Ezra had been unconscious for a while now, and according to Evan, that was much better. Earlier, she had been screaming and crying, and such behavior only made it easier for a group of six-legged lizards to locate them.
Evan jumped as one of the lizards swung its tail toward his leg but missed. As his body descended, he raised his hand, which held a knife, and aimed it directly at the lizard's head.
Blood spurted out, splattering across Evan's and Ezra's faces. The lizard was dying, convulsing, and letting out squeals like a pig being slaughtered. Evan felt a moment of disgust as he watched, but he realized what those squeals meant when three more lizards dropped down from above.
It had called its companions. Now all the lizards that had been left behind knew where they were.
"Damn it!" Evan cursed, trying to defend himself as best he could. His main focus was protecting Ezra's head, which had been targeted several times by the lizards' snouts.
A wide slash and a powerful thrust killed two more lizards, clearing a path. Evan darted forward, continuing the chase through the narrow cave.
At a crossroads, Evan chose a path at random. He went left. At the next junction, he went right, and then straight. Eventually, he arrived at a large room that, though still dim, was brighter than the previous spaces.
It was then that Ezra woke up.
"Ezra!" Evan lowered her body to the ground. "Wake up, hey!" He gently patted her pale cheeks.
The girl groaned, blinking her eyes in confusion. "Where are we?"
"In a cave," Evan replied. "A cave full of six-legged lizards."
Instantly, Ezra's body started trembling again, and her eyes rolled back. She was about to faint for the second time, but Evan quickly slapped her cheek harder.
"Stay awake! Don't depend on me for your survival. I can't guarantee we'll make it if I have to fight while carrying you!" He shook her shoulders.
Suddenly, Ezra stood up, her face tense and pale. She was staring at something behind Evan. The young man grew curious and turned around. As soon as he did, his body froze.
"Kheeekkk..."
The sound of the creature filled the entire room. Other, less terrifying but similar noises began to follow. A swarm of six-legged lizards gathered in the tunnel leading to this room.
"Evan... we should leave..."
The creature was similar to the other lizards, only much larger. And if you looked closely, its skin appeared harder. It clung to the wall like a gecko, its drooling saliva forming a yellow, foul-smelling puddle that emitted smoke. Whatever it was, Evan had a bad feeling about the puddle.
Suddenly, the creature opened its mouth and spat a yellow liquid directly at them. Evan reacted quickly, shoving Ezra far to one side while he rolled to the other.
"Hide there, Ezra!" he ordered when he saw her crouching behind a large rock, sheltered from both the lizard's spray and its sight.
The giant lizard hissed, clearly enraged, as it crawled down, steadily approaching Evan, who had adopted a defensive stance. Even he didn't know what stance to take. Normally, he was trained to adjust his stance depending on the situation, but that was only if his opponent was human. Or perhaps if he were fighting animals like reptiles, predators, or even a bison or wild buffalo, he wouldn't be this nervous.
But now, his opponent was a reptile that stood taller than a tiger. What kind of stance was appropriate?
When the lizard's snout struck, Evan dodged.
He was about to drive his knife into the beast when the lizard's tail swept in from the side, moving as swiftly as the swing of a knight trainer's sword. He aborted his attack, with no choice but to block.
A cracking sound was heard as his arm failed to lower in time, and the tail struck his left rib. He grimaced, then was thrown to the ground, rolling across the cold, hard cave floor. Pain surged as he felt several ribs break. Ezra screamed in panic, wanting to help him, but Evan quickly stopped her. "Stay there!" he shouted. "If someone has to die, let it be me, like your father!"
He was already back on his feet, taking the initiative to strike first.
The lizard lowered itself until its belly touched the ground. Then Evan shouted in surprise as the creature suddenly vaulted high into the air, its belly inflated. If Evan's guess was right, that belly acted like a springboard, bouncing off the ground and launching it upward.
"Khaaakkk..."
The yellow liquid rained down again, this time like a downpour.
Evan frantically rolled across the ground. After a few meters, he accidentally tumbled into a hole and quickly curled up there.
When the giant lizard landed back on the ground, it looked confused. It turned its head left and right, still hissing, bewildered as to where its opponent had disappeared.
The group of lizards that had been clustering in the entrance tunnel remained still. They stood like lifeless statues, silent.
Meanwhile, Evan wracked his brain for a way out. He recalled a lesson from his academy instructor.
"There's always a weakness," Instructor Theon had said, while the entire class stood in the blazing sun on a vast green field. "Your enemies aren't gods. There's always a weakness. Remember that!"
"There's always a weakness," Evan muttered, repeating Theon's teaching.
