The rumbling stops but I couldn’t keep my eyes off of the brownish-orange fur of the rat. Its snout was pointed towards the sky and it begins to spew out a green gas. Spears and arrows are shot towards the rat but it doesn’t stop spewing its green gas. Sounds of panic begin to spread throughout the lizardman village. I rush back inside the hut and tell William the situation.

“Hurry, let’s go! Mako, Fifi, Jill, and Jude, it’s up to you to protect us from that gas.”

Our group runs towards the pillar and from a distance, I can see lizardmen fighting against the giant rats. The size of the rats ranges from 5 to 8 feet tall, but they weren’t only tall, their bodies were wide. The lizardmen were easily outnumbered by the giant rats, for every 1 lizardman, there are at least 3 giant rats. But these weren’t the only advantages these giant rats had. The green gas had a noxious smell that made the lizardmen become sluggish and crazed.

Even though the gas hasn’t arrived at our location yet, I can already smell the foul odor in the air. It smells like a garbage dumpster that has been left out in the sun for many weeks. Some of the weaker ones in our group were already dizzy from the smell. Although the green gas is an inconvenience, it was also a blessing.

The lizardmen that ran out of the gas were severely weakened once they escaped the fog. The noxious smell made them throw up and dazed so it was easy to kill them. Although the lizardmen are vulnerable to the gas, the giant rats were perfectly fine. Since the pillar was inside of the gas we have to go through and defend ourselves from the giant rats and lizardmen. The smell only grows stronger as we approach the gas.

“Ughh, don’t use fire or you’ll blow us all up.”

“Ok, Fifi.”

I stab a giant rat but it doesn’t die right away. Its fur was so thick that it takes more than one hit to kill them. We all stand in front of the green gas as we cover our mouths and noses. Luckily no one had died from our group. Most of the lizardmen are occupied with dealing with the giant rats so they don’t notice us.

“Where to, Donnel?”

“It shouldn’t be too far but the gas is too thick to see.”

Mako and Fifi use wind magic to create a barrier to keep the green gas away as we head further in. The barrier definitely helps but it couldn’t completely keep out the gas. The smell was so strong that it was starting to sting our eyes.

My eyes were watery but I resist the pain and observe our surroundings. Dead leaves and trees were strewn all over the area with the bodies of the giant rats and lizardmen. It’s only been about 10 minutes since the village was invaded but the battle has been fierce. The sounds of fighting were still coming from the green gas even though we couldn’t see it.

“2 lizardmen and four rats from the front. 1 lizardman and 5 rats from the right side.”

“I’ll take care of the right side.”

Rachel yells out CZ’s observation and I head towards the right side with Cammy and the two men from Unit I. With excellent teamwork, Cammy shoots out her glue to stop the rats from chasing the lizardman as one of the men’s hands turn into ropes which drags the lizardman into the other member. Waiting for his chance, his arms turn into drills that pierces through the lizardman’s body with ease.

I can see that their teamwork was good and fighting one or two lizardmen wasn’t a problem. They probably only lost their first battle against the lizardmen because they had underestimated their enemy. Since the 5 rats were stuck, it wasn’t a problem to kill them so I check up on the other team but they were already finished.

We continue on our way but a bad feeling was swelling up inside of me. The journey was too safe and it was too quiet. Besides the initial ambushes from lizardmen and giant rats, we only faced stragglers since then. I’m worried about where the 20 feet tall rat and the lizardman king are.

“Do you hear that? Is that the sound of trees breaking.”

“Shush, quiet. We don’t want to alert those monsters.”

The people we saved were talking and they were right, I can hear the sounds of trees cracking and the dirt being disturbed. It was distant but the sound was continuously occurring like two giants are fighting. My blood runs cold as I realize that the sound was getting closer and it was fast.

“Jill, earth walls to the left, right now!!!”

She was slightly confused but she didn’t hesitate to follow my instructions. Currently, she was the only person that could use magic. Fifi and Mako were creating a barrier to protect us from the gas while I couldn’t use magic because of the cursed spear.

“Aaah!!”

“What’s that!?”

“Shit, everyone stay calm!”

