Staying completely silent from where he and his shadow beast hid, Liam carefully studied the demon, which was still feeding on the partially glowing plants near the riverside.

The massive reptilian lowered its enormous jaws toward the clusters of pale vegetation and tore them out in thick bundles before crushing them between rows of heavy teeth. Wet crunching sounds echoed faintly across the riverbank as bits of glowing sap and shredded leaves dripped from the corners of its maw into the water below.

’This is quite a unique demon,’ Liam thought as he quietly took everything he had observed into consideration.

Not only was this a rare type of demon, an aquatic demon at that, but it also fed on both plant life and flesh, something Liam had never once read about in any of the academy’s records.

Nor had it ever crossed his mind.

Demons consuming flesh was natural, something expected.

But plants?

That was different.

And to make things even stranger, despite the creature’s massive size and somewhat slower movements on land, it was still incredibly fast. Liam had witnessed that firsthand moments earlier when the demon effortlessly killed the Ravons that descended toward the riverside.

There had been no struggle whatsoever.

No wasted movement.

The Ravons had barely reacted before being caught and crushed.

’It’s almost as fast as the Gravecoil,’ Liam thought calmly, his eyes never leaving the creature. ’Slightly slower due to its size and build... but once in the water, this thing probably has no weakness.’

That was the impression it gave him.

Everything about the creature screamed dominance within its environment.

Its thick hide alone looked troublesome. Even from a distance, Liam could tell the armored scales coating the demon’s body were incredibly dense, possibly tougher than the Gravecoil’s.

And unlike the evolved Gravecoil, this demon was an actual Advanced Horror by nature.

Not a Feral-class that had evolved upward through abnormal growth.

And that difference mattered. A lot

The evolved Gravecoil had possessed power and coordination, but its intelligence still carried traces of beast-like aggression and instinct. This reptilian, however, moved with something closer to awareness.

Purpose and calculation.

Meaning outsmarting it wouldn’t be nearly as simple.

Then there was its strength.

Without question, Liam could tell the creature possessed monstrous physical power. Every movement carried weight behind it. Even the simple act of shifting its body through the muddy bank caused the earth beneath it to tremble slightly.

But what truly caught Liam’s attention was something else entirely.

How had it become this strong while primarily feeding on plants?

Sure, the demon had also eaten the Ravons without hesitation, proving it could consume flesh easily enough. But from everything Liam had observed since it surfaced from the river, this creature clearly preferred the glowing vegetation near the banks.

It sought them out intentionally.

’Are those plants special in some sense?’ Liam wondered as his thoughts shifted back toward the Ravons from earlier.

Those scavenger demons had also shown interest in the riverside plants before being killed.

And Ravons were creatures known almost entirely for feeding on flesh; carrion, rotting remains... anything dead enough to consume.

Which meant their attraction toward the glowing plants couldn’t be random either.

Curiosity settling deeper into his mind, Liam carefully extended his senses toward the vegetation growing along the riverside.

Immediately, he felt the Myst radiating from them. It was faint and subtle, but distinct.

The plants carried an unusual aspect to their Myst.

Death.

Not outright corruption or demonic energy itself, but something close to decayed life essence.

Even though the Myst distortion surrounding the area made sensing properly difficult, Liam was still confident in what he was feeling.

’If that’s the case,’ Liam thought calmly, ’it explains why the demon would be attracted to them.’

His eyes narrowed slightly.

’If I’m correct, those plants sustain demons the same way flesh does.’

That was the only explanation that made sense.

Nothing else could explain how this creature looked so physically maintained despite seemingly spending long periods feeding on vegetation rather than constantly hunting prey.

And if those plants truly carried death-aspected Myst, then the river itself was probably influencing their growth somehow.

That thought lingered briefly before Liam’s mind shifted back toward the issue he had been considering earlier.

The cave.

Now that his caution had proven justified, the reality was unavoidable.

This river belonged to something.

And apparently, that underwater cave belonged to it as well, even if the creature wasn’t actively staying inside it.

Now Liam found himself seriously reconsidering whether fighting this thing over territory was worth it just for the sake of securing the cave... or if finding another shelter entirely would simply be the smarter option.

Even if he managed to reach the cave unnoticed, he would still be living inside enemy territory.

That alone made the entire situation irritating.

’I’m being honest... with an Umbra Star at maximum,’ Liam thought quietly, ’I could most definitely kill it. But would the risk actually be worth it?’

If the academy wasn’t watching...

If authoritative figures like Headmaster Thion and the others weren’t observing everything...

Liam knew he wouldn’t still be hiding here in the shadows.

That demon would already be dead.

Whether he was injured or not.

Whether it was an original Advanced Horror or not. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

None of that would matter.

But using an Umbra Star at full output carried consequences.

Massive ones.

Even though the true effect of the spell was implosion, erasing matter within a devastating radius, the buildup beforehand was catastrophic in itself. Similar to the miniature sun he had used earlier against the evolved Gravecoil.

Except far worse.

And Liam knew something else as well.

If he unleashed something like that here, attracting stronger threats would become unavoidable.

Not only because of the explosion itself, but because of the death of the demon too.

For some reason, Liam could already tell the unpleasant presence radiating from the reptilian creature was keeping both demons and ordinary wildlife away from the surrounding area.

That explained the unnatural silence he had been experiencing ever since arriving near the stream

The demon ruled this territory completely.

Meaning if that oppressive presence suddenly vanished, the entire area would likely become flooded with living things rushing in to fill the void.

Demons included.

However...

All of that only mattered if he actually killed the creature.

Right now, with Liam deliberately limiting how much of his true abilities he revealed to the academy, and considering both his injury and his goal of conserving Myst until he found a more stable region for recovery, killing the massive reptilian was much easier said than done.

Outsmarting it remained the better option.

Then again...

Was it truly worth all this effort just for a cave?

Sure, the cave offered advantages; shelter, concealment, storage, and safety.

But was Liam genuinely about to risk himself over something like that?

’That would be quite stupid,’ Liam thought as he calmly weighed all his options.

There was no real need to force this situation.

No necessity.

’This isn’t something I need,’ he reminded himself. ’It’s more of a want. And putting my wants above actual needs isn’t ideal here.’

He paused slightly as his gaze shifted upward toward the trees growing high above the rocky cliffs on the opposite side of the river.

Their canopies stretched far overhead, partially swaying with the wind.

’There might be something better up there,’ he thought quietly.