Elias barely had time to react before the first creature lunged from the trees, its glowing violet eyes locking onto him with terrifying precision.
Reinhardt swung his hammer in a wide arc, smashing into the creature's side with enough force to send it crashing into a tree. But instead of staying down, it twitched violently and started regenerating, its bones snapping back into place.
Lira swore. "Oh, not this again!"
Ivy loosed an arrow, striking another creature between the eyes. For a moment, it staggered—but like the ones they fought near the rift, the wound closed instantly, the arrow falling to the ground useless.
"They're adapting again," Marco hissed, reaching for a vial of explosive concoction. "We can't kill them like this."
Cecilia disappeared into the shadows, reappearing behind one of the creatures, slicing deep into its spine. The demon let out a horrific screech but barely faltered.
Elias gritted his teeth. "We need overwhelming force!"
He activated his gauntlet's impact converter, feeling the stored energy surge through his arm. With a burst of kinetic force, he launched himself toward one of the creatures and drove his fist into its chest.
BOOM.
The shockwave rippled outward, tearing apart the creature's form before it could regenerate. The demon shrieked, its body distorting as the unnatural energy inside it collapsed inward.
It didn't get back up.
Elias exhaled sharply. "That works."
Reinhardt grinned. "Finally, a solution I like." He slammed his hammer into the ground, channeling raw force into a wide shockwave, sending two more creatures flying. They screeched as their unstable forms flickered and cracked apart.
Marco threw an alchemical bomb at a cluster of demons. Instead of fire, the explosion created a vacuum of force, crushing them before they could regenerate.
Ivy adjusted her strategy, aiming not for lethal shots, but to disable. Arrows struck limbs and joints, slowing their movements.
Cecilia, always a fast learner, shifted her attacks, using blunt force instead of slashes, crippling the demons before they could recover.
Within minutes, the last creature collapsed, its body twisting unnaturally before it dissolved into the shadows.
Silence.
The only sound left was the crackling fire and the team's ragged breathing.
Lira sat down hard on a log. "That was awful."
Elias rolled his shoulder, feeling the strain in his arm. "At least we know how to kill them now."
Ivy scanned the treeline. "We need to move camp. There might be more."
Cecilia wiped her blade clean. "Agreed. We're too exposed here."
Elias exhaled, pushing himself up. "Alright. We leave now. We stick together. No stopping until sunrise."
They packed quickly, putting out the fire and gathering supplies. As they moved deeper into the wilderness, Elias couldn't shake the feeling that this attack wasn't random.
The demons had found them too quickly.
Something—or someone—was guiding them.
And whoever it was, they knew exactly who House Null was.