The moment I moved, the Hebira reacted instantly, its coiled body snapping forward like a whip. It didn’t just lu slithered through the air as if it were swimming through water, its near-weightless fliding toward me with eerie grace. I barely had time to swing my sword before it twisted midair, avoiding my strike with unnatural fluidity.

  Tch. Fast. Its movements weren’t just quick, they were disturbingly smooth, like a ribbon caught in an invisible current. It didn’t waste any motion, its sleek form unduting effortlessly as it dodged my strike. I felt an uliion in my gut. This wasn’t just some mindless monster lunging at me on instinct.

  I spun, flipping my talismaween my fingers before releasing it. The sacred paper shot flowing with purifying energy as it homed in on the snake-like creature. For a moment, I thought I had it, the talisman was about to make tact.

  Then, with an almost zy flick of its tail, the Hebira twisted out of the way, its scales shimmering like liquid shadow as it maneuvered effortlessly through the air. The movement was so smooth, so eerily graceful, that it felt less like a dodge and more like a preordained motion, as if it had knowly where my attack would nd before I even made it. Its elongated body unduted in a hypnotic rhythm, its golden eyes glinting with a cold, analytical sharphat sent a chill crawling up my spine.

  I clicked my tongue in frustration. It dodged? The cockroaches had been easy enough to hit, but this thing was different. Faster. Smarter. Its uling eyes never left me, studying me like a predator prey.

  The realizatio a deep, icy chill down my spihis thing wasn’t just dodging on instinct or reag to my attacks, it was studying me, disseg my movements with eerie precision. Every twitch of its elongated body, every hypnotic ripple of its scales, was deliberate, calcuted. It was like fighting against a creature that had already seetle unfold and was simply pying along, waiting for me to make a fatal mistake.

  A shiver of unease ran through me as the Hebira let out another quiet hiss, its body beginning to coil again. My instincts screamed at me. It was about to strike.

  I forced myself to move first.

  Diving sideways, I fred my wings, using a quick burst of momentum to reposition midair. The Hebira’s attaarrowly missed, its fangs snapping shut just inches from where my shoulder had been.

  This thing is ridiculously fast. Its movements were so fluid, so eerily smooth, that it felt more like I was fighting a gust of wind rather than a living creature. Each dodge, each twist of its elongated body was deliberate, calcuted, not a siion wasted. But I wasn’t going to let it outmaneuver me forever. I just had to be faster, sharper, and oep ahead of whatever unnatural instinct was guiding its movements.

  I tightened my grip on my sword and, without hesitation, flung aalisman at the Hebira. This time, I didn't aim directly for it. Instead, I threw the talisman slightly off to the side, knowing that the creature’s instinct would push it to evade. As expected, the snake reacted instantly, its body twisting in an almost hypnotic motion, dodging with eerie precision. The movement was so smooth, so natural, that for a brief sed, it was as if the creature had anticipated my i before I had even acted. But that was exactly what I had ted on.

  "Got you," I muttered, narrowing my eyes as I seized the opening. My muscles tensed, every fiber of my being honed in on that single instant. The Hebira, still mid-dodge, had no way to shift its momentum.

  << Hebira (Lv. 4) >>Health Points: 222/321 [69.15%]Attack: 5Category: NONO

  Description: Evil spirits exorcised, still a dangerous noodle. Now 20% less cursed, but still 100% nightmare fuel.

  Without hesitation, I surged forward, my bde cutting through the air with relentless precision. I shot forward in that split-sed opening, my bde already swinging. The Hebira, mid-dodge, had no way to correct its trajectory in time. My sword ected with a satisfying ssh, cutting through its shimmering scales.

  (-15 Physical Damage)

  The Hebira let out a shrill, pierg screech, its body writhing violently. Dark, inky blood spttered through the air, dissolving into the corrupted sky. It wasn’t a killing blow, but it was enough to prove something important.

  I could hurt it. And as if to firm my resolve, a flickering swallowtail butterfly materialized behihe instant my sword struck. With delicate, almost ephemeral wings, it hovered for a brief moment before darting forward, its luminous form smming into the Hebira with surprising force.

  (-2 Physical Damage)

  The Hebira hissed, its serpentine body t midair as the ethereal butterfly burst into motes of shimmering light. Each time I nded a hit, the butterfly would follow up with a strike of its own. A rea of attacks, aension of my will.

