?"Meals..." the Gremblin Giant’s voice rumbled, a distorted chorus of a hundred stolen screams vibrating through its massive, stitched-together chest.

  ?Pari glanced at Rohan, his usual composure finally fracturing under the shadow of the monstrosity. "Rohan, I think I need your help now."

  ?Before Rohan could center his energy, Surya stepped forward. Steam hissed from his over-pressurized right arm, the skin glowing with a faint, dangerous white heat. "All of you... step back."

  ?"Why? What are you planning?" Pari asked, narrowing his eyes as he tightened his grip on his gauntlets.

  ?Surya didn’t look back; his focus was locked onto the towering nightmare. "Just watch the show."

  ?With a roar that tore through the eerie silence of the village square, Surya lunged. He funneled every drop of his concentrated solar energy into a single, devastating Soul Punch, slamming his fist directly into the Giant’s massive stomach. The impact was thunderous, sending a physical shockwave through the air, but as the dust cleared, Surya’s heart sank. The punch had dealt only minor damage; the mossy, emerald flesh knitted back together instantly, as if the blow had never landed.

  ?The Giant was composed of multiple layers of "husk" skin—a biological shield designed to absorb and neutralize solar impact before it could reach anything vital. With a slow, heavy swing of its tree-trunk limb, the monstrosity swatted Surya aside like an annoying insect. He crashed into the dirt near his friends, gasping for air as the wind was ripped from his lungs.

  ?"Surya, don't be reckless!" Pari hissed, hauling him up by his collar. "We need to assess its weakness and attack with a plan, not just raw heat."

  ?"I know... but how do we find a heart in that mountain of meat?" Surya spat, wiping a streak of blood from his lip.

  ?"By slitting it to pieces," Pari replied, his gauntlet blades extending with a lethal shing. "Rohan—now!"

  ?Rohan raised both hands, his face turning deathly pale as he attempted to lock the Giant in place. Despite his efforts, he couldn't stop the creature entirely; he could only slow its movements. The Giant jerked and groaned against the invisible pressure, its massive muscles bulging as it fought to inch forward through Rohan’s stasis.

  ?Pari became a blur of silver. He danced around the towering form, his blades carving deep, jagged trenches across its hide. But even as he opened gaping holes in the creature’s body, the smaller Gremblins within shifted their positions, filling the gaps with their own writhing bodies. Surya tried a second Soul Punch, pouring even more pressurized power into the Giant's chest, but the creature only let out a rhythmic, mocking laugh.

  ?"You cannot destroy my soul!" the Gremblin Giant bellowed, its dozen eyes flickering with malice. "It is safe within the swarm... and you will never find it!"

  ?With a violent thrash of its upper body, the Giant shattered Rohan’s weakening grip. It sent a boulder-sized fist whistling toward Pari. Just before the impact could crush him into the stone, Vaishu flickered into the fray. With a blinding flash of Instant Teleportation, she grabbed Pari and reappeared ten feet away, safely out of the Giant's reach.

  ?Rohan dropped to one knee, his chest heaving as sweat poured down his face. His Stasis Field was flickering like a dying candle, the Giant’s massive form jerking forward with every lapse in his energy.

  ?"We have to do something!" Surya yelled, his voice cracking over the sound of the Giant’s rhythmic laughter.

  ?"Surya!" Vaishu called out, her eyes darting across the shifting emerald mass of the monster. "I believe that just like their physical bodies, their souls have merged with the one controlling them—the Boss!"

  ?"The Boss's soul?" Pari asked, parrying a jagged, rusted blade from a stray Gremblin limb. "Subha is the only one who can trace a life force. Since she is not here, we need an alternative!"

  ?Surya’s eyes widened as he watched the Giant’s flesh ripple and heave. It wasn't just physical movement; there was a spark beneath the skin that moved too fast for the eye to follow. "Pari... I think Vaishu is right. The soul isn't fixed in the chest. It’s small, and it’s shifting through different parts of the body to avoid my hits. It’s hiding within the swarm."

  ?Pari nodded, his mind racing through tactical possibilities as his blades retracted and snapped back out. "Alright, I have a plan. Rohan—give me everything you have left. Pause it for at least four seconds."

  ?Pari turned his gaze to the towering monstrosity. "I’ll carve enough openings to make the inner core visible. Once you see that soul flicker... Surya, hit it with everything you've got!"

  ?Surya grounded his feet, the dirt cracking beneath his boots. He began to draw every remaining ounce of solar energy into his right arm, the limb glowing with a blinding, white-hot intensity that smelled of ozone and scorched air. "I'll take care of it," he growled.

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  ?"Make sure you do," Pari warned, his voice grim as he prepared to launch himself into the path of the Giant. "We only have one shot at this. If we miss, we're all on the menu."

  "What if I’m unable to do it?" Rohan gasped, his hands trembling violently. The Giant’s immense physical pressure was pushing back against his mind like a tidal wave.

  Vaishu placed a steadying hand on his shoulder. "You will do it, Rohan. And if the field fails, I’ll pull Pari out of the path of fire, just like I did before. Focus!"

  Pari flashed a quick, encouraging smile toward Rohan and settled into a low crouch, his eyes tracking the ripples in the monster’s hide. "Section D—Let’s move!"

