The pressure was a physical weight on Adam's spirit. He could feel the approaching presence—multiple entities, moving with coordinated, predatory intent.

Their vibrations through the stone were methodical, not the chaotic scuttling of dungeon fauna. Their scent was familiar, carrying the sharp, clean smells of oiled metal, treated leather, and human sweat. And a faint, buzzing psionic overlay of focused intent, of hunting.

He couldn't run. Behind him, encased in silk and shimmering heat, Lilith and Ignis were at their most vulnerable, their forms shifting and melting in the crucible of evolution. Leaving them was unthinkable.

'Think, damn it! They're coming. I can't fight them all, not like this. I can't move the others—what if it disrupts their evolution? Catastrophe. Too risky.'

A cold, familiar dread began to seep into his thoughts, the specter of helplessness he'd felt against the Void Entity. His breath hitched, his wounds throbbing in time with his racing heart.

Then, a gentle, cool wave washed through the chaotic noise in his mind. It was subtle, like a shadow passing over a fevered brow. It carried no words, only a profound sense of calm, of stillness, of a deep, starless night that could swallow panic whole. It was an energy he knew intimately, now nestled within his own soul.

Adam's frantic thoughts stilled. He knew this presence intimately, even in its current muted, internal form.

"Alice…?" he whispered into the quiet of his own soul.

There was no answer, but he didn't need one. The calming presence lingered, a silent reassurance. She was with him. Even shattered, even sleeping, she was watching over him.

He took a real, shuddering breath, the cool air of the canyon clearing his head. 'Right. Panicking gets us all killed. You're not alone, Adam. She's right here.'

"Okay, Alice," he murmured, a grim smile touching his serpentine features. "We'll get through this. We'll all be together again. So rest now. Let me handle this."

With the calm came clarity. He assessed his options with cold, quick logic.

'Can't defend here. Can't move them. So... move the fight. The Creeper Queen... I lured her away from the brood. Same principle. My energy signature is the strongest, the most unique. If I show myself, they will pursue.'

It was reckless. He was severely wounded, mana-starved, and physically depleted from the Glutton's Avatar backlash. But it was the only play. His confidence wasn't in his current strength, but in his intimate knowledge of these deep, treacherous tunnels and his own sheer, stubborn will to survive.

He moved quickly, quietly. Using his gecko's grip, he scaled the silk walls and gently reinforced Lilith's dome from the outside with loose rubble and stone, camouflaging its smoothness. He scattered dust and bone fragments around the entrance, obscuring signs of recent activity. It wouldn't stand up to a dedicated search, but it might pass a cursory glance from a pursuing enemy.

His new artifact pouch was securely tucked against his scales. He took one last look at the two glowing cocoons, sending a pulse of fierce protectiveness down the faint, sleeping connection to Alice.

"Hold on," he murmured. "All of you. I'll be back."

Then, Adam the Eclipse Dragon Serpent did what he did best when cornered: he turned predator.

He did not slink away. He burst from the alcove's hidden entrance in a shower of deliberate noise, cracking stone with his tail as he went. He let his Abyssal Majesty flare, not at full terrifying strength, but just enough—a psychic beacon of otherworldly menace, a dinner bell for hunters. He channelled a flicker of leftover mana into his Starlight Veil, making the crystalline growths along his spine flash once, brightly, like a signal flare in the gloomy canyon.

For a moment, he stood exposed in the open, a massive, wounded silhouette against the pale stone. He let the approaching party's scouts see him. He saw the distant glint of light on lenses, heard the sharp, carrying shout of discovery.

Tia's breath hitched in her throat, her knuckles white around the hilt of her sword. There, limned against the pale glow of the canyon walls, was the silhouette that haunted her nightmares. Larger, more imposing than she remembered, with a crown of jagged horns and crystalline growths that shimmered faintly. It moved with a clear, dragging injury, but the malevolent intelligence in its gaze even from this distance was unmistakable.

"There!" she hissed, her voice a mix of vindication and deep-seated fear. "The serpent! The primary anomaly!"

Derek's crimson eyes narrowed, tracking the creature as it deliberately crashed through a brittle rock formation before disappearing into a side tunnel, leaving a glittering trail of disturbed dust and faint, violet-tinged droplets. "It's alone," he rumbled, his voice low and distrustful. "Your report said it commanded others. A panther and a drake. Where is its pack?"

