"Behind you!" cried Aina, who had been walking a few meters in front of me alongside Nika, but suddenly stopped and pressed her palms to the ground.

'Behind? I didn't hear... No, if Aina says so, it must be true! No time to dodge!'

And good thing I didn't try. I barely had time to turn around and move my broad sword in front of me to act as a shield before I saw a pink, slimy... rope, ending in some kind of metal-tipped spike, fly towards me at dizzying speeds and hit my sword with a force that resonated throughout my whole body, knocking the air out of my lungs and making me stumble back and nearly fall on my ass.

The... thing retracted almost as quickly as it had shot towards me, dragging backwards through the ground like a hose being coiled after one was done watering.

I tried to find its origin, but could only stare dumbfounded as it disappeared into literal nothingness about thirty meters away.

Aina's cry broke me from my startlement.

"Again!"

I readied my sword once more. The impact had been heavy, the pressure most likely staggering, given the small surface area of the spike's tip, but the compressed orichalcum of my sword had still withstood it, being left with no more than a shallow indent, and it could do so again–

–the pink rope shot forth, its front opening up into three viscous petals of flesh.

'What!?'

It struck my sword, as I'd intended, but I barely noticed the impact.

'Wait, something's wrong–'

The tongue retracted, somehow remaining stuck to my sword through some sort of suction or adhesive, ripping it from even my inhumanly strong grip, then flinging it off to the side.

It flew for a moment, then lodged itself deep into a nearby tree trunk.

'Shit. This is bad.'

I fell back, getting close to Nika and Aina.

"Nika! Barrier!"

"Way ahead of you!" Her lighthearted words were betrayed by her grim tone and expression as the air around them began to rapidly accelerate, in a bare few seconds turning into a swirling semi-sphere of rapid wind that empowered itself much like a tornado would.

Leaves and dust were swept up by the current, hindering our visibility of the forest outside, but none of it reached the interior of the dome, due to the protective nature of the spell.

I turned to my two companions.

"Okay, we need a plan, and quick. What the hell's that thing? Some kind of invisible monster? Was that its tongue!?"

Nika volunteered the answer. "I think it's a spear chameleon, an ambush predator, and..." She trailed off, as if scared to continue.

"And?" I urged her.

"...a C Rank monster" she said, wincing as the words left her mouth.

I groaned. I'd never bothered to do research on monsters above D Rank, since I never planned on going deep enough into the forest to encounter them. And yet, for some reason, trouble had come knocking.

'Shit. Get a hold of yourself, Ray. You gotta be the pillar that maintains morale.'

"Okay. So, I assume it doesn't have any powers besides its invisibility and tongue thrusts?"

"No, it's quite slow, and although strong, not built for melee combat. Its hide isn't that tough, either."

"Can't you sense the mana inside its body, or something, to spot where it is?"

Nika shook her head.

"Technically I could, if it was close enough... but I can only sense mana within ten strides or so at most, and the creature is much further away."

I nodded, having expected such an answer.

"Alright. Then here's the plan, then. Chameleons have big-ass eyes, right? Then as long as I get in close, even without my sword or being able to see it, I should be able to tear it a new one if I poke it in one hard enough.

"The problem is getting there without getting impaled by that tongue, which will no doubt skewer me without an issue. I'll need your help for that, Nika. As soon as you drop the shield, hide behind that thick tree over there and launch some flashy water or ice attacks to divert its attention, even if they will do little in the way of actual damage from so far away."

"Got it."

"And me, Master?" Aina asked.

I smiled at her. "You've already done more than enough. You literally saved my life with that warning, you know? Just fall back for now. Anyway, for us to enact this plan we need to know its position, so let's wait until–"

A pink tongue was shot forth from our left at an impossible speed, the wind barrier around us only strong enough to divert its course slightly and make it miss us. Seeing its failure, it quickly began to retract the appendage.

"–it attacks. Go, go, go!"

Nika stopped feeding her mana to the barrier, making the wind scatter and quickly die out. She dived for the designated tree, while I went in the opposite direction and crouched behind some particularly dense shrubbery. The familiar weight of my sword was gone, making me considerably more agile, but at the same time giving me an unpleasant feeling of vulnerability.

I stalked forward, towards the source of the thrusts. I noticed that the interior of its mouth was visible too, though the creature always opened it as little as possible, only enough to let its sinewy tongue through.

'So only its skin... scales... exterior is invisible, huh? Oh, and its eyes, of course.'

Soon, colorful yet useless crescents of water began splashing harmlessly against the chameleon's skin one after another, diverting its attention and tongue to Nika, who was safe behind the thick tree's sturdy wood, and covering it in a sheen of moisture that helped define its position.

I smiled.

'Clever girl. I should've thought of that.'

I measured my steps to cause as little sound as possible, taking care not to step on any treacherous sticks, and soon, too soon, I was a mere few meters away from where I the soaked beast was.

It shot its tongue once more towards Nika, whose spells were getting smaller and less frequent. 'She must be running low on mana, even if she drank her potion already. Rapid casting spells like that is no joke.'

I settled by breathing, calmed my nerves, and moved into position.

Then I leaped.

Unfortunately, I failed to take into account a simple fact. Chameleons can move their eyes separately, and track two targets at the same time.

I was hit in the side with a brutal force, by what my pain-addled mind could only guess was the bastard's tail, and heard more than felt several ribs crack and cave in under the raw force of the blow.

'Shit! You said he was no good at melee!'

Naturally, I was sent flying.

"Ray! No!"

As my feet were lifted off the ground, time seemed to slow down, and I saw Nika futilely extending her hand towards me as she shouted my name.

My back crashed against some nearby tree, the back of my head hitting it the next moment and making me see stars and spit out a spray of spittle from my mouth.

My mind was muddy, but my body acted on its own, ripping the miraculously intact health potion from my belt and shoving the cork out before pouring it all over my side, then bringing the remains and pouring them on my head.

I stood, slowly regaining my faculties, and saw the invisible monster's tongue, once again penetrate the dangerously unstable tree which protected Nika. It was filled with holes all over, leaking sap, and looking like it would fall at any moment.

'Shit. This is bad. I think Nika's out of mana, too. Damn.'

I looked around in a panic, and clung to the only sliver of hope l had left.

My sword, stuck in a neighboring tree.

I jogged over to it and pulled it out, sending splinters and pieces of bark flying out with it.

But as I did, a sound coming from behind drove me to the brink of despair.

BOOM