Liam remained kneeling within the shallow river as the current flowed around him quietly.

Cold water passed around his hands, washing away the blood dripping from his mouth while broken branches floated downstream beside him.

For several long seconds, he simply stayed there.

Breathing.

Thinking.

The pain rushing through his torso was sharp enough that even inhaling too deeply became uncomfortable. Every slight movement caused pressure to spread violently through the right side of his ribs, sending dull pulses throughout his chest and back.

He had definitely broken more than just one rib.

Liam slowly raised a hand toward his side and pressed against it lightly.

The moment pressure touched the area, another violent wave of pain shot through him immediately.

"...Yeah," he muttered quietly. "Definitely more than one."

Even so, his expression barely changed.

The dark mage remained calm as he analyzed the damage the same way he would analyze a battlefield, a weapon, or an enemy.

His ribs were fractured badly.

Possibly cracked in multiple places.

His internal organs, however, did not seem critically damaged yet. Otherwise, he would’ve been coughing far more blood than that already. Breathing hurt, but air still moved through both lungs properly. His right arm responded normally despite the pain. His spine felt stable as well.

Which meant he was still functional.

Barely.

Liam spat another mouthful of blood into the river before finally forcing himself upright.

Water dripped from his soaked clothes while the current pushed lightly against his legs. Above him, the night sky stretched dark and endless beyond the treeline surrounding the riverbanks.

For a moment, Liam simply stood there in silence.

The river reflected faint moonlight around him while steam slowly rose from portions of his body where residual heat from his flames still lingered beneath his skin.

Then his crimson eyes slowly shifted back toward the forest in the direction he had been launched from.

The Berserker was coming toward him.

He could feel it.

Even from this distance.

That heavy distorted Myst pressure remained present within the eastern forest like a massive predator moving through darkness.

That immediately made Liam wonder about Charlotte.

If the Berserker was heading toward him right now, then there were only two likely possibilities.

Either it had already dealt with Charlotte completely...

Or it simply never cared about her existence enough to pursue her at all.

Liam believed it was the latter.

Even now, faintly, he could still pick up traces of Charlotte’s Myst scent somewhere farther within the forest. It was distant, moving quickly, but still present.

Alive.

And if this Berserker truly had no interest in Charlotte, then Liam understood something important immediately.

He no longer needed to divide his attention.

He could focus entirely on the demon itself.

Especially after that single hit.

The moment Liam remembered the impact from earlier, his eyes narrowed slightly.

That strike alone had confirmed something terrifying for him.

This Berserker was on an entirely different level compared to the one from their first-year examination.

The sheer physical strength behind that casual palm strike had made that painfully obvious.

The demon hadn’t even punched him properly.

It hadn’t used a fist.

It hadn’t accelerated fully.

It hadn’t even looked serious.

Yet the impact still launched him through nearly an entire section of forest and all the way into the river.

That level of raw physical power alone already surpassed the previous Berserker by a ridiculous margin.

And that wasn’t even accounting for the speed amplification from the strange red lightning covering its body.

Liam’s thoughts drifted briefly toward the Berserker from the first-year exam.

Now that he compared both properly, he realized something else as well.

That Berserker most likely hadn’t been fully evolved yet.

Even though the academy simulation had accurately replicated its abilities, it probably represented a Berserker still midway through its evolution.

But this one...

This one felt complete.

Or at the very least, far closer to completion.

’I wonder if holding back would help me here?’ Liam wondered calmly as he kept staring toward the forest.

The last time he, Asher, Chris, and Sheila had stood together against a Berserker, he had only been a Low-tier five-star.

Now he was a Low-tier six-star.

Stronger.

Faster.

Far more refined.

Which meant he would most likely be capable of holding his own now.

At least temporarily.

However...

Would that truly be enough?

Especially against something like this?

In truth, Liam would’ve been more confident if this were a Blood Demon instead.

Because Blood Demons, no matter how intelligent or terrifying they became, always carried one fatal flaw. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Arrogance.

Those sickly creatures loved to toy with what they considered prey. They enjoyed fear. Enjoyed prolonged hunts. Enjoyed watching people break mentally before dying.

