By its size, there was no doubt in his mind that it was a creature with a core.

When all the liquid stopped pouring out, it took the shape of a bat as large as an adult man and solidified. Its appearance was similar to the smaller bats, but for some reason, Tristan felt something was wrong with this beast. He noticed that its flight wasn’t as stable and fluid as the others; it seemed more erratic. It was very subtle, and he was only able to notice due to his eyes' ability to track movements precisely.

'Tsk, well, this is new,' Tristan thought, discouraged.

Seeing the creature change its physical state only served to confirm his suspicions; as far as he knew, only an ability could have this kind of effect.

Jaeng, who had been stunned, slowly began to stand.

His eyes widened in fear when he saw the powerful creature in front of them.

"Impossible, there's no way to beat that thing!" Jaeng said.

"What are we... what are we going to do?" Jaeng asked in a trembling voice.

Seeing his companion trembling and nearly panicking, Tristan handed him his oil lamp and said,

"Take this; you handle the smaller bats."

He looked at the huge and imposing flying beast.

"I'll kill the big one."

With a surprised expression, Jaeng asked, "Are you sure? That’s a real magic beast, and you're already exhausted!"

"It's not like we have many other options," he replied.

The giant beast dove toward the two, ending the conversation.

Tristan moved away from Jaeng and ran into the tunnel. He placed two fingers between his lips and whistled, the sound drawing the attention of the monsters around him.

The giant bat was the quickest, adjusting its body and changing its flight path towards Tristan.

He moved as far away as possible from Jaeng and his oil lamp. Now, in the deep darkness of the tunnel, he could only see the shape of that monstrous creature approaching.

When the other bats tried to follow the larger one, Jaeng caught their attention and stepped in their way.

Tristan wondered if Jaeng could handle the other bats alone or if he could survive the next confrontation.

As the monster got close enough to try to swallow him, Tristan dodged to the right and performed a vertical slash with his sword, aiming at one of the beast's wings.

But when his blade touched the monster's body, he only felt resistance for a second. His blade sank into the wing and passed through it without leaving a mark.

The monster landed behind him, digging its ten claws into the ground. Its enormous body rose before Tristan, with its wings spread wide.

Tristan felt overwhelmed, but he didn’t give up. He charged forward, spinning his body to strike a horizontal slash at the creature’s abdomen.

But again, his sword passed through the creature's body without causing damage. This time, he saw more clearly what happened: the monster's entire body turned into slime the moment his sword touched it.

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The beast screeched and struck Tristan with its wings, causing him to drop his sword and throwing him far away.

Tristan gritted his teeth in pain as his body hit the ground.

Taking advantage of his weakness, the creature lunged, trying to bite him with its large fangs.

Still, on the ground, Tristan grabbed the bat’s two upper canines with his hands.

The difference in their mass was immense. He had to use all the strength that his vital energy could provide to prevent the monster from tearing off his head.

His arms trembled from the effort.

[Dark Blade]

A short black blade appeared in his right hand, and he swung his arm diagonally upward, cutting through several of the bat’s teeth along with part of the beast’s forehead.

The creature recoiled in pain.

Wasting no time, Tristan charged at the monster again, leaping toward it and aiming his dark blade at the creature’s heart.

Unfortunately, when the blade hit the creature, it became non-solid once more. In its slime form, the creature moved behind Tristan.

'Even Darkness doesn’t affect this thing?' he thought.

Stepping back, he watched as the monster solidified again and charged at him.

He only dodged the beast's attacks, thinking of a solution to the situation.

Then something worried him. He looked at the monster’s head, where he had left a terrible cut that would likely have killed any normal creature. But now, the wound seemed to have closed.

'I hope this thing doesn't have more tricks up its sleeve; otherwise, my plans might not be enough.'

He swallowed hard and jumped towards his sword. At that moment, it was important to use as little essence as possible.

'Let's see if this works.' After studying the creature’s abilities, he felt confident in his plan.

He faced the giant bat once more.

Circulating essence throughout his body and strengthening his muscle fibers, he sprinted toward his enemy.

Although the creature likely had no emotions, Tristan could almost see the excitement on its face.

The creature made a powerful leap and flew towards him.

Tristan put all his strength into his legs and jumped onto the beast’s back as it approached to devour him.

He grabbed the monster's back fur and made a motion to stab the creature.

Unsurprisingly, he felt the creature turning into slime again.

"Not this time, bastard!"

[Fallen Grace]

The white light of his Rank 1 ability spread across the creature's body.

‘Maintain order’, he thought.

He managed to delay the creature's transformation for a brief moment, but it was enough for him to plunge his sword into the beast’s back.

It felt as though his ability was in a tug-of-war with the monster’s transformation ability. To his dismay, almost immediately, he knew he didn’t stand a chance.

His lips twisted in displeasure, and a grimace appeared on his face. 'The monster’s ability must be superior to mine.'

The creature completed its transformation, and Tristan sank into its body, falling to the ground.

Fortunately, when the creature solidified again, he saw it squirm in pain.

Seeing this, Tristan’s lips curled into a subtle smile.

‘Now I just need a good opportunity to land a fatal blow.’

He gripped his sword’s hilt tighter.

The creature didn’t seem to care about his enthusiasm; it moved with the same vigor it had at the start of the fight as if Tristan’s attacks were nothing more than a minor annoyance.

The monster approached and slammed its massive wings into Tristan's small body again.

The force of the impact pushed Tristan back, but he managed to stay on his feet.

He decided to retreat to the pile of rocks blocking the tunnel exit, and the giant bat pursued him.

When Tristan’s back touched the stones, he knew there was nowhere left to retreat. He prepared for the creature’s next attack.

Seeing its prey cornered, a strange liquid dripped from the creature's mouth. Its jaws opened wide enough to swallow Tristan in one bite.

The monster lunged and closed its teeth around where Tristan had been standing, but its jaws snapped shut on nothing but air.

The bat sniffed the spot where Tristan had been but found nothing. Confused, the creature raised its head, its large, pointed ears twitching back and forth.

Then, suddenly, the creature felt something fall from the sky, colliding with its head.

[Shadow Aura]

Tristan had saved that ability for the perfect moment. While hidden, he quickly climbed the rocks blocking the tunnel to jump onto the creature's head.

With his knowledge of the bats from Earth, he felt that this ability could affect the creature, especially in this type of environment.

He sensed the creature trying to transform.

[Fallen Grace]

His ability could only delay the monster’s transformation by a few seconds, but Tristan had prepared to make those seconds count.

Grabbing the beast’s neck with his right arm while using Fallen Grace, he drove his sword into the creature’s ear with all the strength left from the last drops of essence in his body.

He felt his sword piercing the creature’s brain.

Surprisingly, the monster didn’t die immediately.

Tristan clenched his teeth so hard that he almost felt they would break. His orange core burned with such effort, and he maintained Fallen Grace for as long as he could.

He twisted his hand and turned the sword’s hilt.

"Die, wretch!"