Peeking from behind the hole, Evan watched the giant lizard, still bewildered. He was puzzled when he noticed the group of lizards in the tunnel wasn't moving, even though his position should have been clearly visible from the tunnel's entrance.
He quickly hid again when the giant lizard turned its head in his direction, only to reappear when a small rock was thrown from behind him. Ezra was calling out to him in a whisper, motioning with her hand for Evan to come closer.
For a moment, Evan hesitated. But then he remembered—Ezra had been in this cursed place before, so she probably knew more than he did.
With determination, Evan crawled out of the hole and hid behind a rock with Ezra. Strangely, not a single lizard chased after him. Even the giant lizard merely tilted its head in confusion, as if sensing something moving behind it, but unable to see anything.
"That's the one that killed my father," Ezra whispered, holding back tears. Her eyes were already red. She pointed at the giant lizard. "My father might be inside its big stomach."
"But you didn't say your father was killed here, only in those previous tunnels."
"True," Ezra didn't deny it. "And this monster wasn't here before either. It used to curl up back there, blocking the cave entrance. I don't know what caused it to move to this room."
Evan nodded. Everything started to make sense.
Ezra had said that her father was a great adventurer. Evan thought her father must have been a strong man. But lately, he had considered that description to be just the pride of a child for her father, especially after experiencing the savagery of the six-legged lizards. In his opinion, a "great adventurer" should have at least been able to escape alive from a group of six-legged lizards, even if he couldn't defeat them.
But now, seeing this giant lizard and realizing that Ezra's father was killed by it, Evan discarded that thought. Ezra's father must have been strong—maybe even stronger than he was. Yet, Evan couldn't imagine anyone from the Blesiya Academy, even the strongest warrior he had ever seen, defeating this lizard in a one-on-one fight.
"They can't see beyond ten meters. That's why the group of lizards over there couldn't really see you fighting. They were just listening."
"How do you know?" Evan asked, confused.
"It's what my father thought when we hid in one of the cave cracks." Ezra pointed at the large lizard, her finger trembling. "And that monster is a bit farther away. Twenty meters."
"Good!" Evan praised. "Now we have a chance."
Evan spotted another tunnel not far to their left, leading deeper into the cave. He estimated the distance—probably around fifty meters, not too far.
He also gauged the distance between them and the giant lizard. If Ezra's words were true, the lizard shouldn't be able to see them, since they were more than thirty meters away.
"Let's go," Evan whispered, grabbing Ezra's hand and pulling her toward the next tunnel.
They ran, trying to muffle the sounds of their shoes as much as possible.
Fifteen meters later, there were no significant problems. The giant lizard was still confused. It even seemed to believe its prey had already escaped. Frustrated, it curled up in the center of the room. The other lizards had already left the entrance tunnel.
Just as relief began to settle in their hearts, Evan suddenly froze, as did Ezra.
"Kill it..." Ezra whispered, her voice trembling again.
Without needing to be told, Evan drew his dagger and threw it. It struck the forehead of a six-legged lizard that had somehow appeared on the surface of the tunnel they were heading toward. It seemed to have been listening to Evan's battle.
But it was too late. Before the dagger lodged itself firmly, the lizard let out a loud noise. The giant lizard awakened, crawling toward them.
"Run!" Evan shouted, shoving Ezra into the tunnel.
Within seconds, Evan was dragged as the giant lizard's jaws clamped onto his side. The beast slammed him hard against the cold, rocky cave floor.
Evan screamed in pain. His arms and legs struggled desperately, trying to hold off the lizard's jaws from devouring him.
In that critical moment, he spotted a sharp rock, as long as a wooden sword. Without hesitation, Evan grabbed it and thrust it into the creature's tongue. The lizard roared, lifting its head. Evan quickly rose to his feet and stabbed its eye.
"I said run!" he shouted when he saw Ezra still frozen in place.
The monster was incredible. The stab to its eye didn't weaken it—it only enraged it further. It swung its head and crashed into Evan's body. The young man was flung across the cave, slamming into a large rock. His head spun, and his vision blurred.
The situation grew dire. As his sight darkened, he vaguely saw Ezra running toward him, dagger in her right hand. She leapt and stabbed the functioning eye of the lizard. The first strike made the beast shriek in pain. The second stab caused it to thrash its head, throwing Ezra to the ground. She hit the ground hard but quickly got back up.
Ezra lifted her hand for a third strike, but before she could land the blow, the giant lizard opened its mouth wide and in one swift "Snap," half of Ezra's upper body was inside its jaws. With the next "Snap," her entire body disappeared.
At that moment, Evan's world was swallowed by darkness. He passed out.