"You bastard! What was that? You just ruined everything!" Samxon roared, the shout scraping out of his throat before it collapsed into a violent cough.

His chest tightened again. His muscles throbbed. Every breath felt like dragging air through burning wires.

The frustration only made Akhil's failed attempt sting harder.

'Great… just great,' he thought bitterly, pushing out another surge of electricity that crackled through the cavern.

He couldn't shake the irritation. If Akhil had destroyed the crystal when he had the chance, Samxon wouldn't be stuck fighting this gigantic nightmare of a beast right now.

He didn't even understand what Akhil had been thinking. It had all been laid out for him—Hale's attack, the opening in the roots, the clear path. Everything.

And yet… the idiot froze.

Samxon spat out another breath.

'Well… at least he'll die for it,' he told himself, watching Akhil pinned against the wall of writhing roots.

It wasn't kind, but honestly? Samxon felt relieved. If someone had to pay for that mistake, better it be Akhil.

Meanwhile, Akhil wasn't even focused on the vines digging into him.

Or his hardening ability trying its best to keep the roots from tearing straight into his skin.

His mind was frozen somewhere else entirely—still stuck on the thing he had seen behind the bright core.

That faint outline.

That curled silhouette.

The girl inside the tree.

It didn't make sense to him at first.

Humans had been transformed into all kinds of things when the transmission happened, and beasts were twisted by it too.

But seeing her… seeing the way she was trapped inside the pulsing crystal, almost like she was asleep inside a prison of living wood…

His stomach twisted painfully.

He had killed so many beasts—telling himself they were threats, telling himself it was survival.

But right now, looking at her, he couldn't hide from the thought creeping in.

'What makes me any different from the humans who tried to wipe out the orcs?'

The question stuck there, thick in his mind.

They weren't monsters by choice.

The system forced them into roles.

It molded them, used them, threw them into predetermined paths.

Just like the girl trapped in the tree.

And the worst part?

She had no control.

No awareness.

No chance to escape the life she'd been twisted into.

Akhil felt the breath leave his chest.

He wasn't sure what hurt more—the roots tightening, or the realization itself.

Across the cavern, Hale shoved aside a smoldering chunk of root and glared toward the tangled mess imprisoning him.

"Hey! You idiot! Do you know what you just wasted?" she shouted, her voice raw with exhaustion.

A good portion of her essence was burnt away creating that one perfect opportunity.

She wasn't the yelling type, but right now? She couldn't hold it in.

She expected at least something from him.

A strike. A scratch. A crack in the core.

But instead—Akhil just froze like a scared child.

She scoffed under her breath.

'And now the idiot wants to die first? After acting like he could fly above all of us?'

For a moment, no one spoke.

The cavern echoed only with the beast's growling and the sharp zap of Samxon's electricity dancing across the roots.

Hale, for all her anger, wasn't stupid. Annoyed? Yes. Blinded by it? Not exactly.

She'd seen the way Akhil halted that strike.

The momentum he built.

Akhil didn't stop for nothing.

Even she wasn't sure she could've blocked that attack if he'd followed through.

And even if the roots had reached him mid-strike… he would've dealt serious damage first. She was certain of that.

So the question hit her.

Why did he stop?

Had they missed something?

"Hey, idiot!" Hale yelled. "If you want to die, at least tell us why you stopped! Don't be useless even in death!"

Her voice finally cut through the chaos and reached Akhil.

He took a slow breath, trying to clear his head. Only then did he realise how bad it was — roots had wrapped around him from every direction.

They clung to him like a living armour, coiling, tightening, trying to crush him into paste.

Since they couldn't pierce his skin, they'd chosen the next best method.

But whatever he'd seen… Akhil wasn't ready to die.

{500 blood essence used!}

A crimson dagger formed in his grip.

With one ruthless sweep, he sliced through the roots binding him.

Before more could latch on, he used air walk to lift himself out of reach, hovering above the writhing mass.

"Have you gone mute?" Hale snapped, dragging his attention back.

Akhil met her gaze, brows drawn.

This is a mess. If we want to survive, we have to kill her and destroy the core… but…

"Are you trying to get us killed?" Samxon roared, sweat pouring down his face as he sent out another wave of currents.

This time, the current barely slowed the roots. They pushed through ruthlessly, darting toward him.

Akhil exhaled and shifted his gaze to Hale.

"The monster is still human," he said quietly. "I can't kill her."

Hale froze.

The words settled into her chest, heavy, uncomfortable.

It made sense — more sense than she wanted it to.

It was a truth they'd been dodging since the beginning.

And now it complicated everything.

"Who cares if it's human?!" Samxon shouted. "It's either we kill that thing or it kills us! This is a game!"

His desperation wasn't subtle. His strength was fading fast.

Unlike Hale, he had no space in his heart for mercy.

But Hale didn't deny what he said.

"He's not wrong," she muttered, grinding her teeth as she unleashed another burst of flames.

The exhaustion showed in her face now.

Her flames weren't burning as fiercely as before.

More roots were slipping past them.

A thick root shot from the side and smashed into Samxon.

Swish!

BOOM!

Before he could even stand, several roots surged toward him and pinned him down.

"This is your fault!" Samxon spat, glaring daggers at Akhil. "If I get out of this, I'll kill you myself!"

Akhil didn't acknowledge him.

His mind was still wrestling with the decision tearing him apart.

What should I do?

"You're a good person," Hale said suddenly. Her voice was strained, but steady. "The fact that you're even considering this… honestly, it's a miracle. I wouldn't have thought twice."

She tore another root off her arm, wincing.

Her flames were weakening.

The roots were starting to overwhelm her.

"I'll tell you this," she continued. "It's inhuman to be completely good or completely bad. We're all just shades of grey. I envy your kindness" She said with slight guilt in her voice.

"But right now, our fate is with you, I don't have the strength to get close enough to do anything. But you—"

A root slammed into her mid-sentence, throwing her across the battlefield.

BOOM!

"Damn it!" Hale hissed as she staggered upright.

Akhil looked at her, then at Samxon, then finally back at the beast core.

The reality settled over him like a weight.

The decision was his.

Whether they lived or died…

It all rested on him.

But while the tension was building, only one question remained on Akhil's mind.

'If I kill her, what does that make me?'

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