Trees and foliage flashed by in a blur as Jade continued her relentless pursuit. If she'd had a mind to consider it, the succubus would have been awed by the sheer speed her magically enhanced body was able to maintain. On open ground she would have been able to go even faster, but the forest floor was littered with impediments. Even so, Jade's high agility score allowed her to navigate the complex terrain with superhuman finesse, leaping fallen trees and dancing through thickets with grace born from years of hard training.

Step by step, she drew closer to her foe. The bone titan continued to smash its way through the forest, travelling in a direct line and simply charging through anything that got in its way. This was both a blessing and a curse. The monster's progress was slowed each time it ploughed through a tree, but it also left a swath of debris that was no mean feat to navigate at speed.

At least, that was the case for the rest of Jade's companions.

Step by step, she drew closer to her foe. Jade was near enough now to feel the ground vibrating with its heavy footfalls. The monster towered over her, nearly as tall as some of the shorter trees. It continued its mindless course, giving no indication that it knew or cared about her proximity. Jade wasn't exactly sure how far away Lysara was, they'd taken something of a roundabout route to reach the stronghold, but she had a feeling that it wouldn't take long to reach the elven village at this breakneck pace.

Which meant she had to halt its advance now, before it reached the nearly undefended village.

The giant undead crashed through another tree, sending a shower of splinters in every direction. The impact slowed it for just a moment, and Jade dipped into her dwindling reserves of energy to put on a burst of speed. With a final leap, she flung herself onto the bottom of one of the creature's legs, clinging to one of the many protrusions extending from the amalgamation of bones that comprised its body.

Jade's chest heaved from the exertion of a prolonged sprint, her heart thundering in her ears, accompanying the pounding smash of the bone titan's footfalls. She hung on for dear life as she was jerked back and forth by its swinging legs, immediately channeling mana into the quickest spell in her arsenal that had a chance to slow it down.

"Noctis!" She gasped, pressing her palm against its leg. If she'd been trying to aim the spell at a sprint against a moving target, there was a better than even chance that it would've missed. Invoking the magic while touching her quarry eliminated that risk. A cloud of dark fog sprayed from Jade's hand, swirling around the boss's body and coalescing around its giant skull. The D rank 'Clinging Darkness' spell was barely potent enough to affect such a powerful creature, but at these high speeds, it only needed to work for a moment.

Just as Jade hoped, even a brief instance of blindness was enough. The bone titan clipped a sturdy tree with its shoulder, the impact sending it reeling into another one. This time it hit head-on, stopping dead in its tracks with a mighty crash that sent pieces of broken branches and bone showering down around them. Jade barely managed to maintain her grip on the creature, her feet slipping free from their perch and leaving her dangling by her fingertips.

That get your attention? She thought with a savage grin. The thrill of battle welled up within her, but Jade refused to let it consume her.

With a grunt, Jade swung herself back into place, glancing up at the towering boss. Before it could recover from the impact, she began scaling its body as she would a rock face, scrambling up as quickly as her limbs could carry her. Just like the weaker skeleton's she'd fought, 'Vital Strike' revealed a singular vulnerability on this monster: The top of its spine. Unfortunately, that wasn't so easily reached on a creature the size a of small building.

Jade's enhanced stats made her nearly as fast a climber as she was a runner, and she was more than halfway up the bone titan's back before it finally noticed her. It growled, a deep rumbling sound that reverberated through its form, and reached back with its fully formed arm to scrape her off. The monster's enormous ribs provided ample footing for maneuvering, and Jade hopped to the side just in time to avoid being pierced by its grasping fingers, each of which were the length of a spear.

It missed by inches, and Jade used the opening to scamper up the remaining distance to its neck, flicking her tail back and forth to maintain balance. Drawing her hammer, she got a firm grip on a handhold and brought the weapon down hard on the back of its neck. A resounding crack echoed through the forest, accompanied by a spiderweb of hairline fractures that spread across the monster's spine. She struck again and again, slamming the vulnerable point repeatedly with the strongest blows she could muster from her awkward perch.

A flash of movement caught her eye. It was the monster's other arm, reaching back over its shoulder to smash her against its body. She noticed it too late to dodge. Acting purely on reflex, Jade moved in the only way she could to avoid being crushed. Leaping clear of the wounded boss, the succubus flung herself into open air. The monster's limb swiped across where she'd been hanging just a moment before, and Jade grasped on to its enormous forearm, hanging precariously dozens of feet above the forest floor. She lost her grip on her hammer during the maneuver and it fell away, disappearing into the foliage beneath her.

Before Jade could do anything more than adjust her grip, she found herself being swept around to the monster's front. It raised its arm to bring her to eye level, the enormous empty sockets of its eyes boring into her with a palpable malevolence. The monster was terrifying to behold. Its oversized head was comprised of dozens, maybe hundreds of actual humanoid skulls, all interlocked together to form a macabre tapestry of death.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

Jade's heart fluttered in fear, her focus wavering as finally, the monster brought its full attention to bear on her.

I can't beat this thing…

Doubt wormed its way into her mind. Jade's resolve faltered, her fingers slipping from her precarious perch. With no other options, Jade turned to the only source of strength she possessed that could overcome such overwhelming adversity. Gritting her teeth, she let loose the leash on her demonic fury.

