The moment Ethan and Lisa locked eyes with the creatures, the fight began.

  A distorted screech tore through the air as one of the twisted monsters lunged forward, its elongated jaws snapping with razor-sharp fangs.

  Ethan didn’t hesitate. His instincts took over.

  His body moved on its own, his new strength coiling like a spring before he exploded into action.

  CLANG!

  His bde met the creature’s skull-like head, the impact sending a sharp vibration up his arm. The force should have split it in half— but instead, the monster twisted unnaturally, contorting its limbs as if it had no bones.

  Shit!” Ethan growled, yanking his sword back just as the creature’s cws swiped at his face.

  He ducked.

  Lisa was already moving.

  “Pierce!” she shouted, her bow glowing faintly as an arrow of pure energy shot forward.

  The arrow struck the monster’s leg, but instead of piercing clean through, the flesh morphed around it, absorbing the impact like tar.

  Lisa cursed. “They’re more resilient than the ones from before!”

  Ethan gritted his teeth. No more hesitation. No more wasted movements.

  His blood pulsed.

  A red aura fred around his bde as he stepped forward and activated the Crimson swordsmanship. He sidestepped the creature’s next attack, his movements fluid, controlled. His footwork felt perfect, his body instinctively adjusting to counter the monster’s erratic movements.

  He swung. Fast. Precise. Deadly.

  SCHLING!

  This time, the bde cut clean through the monster’s arm.

  The creature let out a guttural wail, bck ichor spewing from the wound. But instead of retreating, it lunged again, using its remaining arm to swipe at Ethan’s throat.

  “DIE, YOU FREAK!” Lisa roared, unleashing three arrows in rapid succession.

  One struck its eye, another lodged into its neck, and the third—

  BANG!

  The monster’s head exploded.

  Ethan didn’t have time to celebrate.

  Another one was already charging him from the side.

  It was fast.

  Its cws came at him like a whirlwind of bdes.

  But Ethan was faster after all he had an body Essence of E Rank.

  “Lisa! A little help!?” he growled, locking swords—no, cws—with the monster.

  Lisa was busy.

  She was dodging two of them at once, using her agility to stay ahead, firing shot after shot, trying to find a weak spot.

  “Busy! Figure it out!” she shouted.

  Ethan growled, pushing forward.

  He used Blood ssh, his sword glowed red as he swung crescent arc of blood-infused energy flew toward the monster, aiming straight for its torso.

  The monster tried to twist away— but it was too te.

  The attack cut deep, leaving a gaping wound across the monster’s chest.

  It shrieked, staggering back—

  Ethan didn’t let it recover.

  With a burst of speed, he rushed forward, bde raised—

  With his greatsword he cut the head of the aberration off.

  Lisa was struggling.

  These things weren’t normal monsters. They adapted. The first few arrows she shot had hurt them. But now? Their flesh warped, making it harder to pierce.

  “You’ve gotta be kidding me!” she growled, dodging another swipe.

  One of the creatures lunged.

  Fast.

  Lisa barely rolled out of the way, her shoulder scraping the ground.

  Another one came from the side—

  No time to dodge.

  “LISA! DOWN!”

  She hit the ground immediately.

  A red bde sliced overhead, carving straight through the monster’s torso.

  Blood rained down, covering Lisa’s jacket.

  Ethan stood over her, panting, eyes burning with fierce focus.

  “You alright?” he asked.

  Lisa smirked, kicking the st monster away and drawing another arrow. “Always.”

  Ethan nodded, then turned toward the final monster.

  "He is strong, not like Ulgath, but stronger than the others." He said, her could feel, and slight pressure getting out of the monster.

  He used Blood mark in it, he would not hold back.

  The monster’s mouth curled into something almost resembling a grin.

  Then, in a blur, it vanished.

  A shadowy cw smashed into his gut, sending him flying into a wrecked car.

  "He can use some kind of invisibility."

  Lisa frowned before shooting three fast arrows in it.

  Ethan grinned, his mouth was red, more red than normal. He would go all out.

  He used, Tyrant's blood, Minor Blood Aura and his swordsmanship.

  His body pulsed with strength, his sword glowed in red and he dashed.

  He could faintly tell where the monster was because of the blood mark.

  The monster howled.

  [You received an Shadow debuff.]

  [You will have -35% agility.]

  'what?' he thought before noticing he was slower-not slow like before the System descended.

  "Lisa this thing can reduce your speed." He shouted, that would clearly be bad.

  Clicking his tongue he activated Blood ssh consecutively.

  Fours blood sshs flew at the monster, it dodged two.

  One got in the stomach and other in the thing's head, or what Ethan thought it was the head.

  "This is going to be fun!!" He mumbled to himself.