Before Tia could formulate a response, Westin, who had been silently tracing complex arcane patterns in the air with his staff, spoke up without looking away from his work. His voice was detached, analytical. "My resonance scan indicates otherwise, Crimson Boulder. The serpent is the primary energy source, yes, and it is moving away. However…"

He tapped his staff lightly on the ground, and a complex, three-dimensional holographic map of mana signatures flickered into existence before the group. Two pulsating points of energy—one a complex, multi-threaded signal of psychic and webbing energy, the other a potent, condensed core of solar heat—glowed brightly on the map, positioned ahead of them and slightly to the left, in a small alcove not far from their current path. "There are two other significant anomalous signatures. Stationary. Concentrated. Maybe they are… evolving."

Right after Westin mentioned the two energy signatures that were "evolving," Ellen slowed her pace, her sharp gaze shifting from the holographic map to the young mage's face.

"Evolving?" Ellen probed, her voice low but loaded with meaning. "You can be sure of that just from an energy map? That's a very specific claim, Westin."

Westin was not offended. His thin smile actually widened, more akin to a tutor about to give an explanation. "Observant, not blindly certain, Ellen. But observation and study give us the tools to draw conclusions." He swung his staff, and the two energy points on the map pulsed brighter. "First, the energy pattern. Look. They are static, but their output is not constant. It pulses, condensing inward, like a heart pumping power, not radiating it outward for combat or activity. This pattern is consistent with monsters condensing essence for a qualitative leap."

He walked slowly, observing the signs of battle around them. "Second, behavioral context. The serpent, clearly wounded, is not hiding or defending a position. It is instead making a racket, luring us. Logically, if it had combat-ready allies, they would ambush us together, or at least it would run toward them for protection. It does not. It runs away. That is classic diversionary behavior to protect something that cannot move or is extremely vulnerable."

Ellen nodded slowly, the logic weaving together for her. Westin continued, his tone now more academic. "And third, from my studies. At the Academy, we studied the energetic metabolic patterns of monsters during critical growth cycles. When a monster evolves especially a significant evolution—there is a 'cocoon' phase where external activity is minimal, but internal energy fluctuations are highly distinctive. Like an egg about to hatch, or a caterpillar enclosing itself. Those two signatures on the map... they match that pattern. Motionless, energy focused and pulsing, protected by a leader acting as bait. My conclusion is quite precise, I believe."

Ellen grunted, a sign she accepted the explanation. "Good thinking, mage. That means we have a time window. And they are at their weakest." Her gaze turned cold and predatory. "Derek, we need to move fast."

Westin lowered his staff, the map disappearing. "Precisely. Time is of the essence. Let's finish this before their 'cocoons' open and give birth to something more troublesome."

Derek's face hardened into a mask of grim calculation. He looked at the path of destruction the serpent had made, then at the serene, glowing points on the map. A classic tactical diversion. But which target held the strategic value?

"The serpent is the brain," Ellen stated, nocking an arrow to her bowstring. "Kill it, and the pack may break or become disorganized. It's also wounded. This may be our best chance to eliminate the primary threat."

"The underlings are vulnerable now," Westin countered mildly, finally looking up. His blue eyes were calculating. "Interrupting an evolution is notoriously dangerous for the subject, often fatal. It would be a clean, efficient removal of two secondary assets. The serpent, while wounded, is clearly mobile and leading us into unknown terrain. It has home advantage."

Derek made a decision, his voice leaving no room for debate. "We split. Ellen, take ten the vanguard knights and scouts. Pursue the serpent. Harass it, wound it further, but do not overcommit. Your goal is to keep it running, to prevent it from circling back. Westin, Tia, you're with me. We neutralize the two evolving anomalies. Once they are dealt with, we converge on your position and crush the serpent between us."

Ellen gave a sharp nod. "Understood. Don't take too long." She signaled to her team, a mix of agile scouts and heavily armored knights, and they moved out with disciplined speed, following the clear trail of disturbance and faint violet blood.

Derek turned to the remaining force, his great axe held ready. "Westin, lead us to the exact location. Tia, you know their capabilities better than anyone. Be ready. We end this quickly and cleanly."

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