Amid the towering trees and thick foliage that blocked out most of the sunlight, there were rare spots where the canopy thinned, allowing patches of light to slip through and illuminate the forest floor.

But this wasn’t one of those places.

Even rarer than the sunlit clearings were the parts of the forest where sunlight never reached, where the leaves above were too dense and the vines too tangled. Parts where the air was dim, with shadows stretching endlessly, swallowing any trace of brightness—a place where light simply couldn’t touch.

And right now, I was in such a place.

More precisely, I stood beneath to what could only be the heart of the swamp, a colossal tree that towered over its massive counterparts, casting everything below in shadows. Its vines were as thick as tree trunks, forming a natural barrier between it and the rest of the forest. But the real reason this was the perfect battleground lay beneath our feet: the ground.

The ground was more than damp—it was a quagmire. The King’s massive frame would sink into the marshy earth, trapping him, while I could tray nimble above it.

Unlike the King, I didn’t share the same fatal weakness. Not only the terrain here made it almost impossible for me to touch the ground based on the battle style I had been honing in the past few months, but even if I had to get beneath him to actually harm him, I wasn’t heavy enough to share the same sinking fate.

Holding my breath, the burning in my throat intensified for a few seconds before subsiding. After scanning the area for all the best possible routes out of the infinite ones that were presented, I turned for the raging behemoth and waited, taking as big and calm breaths as I could to recuperate my quint reserves.

It was close.

Blinded by its rage, it came straight towards me.

With a mighty leap, high enough to surpass the height of the smaller trees of the forest, the King went over the branching tree root and landed into the shallow pool with a splash that rippled across the swamp.

There was a moment of pause, and in that moment, the labor of my attempts on dragging the fight on finally bore fruits.

Its breathing was raspy, and its massive frame betrayed just how hard it struggled to fill its lungs. It’s left side had stopped bleeding, however, beneath its right paw, the muddy water was already turning into a darker red color. Tired, and in pain, the shine of malice waned beneath that abyss for eyes, and doubt had already settled in.

The pause didn’t last long.

Not wanting to give any time to my opponent, I dashed in, or more accurately, let out bursts of fire and wind, and turned from vine to vine to close the remaining distance.

Surprisingly, or rather not, the King had the same idea as me, rushing to tear me into pieces but severely slowed down, being forced to dig out its legs for each step.

For that reason, not only was I able to reach faster, but also able to attack while the King remained defenseless.

There was no room for hesitation. Flames flickered at my fingertips as I let go of the vine and leapt onto its weakened left side, digging through the matted fur and dried blood, aiming to reignite the wound.

Due to its fur being drenched in water, fire wasn’t as effective as it could be, but I didn’t have many other options. Still, it allowed my hand to pierce through its thick fur with enough momentum for my nails to dig into its already wounded skin, tearing it further open.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The beast let out a cry so powerful it echoed through the entire forest, the sound wave nearly making my ears bleed.

I couldn’t worry about that, though. More pressing was the fountain of blood purring at my face from the wound. Finally, the beast managed to uproot its feet from the mud, and in the process, it turned me upright, drenching me in even more blood. It tried to fling me off, but its own sodden fur worked against it, entangling my hands in place.

I smiled, but didn’t let this temporary advantage blind me.

While my position was favorable, it was equally, if not more, dangerous. And that was because I was stuck.

The moment the King realized, it could simply fall to the side and crush me into pulp ending the fight right then and there.

With no time to waste, I unleashed all my remaining quint, igniting it into weak but still effective red flames that drew another agonized howl from the creature. But it was too late—it had already recognized my vulnerability. I tried to burn away the fur holding me in place, but I was too slow, exhausted, and nearly drained of quint.

The King’s massive body began to tilt sideways, and with it, so did I. My body’s instinctive response was to gasp for air, but instead, I inhaled a choking mix of water, mud, blood, and fur. At the very least, I didn’t slam into the ground. Whether it was because of the depth of the bog or the earth sinking beneath the beast’s weight, I found myself sinking slowly, not crushed.

As I reached the bottom, I had just enough time to orient myself and realize what was happening. I fought back the panicked thoughts telling it was all over, and with the last bits of air escaping, I acted.

Gathering what little quint I had left, I surged upward with a burst of either water or air—I couldn’t tell in the haze—until finally, I broke the surface. And even then, pressing against the pain radiating thought my entire body, I forcing myself higher, just enough so I could grasp into one of the lower vines, and cling onto it.

A cold shiver run through me, making me close in on myself desperately looking for warmth, but there wasn’t any. The cold didn’t come from the sudden plummet in the mud. It was internal. It was from my core. I had pushed it far beyond its limit, and then some more. It couldn’t last any longer and this was its way of telling me so.

But it didn’t matter, because the fight wasn’t over.

When the King regained its own footing, it didn’t look in any better shape than I was.

It could barely stand on its four feet. Its entire left side mudded, and the wound turned into an ugly mix of burned fur, blood and mud.

Just by looking at it, my stomach twisted, the food I had eaten earlier threatening to resurface. But then, Mira flashed in my mind, and that single thought sparked a warmth deep inside me... deep within.

‘More...’

I didn’t pause to meet its eyes. Instead, I turned to the vine beside me, and then the next, climbing higher and higher toward the treetops. Reaching the lowest branches of the gargantuan tree, my heart pounded in my ears louder than any previous bestial howls.

Then, I began my descent.

The cold tightened its grip on me, an icy embrace that froze my breath in the air. Every fiber of me screamed to stop, but I pushed harder. And harder.

‘More, more, more...’

I needed to be faster, to be sharper, to be stronger.

My vision blurred, vines slipped through my grasp, but I pressed on. Everything around me faded into a blurry fog. Everything but the King. Towering on its hind legs, it stood like a true ruler—ferocious and unyielding, even in its grotesque state. It earned its title.

I had every advantage over it, yet it still wasn’t enough.

Its raw, bestial strength. Its relentless tenacity. It was beyond anything I’d ever imagine it to be.

As the final clash neared, a violent shiver ran through me. The cold was unbearable. Exhaustion gnawed at me, threatening to tear me apart with each brittle breath.

But I refused to give in.

The King grew hazy, my surroundings swallowed by darkness, the only light- the only warmness, Mira’s image.

I clung onto it, allowing it to move my body instead. And just before the King’s claws could strike, I twisted, slipping in-between them.

‘More, more, more, more!’

My body begged me to stop, my core completely drained, vision flickering. But I kept going, now face-to-face with the King. Shock and terror filled its eyes as I maneuvered past it.

Then... it disappeared.

The darkness swallowed everything—sight, sound, the world itself. But I didn’t need them.

In the void, I felt the cold water below, and with a final burst of strength, I lunged forward, gripping the King’s underbelly.

And then...

From deep within that void, a light emerged. The ember of warmth ignited and took over my entire being as a blinding light devoured every shadow, flooding the world around me with a brilliant, consuming radiance.