The terrain changed as they descended.The molten ridge gave way to swamp—mud thick as oil, reeds rising like skeletal fingers from pools that glowed faintly green. Each step sank with a wet, sucking pull, and the air turned heavy with the stench of rot and stagnant mana.

The fog here was different—alive. It coiled between the trees, whispering in voices that weren't quite echoes.

"Shadow resonance confirmed," Caria murmured, scanning with a small crystal scope. "Mana density's off the charts. We're in the serpent's lair."

Aria slowed her pace, eyes scanning the pools. "Everyone, spread two meters apart. Poison mist will be layered. Sophia, keep your barrier active."

"Already on it." A shimmering blue veil expanded outward, coating the team in faint light. The air immediately cleared around them, the toxins dissolving into harmless steam.

Moonbounce snorted, his shell refracting the green haze into motes of gold light. He stepped gingerly, every movement deliberate.

Then—a ripple.

The entire swamp shivered.

Something moved beneath the murky surface—slow, immense, deliberate. It wasn't a ripple this time, but a tide.

Rhys drew his sword in silence. The runes flared a dull, warning crimson. "Below."

The ground beneath them bulged. The water breathed.

Then, with a hiss like a thousand arrows, the surface broke.

A colossal serpent rose from the mire—its scales black-green and slick with sludge, its eyes gleaming with liquid amethyst fire. The air warped around it, thick with shadow mana and venom so concentrated it corroded the mist itself.

Caria took a step back. "Tier five—no, adaptive spawn. That's higher than expected!"

"Focus!" Aria barked. "Don't let it anchor the field!"

The serpent opened its jaws, and a wave of dark vapor rolled forward—everything it touched turned brittle and black.

"Mana Shield!" Rhys called, thrusting his sword into the ground. A barrier of azure energy spread in a circle, holding the miasma back. Steam hissed where the two forces met, the air crackling with distortion.

Sophia's voice rang from behind him. "Countering with Purity Pulse!"

Her staff blazed, sending pillars of white-blue light through the swamp. The shadows hissed and shrank back, revealing a glimpse of the serpent's true form—a body coiled through the entire basin, large enough that its tail vanished into the distance.

"It's anchoring its core below!" Caria shouted. "That's where the poison's coming from!"

"Then we cut it off," Aria said. "Rhys, take Moonbounce and dive. Sophia, support them with cleansing flux. Caria, suppressive fire."

Rhys didn't hesitate. "Understood."

He vaulted onto Moonbounce's back, gripping his sword tightly as the turtle's shell flared with divine light. "Dive form—initiate!"

With a thunderous crack, the pair surged into the water, the swamp exploding into a whirl of gold and black. Visibility vanished instantly. The water wasn't water—it was thick, acidic sludge filled with drifting bones and shards of obsidian.

Through the haze, Rhys saw it—a pulsing black organ buried in the muck, tethered to the serpent's main body by cords of glowing venom.

"That's the anchor."

Moonbounce's runes brightened. "Resonant Blast?"

Rhys nodded. "On my mark."

He raised his sword, channeling mana through every fiber of his body until the blade glowed like a small star. "Now!"

The turtle roared, unleashing a shockwave that parted the swamp from within. Rhys struck downward, cleaving through the anchor vein—and the entire basin screamed.

Above, the serpent convulsed violently, its body thrashing with enough force to send waves crashing over the ridges. Aria braced her spear, driving it into the ground as the tremors shook the marsh apart.

"Hold steady!" she shouted.

Sophia raised her staff. "Purity Flux—maximum output!"

A ring of blue fire spread across the surface. Everywhere it touched, the corruption recoiled and burned away.

Then, with a final roar that sounded like thunder being torn in half, the serpent's form shattered—its scales melting into streams of shadow that evaporated into the mist.

When the air cleared, only its core remained—a black gem veined with green light, hovering just above the cracked mud.

Rhys surfaced, drenched but unscathed, Moonbounce rising beside him like a shining monolith.

"Seven," he said simply.

Aria approached, pulling the core from the air. It pulsed once in her palm before going still. "Shadow Venom Heart. Very rare. Good work."

Caria exhaled, lowering her crossbow. "That thing was… bigger than last time."

Sophia nodded, wiping her brow. "It adapted. Again."

Rhys's expression hardened. "Faster this time, too."

Aria met his gaze. "That makes three adaptive mutations in a row. Someone's feeding the system."

"Or testing it," Rhys murmured.

The wind shifted. Somewhere beyond the basin, ten faint pulses of mana answered at once—each one different in rhythm, yet perfectly synchronized.

Caria, Sophia, and Aria looked at Rhys as he spoke.

"It's syncing with the bosses we've defeated so far."

The others stared at him, clearly surprised.

"Wait—how did you figure that out so fast?" Sophia asked. "It took us three full runs and a hint from my sister to even understand what was happening to the bosses."

Aria folded her arms, impressed despite herself. "You noticed it just from the mana fluctuations?"

Rhys shrugged lightly. "It's not that hard to see once you know what to look for. Each one we've beaten leaves a trace behind—their mana patterns are merging with the rest. I can see it shifting."

Caria blinked. "You can see the flow itself?"

"Something like that," Rhys replied, eyes half-lidded as the air pulsed faintly around them. "So that means the more bosses we defeat, the stronger the remaining ones get."

Aria nodded slowly. "Exactly. Every victory fuels the others. That's the curse of this place."

The three exchanged knowing glances. They had come to this floor many times before, already familiar with the pattern—but they had pretended not to, curious to see if Rhys would catch on himself.

To their quiet surprise, he had—almost immediately, without needing a single hint.

Aria let out a low whistle, a small grin tugging at her lips. "You're sharper than most first-timers we've brought here. I can see why the Guild's been talking about you."

Sophia smirked, nudging Caria with her elbow. "Told you he wasn't just another lucky beast tamer."

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