CHAPTER 54: FANGS AGAINST STEEL

The golden glow faded from Avin’s sword, crumbling away like motes of ash scattered on the wind. He stood amidst the aftermath of his strike, chest still heaving, sweat tracing down the side of his face. Before him lay the abyss scorpion, severed in two, twitching grotesquely in its death throes. Around him, the forest bore the scar of his blade—a swath of felled trees cut clean as if reality itself had been sliced apart.

"Damn..." Avin muttered, lowering his gaze to the sword now back in its plain, unassuming form. He tightened his grip on the hilt. "Just in a swing..."

His attention shifted downward as a faint glow pulsed on his waist. His belt, stitched tightly around his simple brown academy-issued clothes, displayed glowing characters: 2.

Avin blinked. He leaned closer, rubbing his eyes.

"Two points?..." His voice cracked into outrage. "Two points!? This thing is a fucking green!?"

He ran his hand down his face, gripping his hair in disbelief. The creature that had haunted his nightmares, that had ended his life once before, that had demanded everything he had just to bring down—it was worth the same as easy pickings.

"What the hell are the reds, then? Dragons? Gods?" He let out a groan and sheathed the blade with a sharp shhhk. His body sagged. He needed to move, to keep earning points, but exhaustion weighed heavy on his bones.

Then the forest quaked.

A roar split the air—deep, guttural, reverberating across the mountainsides. Birds erupted from the canopy in black swarms, their shrieks scattering into the distance. The ground trembled underfoot, roots groaning as soil shifted.

Avin froze. His blood ran cold.

Then came the explosion.

From the same direction as the roar, a concussive blast thundered through the forest. A plume of black smoke surged into the sky, curling and unfurling into the clouds like the breath of some colossal furnace.

Avin pressed his lips together. "I should really get out of here." His body begged for retreat, for distance. Yet his feet refused to obey. He inhaled sharply. "I’m a cat... and curiosity will kill me."

Against reason, he started toward the chaos.

The closer he moved, the louder it became: clashing steel, snapping trees, guttural roars. He ducked low at every unfamiliar sound, weaving between trunks, pressing his back against bark whenever shadows shifted. His instincts screamed at him not to fight again so soon. He was too drained—physically, mentally, spiritually. Yet still he pressed on, like a moth inching toward fire.

Finally, through the lattice of trees, he found it.

He pressed himself against a massive trunk, heart hammering, and peered around.

The scene before him widened his eyes in disbelief.

A massive reptilian beast towered over the clearing. Its body was long and sinuous, like some monstrous serpent fused with the frame of a crocodile. Six clawed legs dug trenches into the soil each time it shifted. The scales that armored its body shimmered a dark emerald beneath the sun, but its eyes—unnatural, glowing with feral malice—burned with a predator’s intelligence. Each movement was accompanied by a rumble that quaked the forest floor.

And three figures stood against it.

A young woman at the rear, wielding a staff taller than herself, her robes whipping in the wind stirred by the beast’s frenzy. Two men held the front lines: one with a longsword gleaming dully in the light, and the other with a spear clenched tight in his hands.

The swordsman lunged first. His blade swung with precision, but when steel struck scale it rebounded with a harsh CLANK. Sparks flew, but the beast’s armored hide remained unbroken. He tried again, driving the weapon deeper, but the creature coiled, its massive body swaying with terrifying speed.

BOOM.

Its flank slammed into him like a battering ram. He flew backward, crashing through undergrowth and into a tree. The trunk groaned under the impact, bark exploding outward. Avin flinched and ducked lower, careful to stay hidden.

The spearman moved next. His feet carried him like lightning, his motions sharp, efficient. The beast’s colossal tail swept in a wide arc, tearing a swath of earth in its path. Trees splintered, soil erupted into the air. But the spearman leapt.

For a breath, he soared above the chaos, his body silhouetted against the smoke-filled sunlight. He landed with grace, rolling into a sprint. Avin’s crimson eyes tracked him—his movements were fluid, trained, his responses immediate.

"He’s fast..." Avin thought, impressed despite himself.

The reptile’s roar split the air, a sound so piercing that Avin’s teeth clenched involuntarily. He pressed a hand against his ear, his vision wavering. But the spearman didn’t falter. He pressed forward, determination etched into every line of his form.

Steel met scale again. His spear thrust, piercing with all his might. This time the point cracked a single scale, wedging into the softer flesh beneath. Black ichor seeped out.

The beast shrieked, a sound like a mountain tearing itself apart. Enraged, it lunged forward. The ground shook as its weight bore down. The spearman braced his weapon, deflecting just enough to redirect the full force. Still, the impact hurled him backward through the air.

But mid-flight, he spun, planting the butt of his spear into the ground. He used the force of the throw itself, pivoting, slinging his momentum back toward the creature in a fluid whirl. Avin’s eyes widened.

"Persistent bastard..." Avin whispered.

The spear found its mark. With a roar of effort, the young man drove it deep into one of the beast’s eyes.

The creature screamed in agony, its massive body convulsing violently. Its tail whipped, its body thrashed. Trees cracked and toppled under its flailing mass. The spearman was thrown from his grip, his body slamming into a trunk with such force that bark shattered, scattering debris in all directions.

The reptile staggered, half-blinded, fury radiating from every motion. It reared back, lifting its front legs off the ground until only two of its massive limbs remained planted. Its chest expanded, throat bulging grotesquely as a lump of liquid rose through its gullet.

"Oh shit," the woman with the staff gasped. She darted forward, planting her feet firmly before the two downed warriors.

The beast vomited a torrent of green.

The substance glowed with heat as it sailed through the air, smoke rising before it even struck. Trees dissolved instantly where droplets landed, their trunks collapsing into bubbling sludge. The very earth hissed and sizzled as the liquid splattered across it.

But before it could engulf the fighters, the mage’s staff swung in a sharp arc.

A translucent bubble materialized midair, shimmering with blue runes. The acid splashed against it, sizzling violently. The surface bubbled, threatening to burst. The woman’s teeth gritted. She forced her will through the staff, shoving forward.

The bubble twisted, redirecting.

With a violent WHHRSH, the corrosive mass flung backward. It splattered across the beast’s snout, dripping over its scales. The ground where droplets fell hissed into nothingness, but the monster’s armored hide held strong—unyielding.

Only its exposed eye screamed vulnerability. The spear still lodged deep in the socket was now bathed in acid. The liquid seeped deeper, melting into the wound.

The beast shrieked, stumbling backward, slamming against trees in its desperation.

The mage staggered, her body trembling from the effort. But the swordsman rose again, gripping his weapon. His eyes locked onto the thrashing beast.

"It’s time," he declared, planting his feet.

He raised the blade overhead. His knees bent, his weight centered. His aura flared. Golden light burst forth, sheathing the sword until it was no longer steel but a colossal translucent blade of radiant energy.

Avin’s breath caught as the swordsman brought it down.

The strike cleaved the air itself. A torrent of golden force ripped forward, slicing into the reptile’s body.

The sound was deafening. The beast’s roar split into a gurgling howl as the blow carved it in two uneven halves. Its massive form crumpled, crashing into the ground with a quake that sent leaves raining from the canopy.

Smoke, dust, and acrid stench rose into the air.

The three fighters collapsed where they stood, their chests heaving, their bodies trembling with exhaustion. The forest was silent again, save for the crackle of burning leaves where the acid had splattered.

Hidden behind his tree, Avin stared. His mouth was dry, his eyes wide.

He had thought himself unlucky to face an abyss scorpion. But this... this was on another level.

"Monsters..." he whispered. "Not just them. The people too."