The terrain didn’t change. The north offered no rcy—no shade, no shelter. Only a dead horizon lined with sunbaked rocks and distant, shimring heat mirages that played cruel tricks on the eye.
The only sound that accompanied her was the crunch of cracked soil beneath her boots and the raspy wheeze of her breathing.
Freya stumbled again.
She dropped to one knee, letting out a sharp gasp, nearly toppling over. Cassius shifted on her back, his weight pulling her backward, but she forced herself upright again.
Her limbs shook. Sweat poured down her face and soaked the collar of her uniform.
But she didn’t stop.
She couldn’t stop.
She had lost enough today.
"Just a bit further... There has to be sothing," she muttered to herself. "Just a cave... a crack in the wall, even a damn hole in the ground..."
Every minute that passed felt like an hour. Her vision swam, her calves burned, and her fingers were starting to go numb from strain. But she pressed on, gritting her teeth with each step, trying to will her body to obey.
Then—finally—her eyes caught sothing different.
A dark sliver carved into the base of a low cliff just ahead.
It was easy to miss, partially hidden by a cluster of massive boulders, but it was there.
A small cavern entrance.
Her heart jumped in relief.
She staggered toward it, dragging her feet through the soil, until she reached the cool shade at its mouth. It wasn’t deep—maybe just ten or fifteen ters inside—but it would be enough.
Enough to rest.
Enough to hide.
Enough to breathe.
She collapsed onto her knees at the edge of the cavern and gently slid Cassius off her back.
His unconscious body flopped lightly onto the stone floor, and she quickly shifted him into a more comfortable position—laying him flat, his head propped slightly on a pillow she took out.
The cool shade inside the cave was a blessing.
She slumped beside him, her back against the wall, chest heaving. The sweat on her skin chilled against the stone, making her shiver.
Her arms felt like jelly. Her legs wouldn’t stop trembling. Her mind buzzed with everything and nothing at once.
The image of the Basilisk returned again—those vast golden eyes that seed to see straight through her soul.
Her heart clenched.
"I’m sorry," she whispered, not even sure who the words were ant for.
The dead?
Cassius?
Herself?
She wiped her face with a trembling hand. "I’ll... I’ll do better. Next ti. I’ll be better..."
A low rumble echoed in the distance.
She stiffened.
At first she thought it was her imagination—her exhausted mind playing tricks on her again. But no.
There it was again.
A low, gurgling groan, like the earth itself had exhaled.
She pushed herself to the cave mouth and peered out toward the horizon.
And then her blood ran cold.
The lava pond... wasn’t where it had been.
The shimring red glow had moved. Not drastically—but clearly. It had shifted several dozen ters from its previous position, closer than before.
And that wasn’t all.
It was boiling now. Violently. Large plus of steam erupted from its surface, and the surrounding rocks had begun to glow faintly red from the sheer heat.
Sothing was wrong with it.
Very wrong.
"What in the world...?"
The lava itself convulsed. Slowly, sothing began to rise from its center.
A green, humongous shape—glossy and curved. Not molten, but solid.
Sothing alive.
It moved with terrifying grace, like a sea creature breaching the surface of a boiling ocean. The top of the form resembled a hardened carapace or do, steaming and sleek.
Freya’s breath caught in her throat.
Was this another monster? A guardian of the lava pond? Or—
"Cassius," she whispered, spinning back toward him.
He was still unconscious. Barely breathing.
Her pulse thundered in her ears. The cave they were in might provide cover—but if that thing was anything like the Basilisk, it would sniff them out in seconds.
She dropped to her knees beside him, shaking his shoulder gently. "Hey. Wake up. Please..."
Nothing.
She cursed under her breath, then stood, darting to the mouth of the cave again, peeking at the advancing mass.
The green figure had fully erged now.
It wasn’t a serpent. It wasn’t even shaped like a typical beast.
A crocodilian behemoth easily on the level of the Skyshadow Basilisk, its dark green hide shimred like obsidian. tal was etched on its legs like armour plating.
Fire was spewing out from its mouth as if it was drinking lava as water.
