The campsite had been enveloped in the quiet of the night, with only the gentle sound of the wind inflating and deflating the tents, adding to the sense of tranquility. The dark forest stretched out as far as the eye could see, adding nature’s familiar hum to the silence. Rays of moonlight occasionally pierced through the trees, casting a soothing bluish light over the area. However, this peace was about to be broken.

A group dressed in white, holding swords and staves, began rushing towards the campsite where Lucian and the others lay. They surrounded the area, believing Lucian and the rest were still asleep in their tents.

The leader of the group stepped forward, dressed in a white robe adorned with gold embroidery. Her skin was a pale white, and her black hair hung loosely over her sleepy-looking eyes. She opened the book in her hand and declared, "Oh, heretic, we know you’re here. Show yourself!"

But no one emerged from the tents.

“So, you prefer to do this the hard way? So be it!” she said, and just as she spoke, Lucian stepped out of the tent. “Alright, alright, how about calming down a bit? Clearly, there’s been a misunderstanding here. I only pray to the gods every Saturday morning for a little extra sleep,” he said in a mocking tone.

“Your jokes won’t stop your purification. We are here to purify you in the name of our great goddess.”

“Purify? What does that mean? Am I supposed to confess my sins, or are you planning to execute me? You do realize I’m only nine, right?” he said, trying to appear innocent.

The woman holding the book opened it and began chanting some sort of magical incantation.

“I guess it’s the latter…” Lucian sighed. He channeled energy into his hands and clapped loudly. This was the signal that Serenna and Arslan had been waiting for. They swiftly appeared from opposite sides, standing in front of the group’s leader with their swords crossed against her neck.

“Are you ready to talk now?” Lucian asked.

The woman, who appeared to be the leader, started laughing after hearing Lucian’s words. “HAHAHAHA! Do you really think a pair of swords can stop a herald of the gods?”

Lucian replied, “There’s only one way to find out.” Hearing this, Arslan and Serenna drove their swords into the woman’s neck. Arslan turned around, grinning, “The plan worked!” But unbeknownst to him, something was happening behind him.

Lucian, shocked at what he was seeing, said, “Uh, guys, I think you might want to step back.”

Serenna quickly jumped away, but Arslan remained where he stood, still unaware. “What’s going on, guys?” he asked, and Lucian yelled, “TURN AROUND, YOU FOOL!”

When Arslan turned, he couldn’t believe the horrifying sight before him. The woman he had just beheaded was growing and transforming into a grotesque creature made of what looked like deformed mud or sludge.

In shock, Arslan jumped backward and drew his sword. “What the hell is going on?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care to find out. Let’s attack before that thing grows any larger!” Lucian commanded.

Arslan and Serenna nodded in agreement and charged at the creature. They slashed at it from both sides, leaving massive gashes in its body. Lucian, already in position in front of the creature, channeled his aura through his muscles, from his feet to his hips, back, shoulders, and arms, delivering a powerful right hook to the monster’s body. His punch created a massive hole, large enough for a few people to pass through.

“There’s no way it can survive that hit,” Lucian said.

Serenna slowly turned toward Lucian and Arslan. “Didn’t you guys notice something strange?”

Arslan, with an expression that already gave away what he was about to say, asked, “Strange? What do you mean?”

“Despite having swords and staves, none of the others made any moves to attack. It’s like they were just standing there for show.”

As Serenna spoke, the monster began trembling and rippling.

Lucian raised his fists, getting into position again. “Get ready. It doesn’t look like this thing is dead yet!” he warned.

Suddenly, arms shot out from the creature’s body and grabbed the men in white robes. As it pulled them toward itself, they shouted, “FOR GODDESS MITHYSE!” The creature absorbed them into its body, seemingly fusing with them.

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Arslan looked at the monster and said, “Guys, I think I understand what’s happening!” He turned to Lucian and Serenna, excited to share his realization, but the expressions on their faces left him disappointed. “I guess you’ve figured it out too…”

The creature, devouring the men it had absorbed, began rapidly healing its wounds.

Lucian shouted in frustration, "Aren’t these supposed to be damn priests? What kind of sick faith is this!?"

The creature, now fully healed, quickly attacked, ripping a tree from the ground with its slimy arms and hurling it towards Serenna. Serenna sliced the tree in half mid-air and said, "Considering there are thousands of religions in Igrapth, it could be any one of them."

