It towered 10 feet tall, and it wasn’t even standing.

The only monster in the room was half in the shade, light glinting off its left size as it rose to its full height, painted in a half dozen swirled colors of gray, and it rose to its full, terrible height, charging before we were even down the stairs. Tavi froze in panic.

//Order the undead forward.// I said, and he complied, ordering the 01C and SHADOW to limp forward. A direct charge was not the most effective use of them as units, but I didn’t have time to instruct him on military theory. I ordered the broken Templar forward first, a few feet ahead of the rest, which fanned around the monster.

I ran around the left side of the room, easily passing by the monster’s charge, firing a shot of the Nova-03. Hot plasma splashed against its scales. It screamed.

I could focus the Nova on its legs and break them, making it easier to kill, but that would make the corpse less valuable. So instead I fired at its chest, leaving a burning circle of heated flesh. The monster’s charge was unimpeded. It was unwilling and unable to stop.

The GOAT01C threw itself forward with its arms, hopping over the ground to meet the charge half way before erupting in fire. A gout of flame poured from its hands, splashing over the lower half of the BEAR01’s body, even as it came to a skidding stop.

With a roar, it raised a gigantic scaled paw, ending in six ivory claws, and then lowered it.

The 01C died with a quiet thump.

I fired the Nova-3 again, heating the back of the monster’s massive chest. Based on the reaction, I estimated I needed to land 3 more shots to complete melt the inside of its chest.

Hopefully, the undead would last that long.

SHADOW01 nipped at the monster’s ankles, sprinting forward and backward through its legs, cutting at its ankles. The monster roared, turning in place and swiping ineffectively, but the SHADOW was too fast for the lumbering giant.

The broken Templar that arrived at that moment was not, however. The monster smashed the undead into paste. Then it tripped, falling backwards and smashing the SHADOW.

My 3rd Nova shot into its back. Melted flesh poured down its scales, steam erupting from inside and pouring out.

We had 4 Templars left. I changed their standing directive, hoping to conserve them long enough to finish the monster without anymore losses.

They jumped in and out of its range, BEAR01 becoming more aggressive every time it missed. Now it was throwing its whole body, sliding along the ground and trying to body slam the Templar corpses.

Rolling backwards, it crushed another corpse. We were down to 3.

I fired again, hitting the front of its chest. It caved in, steam pouring out, and the monster roared, charging towards me, ignoring the surrounding undead. The dead Templars gave chase.

I planned to move at a 45-degree angle again, crossing through its blind spot, when the bear accelerated, doubling in speed. The monster had some kind of skill.

I didn’t have enough time to run past the monster in either direction, so I turned towards the wall, gaining speed. When the monster arrived, I jumped. The room shook as it thumped into the wall, carving stone free with its claws. I landed on the monster’s shoulder, digging my fingers into its scales, clinging on for everything I was worth.

The monster turned, wobbling, and slammed its back into the wall, trying to dislodge me.

I only needed one more shot.

I kicked off the monster’s shoulder, launching into midair. But I was facing the wrong way.

My torso rotated 180 degrees, and the Nova-3 fired.

In a burst of plasma and steam, the monster’s chest ripped the rest of the way open. It roared, staggering forward a few steps as blood and ichor leaked from the wound, painting the grass on the floor.

///ALERT: ENERGY AT 50%

The monster collapsed.

///XP: 3000/3000

///EXCESS XP DISCARDED

///LEVEL UP: LEVEL 6

I waited for another moment before prompting Tavi again.

//THE BLANKET.// He was still standing at the entrance, but at my prompting he slowly scrabbled down the wall. He had to be careful; each step was roughly 4 feet tall, which meant he had to stop and lean down the side before dropping each time.

Eventually he reached me, holding the poorly folded blanket.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to resurrect that.” Tavi said. “That monster is huge… it might even be Grade 3.”

I turned, facing my head display towards him. Detecting the discomfort in his body language, it showed an image of a sunset on a beach.

//Try.

He complied, unfolding the blanket. Using all the undead and my strength, we were just barely able to drag the monster onto the blanket, its head sitting in the center of a mini ritual diagram.

Tavi struggled for a few minutes at the control of the blanket, sweating and focused.

“It’s no use.” He said, finally standing up and giving up. “I just don’t have enough mana. The spell keeps failing.”

I reached into the pockets of the ragged [RAGS OF SURVIVING] I had equipped all the way back in the goblin cave, pulling free a paper sachet and extending it to Tavi.

“This is…?” He asked, holding it carefully in his hands. He looked between me and the paper bag.

//Glory. This increases your mana, yes?

“Yes… but…” He said, looking up towards my display. The scene changed from the display at the beach to the familiar sight of a Yellow Tang swimming in an aquarium. If he was going to say something, he stopped, pulling free a knife from his belt and cutting the top of the paper open. His breathing hastened as he returned to his knees, looking between the body of the bear and me.

Blood was pooling on the grass.

He brought the paper bag up to his face.