[ You have successfully slain a Common Lava Hound Lv. 22 ]
Tave drove his sword straight into the monster's eye, feeling the crunch of resistance as the blade sank deep. A half-second later, a flicker of light pulsed before his vision.
[ Target Eliminated. Rift Threat Neutralized. ]
It was over.
The last monster was down.
But Tave could barely breathe.
His chest rose and fell in ragged gasps, his muscles screaming in exhaustion. Every inch of him burned. His body coated in soot, and the scorched pain on his arm screamed louder than his heartbeat. The searing heat from the last blast had left a deep burn on his left forearm, the skin blistered and raw.
His sword felt like it weighed a hundred pounds now. He pulled it free with trembling fingers, and for a moment, even his heart felt too tired to keep beating.
Then he collapsed.
Not unconscious, but drained. He dropped to the ground, letting his legs give out beneath him, leaning back into the scorched earth. His lungs burned. His head spun. But they were alive.
They had survived.
Lily rushed to his side in an instant, dropping to her knees beside him. Her face was pale, and her hands were shaking as she reached for his burned arm.
"I need to heal you now or it'll leave permanent scarring. Let me…"
"No." Tave's voice came low and firm. "Not yet. Save your strength."
"Tave!"
"Later," he insisted. "We're not done here."
And they weren't.
Because the tension in the air hadn't faded.
If anything, it was rising again.
The monsters were gone, but the real storm hadn't passed.
Just a few feet away, the same two figures who had nearly clashed before the battle were standing once more, blades in hand, eyes locked in a standoff that burned hotter than any monster's flame.
Orion stood tall, sword in hand, barely a scratch on him. His stance was rigid, controlled, but the heat in his stare said otherwise.
Across from him, Elias mirrored the pose. Composed, pristine, the polished calm of someone untouched by the chaos around him. Not a bead of sweat on his brow, not a single tremble in his grip.
They hadn't moved during the fight.
But now? It was clear now. Their clash had only been delayed.
Orion and Elias began casting again, hands moving rapidly through familiar, sharp gestures. Hand seals. Energy sparked at their fingertips, and there was no hesitation. They weren't holding back. This wasn't about control anymore, it was about ending the other before the Rift could test their limits again.
They were ready to burn through every last drop of their stamina if that's what it took.
Oriana rushed forward, her voice rising above the tension. "Stop this! Now!"
Some of the other squad members moved with her, trying to intervene, to step between them before steel and spell exploded again.
But… Tave had other priorities.
More important ones.
He gritted his teeth, forced his body upright, and pulled a dagger from his storage. His arm still throbbed with pain, but his focus had shifted entirely. They could kill each other for all he cared.
He had something else to do.
The monster cores.
If they didn't secure them now, this whole mission would be half a waste. He couldn't let that happen. Not when they'd paid in blood just to survive.
He limped toward the fallen creature, ignoring the building shouts and tension behind him. Lily noticed. Her head snapped toward him, eyes narrowing in confusion.
Tave crouched beside the carcass, drove his blade into its chest, and began cutting through the dense, charred muscle. And there it was.
A pulsing, ember-colored crystal nestled in the beast's core.
He smiled faintly and pulled it free.
"Catch," he said, and with a flick of his wrist, tossed the still-glowing core toward Lily.
She caught it on instinct, eyes widening.
But Tave was already moving again.
He dragged himself to the next carcass, flipped the heavy monster onto its back, and plunged the dagger deep into its chest.
"Not stopping now..." he muttered under his breath, blood smearing his arms and hands.
"You're mine..."
"Monster cores…"
Time was running out, and he wouldn't leave here empty-handed.
It took Tave a few minutes to work through the five monster carcasses scattered across the clearing. His body ached with every movement, but the drive to salvage what they'd earned kept him sharp. Some of the other squad members joined in, helping him extract the monster cores.
When all was done, only four cores had been found. Less than expected, but valuable nonetheless.
One by one, they handed them off to Lily, who was designated as the looting manager for this expedition. She accepted them silently, her expression still tense from everything unfolding around them.
Tave took the opportunity to carve out a few valuable parts from one of the larger monsters. He went for the teeth, then some of the heavier, mineral-rich bones. They'd fetch a good price later, assuming they made it back. He didn't have the luxury of time to strip more.
But the shouting never stopped.
"Can you just stop and finish this with your brains for once?!" Oriana barked.
He turned toward the source of chaos. Orion and Elias, still in a silent standoff, while Oriana stood between them, clearly on the edge of losing her composure trying to hold them back.
"I'll kill him, and no one is stopping me!" Orion snarled, his grip tightening on his sword hilt.
Elias, his voice calm and detached as ever, replied, "You're good at killing. I won't deny that. But I won't let you do it so easily."
He wasn't just holding his ground. He was baiting Orion. And it was working.
Oriana turned sharply, her voice commanding and laced with frustration. "We need to separate the team before this gets worse. Before more of us end up dead."
Tave blinked.
Split the team?
They were down to eight people. Splitting now would leave both sides weaker and more vulnerable in an unstable Rift.
Was that even a real solution?
And if so. How would it even work?
Who would go with whom?
Would anyone willingly choose to stand beside Orion… or Elias?
"Stop it. Before I lose my patience!" Oriana's voice rang out, firm and cutting.
She stepped between the two men, eyes blazing. "We won't survive this Rift if more of us die. For now, Orion and Elias will be placed in separate teams."
Orion's head snapped toward her.
"Since when did you take command, Oriana?"
"Shut up, Orion!" she fired back without hesitation. "I'm trying to save the team you've failed to manage."
The words hit like a slap.
Orion's jaw clenched. Fury shimmered in his eyes. But there was something else too, something colder. He looked at his sister differently than the others. And in that moment, despite his pride, he didn't strike back. Not yet.
Oriana turned toward the others.
"There are eight of us left," she said. "You're free to choose. Go with Orion or go with Elias."
The clearing fell into stunned silence.
No one moved.
But everyone could feel the calculations happening behind every pair of eyes. The quick judgments. The weighing of loyalty, survival, pride, and fear.
Silence lingered for only a breath longer before someone stepped forward.
"I'll go with Elias," a young man said quietly, walking across the space that separated the two sides. "Lord Orion, Lady Oriana. You both have the strength to stand on your own. But in the middle of this mess, I'll stay with Elias. At least until we find some answers."
Another followed.
"I think it's the right choice," she said, glancing between the two siblings. "For now. Until everyone cools down enough to think straight."
A third moved. Slower. Eyes on the ground.
"Please don't hate me for this," he murmured as he passed Orion. "I just… can't follow you right now."
And just like that, the line was drawn.
Three now stood behind Elias.
Half the team.
And the silence that returned wasn't just thoughtful. It was heavy.
Oriana remained by her brother's side, her expression guarded but unmoving.
"I don't have a choice," she said, voice low. "I have to stay with him."
And that left only two.
Tave.
And Lily.
She hadn't looked at him once through all of it.
Until now.
She turned, slowly, deliberately, and locked eyes with him. The question was there, unspoken, but etched into every line of her face.
"Tave?" she asked softly. A single word. A quiet call for confirmation.
Her choice was made.
Now it was his turn.