The adventurers rushed forward into the ruins, and the monster roared at them for blocking its path. They formed a protective circle around the dungeon monster, and they started attacking it.

  The mages started casting spells in the back, and chains enchanted to fight large beasts whipped out and trapped the creature’s leg. The creature pulled at the chain, then, when that wasn’t enough, it pulled with its entire body. The chain snapped, and the creature fell backwards and crashed into an already broken fountain.

  One of the adventurers used a skill, and his axe bounced off the creature’s leathery carapace. The creature brought down its front leg to skewer the man, but another warrior was there. His warhammer hit the creature’s leg to the side, and it staggered. More chains appeared out of thin air and began to wrap themselves around its body, but the creature broke them.

  An arrow flew for one of its eyes, and its massive head turned away. It swung its body like a whip and destroyed the ruins in the direction the projectile had come from, causing the debris to knock aside its attacker.

  One of the adventurers went to pierce it in the head, but the creature rushed forward, grabbed him in its mandibles, and tossed him far into the distant ruins. Another adventurer leapt onto its back and tried to cut into its tough armour, but the creature just thrust him off.

  One of the mages was ready, however, and a spell she had been preparing exploded against its flank. The monster shrieked, and everyone covered their ears.

  Sensing the creature’s pain, the warriors holding shields formed a wall in front of it, and the archers and mages peppered it with spells and arrows. The creature flinched back for a second, and just as it did, it caught sight of the twins. Their souls were what it had come for, but these weaker class holders were in its way. The centipede lizard’s body tensed. It ignored the low-level attacks of the silver and bronze rank adventurers, and it charged.

  The charge hit the adventurers’ shield wall harder than they expected and into their back line. One of the mages cast fire from her staff, and the creature’s body twisted to the side, barely dodging the flames, and its tail skewered her body and threw her in the distance, lifeless.

  The warriors turned with the collision, some climbed on its back, and started striking it with spears, swords and even maces. Any weapon they held, they used.

  The creature’s head turned to them. It regarded them, then it spat a shower of acid on their bodies. The bronze and silver-ranked adventurers screamed as the acid hit them. The armour, along with the chains, began to melt, and it didn’t take long for the tables to start turning.

  One of the silver ranks lost his weapon hand, and he screamed. The monster had just turned the tables. Damian looked back, and he froze. He stopped running, and Darrow nearly crashed into him.

  “Why did you stop!?” Darrow yelled at him.

  Damian looked at the dying adventurers, then his jaw tightened.

  “They are dying because of us,” he said.

  Darrow turned back to look at the fight, and it was true. They had to be silver and bronze rank adventurers. He cursed loudly.

  “Here we go again,” he thought, groaned, then rubbed his face. “Fine, let’s go help them,” Darrow finally said.

  They sprinted back and into the ruins, and by the time they got there, the adventurers were already falling back under the assault of the giant centipede. Its mandibles snapped hungrily, and one of the adventurers begged for a healing potion. The creature’s head snapped around, it snapped from side to side, and it ignored the adventurer crawling away from under it, and someone dragged him away.

  The monster smashed through a wall in the ruins, and for the first time, it caught sight of the twins. To its surprise, Damian lifted a spear up with his feet, grabbed it, and then threw it with his enhanced strength. His aim was true, and he struck the centipede, but all it did was annoy the large monster.

  For the first time since it began its rampage, the creature did not care to attack the adventurers. Its focus was on Damian, but even that did not last long, because it felt something on its tail.

  It turned and watched Darrow try and fail to pierce its carapace. Then, when that failed, the small figure taunted it. The creature hissed, then struck. It opened its mouth to swallow him whole, but Darrow managed to get away just in time.

  Darrow used his [Shadow Meld] skill. The shadows of the surrounding ruins wrapped around him, and he vanished.

  The creature paused halfway. Its eyes narrowed, then it looked around. Its mandibles clicked. It saw faint movements in the shadows, then it lunged after Darrow. Darrow appeared from a different shadow not so far away, then he slashed at its injured and burnt joint of its long front claw. Green blood leaked from the wound, and the creature screeched. After all that, its prey had managed to hurt it.

