LEVEL EVERYTHING UP in my Eldritch Tribe

Vira Serpentscale and Xalia Moonshadow hovered above the battlefield, their eyes sharp and minds calculating.

The two warriors had been summoned to eliminate the threat before them, yet they had not been given any real information about the enemy.

It was frustrating—an insult to warriors like them who thrived on understanding their foes before engaging in combat.

They were accustomed to strategizing, outmaneuvering their opponents with precision, not being thrown into the fray blindly.

Vira, with her serpentine grace, moved her fingers along the hilts of her twin daggers, her golden eyes flickering across the battlefield below.

"They send us here with no knowledge of the enemy? I thought the Asura Empire had more honor than this," she muttered, her voice filled with venomous disdain.

"Honor doesn't seem to matter today," Xalia replied calmly, her voice low but firm. She stood beside Vira, her form draped in a cloak that shimmered with the fabric of space itself.

Her eyes, deep and glowing, reflected the twisting chaos of time.

"Still, we must eliminate the target. No questions asked."

Their mission was clear: take out Lyerin, the leader of this uprising.

Vira's fingers tightened around her daggers as her gaze finally fell upon Lyerin, hovering above the battlefield.

The Pig Orcs below, massive and brutal, fought with ferocity, but it was their leader who commanded everything, who was the true threat.

But as they watched, they couldn't help but notice something strange about the Pig Orcs.

The longer the battle went on, the stronger they seemed to grow.

These were no ordinary creatures—they adapted to each strike, each blow, as if evolving mid-battle.

Vira's brow furrowed, recognizing the challenge this posed.

"Look at them," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "They're becoming stronger the more they're injured. Adapting."

Xalia narrowed her eyes. "This isn't just brute strength. They're evolving... like a living, breathing organism learning as it fights."

Below them, a particularly large Pig Orc roared, its massive muscles bulging grotesquely as it hurled an Asura elite across the battlefield, its body crashing into the dirt with bone-shattering force.

The Orc, though covered in deep wounds, seemed almost invincible now, its eyes glowing with an eerie red light.

Vira let out a slow breath. "They're formidable. But they're not our target. Their leader is."

They both turned their gaze toward Lyerin once more, who remained suspended in the air, watching the battle unfold with an almost casual detachment.

His arms were crossed, his expression unreadable. He made no attempt to hide, no effort to protect himself.

Vira frowned. "It's as if he's inviting us to strike him down. Does he think he's untouchable?"

Xalia's eyes glimmered with suspicion. "Perhaps. Or maybe it's a trap. Either way, we must proceed cautiously. We cannot fail."

The two assassins moved in unison, their forms barely visible as they darted forward, aiming for Lyerin.

They mimicked the horned girls who stood beside him, blending into the chaos of the battle.

It was almost too easy. As they approached, there was no sign that Lyerin even noticed them.

No defensive movement, no spell, nothing.

Vira's lips curled into a smirk. "Is this all?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.

They closed in, ready to strike. Both assassins were prepared to end this battle in one swift motion.

Their blades glinted in the dim light as they aimed for Lyerin's heart.

This would be the end of him, and with him, the uprising.

But just as their weapons were about to pierce the air around him, something shifted.

A deafening roar erupted from below, shaking the very ground beneath them. The sound was primal, furious, and filled with a rage so deep it sent a chill down their spines.

Vira and Xalia froze mid-attack, their blades suspended mere inches from Lyerin.

Their bodies trembled, not from fear, but from a sudden and inexplicable force that ripped through the battlefield.

Whatever magic they had been preparing vanished, dissipated as if snuffed out by an unseen hand.

And then, they fell.

The two assassins were pulled from the air, their control over their movements suddenly lost.

They spiraled downward, unable to stop themselves as they were dragged toward the maze below.

Vira cursed under her breath, her serpentine agility now useless as the force pulled her downward. Xalia, too, struggled against the invisible current that drew them toward the heart of the Stonehooves Tribe's maze.

They crashed into the maze, their bodies slamming into the cold, hard ground.

The air was thick with an oppressive energy, a weight that seemed to press down on them, making it difficult to breathe.

Vira coughed, pushing herself up from the ground, her sharp eyes scanning their surroundings.

"This isn't right," she hissed. "What is this place?"

Xalia stood beside her, her face pale but determined. "It's a trap. We've been lured here."

The walls of the maze twisted and turned in impossible ways, the stone seemingly alive as it shifted around them.

Shadows danced along the walls, whispering and laughing, as if the very structure was toying with them.

The maze pulsed with dark energy, an ancient magic that made both warriors feel like prey in the presence of a predator.

But it wasn't the maze that made their hearts race.

No.

It was the massive figure that loomed before them, its presence so overwhelming that it seemed to blot out the very light around it.

A Minotaur.

But this was no ordinary Minotaur. Towering above them, its muscles bulging with unnatural strength, the creature was covered in battle scars, its horns jagged and twisted.

Its eyes glowed with an infernal red light, the same light they had seen in the Pig Orcs, but magnified a hundredfold.

Its massive fists clenched and unclenched, the ground trembling beneath its feet with each movement.

Vira swallowed hard, her throat dry. "That's... impossible."

Xalia's voice was steady, but there was an edge of fear in her tone. "We need to move. Now."

But the Minotaur's gaze locked onto them, its nostrils flaring as it let out another earth-shattering roar.

The sound reverberated through the maze, causing the walls to tremble.

There was no time to run.

No time to think.

The last thing Vira and Xalia saw before the darkness swallowed them was the Minotaur's massive form charging toward them, its horns gleaming in the dim light.