[Special system broadcast — visible only to viewers]

"Welcome to the Grimvast Event."

"The three participants have been separated into different sectors of the labyrinth. As this is an official World Administration System event, each viewer will have simultaneous access to all three perspectives."

"The chat of other active Streamers may vote at certain points along the route to activate labyrinth modifications. Votes will be visible as progress bars."

"We begin."

---

[Jack_Moore: THREE SIMULTANEOUS PERSPECTIVES. CHOOSING SERAH FIRST.]

[RagingMutant: I’m with Kai ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

[Dr_Snow: Lira for me. I want to see how she handles eighteen creatures with a bored face.]

[Wolf1179: Serah. first time I see her fight completely alone.]

[Dragonic_Legacy: @Wolf1179 get ready. it’s different without Kai nearby.]

[GarcíaFTW: the stream is going slow, anyone else having that problem]

[NocheEterna99: @GarcíaFTW close and open, it worked for me]

[GarcíaFTW: @NocheEterna99 already tried]

[StreamerHunter: it’s 16 million viewers bro the server is struggling]

[GarcíaFTW: makes sense]

[Pedro_Sierra: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ SERAH ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]

[Deral_Bleattler: (ง’̀-’́)ง EVERYONE (ง’̀-’́)ง]

---

POV — Serah / Sector 7 / Level 1

The nine creatures came in a spread formation.

Serah assessed them as they covered the fifteen meters.

They were bipedal — two meters tall, skin of gray scales covering their entire body except the underbelly, which was darker and softer.

Four arms each, the upper ones ending in curved claws the length of a forearm, the lower ones shorter with fingers they used for balance when running.

The head was flat, no visible nose, with two rows of small eyes glowing yellow in the corridor’s dim light.

They ran leaning forward, their weight on their upper arms which struck the ground with their claws at every step, making them sound like something metallic advancing at speed.

Four in front.

Two on each flank.

One lagging behind — the largest one, staying back.

’The big one leads.’

’If she falls first, the rest lose coordination.’

Serah’s claws came out.

---

The one on the left flank arrived before the ones in front.

It attacked with the upper right arm, using the curved claw horizontally, aiming for Serah’s neck, the kind of strike that decapitates if it connects well and tears if it connects badly.

Serah ducked.

The claw grazed her hair.

The creature landed past her, pivoted using its claws on the ground as a pivot point, and charged again.

Serah was already on the right flank.

The two on that flank had their upper arms raised for a downward strike.

They weren’t ready for a target arriving at them from the wrong angle.

Serah’s right claw to the neck of the first.

Not to kill — to deflect it into the second.

The four arms of both creatures tangled at the moment of impact, claws against claws, and both lost their footing.

Three seconds from the start.

Two on the right flank out of position.

The four in front arrived.

---

The first of the four struck with both upper arms simultaneously — the curved claws converging from opposite angles toward Serah’s torso, the kind of attack that leaves no room to dodge sideways.

Serah absorbed the blow on her left shoulder, her primordial aura elevated in that area.

It hurt.

The claws were stronger than their size suggested — there was muscle behind those gray scales.

Counterattack — Serah’s palm to the soft chest of the creature’s underbelly.

Primordial ice concentrated at the contact point.

The creature froze in the torso, all four arms locked in position, its nervous system taking time to process what had happened to the center of its body.

Serah passed through the space that created.

She reached the big one at the back.

---

’Kai would have said the big one is the key.’

’I know.’

The big one was twice the size of the others.

Three and a half meters.

The upper arms ended in longer, straighter claws — not curved for tearing, flat for striking with mass. The kind of weapon that doesn’t seek to cut but to break.

Serah struck it with primordial aura concentrated in her fist.

The big one went four meters back, crashed against the black stone wall, and stayed there.

The eight remaining stopped.

’Without the reference point, they’re recalculating.’

Serah used those three seconds.

---

[Wolf1179: the creatures have FOUR ARMS. two to attack, two to move.]

[Jack_Moore: Serah deliberately absorbed the blow to her shoulder to reach the big one. she calculated the cost.]

[Dr_Snow: "she learned it by watching him" — Kai’s tactic applied without Kai.]

[RagingMutant: ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ FOUR METERS THE BIG ONE]

[Dragonic_Legacy: the big one leads. Serah read it in two seconds. that’s 2300 years of experience.]

[Pedro_Sierra: the big one’s flat claws are for breaking, not cutting. important detail.]

---

The eight returned without formation.

Chaotic — each on its own, without the coordinated rhythm from before.

More predictable individually.

More difficult as a group because chaos has no pattern to read.

Serah let out her primordial aura in a full radius.

Not the temperature field — pressure.

The kind high-ranking predators emit.

Four of the eight slowed.

Their claws lowered a degree.

Their steps shortened.

Prey instinct activated.

The other four didn’t slow.

They kept going at the same speed, all four arms in attack position, the aura pressure changing nothing in their behavior.

’Four modified to ignore prey instinct. Four normal.’

’A_D_M thought of this.’

Serah attacked the modified ones first.

---

When the sector fell silent, four minutes had passed.

All nine incapacitated — not dead.

Killing in an unknown labyrinth generates noise and smell that attract more things.

The silver markings at medium intensity.

The left shoulder bore the impact from the first strike.

The curved claws had left two red lines on the skin where the aura hadn’t been enough to absorb everything.

The opening to the next level was at the end of the corridor.

---

[ACTIVE VOTE — VIEWERS FROM OTHER STREAMS]

[Modification: Level 2]

[Option A: Increased density — 45%]

[Option B: Floor traps — 31%]

[Option C: Reduced visibility — 24%]

[Result: Option A]

Serah crossed the opening.

---

Level 2

The creatures at level 2 were different.

Half the size of those at level 1.