  It smashed through an old stone arch and chased after Darrow, who led it away from the adventurers and Damian. Damian was distracted by his [shared fear] skill, but it had to be because Darrow was facing the monster. Realising this, he remained to help the adventurers escape.

  “We need to get to the castle!!!” he yelled as he pulled an adventurer to safety and handed him over to his guildmates dressed in the same colours.

  In the scrying orb, Guild Mistress Magda frowned as she caught sight of them. “What are those two doing there?” she muttered and narrowed her eyes.

  Darrow disappeared in time, throwing the creature’s aim off, and this time he looked back just to see the acid melt through the stone he had just stepped on a second ago.

  After helping the silver and bronze ranks, Damian turned to face the direction where the creature was fighting with his brother.

  “You can’t go, it’s a gold rank threat,” a healer tried to stop him, but he ignored her even as she reached out.

  In the air, the scrying spells followed him as he went to fight the creature. He took advantage of the creature’s confusion as it looked for Darrow, and he used all his skills. he used all of them. He breathed, then he focused and held the air in his lungs. He used [Salute the Foe], which made him feel much lighter. [Quick Step] made his body move faster in a beat. [Piercing Thrust] made his hand steady. And lastly, [Lesser Strength] added it all up.

  Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  His sword sank deep into the creature’s leathery carapace, and it screeched. It turned to bite him with its mandibles, but he used [Skill Imprint] [Shadow Meld], and he disappeared into the shadows again.

  Darrow reappeared near a broken well, and he placed his hand on the old stone. He thought. looking into the well. If he could get the creature here, maybe he could use the well as a pit trap.

  “You used too many skills. Are you alright, Damian?” he shouted in the direction he had last seen the duelist.

  “Well, I can’t let you die, can I,” Damian yelled back, and his voice came from the shadows.

  The creature was confused at first by the yelling, then, frustrated, it dug its claws toward Darrow, who was the only visible target. But Darrow had a plan. He waited until the last minute, then he stepped back into the shadows. The creature’s clawed leg gouged away the stone and slid into the well. It stumbled and trapped its already injured leg.

  Damian appeared next to its lowered head, and he did something only Darrow would think of doing. He grabbed a handful of wet soil and threw it in the creature’s face. This caused the creature to stumble further back and cover its eyes instead of pulling itself free. It moved to claw at him with its good arm, but he dodged to the side, and the creature struck a pillar, which came down on it.

  Darrow was the first to notice, but the burning injury he had cut was still licking, and his [Minor Spy’s Intuition] skill told him that it was a weakness.

  “Damian! Over here!” he called out, and the giant stomped from the creature’s many hind legs that were trying to impale him, and he reached Darrow’s side.

  The creature tried to free itself and attack them with its free claw, but they stood just out of reach. It needed to free itself, then attack them and swallow them whole.

  “What?” Damian asked, his sword raised and his eyes still fixed on the lizard centipede.

  “It’s injured. Its leg. We can cut it off and injure it badly enough that it wants nothing to do with us.”

  Damian looked at the injured leg that was leaking green, faintly glowing blood from where Darrow had struck it. More importantly, he looked at its burnt carapace. He turned to Darrow, then he nodded. If the creature just needed to be injured enough, then they had to do it. Surely it was like any animal. It wouldn’t want to go after them after they injured it so badly.

  The creature began shifting and freeing itself, and they moved before it could succeed. It tried to stab forward at either of them, but they scattered out of the path of its claw. They got close to its other injured leg, and as one, they both used [Lesser Strength]. Darrow’s dagger sank deep into the burnt flesh, then he twisted and ran his dagger across its joint. Damian’s blade sank deep and came out one end. Then he used it as a lever and split the creature’s leg apart into two.

  It wasn’t pretty at all. Green fluid splashed across the stone, and the creature howled. Damian didn’t wait to see how it would react. He pulled Darrow away, and that was a good thing. The creature flailed around the ruins angrily. Dust rose, and it shrieked angrily. The whistling, grating sound was filled with a hatred that echoed across the entire district.

  “You think we should run?”

  “Yes, back to the castle,” Damian said as they watched the dust settle and the creature started after them.

