Unlike the other monsters, the Examiner did not emerge from the surface of the dome. It simply appeared out of thin air.

  Just like the last time, it didn’t materialize right in front of David—which was a small mercy. Had that happened, the fight would’ve been over before it began. Standing near the edge of the rooftop, he caught sight of it instantly. The creature manifested in the parking lot below, its form shimmering into existence before rising upward, levitating smoothly toward him.

  Even though he had seen it before, its appearance still unsettled him—a writhing mass of tentacles and teeth that seemed to rearrange themselves when you weren’t looking. It was like a Lovecraftian fever dream made flesh, its very presence twisting the air around it. But this time, David was in better shape. His ankle wasn’t broken, his body was strong, and—most importantly—he knew what to expect.

  He exhaled, steadying his nerves. The sight no longer sent that cold spike of panic through his chest. He was ready for this one.

  David thrust his hands forward, focusing until the air itself seemed to hum with strain. The copper wire coiled around his leg stopped crackling—then all the power discharged with a violent surge. Six bolts of lightning erupted from his palms and around them, slamming into the shimmering barrier surrounding the creature. Six burning marks flared where the energy met resistance, but the creature’s shield only glowed brighter, greedily drinking in the power aimed to destroy it.

  Just like last time. The damn thing was absorbing everything he threw at it.

  David gritted his teeth, sweat beading on his forehead as the scent of ozone filled the rooftop. He wasn’t trying to break through with brute force. His plan was to overfeed it, to pour so much energy into that luminous cocoon that it would collapse under its own strain.

  The monster, though, remained eerily calm. It floated toward him at a measured pace, tentacles trailing around it, indifferent to the lightstorm hammering its shield.

  David shifted tactics. Electricity fizzled from his hands and was replaced by six streams of flame. The result? Nothing. The Examiner’s barrier shimmered, greedily absorbing the fire without even a flicker of damage. His mana gauge, however, dipped sharply—the copper wire feeding his lightning held no energy for fire.

  He hissed a curse through his teeth and changed elements again. Icy spears replaced the flames, streaking through the air and shattering against the glowing shield. No reaction. Not even a crack.

  “Fine,” he muttered, dropping to one knee. He reached down and invoked the Law of Clay. The ground under the parking lot trembled, and thick earth began to flow upward, swirling like liquid around the hovering monster. Within seconds, a cocoon of glistening clay formed—only to be shredded apart by a single sweep of a tentacle. The clay splattered harmlessly across the parking lot.

  “Okay, that’s rude,” David grumbled. Then the pipes below the building burst open, sending jets of water arcing into the night. He used the [Major Law of Water], whipping them at the Examiner. When that didn't help, he threw the same pipes that just poured water as projectiles using [Major Law of Steel]. None of it worked. If anything, the barrier swelled, humming brighter and stronger.

  Desperation crept into his chest. His mind raced through every element he’d mastered.

  “Alright, let’s see how you like this…”

  He extended both hands, summoning a sphere of pure shadow above the creature. The darkness began to concentrate into one spot and after gaining mass, it dropped onto the barrier below.

  A hiss tore through the silence as darkness met light. For a heartbeat, it seemed to work—the shield sizzled and dimmed—but then, the dark mass began to collapse inward, devoured by the barrier’s hungry glow.

  David's mana reserves had dwindled to half. Switching back to lightning, he began retreating toward the mountain of core crystals piled near the rooftop’s edge. Each step echoed with urgency as the air trembled from the Examiner’s approach. The monster’s grotesque silhouette loomed larger with every passing second.

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  When David reached the mound of glowing shards, the creature was already rising over the edge of the building, its countless tendrils writhing like serpents. He had been hammering it for nearly three minutes now, and there was no denying it anymore—his plan had failed. The shield’s energy absorption was far greater than he’d accounted for. To overload it, he’d need to keep up that barrage for hours.

  “Not happening,” he muttered under his breath, panting, sweat streaking down his temples.

  Then his eyes fell on the glittering crystals beside him.