  "Alright, creepy noodle. Let’s see how many exorcisms it takes to send you pag." But before I could press the attack, the telltale rustling of chitinous legs scuttling against sto a shiver down my spine. My eyes darted downward to see several Gokibura cmbering up the shrine’s broken pilrs, their grotesque forms twitg as they fixated oh their soulless, beady eyes.

  "Oh, great," I muttered. "Because one nightmare fuel monster wasn’t enough."

  The cockroaches luheir spindly legs propelling them into the air. I twisted mid-flight, barely avoiding their gnashing mandibles as I retaliated with a wide ary sword. My bde cleaved through the first Gokibura, ichor spraying into the air as its exoskeleton cracked apart.

  (-15 Physical Damage)

  A swallowtail butterfly flickered ience behis delicate form shimmering as it darted toward the wounded creature. It collided with the Gokibura, dealing an additional blow before bursting into luminous fragments.

  (-2 Physical Damage)

  [Swallowtail butterfly leveled up to level 2] Physical attack 2 → 5

  My eyes widened slightly as the system notification fshed in the er of my vision. Swallowtail Butterfly leveled up? That was ued. I hadn’t even realized it could improve.

  A small grin tugged at my lips as I watched the butterfly shimmer ience behis glow just a little stronger, its wings moving with renewed energy. "Alright, let’s see what you really do now."

  Without wasting a sed, I pivoted midair, shifting my focus toward the remaining Gokibura. They skittered unnervingly fast, their twitg antennae sensing my movements. One lunged from below, its serrated mandibles snapping hungrily, but I twisted just in time, bringing my sword down in a brutal overhead ssh.

  (-15 Physical Damage)

  A sed butterfly materialized, its glowing wings fluttering as it dove into the weakened creature, shattering its exoskeleton in a burst of iridest light.

  (-5 Physical Damage)

  [+45 EXP]

  [+20 on EXP]

  Anokibura leaped from my blind spot, its grotesque form mid-air, but I hurled a talisman without looking. The sacred paper tched onto the i’s chitinous shell, glowing brilliantly before dissolving in a fsh of purifying energy. The creature’s corrupted aura flickered and shattered, its form dist as the NONO status was forcibly sed from its body.

  I didn’t give it a ce to react. My sword was already swinging, cleaving the now-weakened monster in two. More butterflies swarmed behind me, eae following my strikes with its owless attack. I was no longer just fighting, I was dang, weaving through the battlefield in a deadly rhythm, every attack seamlessly ing into the . My breath came in steady bursts, my mind sharpening with each perfectly executed movement.

  "How many of you do I have to kill before you get the message?" I muttered, my bde fshing as I struck again. I didn’t let up, pressing my advantage as the Hebira recoiled from the st strike. Its body twisted, attempting to slip away, but I was already moving.

  I spun midair, wings fring to shift my position as I brought my sword down in a relentless flurry. My bde cut through the air in rapid succession, sshing at the Hebira’s sleek, shifting form. Each strike rue, carving into its shimmering scales as dark ichor spttered into the air.

  (-15 Physical Damage)

  (-15 Physical Damage)

  (-15 Physical Damage)

  With each successive ssh, more swallowtail butterflies emerged, their luminous wings fluttering in unison before ung forward. Like guided projectiles, they struck the Hebira with pinpoint accuracy, b it with bursts of radiant energy.

  (-5 Physical Damage)

  (-5 Physical Damage)

  (-5 Physical Damage)

  The Hebira shrieked, its eerie voice a mix e and agony as its form flickered, the corruption that sustai beginning to unravel. Its body spasmed, writhing violently in the air, before I thrust forward with all my strength, driving my bde straight through its head.

  (-20 Critical Damage)

  For a moment, everything seemed to freeze. The Hebira’s golden eyes dimmed, its body shuddering as a final, gurgling hiss left its throat. Then, like a puppet with its strings cut, it colpsed, its serpentine form twisting o time before disiing into a cloud of dark mist. The lingering fragments of corruption dissolved into the air, leaving only silen its wake.

  [+100 EXP]

  [+50 on EXP]

  I exhaled, my grip on my sword tightening as the st remnants of the Hebira faded from existehat’s what you get for being creepy."