And because of that, they constantly underestimated opponents.

They held back too much.

And Liam understood perfectly how to exploit hesitation.

But Berserkers were different.

No matter how intelligent this one had become, no matter how much speech or reason it gained through evolution, it still remained instinctively driven at its core.

And instinctive predators did not care about games.

They did not toy with prey.

They did not enjoy prolonged suffering.

They hunted to kill.

Fast.

Efficiently.

Violently.

That was what made this thing so dangerous.

It would not intentionally lower itself for amusement.

And with that realization, Liam understood something else immediately.

If he truly intended to fight this demon...

Then he would need to reveal more of his power.

Because relying only on what he had shown the academy so far would most likely not be enough.

’Well,’ Liam thought calmly, ’if that’s going to be the case... then I don’t need Smoke anymore.’

This wasn’t because Smoke lacked usefulness.

Far from it.

The shadow wolf would absolutely remain valuable against ordinary enemies.

But against the Berserker?

Smoke would constantly need to regenerate under direct combat pressure.

And maintaining Smoke’s regeneration while simultaneously fighting at full output himself would drain Liam’s Myst reserves far too quickly.

That would become fatal eventually.

So Liam made his decision.

Without hesitation, he dismissed Smoke.

Far away within the forest, the massive shadow wolf immediately dissolved back into darkness, returning to Liam’s shadows and abandoning the ongoing fight with the remaining Advanced Horrors.

Which also meant those three surviving demons would most likely shift their attention toward Charlotte now.

’Sorry, Charlotte,’ Liam thought calmly. ’You might need to use your Myst after all.’

Still, Liam wasn’t truly worried about her survival.

Charlotte was smarter than most people gave her credit for.

And more importantly, her survival instincts were exceptional.

If things became genuinely hopeless, she would run without hesitation.

After dismissing Smoke, Liam placed his left hand carefully over the injured side of his ribs.

Then he cast Mend.

A faint green glow mixed briefly with dark Myst beneath his palm as the spell activated.

Immediately, some of the pain eased slightly.

Not enough to heal the fractures completely.

Mend was never designed for severe internal damage.

But it stabilized the area enough to let him move more freely without every breath feeling like a blade digging through his torso.

Even so, the pain remained very noticeable.

Liam stayed kneeling within the river for a few moments longer before finally forcing himself fully to his feet.

The movement caused another sharp pulse through his ribs, but he ignored it.

Standing there beneath the moonlight, Liam inhaled deeply despite the discomfort.

Cold air entered his lungs slowly.

Then he exhaled calmly.

Steam escaped from his mouth into the night air.

For a moment, he simply stood still.

Water dripped continuously from his dark hair and soaked clothes while the river moved quietly around him.

Then slowly, Liam raised both hands and swept his wet hair back calmly.

As he lowered his hands again, his crimson irises began glowing faintly within the darkness.

Instantly, the moist air surrounding him started heating up.

Water evaporated lightly from his clothes and skin while small flickers of flame appeared around his body like living embers responding to his breathing.

The river around his legs hissed faintly from the rising temperature.

Liam’s expression remained calm.

Too calm.

Especially considering what was coming for him through the forest.

Far away behind the trees, he could already feel the Berserker approaching.

Fast.

The pressure in the Myst was growing heavier with every passing second.

The demon was hunting him now.

Directly.

And strangely enough...

Liam found himself slightly enjoying the tension.

Not because he underestimated the danger.

But because for the first time since entering Nalim, he had finally encountered exactly what he came here searching for.

A true Berserker.

A real evolved Sync-class predator.

And now that it had shown interest in him specifically, Liam understood something clearly.

This fight would reveal answers.

Whether through victory...

Or survival alone.

"Time to return the favor," he muttered quietly.

The next instant—

Flames exploded beneath his feet.

The shallow river erupted violently as steam and fire burst outward simultaneously. Water scattered through the air while Liam vanished from where he stood in a blazing streak of crimson-orange flames.

The riverbank cracked from the force of his acceleration.

Then he shot directly back toward the eastern forest.