The walls easily break down as something made impact with it. If Mako, Fifi, and I could have helped, the situation might have been different but there’s no time to regret it. Chunks of rocks fly towards our group and some people were injured. Panic ensures as William tries to calm everyone down but the situation quickly escalated. The wind barrier was broken through and the gas causes everyone to become nauseous.

Fifi and Mako quickly expel the gas but the panic doesn’t die down. I wouldn’t blame them, there was a giant lizardman lying down where our earth walls had been erected. He was even larger than Gul’sa Quan and has to be at least 10 feet tall. The major difference was that he wasn’t muscular, his body was wide and plump like a giant grape. In his hands were two giant axes that were stained with blood.

It was the lizardman king and in most cases, it would be difficult to fight him, but not right now. His body was battered with injuries and blood was seeping through his cracked purple scales. All it would take is a few stabs with my cursed spear and he would be dead. He was breathing heavily as he got up but even with all those injuries, his aura was still strong.

The lizardman king roars in anger as the blood on his two axes disappear and the wounds on his body rapidly heal themselves. His aura was even stronger now but it wasn’t as strong as the being inside of the gas. I can’t see the 20 feet rat but its aura was oppressive, it was twice as strong as the lizardman king.

Our group was still in disorder due to the lizardman king’s presence. Many of the captives had fallen to their knees in fear and some of the female captives were screaming as their traumas resurfaced. William and the others were trying to calm everyone down but it was taking longer than necessary.

The lizardman king realizes our presence and turns to face us as his axes were raised in the air. I can see the anger in his face as he realizes that his prisoners were trying to escape. Both axes come down trying to end our lives but Gorou and I block his attack. The force in his attack was so strong that my feet dug a few inches into the dirt as I held back his attack. I was worried that the cursed spear would break but it held on. My body was suddenly cut by invisible blades and blood seeped through my clothes.

“William, hurry and get them out of here!!! Gorou and I will handle the lizardman king.”

The two of us deflect his axes and angry at our actions, the lizardman king screams again. Without any hesitation, its throat bulges as mana quickly gathers around him. It was trying to use the flame breath that Gul’sa Quan had used.

“Cammy, glue his mouth!”

“O-ok!”

The lizardman king opens his mouth at the same time Cammy shoots out a glob of glue. It enters his throat and his flame breath was interrupted. The flame was put out and the lizardman king begins to gag and cough as he couldn’t breathe. He furiously swings his axes in anger but Gorou and I block his attacks as the captives begin to run away.

“It’s not too far. Everyone hurry!”

The silhouette of the pillar was now visible as we run away from the lizardman king. Jill smashes apart the gate and there were lizardmen hiding within. A fight breaks out and I tell Gorou to join William to fight against the lizardmen. Gorou heads off as I turn back to look if the lizardman king was chasing after us.

I couldn’t see anything through the gas but there was an odd sound from the direction we had left from. It sounded like something was cutting through the air. Not even a second later, I see one of the lizardman king’s axes flying through the air. If I don’t block it here then it’s going to cut through everyone at the pillar’s entrance.

I jump into the air and hit the ax with my spear. The spear bends but its flexibility keeps it from breaking. The ax is flung into the gas as I land on the ground, ready to fight.

“Shit.”

My chest begins to bleed and there were cuts all over my body again. I try to heal my injuries but forgot that I can’t use magic with the cursed spear. I quickly drink one of the potions we have found in the dungeon. There were 10 so we evenly distributed within our group.

Halfway through the bottle of red liquid, I see another ax flying my way. Once again I deflect it and there were even more wounds on my body. The wounds that were healing from the potion reopens and the wounds slowly heal themselves. My body was starting to become cold due to blood loss but I have to hold on. I have to occupy the lizardman king so the others can kill those lizardmen in the pillar.

Through the gas, I could finally see the lizardman king’s plump body. It was rolling towards us at an incredible speed and wasn’t slowing down at all. He was trying to ram his entire body into the pillar. I grip the cursed spear tighter and it seems to glow an even darker red color.

“Thanks for the blood.”

An unknown voice suddenly announces its presence.