« Elder Crocdaemon »
Type: Beast
Rank: ★★★★
Points: 150
Alignnt: Aggressive
Drops: Hide(★★★★), Core(★★★★), Molten Fang, Infernal Saliva Gland
« Close »
It casually took a few steps, trailing a slow path toward her direction.
It had amber eyes.
But Freya felt it staring.
It knew she was there.
Her blood turned to ice.
The cave wouldn’t protect them—not for long. Not if this thing ca looking.
She turned back to Cassius, desperation clawing at her chest.
"Please... Cassius, you have to wake up," she whispered again, voice shaking.
And then—
His finger twitched.
...
But nothing else happened—just his finger twitched, and the tremors subsided.
Freya stared at him, eyes wide, then snapped her gaze back toward the lava pond as a wave of fear crawled down her spine. Today... today might have been the worst day of her life. No—was the worst day.
Two Rank ★★★★ monsters in a single day?
This had to be so twisted joke.
She was barely Rank ★★. Half their power—at most. How was soone like her supposed to survive that kind of nightmare?
She clutched Cassius’s limp body tighter, feeling the faintest rhythm of his breath against her neck, and for a mont, her thoughts turned dark.
’Should I... just leave him here?’
Her eyes widened as the thought echoed in her mind.
He left the group... didn’t he? Walked away, abandoned the others. ’Maybe this is the natural order. Maybe he should face the sa fate...’
SLAP!
A sharp, echoing crack rang out in the dim cavern, a brutal sound that bounced from wall to wall. Freya’s face twisted with pain, a deep red mark blooming across her cheek from the force of her own hand.
She stood still, trembling. A tear slipped down her face—this ti not from guilt or grief, but sha.
"How could I think that way?" she whispered aloud, her voice hoarse.
She couldn’t believe herself.
Cassius—he was the one who saved her. Carried her on his back, while he himself bled from every orifice.
She rembered the state of him when they crashed into this place—barely conscious, blood trickling like tears from his eyes, his mouth. And now... now she’d thought about abandoning him?
No. Absolutely not.
He was different from the group. He was her childhood friend.
And if she left him here, left him to die, how would she face Alia?
Her friend. His fiancée. The one who waited for him.
No—she had to stay. No matter what.
Freya took a deep, shuddering breath and stepped slowly toward the cavern entrance, her footsteps cautious and light as feathers.
Peeking outside, her worst fear was confird.
That thing—the monstrous creature that erged from the lava pond—was moving.
It hadn’t stopped. It was slow, deliberate, but relentless.
And worse... it was heading in their direction.
Her hands tightened into fists. The Elder Crocdaemon’s massive bulk slid across the cracked earth, molten drool seething from its gaping maw.
The dark green of its armored scales glistened like obsidian in the heat, chunks of rusted tal etched onto its legs like ancient shackles, half-lted and fused with its flesh.
They were directly in its path. If it noticed them—if it so much as caught a flicker of movent—they were done for.
Running isn’t an option, Freya thought, her heart pounding so violently it felt like her ribs would snap. She didn’t have the strength to lift Cassius again, and even if she did, they would be caught before she took ten steps.
That left them with one option.
Hide. Pray. Hope.
Freya turned back into the cavern, a grim determination in her eyes. She carefully dragged Cassius deeper into the narrow, shadow-choked crevice, every movent slow and deliberate to avoid making noise.
She nestled them behind a jagged boulder near the back of the cavern, positioning Cassius so his body was concealed behind hers.
Then, she held her breath.
The two of them, huddled together in the dark.
She didn’t know how much ti passed. Seconds felt like hours, every creak of stone or hiss of wind sounding like the stomp of a titan’s foot.
She could still hear the soft, sloshing drag of the Crocdaemon’s bulk outside, the faint ripple of heat that pulsed even through the cavern walls.
Freya hugged Cassius tightly, her arms wrapped around his shoulders, her eyes staring into the dark.
’Please,’ she thought. ’Just go away. Please.’
All they could do now was wait. Wait in silence. And hope they lived to see another sunrise.
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