Chapter 67: Blood and Canopy

The high-pressure air of Verdant Reach hit them like a wall of hot velvet, thick with the sharp, metallic tang of raw mana.

A shadow darted through the canopy above—then three more.

"Prowlers!" Joshua snapped, unholstering his grapple gun with a sharp clack.

"Form up!" Shane ordered, drawing his broadsword.

"No," Mei commanded, her voice slicing through the noise with chilling clarity. "Don't waste the energy."

Before the three beasts could clear the treeline, Mei vanished.

She didn't just run—she moved like a ghost unleashed. Her boots barely grazed the petrified roots as she closed the forty-yard gap in two heartbeats. The lead Prowler descended, eight serrated legs snapping down like steel traps.

Mei didn't dodge. She slid flat on her back beneath the creature's underbelly, her reverse-grip dagger driving upward through its chitinous ribcage. She found the pulsing mana core by memory alone, drove her blade through it, and twisted.

The beast collapsed into a shower of black ash right over her.

Without pausing, Mei used the falling carcass to spring back to her feet, spinning mid-air to catch the second Prowler across its throat. Her blade sheared through petrified vine and flesh with a sickening shhhk. She landed hard, grabbed the second beast by its snapping jaw, and hurled its corpse directly into the third creature mid-pounce.

CRASH.

The third Prowler went sprawling into a cluster of crystalline roots. Before it could scramble back to its feet, Mei was already on its chest. She pinned its head with her boot and drove her primary dagger straight down through its eye socket, driving the tip deep into the stone floor.

Silence slammed back down over the forest. Three seconds. Three dead beasts.

Mei stood amidst the settling dust, her face a mask of emotionless frost. She yanked her dagger free, flicked the black gore off the edge in one sharp snap, and sheathed it without looking down.

Elias lowered his massive shield, letting out a low whistle. "Remind me never to get on your bad side, kid."

Mei turned back toward them. The terrifying, murderous aura surrounding her evaporated, her gaze softening as she swept her eyes over the three of them—checking for cuts, torn armor, or signs of mana poisoning.

Her gaze landed on Shane’s left shoulder. A thin red tear marked his leather jacket where a stray thorn had grazed him.

In a flash, Mei was right in front of him. She reached up, her gloved fingers unexpectedly gentle as she inspected the tear, checking for venom.

"It's just a scratch, Mei," Shane said softly, catching her wrist before she could pull out a field bandage. "I'm fine."

Mei met his eyes, her jaw tight. "A scratch in a high-tier Dungeon turns into rot in ten minutes if the mana bleeds into your veins."

She pulled a tiny glass vial of neutralizing salve from her pouch and slathered it over the cut herself, her touch precise and surprisingly tender despite the cold sternness in her tone.

"You're the squad leader, Shane," she muttered, stepping back only after she was satisfied the wound was clean. "If you fall apart out here, who's going to buy us drinks when we get back?"

Shane chuckled, his chest warming against the cool forest air. "Point taken."

Mei turned back toward the looming, vine-choked spire at the center of Verdant Reach. Her posture instantly hardened, her hand returning to the hilt of her blade.

"The core is reacting to the blood," Mei said, her voice dropping into that lethal, unyielding register once more. "The next wave won't be scouts. Stay on my heels, keep your guards up, and don't lag behind."

She didn't wait for an answer. She broke into a sprint, diving headfirst into the danger to clear the path for the only people left in the world she cared to protect.