Lucian looked at her and thought, “A massive mud monster that just ate your friends threw a tree at you, you cut it in half, and now you’re chatting like nothing happened? You’re just trying to be the cool big sister, aren’t you?” Serenna, as if reading his mind, shot him a stern look and said, "You should focus on the fight."

The monster, taking advantage of their conversation, had already ripped another tree from the ground and hurled it at Lucian. He smashed the tree apart with a powerful right hook, splitting it in two. "I’m as focused as ever," he said. Hearing this, Arslan started laughing. "What’s with the cheesy lines?" he shouted, laughing even harder.

Lucian, now irritated, yelled, "DAMN IT, ATTACK!"

All three of them charged forward. The creature, with multiple arms sprouting from its body, continued to lift and throw trees and massive rocks. Serenna effortlessly sliced through the trees as if they were butter, advancing toward the creature. Arslan, using a more barbaric sword style, swung with overwhelming force, smashing everything in his path as he moved closer to the monster.

Lucian dodged the incoming trees with the “slip” technique, a move often used by boxers to avoid punches by slightly tilting or shifting the head and body. This technique involves maintaining stable legs while dodging strikes with upper body movements, allowing for quick counterattacks. Of course, the attacks here weren’t just punches; they were the giant trees and boulders the monster was hurling. Lucian and the others dodged and attacked continuously, but the creature kept growing, healing as it absorbed more of its followers.

As Serenna continued attacking with her sword, she shouted to the others, "THE MORE WE HIT IT, THE MORE IT HEALS AND GROWS! LOOK AT HOW MANY FOLLOWERS IT STILL HAS—THERE'S NO WAY WE CAN KEEP THIS UP FOR LONG!"

Hearing this, Arslan became even more enraged, attacking faster and harder. "I CAN FIGHT UNTIL MORNING!" he shouted, but even he was visibly tiring. Meanwhile, Lucian, equally exhausted, was racking his brain for a solution. Finally, an idea struck him.

Lucian: "I’ve got a plan! But while I fight the monster, you guys need to hold off the followers and stop the creature from absorbing them!"

Serenna: "You’re going to fight that thing alone!? Even the three of us are struggling to hold it off. If it focuses all its attacks on you, you won’t survive." But Arslan seemed to have a different opinion.

"Fine, I’ll take the followers on the right!" he shouted. Serenna, shocked, replied, "Are you insane? You’re just going to leave Lucian to fight it alone?"

Arslan responded in confusion, "Leave him alone? The one who’s going to be alone is the monster."

Serenna could only mutter, "Alright then..." and ran toward the followers on the left. Now, it was just Lucian and the creature.

"Alright, monster, now that it’s just the two of us, I suppose this counts as our first date, right?" Lucian taunted.

The monster let out an ear-piercing scream and focused all its attacks on Lucian, hurling dozens of trees and massive rocks at him. Dodging a few trees and rocks wasn’t too difficult, but now he had to avoid nearly ten times as many attacks at once. It wasn’t easy, but fortunately, Lucian’s boxing techniques and magic weren’t going to let him down. He channeled his aura throughout his body, enhancing his mobility, and focused solely on dodging. This allowed him to close the gap between himself and the creature. Noticing this, the creature stopped throwing trees and rocks.

"Looks like you’re ready for some romance now, but I’m not paying for the dinner of the people you’ve eaten."

After Lucian’s mocking remark, the creature sprouted even more arms, now hundreds of them, and launched them all at Lucian. The tips of the arms were so sharp that a single hit could cause devastating damage. Realizing that aura alone wouldn’t be enough, Lucian began using wind magic to increase his speed. He had to use the wind magic perfectly, or his movement could falter, and he’d get hit. Despite his best efforts to dodge at full speed, small cuts began to form on his body. Just as one of the arms came for his face, Lucian dodged at the last moment, but a small cut appeared on his cheek.

"Alright, alright, I’ll pay for dinner. Just calm down a bit!"

The creature withdrew all its arms and paused.

"Did that actually work?"

The creature started trembling again and suddenly sprouted thousands of arms.

"Ah, crap… maybe fighting this thing alone wasn’t such a good idea after all…"