  Rellina looked up from the scrying mirror, spelt to show the fight, then she looked up at the road in the distance. Her eyes widened in horror. She could see the adventurers running toward the castle, and behind them, Damian and Darrow were not so far behind. The creature pulled itself along. It ignored its injured leg, and its jaws were filled with acid as it ran after the group. There was no way they were going to make it away. The creature was moving faster than even she would have thought it capable of.

  “I thought you said it would back off after that,” Damian yelled as they ran.

  At this point, the clerks were just getting to the castle and entering its gate. The brothers looked behind them, and Darrow swallowed. The creature was faster than even he believed, even after they had cut off its leg.

  Rellina watched the carriages and wagons carrying the guild clerks and enchanters reach the castle first. At least they were safe. She looked back at the long road, and she knew the rest of them wouldn’t make it. She knew at this rate, Damian and Darrow would not be able to get away from the beast. That was something she could not allow. One of her skills had told her to seek them out, and she wasn’t going to let them die. Not now. The other nobles could think what they wanted.

  She raised her hand and used her noble skill, [Authority] and commanded the creature, "hold".

  The creature lunging for Darrow froze as it was. Its eyes moved, but the decree held it still. Its eyes moved even as its body couldn’t. Then its body shook violently, and after a minute or less, it broke free of the ruler skill.

  The nobles, guild mistress, and even the Warlord of Fenroth watched as she tried again, and another force erupted from Rellina, and the creature froze again, but this time it lasted for mere five seconds before the creature broke free. The nobles who knew of the skill murmured and buzzed. The maid who had gone to prepare for guests came rushing back.

  Knight Thovak reached for Rellina. “My lady, you must stop,” he tried to tell her, but she signalled him away.

  She readied her hand a third time, and the creature just seemed to stagger this time. Blood dripped from her nose. The maid Clarice rushed up the battlements to her side, and she began pressing a handkerchief to Rellina’s face.

  Meanwhile, the creature was catching up. The first few adventurers made it through the barrier of the castle and under its gate. The twins were behind the trailing group. However, they knew the creature wasn’t after the adventurers. It was after them, more so now that they had managed to injure it.

  Its acid fell onto the stone road, and Damian watched solid stone melt. He tripped and nearly fell, but Darrow was there in the next moment, pulling him upright as they kept running. By the time the last of the adventurers made it into the barrier, the creature was just meters behind them.

  The guardian lynx of the castle roared, and its roar seemed to disorient the creature, but not for long. Rellina watched on from the battlements. She wiped the blood off her lips, and she watched.

  “Come on… come on…” she muttered under her breath.

  Damian and Darrow didn’t notice the young noblewoman watching them, and hoping. Instead, they focused on reaching the barrier, and as soon as they did, they jumped through and into the castle’s courtyard.

  The creature slammed headfirst into the arcane barrier that protected the castle. The acid from its mouth splashed against the invisible force field, and the green toxic fluid smeared down its surface. Angry and furious, the creature was unwilling to let them go that easily. It pressed its mandibles against the barrier and scraped against the magic violently. The sound echoed like metal against bone, and when that failed, it struck out with its remaining claw hand, then slammed its body against the barrier.

  Its eyes were filled with hatred, and it was all directed at them both. Darrow stepped back instinctively as it continued to rage outside, and Damian simply clenched his jaw. How were they supposed to leave? That creature was after them.

  A group of adventurers raised their shields in case the creature broke through, and the mages readied spells.

  The nobles across New Calvassan watched on through scrying orb and mirrors. Those lords and ladies who were far away, however, didn’t pay it much attention. They had more important matters to deal with, like the Gate [General], who ordered the gatekeepers to fight back the demons, or [Lord] Goldenfang, who was busy going to bed after a long day.

  Rellina looked at her hand in disbelief as the maid Clarice supported her. “It… resisted my authority…” she whispered as she looked down at the creature from the battlements.

  The lizard centipede snarled at them all one last time. Its body shuddered with fury, then it slowly backed away. The mist parted, and it faded into the fog like a phantom. Finally, its silhouette disappeared completely, and the lynx growled low.

  Damian wiped the sweat from his forehead, and Darrow found himself sitting down heavily. The healers who had come with the adventurers tended to the wounds of their companions. And in the distance, Damian and Darrow watched as Rellina tried to reassure everyone from the guild who had come to her city.