Levi swept Bristleblade through the Essence like a rake through a giant leaf pile.

Essence went flying in all directions, shredded into tiny pieces by Bristleblade's passage, while the larger chunk he'd sheared off coalesced into an oversized Vine-Fox. Its three tails immediately began lashing out to grab anyone in the vicinity—which in this case was Levi himself.

He ignored the leafy tendrils wrapping themselves around his leg and torso, devoting his full energy to slicing Irene free.

"Dad! Look out!"

Even as Peter shouted his warning, Henry sprang forward. The small dinosaur snapped and bit at the giant Vine Fox, severing one of its tails entirely before latching his lizardish jaws over the creature’s face.

The Essence Fox suddenly found Levi a much less interesting target.

Henry didn't last long, but it was long enough. Without the fox to impede them, the combination of Levi's slashing attacks and Iris working to drag Irene free were sufficient, but cost them both. Levi’s armor absorbed enough of the incoming damage that he barely dipped below a quarter of his total health.

Iris wasn’t so lucky. The Soul-Seeker’s focus on rescuing Irene had left her vulnerable to the many, many little slimes who were all too eager to take down the one who kept disrupting their attack patterns.

Levi's focus on Irene allowed a slashing tail from the Vine Fox through, snagging on Peter's arm. His scythe was no good at such close range, but Peter swung it anyway, the instinct to discard the reach weapon and draw his shortsword not yet ingrained.

Irene jumped back into the center of the open space within the Essence’s loop as the sliced-free Essence around her feet formed into another handful of slimes and a single spiky rabbit.

Cursing, Levi dove at Peter’s attacker, slashing through the Vine Fox’s tail, then followed up with a stab to its midsection.

Level 8++

(Nature Essence)

Health 33%

"Use the shortsword!"

"Oh. Right!” Peter fumbled the Beast Bite shortsword out and held in both hands, swiping ineffectually. He clearly didn’t have a good grasp of its range.

The nature Essence only filled about half the room now, no more than two feet across at any spot, but though it may be smaller, it was no less dangerous. It rolled back and forth in frighteningly quick lurches, alternating between trying to trap those inside its loop or crush those on the outside.

There was far too much to keep track of. Between the giant slimes, the oversized Vine Fox still whipping around with its two remaining tails, not to mention dozens of smaller creatures, they were in danger of being overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

The Essence's touch, while no longer as devastating as it had been at the beginning, was still incredibly dangerous.

Honestly, it was something of a miracle that they lasted this long.

"Over here!”

Peter jumped to join Levi in finishing off the Vine Fox, though that left their back open and allowed significant injuries to accumulate.

Luck and time were both running out fast. Between evading the Essence itself, avoiding attacks from the many smaller creatures, and knocking aside anything that might hit Peter or Irene, Levi had no time left for actually attacking. This kind of defensive battle, against something as powerful as an Essence, was doomed to failure.

Nearly all his minions were also on the defensive by now, only Tu and Skarm were still able to make any headway on the Essence itself.

Level 8++

(Nature Essence)

Health 28%

It taunted him, so close, yet impossibly far away.

"Centi, cover me!"

Centi jumped in, wrapping Levi up in a protective cocoon, armored plating facing out. Levi drank a health and mana restorative in quick succession, abstaining from stamina since he needed his regens where they were. He would be less able to physically move about, but that would be less of a concern than sheer damage potential.

As if reading his mind, Centi ducked his head down the moment Levi recovered from the debilitating weakness of the restorative. Levi tossed the centipede a health restorative of his own and gestured him toward Irene.

"Peter!”

Peter’s head whipped around.

Levi nudged the scythe across the floor. “Go for the Essence, I'll cover your back. We need to finish breaking it up."

Peter snatched up the weapon. "Yes sir!"

He ran at the Essence, even as it surged toward them, bringing the blade of his side down to split cleanly through the entirety of its bring. Temporarily destabilized, the Essence shuddered in place, and Peter followed up with two more slices, one on either side of his initial one, carving two more long chunks out of the blobby substance.

It immediately surged up in that area, reinforcing its thickness to the point where Peter couldn't cut all the way through in a single swipe, but Peter was not to be deterred. He shifted his grip to horizontal slashes and began shaving slices off the top of the bulge it had just formed, diminishing it further before it had itself fully coalesced.

Level 8++

(Nature Essence)

Health 19%

Then Levi's attention was fully occupied with defending the pair of them against the new pair of Vine Foxes and yet more slimes. By now, there were so many slimes firing from all directions that it was impossible to block or evade them all.

Everyone's health was dropping steadily at this point, lending further urgency to the necessity of finding away to finish this.

A cactus hare bit into Levi’s leg. He stomped the creature to the ground, then stabbed it since pure physical damage would do nothing against an Essence creature.

But there were three more just behind it, and no time.

“Behind you.”

Something warm and comforting flowed down Levi's neck and spread across his back. His health began increasing, healing energy hastening his recovery from the countless tiny injuries he’d been accruing all this time.

Irene. He'd forgotten, somehow, that he too was someone she could heal.

"Thanks."

By then, she had already moved on to Peter. Her own health was dropping, but she'd bought them the time they needed.

"Finish it off, quick."

Trusting his team to have his back for these few crucial seconds, Levi joined Peter in slicing the remaining Essence into chunks.

Level 8++

(Nature Essence)

Health 4%

Half a minute later, they were faced with four oversized slimes and seven large Vine Foxes, each with three whipping tails, but with no Essence remaining.

In a way, this was almost worse than the Essence. Levi suddenly had to contend with twenty thrashing tails while being assaulted by a steady barrage of the poisonous spit of the Essence Slimes.

He really missed his old sword's shield setting! Times like these, sometimes you just needed a few minutes to reset and hunker down—

Centi jumped in front of him, circling around the trio to shield them from the attacks, slashing out with all his many legs.

Irene immediately started throwing more restoratives over the centipede's back, but that only did so much against the full combined assault.

Centi's health dropped far faster than it could recover.

"Focus left, get to the wall," Levi snapped out, pointing. "We can't risk being surrounded again."

Their formation worked when the center was the safest place to be, but without the threat of the Essence to keep them stranded, they'd be much better off with a wall at their backs.

Centi shifted around, giving them a single opening.

"Go!" Levi sprinted into the gap, Peter and Irene right behind him.