  Without hesitation, he cut off the lightning stream and stretched out his hands toward the pile. His focus sharpened to a single point. The cores began to hum, their faint light pulsing faster, brighter. One by one, they cracked, dissolving into tendrils of energy that swirled toward him like a mist. The flow of mana poured into his body, burning through his veins. He grit his teeth and kept pulling, faster, harder—fueling himself for one last desperate counterstrike.

  The moment his body filled with energy, David thrust one hand forward and unleashed an overcharge. A bolt of plasma-lightning erupted from his palm, searing the air with a crackling shriek. In his other hand, he crushed a crystal core, forcing it to dissolve into raw mana that flooded his veins, filling him full again. And then he cast again.

  [Overcharge 1 → 2]

  A second beam of plasma burst from his right hand. “Ha! It worked!” he shouted, voice trembling with the thrill of it. Mana drained rapidly, burning through him, but the copper wire coiled around his leg siphoned enough current to keep him standing. Even so, he had to crouch, muscles trembling under the pressure of his own unleashed magic.

  Both beams slammed into the monster’s shield. The creature halted midair, its grotesque form outlined in the glow of the lightning. David risked a glance down—the copper wire was red-hot, insulation bubbling, nearly melting through. The rooftop lights flickered, shorting out one by one.

  “Damn it,” he muttered. “The wiring can’t handle it—”

  Then the monster roared.

  “GrrrRAAAAAH!”

  David grinned through the sweat and sparks. “Yeah, that’s right! Take it, you ugly—”

  But his smile faltered. The creature’s barrier didn’t collapse—it blazed brighter than ever, radiating pure energy. The light condensed, shimmered... and then its crystal body at its center began to grow. Another segment extended from it like a living limb of glass.

  “What the hell...” David whispered, eyes widening. “It’s evolving?”

  David immediately cut off the current flowing through the copper wire, and the overcharge fizzled out the moment his mana reserves hit zero. His heart pounded as realization struck: this creature couldn’t be overloaded. Every surge of energy only made it stronger.

  Snatching a handful of mana cores, David sprinted toward the far edge of the rooftop. Behind him, the monster lifted one of its tendrils and lashed out. The strike missed him by a hair’s breadth, instead slamming into the pile of crystal cores. The impact shattered the roof beneath them, sending glowing shards cascading into the darkness below.

  “Why me?” he shouted, breath ragged. “They’re right there—eat those!” But the monster didn’t waver. Whatever logic governed it, the system demanded that he was the target.

  Panic surged. “What do I do? What do I—ah, screw this! Fuck this shit, I’m out!” He drew an icy blade into existence with a flick of thought and sliced through the copper wire still wrapped around his leg. The thing had melted into a twisted, fused mess anyway.

  The access ladder loomed nearby, but one glance at the shifting tentacles and cracking rooftop told him that route was suicide. If he tried climbing, the beast would simply punch through and drag him down. He needed another way—something faster.

  Then he spotted it: a large air-conditioning unit, humming uselessly in the night air.

  “Wait… that could work.” His eyes lit up.

  Extending his hands, David invoked the [Law of Steel]. The protective grille tore free from the machine with a shriek of bending metal and clattered to the ground. “Why the hell didn’t I think of this earlier!?” he yelled, jumping onto it.

  The moment his boots hit the steel frame, he forced his will into the metal again. The grille shuddered, then—slowly, unsteadily—lifted off the roof. He groaned as mana began draining from his core.

  Still, it worked.

  “Prop flying, Half-Life 2 style,” David muttered through clenched teeth. “Let’s go!”

  The metal trembled, and then he shot forward—just as a tentacle ripped through the air where he’d stood moments before. The shockwave nearly threw him off, but he crouched low and grabbed the edges of his makeshift craft, forcing it to stabilize.

  Below him, the parking lot of the office building blurred by. Wind tore at his face, stinging his eyes, but adrenaline drowned out everything else. He risked a glance back.

  The monster had launched itself off the rooftop, its tendrils flailing in pursuit—but it was already falling behind.

  “Ha!” David laughed. “I’m faster!”