The Author's Viewpoint-Chapter 112 - Predator Becomes Prey

Tave stepped slowly from the thick shadows of the trees, the darkness still clinging to his figure like a second skin. Ahead of him, a clearing opened under the pale moonlight, where a group of demons stood frozen in confusion.

They had been chasing something. But now... they’d found nothing.

No prey. No targets. Just empty ground and silent trees.

And Tave smiled, just a little.

Was it wrong to feel proud of this?

Of what he’d orchestrated?

Because fighting creatures with intelligence was far more dangerous than mindless beasts. These weren’t monsters that lunged blindly, driven by raw instinct alone.

These things thought. They strategized.

And because they could think. They could be misled. They could be tricked. They could be played.

He remained cloaked in shadow when the ground behind the demons shuddered.

A deep, vibrating thud rippled through the soil.

And then, from the swamp, something massive rose from below.

Long shapes surged through the earth like serpents, dark and glistening. Not one, but several. Twisting, writhing. Rising.

Heads, not of snakes, but something worse. Hydra heads.

The Swamp Hydra had come.

With a sudden lunge, one of the massive heads coiled around a demon and lifted it from the ground. Another head whipped out, slamming a second demon to the dirt. Roars erupted. Metal clanged. Panic followed.

Then, tentacles surged from beneath the swamp, thick and writhing, latching onto legs and arms, dragging the demons down.

The demons yelled at one another, weapons drawn, but their confusion only fed the chaos.

The night, moments ago so still. Now tore open with noise and violence.

This was the plan. A plan Tave had been setting in motion for days.

Subtle moves, quiet scouting, carefully calculated trails. All to lure the demons to this exact point, into the domain of the Swamp Hydra.

It had taken patience. Timing. A perfect storm of risk and deception.

But now. It was unfolding exactly as he intended.

From the heart of the chaos, the demons roared. Their voices no longer cold and calculating, but ragged, furious.

"This is a trap!"

"What is this madness?! This isn’t who we were chasing!"

"They have deceived us!" another screamed.

"Cowards! Come out and fight us, if you dare!"

"I’ll rip the flesh from your bones when I get my hands on you!"

Tave remained motionless in the treeline, still cloaked in the folds of the night. Then, footsteps. From his flanks, figures emerged through the darkness. One by one, his allies appeared.

They all saw the same thing now: The demons had been deceived.

The targets they thought they chased? Were nothing but illusions.

Using a delicate blend of Water Element, the team had created Water Clones, shapes that mimicked their figures, paired with scattered sound to mimic voices in panic.

Then came the Fog, a shroud formed from elemental mist that clouded the demons’ judgment, masked the terrain, distorted sound, and sealed the illusion.

And the demons, frustrated, tired, arrogant, had swallowed the bait whole.

They had let emotion override instinct. They had delivered themselves straight into their own demise.

"Well," Darian said with a low laugh, stepping up beside Tave. "You really do have a genius brain, Tave."

Finn appeared next, cracking his knuckles with a half-grin. "Yes... I underestimated you," he admitted. "I’ll make it up to you by taking down as many of these bastards as I can tonight."

"Easy there," Elowen chimed in playfully. "Only the long-range attackers get to play for now. Let them squirm while we light them up from a distance."

Then Velion stepped forward. "Stick to the plan, everyone. No rushing, no slipping into excitement. They’re still stronger than us, demon by demon. If even one of them escapes, this becomes a nightmare."

Several among Tave’s group swiftly formed hand seals, activating their skills in smooth, practiced motions. In a synchronized rhythm, elemental attacks began to rain down, fire, ice, wind, and lightning. All launched from a distance with relentless precision.

Their targets were clear: both the Swamp Hydra and the demons entangled in its fury.

The strategy was simple and brutal, let their two enemies wear each other down, and then strike while both were distracted.

It was working.

The Hydra, locked in a frenzy, continued coiling and slamming its heads around, trying to crush the flailing demons. The demons, in turn, fought viciously to break free, slashing with blades, casting their own spells, screaming in frustration.

"You bastards! I’ll kill you!" one demon howled, grappling with a thick, serpentine neck.

"Hit this fucking hydra! Go for the heads. The heads!"

"Damn it," another growled. "This is draining my stamina too fast!"

From the shadows, Tave and the others continued their assault. Arrows, energy bolts, and precision strikes launching in rapid succession.

Every hit weakened them just a bit more. Every second counted.

The demons were Gaia Grand Masters, individually powerful enough to wreak havoc on the group. If even one of them escaped, it could undo everything they’d fought to hold together.

"Pour it on! Use everything you’ve got. Hit the monster! Don’t hold back!"

"You damn cowards!" one of the demons roared. "Face us properly! Stop hiding behind monsters!"

"You think you’re clever? You won’t get out of this Rift alive!"

"You think we’re the only demons here?" another howled. "You’re wrong! Your fate is sealed! Your kingdom will be burned to the ground!"

Tave and the team kept up their assault, firing elemental attacks and arrows with precision. Every time a demon came close to breaking free from the Hydra’s coils or the grasping tentacles, another barrage would slam into them.

But the demons weren’t going down easily. They fought with brutal desperation, striking at the Hydra with fury, limbs slick with swamp water and blood. The Hydra lashed back, snapping jaws, constricting coils, and sweeping tentacles that made the ground tremble.

Then. A surge of dark energy, and one of the demons broke free.

He burst out of the swamp like a launched spear, water exploding behind him. His body was covered in cuts, slime, and filth. But his eyes burned with raw rage.

He locked his gaze on Tave and the team.

A low snarl escaped his throat as he stepped forward.

"Well," Darian muttered. "Let’s kill this one before the rest get any bright ideas."

Darian and Finn moved into formation without hesitation.

"You fools!" the demon howled. "I’ll rip you apart and feed your bones to the mud! You’ll regret everything!"

No one flinched.

The defenders braced, raising their shields.

Then the demon moved.

With a blur of speed, his reptilian tail sweeping behind him, he charged. Twin swords drawn, gleaming with cursed steel. He closed the distance in seconds and slashed toward Darian.

Clang!

Darian was thrown back, skidding across the ground, dirt and leaves scattering in his wake.

The air tightened. They all knew then. This wasn’t going to be an easy fight.

The team moved quickly, snapping into their assigned positions without hesitation. They all understood, fighting a creature with intelligence wasn’t like facing a mindless beast.

This demon knew what he was doing. He didn’t waste time clashing endlessly with the front line.

Instead, with a swift turn, he darted past Finn, twisting low beneath the shield’s edge, and sprinted straight toward the center of their formation.

His target was clear.

Lina.

The healer.