots shrieking in an unearthly tongue.
Brama approached, grabbed a metal shard from rubble, and bashed its skull again and again.
CRAACK!! CRAACK!! CRAAACKKK!!
Finally, its head split. The core root destroyed. The body trembled—then fell like a felled tree.
No more regrowth.
---
Fourth – Living Corpse
The air turned cold.
Not the cold of weather or mist. But a chill from within the bone.
A lone figure crept from the dark. Crawling. Slowly. Its body like a human corpse, yet not blackened, not decayed. Just... wrong.
Its face blank. Eyes empty.
Yet its aura was thick... bending space around it. Leaves withered. Birds dropped from the sky, dead.
> System: This entity is the result of a failed cultivation experiment. Cannot live. Cannot die. The shattered soul core emits decay that disintegrates nearby life.
Suggestion: Destroy its body completely. Do not let it close in.
Brama steadied himself.
Suddenly, the Corpse shrieked.
BRAAAAGHHHHH!!!
Not a human sound. Not a beast. But the scream of a nightmare.
Brama barely reacted in time. The figure was already two spears away, crawling spider-like.
A wave of death swept the earth.
Ruda dove from the sky, unleashing flames.
But the fire... died before touching it. As if flames couldn't exist near it.
Brama leapt back, biting his lip until blood spilled. Pain sharpened his focus.
"This isn't something to face head-on."
He grabbed a sharp rubble shard—flung it at the creature's eye.
CRACK!
It lodged deep.
The creature roared—but kept crawling.
Two steps.
One step.
Brama pivoted, slamming his knee into its throat—just enough to lift its body slightly.
He raised his spear—drove it into the neck, tearing right—then left.
SRAAAAKKK!!!
Black ink-like blood burst.
But it still lived.
Brama yanked its head down, smashed it into the ground, then drove his knee into its skull.
KRAAAAKK!!
Skull cracked. Still, it moved.
He hoisted a large rock—dropped it again and again on its head.
KRAK!
KRAK!
KRAAAK!!!
Until at last, it stopped moving.
Not because it died.
But because it was utterly destroyed.
Brama stood still.
His hands trembled. Blood dripped from his brow, shoulder, and burned palms.
"It's over."
> DING.
Confirmation: 23 Level-5 targets eliminated.
Wave Three: Complete.
Brama didn't cheer.
There was no time for that.
Because from behind the fog…
the ground began to rumble again.