The Starfire Opal pillars glowed with Leon’s reflection as he reached twenty feet away from the creature.

The air was filled with sharp exhales as the ape part of the Varkhaza stopped moving. The eyes of the snake part blinked, changing into assessing mode.

’No matter what happens, we will leave here alive,’ Leon said inwardly before increasing his grip on the dagger.

A deafening blast echoed when one of Wu Ze’s swords slipped from her palm and slammed on the ground.

Crush!

The impact was so strong that it drifted to the Varkhaza and charged its senses.

Without hesitation, it shifted its gaze from the reflections in the pillar and focused on the running lady. When its mouth opened, huge sums of air flew into its lungs.

The air turned hitched with a pulling force that pulled every fragile stone from the wall into its mouth.

Under the force, Leon’s lower part got pulled upward, but he slammed the blades of the dagger into the ground.

From twenty feet away from Leon, Wu Ze also got strangled by the pulling force. Luckily for her, she gripped onto a dwarf Starfire Opal pillar.

The air-sucking force died when the lower serpent head got lifted. Its split black tongue slid out, tasting the air. And when it inhaled, a deep sound like metals grinding each other echoed.

Leon remained still on the ground, facing flat, when he saw the creature moving toward him.

His eyes remained open, and still, even when he felt the split tongue of the snake touched his face.

Saliva dripped from the mouth and splashed on Leon’s face, yet he didn’t move.

Wu Ze broke free from her stillness when she saw the creature nearing her.

"Help! Help!! Help!!!" The scream tore out of her as she dashed into a run.

She was fast, but the creature was ten times faster than any human. It reached Wu Ze’s side before she could even move two legs.

The ape part of the creature drummed its arms on its chest while screaming. Wu Ze collapsed beneath the enormous god-beast.

Tears dripped from her eyes when she foresaw herself being torn apart by the creature.

She closed her eyes when the right snake leg rose in attack mode. In Wu Ze’s mind, all her joyous memories flashed back. When she started behaving stubbornly at six years old. Chasing her mother to always blame her elder siblings for something they never did.

The sweet night, Bao Xiong first met her at the roadside of the training yard, after she had spent her first lonely day in the Agatha Special Forces.

"Hello there," she remembered the sweet voice and the calm nature Bao Xiong was on that day. How he treated her with love, care, and making sure she was always happy.

...

Looking at the helpless Wu Ze under the grip of the snake legs, Leon dashed forward, screaming.

"I can’t let you eat her!"

Dust exploded on every ground his boots slammed on.

He gritted his teeth and swung the dagger forward. It flew and struck the back of the right snake leg’s head.

The clenched teeth of the creature loosened as pain flashed through its body. Wu Ze’s body fell from the creature’s mouth and dropped.

Upon crashing on the ground, it bounced twice, then remained unconscious.

The Varkhaza swung its ape arms to slam the attacking human, but ended up shaking the ground.

Leon used the momentum of the trembling ground and hurled himself toward Wu Ze’s direction. He ducked under the snake legs when they charged toward him.

"How are they so fast," he said while rolling on the ground to stop them from touching him.

As soon as he reached Wu Ze’s side, he grabbed the swords and raised them in an X.

Five feet away from Leon, the snake legs of the Varkhaza drifted back.

’At least it’s finally retreating.’

Just as the thought faded from Leon’s head, he saw the creature open both its mouths wide.

Its sharp, jagged teeth gleamed under the glow of the Starfire. When the screaming was over, poisonous gases flew out from both mouths of the snakes.

The fur on the ape part of the Varkhaza began peeling off. Every fur that fell off got replaced with golden skin.

’Nah, that is not possible.’ Leon thought as his eyes widened.

Within the span of two minutes, all the fur clouded the ground. The Varkhaza glowed with a godly essence that made it hard to kill for a mere human.

With all the notifications Leon’s panel was giving him, he neglected them and charged against the creature.

He screamed as he reached the right snake legs. "If I have to die, I will die a hero."

The blade of the four-foot sword slammed onto the creature’s neck and bounced back.

Cracks sprawled across the blade when Leon stumbled two steps back. Leon dashed toward the creature again, but this time, he pierced the tip of the blade into the mouth.

Acidic blood sprayed out of the snake mouth. ’Yes.’ The thought came and faded in a second.

The left snake leg slammed its head onto Leon, kicking him away.

The impact of the kick hurled Leon against the same Starfire Opal he had left his bag on. He nearly slipped, but managed to grab the two-foot pillar.

Stones and smaller pieces of the Starfire Opal dripped into the bottomless pit when Leon pushed himself up and charged forward.

With one snake leg destroyed, Leon charged against the second.

Inside Wu Ze’s head, the memories began to dissipate one after another, as screaming and falling rock sounds echoed around her.

Her eyelids flickered once before opening wide. Through the hazy vision, she saw Leon fighting tirelessly against the god-beast.

"Leon," she screamed but the words only came out as an echo. And when she tried to push herself from the ground, her bones refused.

Her legs remained crossed, left arm bent in the opposite direction. The only part of her she could move was her right arm and her neck. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

...

Dark gas sprawled out of the left snake leg as Leon kept piercing the half blade into the eyes. "Why won’t you die!"

The Varkhaza pulled itself back when the blade pierced into the eyes of the snake leg and got stuck.

"Finally." Leon said and collapsed on one knee. A mixture of sweat and blood dripped from him as he watched it dash back, screaming in pain.

Two minutes passed like flowing water.

Leon rushed toward where Wu Ze lay and crouched down beside her. "Are you okay?"

Wu Ze frowned, her eyes blazing red. "Do you see me okay!"

Blood dripped from her nose and mouth after she screamed at Leon.

Leon began to feel Wu Ze’s pain as he watched her bent arms, twisted legs and the angry face.

"I’m sorry."

"Sorry for what? I should be the one to say that." Wu Ze tried pushing herself up again, but this time, not only did her bones refuse, her neck locked. "FUCK!"

Debris began falling from the ceiling as her voice echoed back like a blast.

Two seconds after the chamber remained silent, a howl blasted in.

The panel flickered to life in Leon’s eyes.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

Locked as a target.

Caution: Fight to Kill, or Be Killed.

Leon’s eyes widened and reddened as he looked at the caution a second time.

When he turned his head, the Varkhaza was charging toward him at an unstoppable speed.