Chapter 59: The Last One

The second Regal Coil Lion’s roar rolled through the valley with enough force to disturb the surface of the pool.

Water trembled around Adesewa’s boots while the creature uncoiled beneath the Palladium Tree, its immense serpentine body sliding across the white island.

The death of its companion had changed it.

The golden spines surrounding its lionlike head stood fully erect, bronze-black scales shifted over swelling muscles, and dense Mana poured from its body until the air above the island distorted.

Adesewa watched without moving, bronze spear hanging loosely beside her thigh. Killing the first Regal Coil had cost Mana, especially after chaining Hunter’s Crossing through the seven positions established by Trail of the Unescaped.

She could feel the strain inside her pathways, but her breathing remained controlled. Decades of fighting had taught her the difference between exhaustion and discomfort, and she was nowhere near exhausted.

The monster launched itself from the island. Its serpentine body compressed first, then released like an enormous spring, sending several tons of flesh across the pool.

Adesewa activated Hunter’s Crossing and surged diagonally toward the approaching creature, using its own body as her Quarry. She crossed beneath the descending paw rather than retreating from it, her spear scraping along the inner foreleg and opening a shallow wound before she passed underneath.

The Regal Coil landed behind her with a thunderous boom!

Water erupted high enough to rain across the shoreline, and the lakebed fractured beneath its claws. Adesewa turned immediately, but the creature had learned from watching its companion die. Instead of trying to track her head with repeated swipes, it threw its entire body sideways.

The massive tail swept across the pool like a collapsing wall. Adesewa crossed toward the monster’s shoulder, narrowly escaping the first sweep, only for the Regal Coil to continue rotating. Its coils followed the tail and churned the water into violent waves, denying her stable ground while forcing her to keep moving.

A second tail strike smashed into the island and tore away a section of white stone.

CRACK!

Fragments flew through the glowing branches overhead. Several Palladium Fruits shook violently, and Adesewa’s expression hardened. She could tolerate the creature trying to kill her. Damaging the treasure was another matter.

She crossed again, appearing beside the wound she had already created, and drove her spear through it. Golden blood spilled over the shaft. Before she could deepen the injury, the Regal Coil folded its serpentine body around itself.

Adesewa ripped her weapon free and jumped backward as two enormous coils slammed together where she had stood. The collision sent a shockwave through the pool. She landed on a protruding stone, bent her knees against the impact and studied the monster.

It was protecting vulnerable angles now, keeping its neck elevated while using its body to restrict her routes. Hunter’s Crossing remained effective, but blindly repeating the same method would let the beast anticipate where she wanted to appear.

The Regal Coil opened its jaws. Mana gathered between four curved fangs, condensing into a brilliant golden sphere. Adesewa recognized the attack and sprinted sideways before it fired. The sphere collapsed inward for an instant before releasing a concentrated blast across the pool.

BOOOOOOM!

Water separated along its path, exposing the lakebed, and the beam carved through the hillside beyond. Adesewa used Hunter’s Crossing midway through her sprint, changing direction toward the monster rather than continuing away.

The sudden approach carried her past the edge of the blast and onto the Regal Coil’s nearest section. She drove her spear downward, created another wound, then crossed toward the first injury before the monster could retaliate. Trail of the Unescaped now held two positions.

The Regal Coil whipped its head around and snapped at her. Adesewa crossed between the two recorded wounds, using the reduced Mana cost to shift along its body while its jaws followed half a second behind. She struck again near the shoulder, establishing a third point, but this time the creature deliberately rolled.

Its scales disappeared beneath the water and dragged Adesewa with them before she could withdraw her spear. She released the weapon rather than allowing her arm to be trapped. The Regal Coil submerged completely, and the pool became a storm of bubbles, blood and violent currents.

Adesewa surfaced several meters away without her weapon.

The monster erupted beneath her.

BOOM!

Its skull struck her across the side before Hunter’s Crossing could fully activate. Adesewa flew through the air and crashed onto the island, bouncing once across white stone before rolling beneath the Palladium Tree. Pain spread through her ribs.

