A long beam of dark red plasma tore from the Berserker’s maw straight toward Liam as it realized the blast.

Liam’s eyes widened immediately.

For the first time in the fight, the reaction wasn’t calm calculation.

It was pure instinct.

He twisted his body mid-motion and fired a violent burst of flame from his left side. The blast shoved his body off its original path by barely enough.

The plasma blast passed him by a hair’s breadth.

Heat and pressure tore across his cheek and shoulder as the beam shot past, close enough to burn through the edge of his clothing and sear a shallow line along his skin.

Then it continued forward.

The forest behind Liam vanished in a straight line.

Trees split apart, ignited, and collapsed as the dark red plasma carved through everything in its path. The ground tore open beneath it, forming a long smoking trench that stretched deep into the forest. Dirt, roots, stone, and shattered trunks were ripped aside as the beam continued until it finally faded into the distance.

Liam landed hard on one foot, skidding sideways.

His eyes stayed on the trench for less than a second.

And that was all the time he had.

The Berserker had already moved.

It appeared in front of him with terrifying silence for something so large.

A clawed hand immediately clamped around Liam’s throat with a crushing force.

Liam’s breath cut off instantly.

Then the demon moved.

It dragged him forward at full speed.

Liam’s back slammed into the ground first, then his shoulder, then his side. The Berserker kept running, one hand wrapped around his throat while it dragged him through dirt, roots, stone, and broken wood without mercy.

The world became impact after impact.

The ground tore against Liam’s back, rocks dug into his spine, and roots snapped beneath him.

His hands shot up, both gripping the demon’s wrist as flames burst around his fingers. Fire crawled across the Berserker’s arm, but the demon did not let go.

Instead, it slammed him sideways into a tree.

The trunk shattered around Liam’s body.

Before he could fall, the Berserker threw him upward. Liam spun through the air, coughing blood, but he still tried to stabilize himself.

The demon appeared beside him mid-motion.

A backhand struck him across the ribs, the impact launching him sideways. Before he could reach the next tree, the Berserker appeared again. This time, its knee drove into his stomach, causing the air to leave Liam’s lungs violently.

His body folded around the blow before being sent upward again.

The Berserker followed.

Dark red lightning pulsed across its limbs as it moved from branch to branch, from ground to air, from one angle to another with explosive bursts that made the forest seem too small to contain it.

Liam summoned a dagger and tried to slash as the demon reappeared near him, but the Berserker caught his wrist.

Its claws pierced into his skin, then it slammed him downward.

Liam crashed through several branches before firing a burst from his palm to stop himself from hitting the ground fully.

He almost stabilized.

Almost.

The Berserker landed on the side of a tree and launched again instantly.

Its shoulder slammed into Liam’s chest, the force sending him flying backward.

He crashed through another trunk, then another, then tumbled across the ground in a spray of dirt and leaves.

Liam forced one knee down, dug his dagger into the earth, and stopped himself.

For half a breath, he was still.

Then he looked up.

The Berserker stood several meters away, staring at him, with dark red lightning crackling from its shoulders.

Its mouth widened again, not fully this time, but enough for Liam to see that same light building deep in its throat.

Liam moved before it could fire, a burst of flame launched him left.

The plasma shot past where he had been and carved a second trench through the forest.

Liam landed against a tree, kicked off, and threw a miniature sun toward the demon’s face.

The Berserker swatted it aside.

The orb detonated against its forearm, tearing flesh open and exposing bone, but regeneration immediately started.

Liam appeared beneath the smoke with his long sword already raised.

He cut deeply across the demon’s abdomen.

The Berserker roared and brought its fist down.

Liam dismissed the sword and formed a dagger, using the smaller weapon to shift his weight faster. He slipped under the fist, stabbed into the demon’s side, then fired a flame burst through the blade.

The wound exploded outward, causing the Berserker to stagger half a step.

Liam formed another hybrid javelin and drove it into the demon’s left shoulder with an explosion following immediately.

The arm tore halfway off.

Liam twisted, forming a second javelin in his other hand, and struck the demon’s ribs.

Another explosion happened, leaving the Berserker with an opened side.

Black blood scattered across the dirt.

For a moment, Liam had momentum again.

He stepped in and locked eyes on the core.

The Berserker’s regeneration surged, dark red lightning dimming again.

Liam saw it.

But this time, he didn’t aim for the wound.

He aimed for the head.

A miniature sun formed in his palm at point-blank range.

The Berserker’s eyes widened slightly.

Then Liam released it.

The blast struck the demon under the jaw, lifting its head violently as fire erupted upward through its face. Teeth shattered. Flesh burned. The upper half of its head twisted back from the force.

But the Berserker did not fall.

Its tail moved, and Liam saw it too late. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The tail struck him across the side and launched him violently into the air.

Pain exploded across his ribs again as his vision flickered.

The Berserker’s head was already regenerating as it looked up.

Then the demon crouched, the ground cracking beneath it.

Liam tried to force a flame burst from his palm, but the Berserker appeared above him midair.

Its massive hand struck him upward first, sending Liam even higher through the canopy. Branches broke around him as he shot above the treetops for a brief second, the night sky opening fully above him.

Then the Berserker appeared behind him.

Its tail swung.

Liam twisted, trying to guard with both arms, but he waw too slow.

The tail slammed into his back, the force sending him downward like a falling meteor.

The forest rushed up beneath him until the trees eventually vanished as the river appeared below.

Liam hit the water with horrifying force.

The impact sounded less like a body striking water and more like stone breaking through a wall. The river erupted upward around him as a violent column of water and mist blasted into the night.

The surface split apart, as the current churned violently.

And Liam disappeared beneath it.