The Tikbalang lowered itself.
Its claws dug into the earth.
Its burning eyes remained fixed on the four students.
Ready.
Waiting.
Another charge was coming.
Everyone knew it.
Jack tightened his grip around his academy sword.
Mia adjusted her stance.
Thomas stood in front of them, empty-handed but refusing to move.
Oliver looked toward the tree.
His sword was still buried there.
"...I miss having a sword."
Nobody answered.
Because everyone agreed.
Then—
The Tikbalang turned.
And walked back into the forest.
The four students froze.
Not because they thought it was gone.
Because they knew better.
The sound of its footsteps faded between the trees.
Silence returned.
Thomas didn't lower his guard.
"Don't relax."
Nobody did.
They had already learned that lesson.
The Tikbalang wasn't leaving.
It was waiting.
Jack's breathing slowed.
They had blocked.
They had endured.
They had formed the perfect formation.
And it still wasn't enough.
Their swords were being taken away one by one.
Their bodies were reaching their limits.
The only reason they were alive...
Was because the Tikbalang allowed them to be.
Jack looked at the others.
"...Do you remember?"
Thomas frowned.
"Remember what?"
"The rules."
The three looked at him.
Jack continued.
"The rules of the Tikbalang."
For a moment, nobody answered.
Then Mia's expression changed.
"...The taming method."
Jack nodded.
Oliver looked between them.
"The thing you explained before?"
"Yes."
"The ridiculous one?"
Jack sighed.
"Yes."
Oliver pointed toward the forest.
"The one where we don't kill it."
Jack nodded.
"We tame it."
Silence followed.
Because remembering the answer didn't make it any less insane.
Thomas crossed his arms.
"So that's the plan."
Jack nodded.
"The only one."
Mia looked toward the trees.
"Mount its back."
"Hold on until it becomes exhausted."
"Then take three golden hairs from its mane."
Jack nodded.
"Exactly."
Nobody spoke.
The solution was simple.
The execution was impossible.
Thomas stared into the forest.
"The problem isn't knowing what to do."
"It's reaching its back."
Jack nodded.
The Tikbalang was too fast.
Too strong.
Too unpredictable.
They couldn't chase it.
They couldn't overpower it.
They needed one opening.
One moment where it was close enough.
Oliver looked at the others.
Then pointed at himself.
"...You're all thinking it."
Nobody answered.
Oliver sighed.
"I knew it."
Thomas looked at him.
"You're the best option."
Oliver raised an eyebrow.
"Because I'm the strongest?"
"No."
"Because I'm the most skilled?"
"No."
A pause.
"Because you lost your sword first."
Oliver stared.
"..."
"That is somehow the most insulting reason possible."
Thomas continued.
"You've spent the longest time protected."
"Jack, Mia, and I have been blocking its attacks."
"You still have the most energy."
Oliver looked down at himself.
Then at the others.
The logic was impossible to argue with.
"So my greatest contribution was getting disarmed."
Jack nodded.
"Yes."
Oliver sighed.
"You're really bad at making things sound heroic."
A sound interrupted them.
Hooves.
Slow.
Approaching.
The Tikbalang returned.
The four students immediately formed their positions.
No more discussion.
No more hesitation.
They knew the plan.
Now they only needed a miracle.
The Tikbalang charged.
Then changed direction.
It moved around them like it wasn't bound by normal movement.
Left.
Right.
Forward.
Backward.
Never completing a full circle.
Never giving them a chance to predict.
The four students faced outward.
Every direction.
Every movement.
Every sound.
A claw flashed.
Jack moved.
Not blocking.
Dropping.
The claw passed over his head.
In the same motion—
Jack launched himself forward.
His arms wrapped around one of the Tikbalang's long legs.
The creature's stride broke.
Only for a moment.
Not because Jack was stronger.
Not because he stopped it.
Because even the Tikbalang needed a fraction of a second to adjust.
That fraction was enough.
Mia moved immediately.
She understood.
She dropped her sword.
She jumped.
Both arms wrapped around the Tikbalang's upper arm.
Her legs locked around the limb.
The claw stopped.
The Tikbalang twisted.
Turning back toward the trees.
Thomas saw the opening.
He moved.
Diving through the space between its legs.
His arms locked around the remaining leg.
All three actions happened almost instantly.
Jack on one leg.
Thomas on the other.
Mia wrapped around its upper arm.
The terrifying creature that had chased them through the forest...
Was slowed for a moment.
Not stopped.
Not defeated.
Just slowed.
A tiny opening.
A single chance.
Oliver was already moving.
His heartbeat thundered.
Every breath felt sharper.
Every step felt lighter.
Since losing his sword, he had spent the entire battle behind the others.
Protected.
Unable to fight.
But that was exactly why he still had something left.
Jack was exhausted.
Mia was exhausted.
Thomas was running on pure determination.
Oliver was the only one who could still make the jump.
The joke from earlier wasn't a joke anymore.
He really was the designated rider.
He reached them.
Jack lowered his back.
Thomas shifted.
No words.
No signals.
They understood.
Oliver stepped onto Jack's back.
Then Thomas's shoulder.
Using the two exhausted fighters as a springboard.
He pushed off.
Hard.
For one impossible moment...
Everything disappeared.
The pain.
The fear.
The forest.
The monster.
Only his heartbeat remained.
THUMP.
THUMP.
THUMP.
The Tikbalang's mane was right there.
Close.
The golden hairs.
The answer.
The victory they needed.
His arms opened.
A grin appeared on his face.
"I got it—"
Jack didn't hear the rest.
His entire world was the Tikbalang's leg.
His fingers dug into its powerful limb.
Every muscle screamed.
He couldn't look up.
Couldn't turn around.
Couldn't loosen his grip.
He only knew one thing.
Oliver had jumped.
And that meant...
They had won.
Mia held tighter.
Her arms and legs locked around the Tikbalang's upper arm.
The creature's muscles shifted beneath her.
The claw twitched.
She couldn't afford to let go.
Not now.
Not when they were so close.
Thomas clenched his teeth.
His arms were shaking.
His body was screaming.
But he held on.
This was the moment.
The impossible moment.
The moment where students defeated something far beyond their level.
Then—
Something felt wrong.
The Tikbalang moved.
Not forward.
Not sideways.
Down.
All three felt it.
The sudden drop.
The unnatural folding of its body.
The impossible change in height.
And in that instant...
A forgotten memory returned.
A detail they had all seen.
A detail they had all understood.
A detail they somehow ignored.
The Tikbalang could crouch.
A shadow passed overhead.
Jack's grip tightened.
Mia's eyes widened.
Thomas's expression went blank.
The same thought appeared in all three minds.
THUD.
Silence.
A few meters away...
Oliver lay face-first in the dirt.
Nobody moved.
Jack stared forward.
Still holding the Tikbalang's leg.
His voice came out quietly.
"..."
"He missed?!"
Nobody answered.
Because nobody knew what to say.
They had done everything right.
The timing.
The teamwork.
The opening.
Everything.
The only problem...
Was that they forgot the Tikbalang wasn't built like anything they had ever fought.
Jack slowly closed his eyes.
"...The crouch."
Thomas exhaled.
"The crouch."
Mia tightened her grip.
"...We forgot the crouch."
From the dirt, Oliver slowly lifted his head.
A leaf was stuck to his face.
"..."
"..."
"What crouch?"
The silence that followed was somehow worse than the fall.
The Tikbalang stood silently.
Untouched.
Unbothered.
The students had finally found a way to challenge it.
And the creature had not beaten them with strength.
It had beaten them with one forgotten detail.
A detail that had been there from the beginning.