How are you always so...

The beast advanced again.

Nox gritted his teeth, forcing weight onto his shattered foot. Every step burned. His breaths came sharp and fast, but his eyes never left the creature's.

Lilith remained behind him, barely upright. She clutched her shard, shaking, her face pale beneath streaks of dried blood. Fear locked her body in place. She couldn't move. Couldn't think. Not anymore.

The monster struck again — a wide, crushing swing. Nox ducked beneath it, rolling to the side, teeth grinding as the pain lanced through his leg.

Stay on your feet.

The beast adapted to his previous attacks. Its guard shifted, arms protecting the joints Nox had targeted before. Its movements grew tighter, more efficient. It was learning, just like the others — but faster.

Nox lunged, feinting low, then vaulted upward with a desperate burst of power. His blade drove into the creature's exposed neck, slicing through thick hide and muscle. Blood erupted in a pressurized spray, coating him.

The beast roared, staggering.

Nox didn't stop. Never stop.

He tore the blade free, spun around, and drove it into the creature's exposed side, angling upward — seeking organs.

The beast swung wildly, its massive arm catching him across the ribs. The impact sent Nox skidding across the battlefield, bones cracking audibly as he slammed into a mound of corpses.

The world spun.

But he rose.

Breathing ragged. Blood dripping from his mouth. Foot broken. Ribs fractured. Pain everywhere.

And yet — he advanced.

The monster's breathing grew labored. Thick streams of blood poured from its wounds, hissing as they hit the scorched ground. One of its eyes sagged, half-blind from damage. Its arms still moved, but slower. Sloppier.

Nox closed in again.

This time, no feints.

He ducked beneath a desperate claw swipe, driving the sword upward under the beast's jaw — through muscle, through bone — into the soft tissues of its skull.

The creature convulsed, spine arching backward.

Nox twisted the blade hard, driving deeper.

With a final violent tremor, the monster collapsed, smashing into the ground like a falling tower.

A suffocating silence followed.

No counter ticked. No voice spoke. Only the ever-present hum of the battlefield beyond.

Nox stood over its corpse, blade still buried in the skull.

His shoulders heaved. His broken foot barely held him upright. The scent of blood and death soaked him entirely.

Behind him, Lilith finally moved. Her legs wobbled as she staggered forward, eyes wide with disbelief, her breathing shallow.

She stared at the massive corpse, then at Nox.

"How..." she whispered. Her voice cracked. "How are you always so calm?"

Nox slowly turned his head, eyes distant but steady.

"We don't even know how long we've been here," Lilith continued, her voice trembling. "Months? Years? We've died hundreds of times. Thousands of those things still remain. And every time we kill one—"

She gestured weakly to the monster's corpse.

"—they get worse. Stronger. Smarter. And you just keep—"

Her voice broke again. She swallowed hard.

"...How?"

Nox's reply came quiet. Cold. Measured.

"What do you think happens," he said, "when an entire ecosystem changes?"

Lilith blinked, unsure.

"Do the strongest remain on top simply because they're strong?" Nox continued, voice flat. "Or do they fall, unable to handle the new environment, and die?"

He paused, letting the question settle like the ash swirling around them.

"The creature that becomes strongest... is the one that adapts fastest to the new environment. That's all it is."

He glanced toward the horizon — toward the endless sea of monsters still waiting.

"I adapt," he said simply. "That's why I'm going to live."

Lilith stared at him, speechless.

[Time Skip — Continuation]

The counter ticked again.

"Remaining number of demons: 10,000.""Number of deaths: 1,305."

The numbers meant nothing anymore.

Nox exhaled as another demon collapsed at his feet, its severed head rolling through the gore-soaked ground. His blade dripped steadily, streaked with blackened blood.

The battlefield had changed.

They had changed.

Their bodies, once frail and desperate, were now lean and hardened. Muscles forged by endless death cycles coiled beneath torn flesh. Reflexes sharpened to an unnatural edge. But even so — the exhaustion never left.

How long had it been?

Months? Years?

There was no sun. No seasons. Only the kill counter to mark their existence.

Lilith stood beside him, breathing heavily, sweat and blood streaking her face. Her movements had grown sharper, but her eyes carried a weight that hadn't been there before — the weight of endless killing.

Then the ground shifted.

A low hiss spread through the air, like something vast exhaling beneath the earth.

The stench came first. A sharp, chemical burn that clawed into their lungs.

Nox's eyes narrowed. New.

The haze thickened rapidly. The once-clear crimson sky faded behind swirling green mist.

Lilith coughed once. Then again — harder. Blood splattered onto her hand as her knees buckled.

Nox felt it too. His chest burned. His throat closed. Every breath clawed through his insides.

They collapsed together.

The demons swarmed instantly — vultures descending on broken prey. Claws tore into their convulsing bodies as consciousness faded.

Death Count: +1.

They awoke.

Tried to rise.

Collapsed again, choking on their own blood as the air poisoned them anew.

Death Count: +2.

Again.And again.And again.

Their deaths piled faster than ever before.

Death Count: 1,305.Demons remaining: 10,000.

It took nearly seventy resets before their bodies hardened — before their lungs could begin to resist.

Now they stood once more, bodies trembling, eyes bloodshot. But they could breathe — barely.

The poison still gnawed at them with every breath. Their strength was slower to return. Every swing of the blade cost more. Every motion dragged at their flesh like invisible weights.

The demons had adapted too.

Sleeker. Quieter. Lurking in the mist. Thriving where the humans barely survived.

Nox slashed another creature down as it lunged from the haze, driving his blade clean through its skull before it touched Lilith.

She moved behind him — steady, but visibly drained. Blood ran from the corner of her mouth, but she wiped it away without flinching. Her jaw clenched tight, eyes cold as they scanned the shifting mist.

There was no fear left in her eyes.

Only hatred.

Hatred for the Pit. For the endless slaughter. For the weight of uncountable deaths crushing her soul. She despised every breath she took in this poisoned hell — but she moved anyway.

Because she had no choice.

This was life now.

Nox adjusted his stance as more shadows circled beyond the mist. His breathing burned with every inhale.