The monster's other arm was rushing towards her, on course to swat her out of the air and send her crashing down to the ground far below. Jade tried to heave herself up and out of the way, but her hesitation had cost her precious moments. She wasn't going to make it.

Something small crackled past her with incredible speed, passing between her and the bone titan's head. An arrow slammed into the monster's onrushing arm, discharging a blast on lightning that crackled across its body. It flinched, and the impact was just enough to throw off its aim. Jade tucked her legs up to her chest as its strike flashed under her, narrowly missing.

"We're coming!" Fenrin's voice shouted from the trees behind her, followed by another arrow. "Hang on!"

A feral smile graced Jade's lips. The sudden attack had distracted the monster, leaving it vulnerable. With one smooth motion Jade completed the pull up and swung herself on top of the monster's enormous arm. The bumpy, rounded form of its forearm made for treacherous footing, but she rose to her feet with confidence. Hot fury coursed through her veins, igniting a fierce desire to not just defeat this monster, but to utterly destroy it. This creature dared to stand against her? It was time to teach it a lesson.

Jade drew a dagger from her belt, sprinting down the length of its arm, wings flared for balance. The bone titan hissed, its eye sockets flashing with a burst of green flames. It swung its arm in a wide arc, dislodging Jade before she could reach its main body and flinging her towards a towering tree. She didn't even have to think. Her body spun in the air, positioning her to land feet first against the massive trunk. Its other arm was already rushing towards her, but Jade didn't lose in a contest of speed. With a burst of mana she blinked away, dashing up the trunk of the tree and leaving a glimmering illusion behind.

SMASH

The huge undead pulverized the tree where she'd landed a moment before, obliterating her duplicate and sending the top half of the tree toppling towards the ground. Jade ran along the trunk of the falling tree, skillfully keeping her footing as the world rotated around her.

One! Two! Three quick steps on the plummeting trunk carried her to just the right spot, and Jade leapt again, this time arcing over the bone titan's head. She twisted in the air, spinning to slash her dagger across its cracked and weakened neck.

Damn it!

She had overshot it. Not by much, but her momentum had carried her a hair too far. She swung anyway, lunging in midair in a desperate attempt to land a decisive blow. Jade willed the blade to reach her target, pushing as hard as she could.

Something shifted around her. Jade's aura, that nebulous shroud of mana that she was still growing accustomed to, rushed down her outstretched arm in a sudden wave. It crystalized around her blade, the mana responding to her will like a living part of her body. The result was a glowing lance of blue energy that wreathed her dagger, substantially extending her reach. There was no time to ponder the sudden manifestation. Bolstered with a surge of renewed strength, Jade swung for all she was worth as she dove past the bone titan's head.

She was still too far. The tip of her newly elongated blade scraped across the monster's vulnerable spine, scoring only a shallow groove as she fell past it. Jade gritted her teeth in frustration, preparing for a hard landing.

But she didn't need to. A pillar of earth was rising to meet her, protruding from the ground as a rounded column that rocketed up to meet her as she began to fall.

Trust your team.

You don't have to do it all by yourself.

Christina's words echoed through her mind. It broke through the haze of anger and frustration, and Jade smiled tightly.

Thanks, Aylin.

I'll take it from here.

Jade flipped in the air, landing feet first on the column of dirt. The impact was jarring, sending a lance of pain through her legs, but she held firm. The bone titan was starting to turn towards her, but it was too slow. The pillar was rising fast, and Jade jumped again, flinging herself back towards her foe.

This time, she timed it perfectly.

Soaring through the air with a roar, Jade plunged her glowing mana blade into the center of the creature's spine. It penetrated easily, and she buried the dagger up to its hilt with a single, savage thrust. It was too much for the monster to take. Cracks rippled through its entire body as if it were made of glass and, a moment later, the entire creature came apart. Bones split and fragmented, cascading down in a massive wave that crashed to the forest floor. Jade rode the tide down as best she could. She hit the ground hard and went sprawling, rolling into a thicket of bushes that snagged and tugged at her wings. She finally came to a rest lying faceup in a patch of dirt, breathing hard. Her body ached all over, and several scratches and scrapes dripped with blood. She hardly noticed.

Her aura shifted back to normal, the flickering blue blade dissolving into wisps of smoke. Numerous notifications flashed through her vision, but she pushed them aside for the moment. Jade took a deep breath, trying to slow her thundering heart.

Holy shit.

She'd done it. Her heart swelled with triumph, but something was tainting it. It took Jade several moments to parse exactly what she was feeling and, when she finally did, the discovery was unsettling.

The thrill of victory and success wasn't enough for her, not entirely. Her succubus instincts, which she had unleashed in the fight, were unsatisfied. There had been no emotion to drink from her unfeeling victim, nothing to sate the ever-present hunger. It was still there, twisting and yearning, a lust for power and dominance.

Pounding footsteps approached.

"Jade!" Naomi called out. "Are you okay?!"

Jade forced away the unpleasant feelings. She'd fed recently enough that her hunger was still manageable, but the sensation was uncomfortable. It lingered in the back of her mind, subdued, but not dispersed.

"Jade?" Fenrin called.

"Here!" She finally answered, sitting up. "I'm alright."

They'd won. For now, that was all that mattered. There'd be time to sort through the rest of it later.