Her armor had absorbed part of the blow, and her 3-Star body endured what would have pulverized a weaker Awakener, but enduring an attack did not make it harmless. She pushed herself upright as the Regal Coil climbed from the pool, golden eyes fixed upon her. Her spear remained embedded between scales halfway down its body.

The beast charged across the island.

Adesewa wiped blood from the corner of her mouth and activated her third ability.

The markings of Agassou spread from her hands to her fingers as dark-gold claws formed over her nails. The ability was called Leopard Claws. Unlike Hunter’s Crossing or Trail of the Unescaped, there was nothing complicated about its purpose.

Agassou condensed Mana around Adesewa’s hands into short cutting claws capable of tearing through supernatural defenses at close range. Their reach was poor, their Mana consumption increased rapidly against harder materials, and they offered none of a spear’s safety. They existed for the moment when the hunter had already reached its prey.

Adesewa ran directly at the Regal Coil.

Its paw descended.

She used Hunter’s Crossing at the final instant, surging toward the wound near its shoulder. Her right hand struck first. Five dark-gold claws scraped across bronze-black scales with a shriek of metal before biting through the damaged section. Golden blood sprayed across her arm. Adesewa grabbed the broken edge of one scale, hauled herself upward and buried her other hand between the plates.

The Regal Coil roared and threw its body sideways.

Adesewa held on.

A coil smashed against the island.

CRACK!

White stone fractured around them. Another section of the monster’s body whipped overhead, forcing Adesewa to release one hand and flatten herself against its scales.

The instant the coil passed, she tore upward with Leopard Claws. Flesh opened beneath the armor. The Regal Coil bucked hard enough to launch her from its back, but Adesewa had already created the fourth point required for the route she wanted.

Trail of the Unescaped connected the wounds.

She crossed to the first.

Her claws ripped deeper.

The monster turned.

Adesewa crossed to the third before its jaws arrived, climbed two steps along its shoulder and slashed across the base of its golden mane. The Regal Coil twisted again, but she shifted to the fourth wound near its back. Each movement forced the creature to redirect several tons of body mass, and each failed counterattack exposed another angle.

Adesewa wasn’t trying to overwhelm it anymore.

She was making it chase her.

The Regal Coil became increasingly violent. Its tail demolished the remains of a tree beside the pool. One paw struck the island hard enough to split stone from shore to trunk. Another Mana blast missed Adesewa and tore a smoking trench through the opposite hillside. The creature’s movements grew wider and less controlled as frustration replaced caution.

Then it made the mistake she wanted.

The Regal Coil raised its head and lunged after Adesewa while leaving the underside of its neck exposed.

She crossed to the wound beneath its shoulder.

Her embedded spear stood three meters away.

Adesewa seized it.

The Regal Coil’s jaws descended, but instead of crossing away, she stepped forward. Leopard Claws covered her left hand as she drove her fingers into the damaged scales beneath its neck and tore downward with all the strength of her 3-Star body.

SHRAAAAAK!

Armor peeled apart.

The monster screamed.

Adesewa planted one foot against its chest, gripped the spear with both hands and drove the black blade through the opening.

THUNK!

The point sank deep, but she wasn’t finished. Hunter’s Crossing activated one final time, converting the short distance toward her Quarry into a violent forward burst while she remained behind the spear.

BOOOOOOM!

The entire weapon disappeared into the Regal Coil’s neck.

The blade punched through its spine.

Its roar died instantly.

The enormous body collapsed beside the Palladium Tree, striking the island hard enough to send water surging outward in a circular wave. Adesewa remained standing against its neck, both hands around the spear shaft while golden blood flowed around her boots. She waited until the last twitch disappeared before wrenching her weapon free.

Across the devastated valley, the surviving Walkers looked toward the island.

Both Greater-ranked monsters were dead.

Adesewa lifted her bloodied spear and turned toward the remaining Lesser Monsters.

The battle was not over yet.