"Trap!"

A deep rumble vibrated through the cavern floor. Dust and small pebbles rained from above. Soomin wanted to run, to help, to do something, but her legs refused to move.

WHOOSH!

Thick rope nets dropped from hidden alcoves in the ceiling, engulfing Raphael in their sticky embrace. He roared in frustration, his muscular frame instantly entangled in the crude but effective bindings.

"What the—get this off me!" Raphael thrashed wildly, his rage escalating with each failed attempt to break free.

THWIP! THWIP! THWIP!

The distinctive sound of darts cutting through air snapped Soomin's attention to the surrounding shadows. Yellow eyes gleamed from hidden alcoves as tiny, gnarled hands steadied primitive blowguns. The goblins weren't aiming for Raphael. They were targeting everyone else.

A dart embedded itself in Juan's shoulder with a soft thud. He glanced at it with mild annoyance, as if someone had merely tapped him rudely.

"Oh, that's not..." Juan's eyes suddenly rolled back. His body went limp, collapsing to the ground like a puppet with severed strings. As he crumpled to the floor, he managed a final mutter:

"Troublesome..."

It's my fault. The thought crashed through Soomin's mind. No, it's Jacob's fault for making us hesitate. No, it's MY fault for not speaking up! I knew something was wrong. I felt it in my gut, but I was too scared to say anything. And now Juan is... he's hurt because of me!

Raphael let out a guttural roar that echoed through the chamber. His body glowed with kinetic energy, muscles straining against the net.

"ENOUGH OF THIS CRAP!"

BOOM!

The net vaporized in an explosion of pure force. So did a significant chunk of the cavern wall. Rock fragments flew in all directions as a section of the ceiling collapsed, blocking their exit path with rubble and filling the air with choking dust.

"You idiot!" Skylar's cool composure finally cracked as she dodged falling debris. "Are you trying to kill us all?"

Skylar whirled through the chaos, her twin trench knives flashing as she deflected darts with inhuman speed. But the goblins were firing in coordinated volleys, forcing her into a purely defensive stance. For each dart she knocked away, two more threatened to find their mark.

"T-t-two on the high ledge! They're reloading!" Jacob's voice cracked with terror, but his eyes darted everywhere at once, his Aspect working overtime. "Watch your six, Skylar! Three more coming from behind that stalagmite!"

Soomin glanced at Satori, expecting him to join the fray. Instead, he moved with disturbing calm, examining the battlefield with analytical detachment. His eyes tracked every dart, every goblin, every falling rock. He seemed almost... disappointed, as if this chaos was exactly what he'd anticipated.

A movement caught Soomin's eye. A smaller goblin, quicker than the others, had slipped past Raphael's blind rage and Skylar's defense. It ignored the others completely. Its glowing yellow eyes locked directly on Soomin, recognizing the weakest link. It raised a crude club studded with rusty nails, lips pulling back to reveal yellow, jagged teeth.

Time slowed. Soomin saw every detail with terrible clarity – the goblin's mottled green skin, the crusted blood on its weapon, the single-minded intent to harm her gleaming in those bulbous eyes. Her throat tightened. Her chest constricted.

She screamed. A raw, terrified sound that tore from her throat.

And then...something changed.

The scream transformed. What began as a high-pitched shriek of terror morphed into something else entirely – a low, guttural, furious roar that reverberated through the cavern walls. The sound silenced everything for a heartbeat.

Pain exploded at the base of Soomin's spine. Blinding, searing agony that felt like her back was being torn open from the inside. She arched backward, her vision overwhelmed by brilliant white light. Something burst from her lower back, whipping through the air behind her with such force that she felt the displacement of air against her skin.

Her tail. Her tail had emerged, glowing with ethereal energy that cast eerie shadows across the cavern walls.

Her fingers tingled, then burned as her nails extended into sharp, black claws, the transformation sending waves of both pain and exhilaration through her trembling hands. Her uniform suddenly felt tight, constricting as her muscles tensed and shifted beneath her skin, becoming denser, stronger, more responsive. The world sharpened into crystalline focus, every detail suddenly visible in overwhelming clarity, tinged with an ethereal blue hue that made even the darkest corners of the cave seem illuminated.

The damp smell of the cave transformed into a symphony of scents that assaulted her heightened senses – the ozone crackle of Raphael's power, sharp and electric; the subtle floral notes of Skylar's perfume, delicate yet persistent; the acrid fear-sweat pouring from Jacob, bitter and pungent... and the foul, delicious stench of prey – a musk that awakened something primal and hungry deep within her.

The fear that had paralyzed her moments ago vanished. Completely. In its place rose a thrilling, ecstatic clarity that flooded every cell in her body with liquid confidence. The goblin before her was no longer a threat. It was a toy. A plaything. Its terrified expression – the way its earlier confidence had transformed into pure, delicious terror – was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, like watching a masterpiece painting come to life before her eyes.

A low, breathy giggle escaped her lips, sounding foreign to her own ears. "Oh... you shouldn't have done that."

Raphael stopped mid-roar, his jaw literally hanging open, explosive energy dissipating harmlessly from his fingertips. "What the fuck?"

Skylar's professional demeanor shattered like fine crystal. "No way..."

Satori leaned against the wall, settling in to watch the unfolding spectacle with undisguised interest. A slow, knowing smile spread across his face. He looked... pleased, as though witnessing the first blooming of a carefully cultivated flower.

The goblin swung its crude club at Soomin's head in a desperate, panicked arc. She didn't dodge. Instead, she caught the weapon mid-swing with one clawed hand, the rusty nails scraping harmlessly against her skin like gentle caresses. With a casual flick of her wrist, she crushed the wood into splinters, feeling each fiber give way beneath her newfound strength.

Her other hand lashed out, claws extended, slicing through the creature's digital flesh with effortless grace. SCRREEE! The goblin dissipated into shimmering, pixelated particles that danced around her fingertips.

"More," Soomin whispered, her blue eyes glowing with unnatural light, pupils contracting to vertical slits. "I want more. I need more."

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