  Rohan let out a guttural roar, thrusting his palms forward. A shimmering blue dome of stasis slammed into the Giant, locking its massive joints in a frozen, agonizing posture. The creature’s dozen eyes bulged, but its muscles were trapped in the temporal amber.

  One second.

  Pari blurred. Using a localized Tonal Shift in his legs, he became a silver streak of lightning. He didn't just strike; he dissected. With surgical precision, he delivered fifteen devastating slashes across the Giant’s torso, arms, and neck, peeling back the protective "husk" layers like the skin of a fruit.

  Two seconds.

  The Giant’s internal swarm writhed in the open air, exposed and frantic.

  Three seconds.

  "There!" Vaishu screamed, her eyes catching a frantic, pulsing violet glow darting through the creature's lower mass. "It’s in the thigh! The soul is in the right thigh!"

  Four seconds.

  Surya was already airborne. He had executed a total Tonal Shift, draining the solar warmth from both of his hands and forcing it entirely into his right fist until the skin glowed with the intensity of a collapsing star.

  "WANT A MEAL? TAKE THIS!" Surya bellowed.

  He slammed his fist into the Giant’s massive thigh. The combined force of the Tonal Shift and the Soul Punch created a localized supernova. The energy didn't just burn the flesh; it shattered the violet soul into a million jagged shards.

  The effect was instantaneous. Without the Boss’s soul to act as a biological glue, the fifteen-foot monstrosity lost its cohesion. The screams of a hundred Gremblins were silenced in a single, wet thud. The towering giant didn't fall—it dissolved. A tidal wave of thick, emerald liquid burst outward, drenching the village square in a foul-smelling slime as the Gremblin bodies melted into nothingness.

  Surya landed in the center of the green pool, panting, his right arm steaming in the cool night air. The "Smiling Village" of Kadambur was gone, replaced by a silent, slime-covered ruin.

  The dust of the Gremblin village settled, leaving behind a silence far more unsettling than the battle itself. Surya remained on his knees, his eyes fixed on the empty, hollowed-out skin of the Kartha who had once welcomed them. The human remains lay like discarded rags in the mud.

  Pari approached, his steps heavy with exhaustion, and placed a grounding hand on Surya’s shoulder.

  "What do we tell them?" Surya asked, his voice hollow. "The families... the villagers... what do we say about the missing people?"

  Pari looked out over the slime-covered ruins. "The truth, Surya. We have nothing else to say".

  The following morning, the sterile, pale sunlight of the infirmary filtered through the windows as Chandru blinked into consciousness. To his immediate shock, he found Raksha sitting directly across from him. She was calmly eating her meal, her emerald eyes fixed on him as if she had been observing his every breath for hours.

  "Why did you come back?" Chandru asked, his voice rasping from disuse. "You had every chance to run."

  "Because the Karthas caught me," Raksha replied simply, setting her tray aside with a metallic clink. "And because running is no longer an option."

  Before Chandru could press her, the medicine lady entered, placing a steaming cup of herbal tonic on the bedside table. Chandru shifted his weight, bracing for pain, only to realize the agonizing throb in his hip had vanished. He touched his side; the skin was smooth, the deep gash completely closed.

  "Where are the Karthas?" Chandru asked, glancing toward the door.

  "They left," the medicine lady replied. "Mr. Pedro is returning today, so they returned to their posts."

  "Your medicine is good," Chandru remarked, looking at the lady with genuine surprise. "The wound is totally cured."

  "It wasn't my medicine," she replied, casting a side-eye at Raksha. "It was her. Raksha saved your life while you were out."

  Chandru’s expression immediately hardened, his eyes narrowing into slits of deep suspicion. "I see. Is this the play? Planning to gain our trust so you can strike from within?"

  "You are wrong," Raksha said, her voice dropping an octave, sounding more like a predator than a prisoner. "Completely. I’m not here for trust; I’m here for a deal."

  "Be crisp," Chandru countered.

  "Tharag is hunting me," she explained, her fingers tightening around the edge of her seat. "Beyond that, the Vampire King does not tolerate failure. To him, I am just a goblin spy who allowed herself to be caught. My life is forfeit in the Underworld. I have decided to stay here, with you. I will share the secrets of the Vampire Kingdom as the situation demands, but in return, you must protect me from the vampires."

  Chandru leaned back against the headboard, his mind weighing the tactical advantage. "Fine. Tell me the secrets now."

  Raksha let out a small, cynical laugh. "I won't tell you everything at once. Once I’m out of information, I become 'stock' that you won't hesitate to discard. I’ll give you what you need, only when you need it. I don't believe in your Association enough to give away my only leverage."

  "I’m glad you finally acknowledged that I’m strong enough to protect you," Chandru noted dryly. "But the decision to accept this deal lies with Mr. Pedro, not me. He’s the one who decides if you’re an asset or a prisoner."

  "And one more condition," Raksha added, standing up to meet his gaze. "No cages. No cuffs. I won't be treated like an animal."

  "Alright" Chandru replied.

  He stood up, testing his leg. He felt a phantom tingle where the wound had been, but the joint held firm. He began walking toward the kitchen, his gait steady. He stopped at the doorway, and without turning around, he spoke two words that hit Raksha harder than any physical blow:

  "Thanks... for saving me."

  He disappeared into the hall, leaving Raksha standing in the heavy silence, her cold composure finally beginning to flicker.