The beast stared at Xaidon with cold, deadly eyes as it circled him slowly. Xaidon, sword in hand, stared at the beast, calculating and plotting. The beast growled, but before it could attack, Xaidon bolted toward it. He didn't want to be on the defensive this early in the fight. The beast, a cat, was fast, easily dodging his attack. It went for a bite, but Xaidon blocked it with his sword. He pushed the beast back with all his strength and jumped back himself. With that, their first clash ended in a draw, which greatly annoyed the beast.
With its four legs, it attacked again. Xaidon did his best to avoid and counter each attack. The beast's strikes were wild and powerful but predictable. This helped him a lot, but even so, he needed speed to match the beast. The beast attacked from every angle, trying to confuse and find Xaidon's weak spot. Similarly, he was studying the beast as they fought, paying the price for his focus.
Every clash saw either Xaidon blocking, the beast dodging, or one of them getting hurt. Mostly Xaidon, but each wound taught him a lesson. And each lesson was a gain. He was beginning to attack, to counter, and to push the beast back. Ezekiel, sitting on a branch high above, watched with a smile. It looked like this fight would end soon.
The two humans weren't the only ones aware of where this fight was happening. The beast, a cat, tried different attack styles, attempting to pin Xaidon down. Nothing worked, and it grew angry. With no options left, it jumped toward the trees, trying to escape.
Seeing this, Xaidon pulled out a dagger and threw it, stabbing the beast in the back left leg. It fell, roaring as it tried to dislodge the uncomfortable thing. It rose again, trying to escape. If it could move just a little further, it would reach its group and ask for help. It knew the forest well and could easily lose the human. With its last strength, it stood on all fours, but before dashing into the woods, an incredible pain shot through its right back leg. It had been cut off, like a piece of paper.
"Did you really think I would allow you to escape this time?" Xaidon said coldly and indifferently. He leapt and, with his sword raised, chopped off the beast's head, ending its life.
Ezekiel appeared moments later, looking at the corpse. "I thought you would make some kinda speech or something."
Xaidon's eyes moved from the corpse to Ezekiel. "Why would I do that?"
Ezekiel didn't reply, simply staring at the corpses. "Its pride isn't far from here, you know?"
"So we should leave before they arrive?" Xaidon asked, glancing around.
"What? No, I think we should strike them." Ezekiel said with a smile.
"And why would we do that? Wait, why would I do that?" Xaidon asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Because they'll find this and your scent, so it's better to take care of them." Ezekiel paused. "Plus, they have something I want very badly."
Far from their location, Peter and Skylar, led by Larla, moved as a group. They were hunting for flaming lizards again. This was a good opportunity for Peter to see how they used their flames to boost their strength. They walked for hours, searching for the creatures but still couldn't find them.
"This is strange; they're supposed to be here. This is their territory." one of the men said.
"Maybe we killed them all?" another suggested.
"That's impossible." Larla said, stopping and looking back at the group. "We only started hunting them a month ago. Something isn't right."
"Hey, maybe we can go to their den?" one of them suggested.
Larla hesitated for a moment before nodding. They moved together, staying close. They reached a cave entrance and stared into the darkness. "Peter, your turn?"
Peter raised his hands and conjured a sizable fireball. He didn't put much power into it, aiming not to kill but to reveal anything inside the cave. The fireball shot into the darkness. The group prepared itself. After a tense silence, nothing happened, and they looked at each other. Larla signaled them to move forward. They advanced cautiously, watching each other's backs. After some time, they realized nothing was inside—the cave contained only a few eggshells and some bones. No living creatures. They spread out to search. Peter, bored, looked around, excited to face these lizards.
Eventually, one of the men found a hole in the ground—large enough to be a tunnel entrance.
"We should jump in." Peter said, looking into the hole.
"Are you crazy? Who knows where that leads?" Larla asked.
"We will, if we jump in." Peter replied with a smile. Skylar simply stared at him and nodded.
Larla watched her group, seeing they were okay with it. She sighed and jumped in, the rest following. The hole was big but not deep—about seven feet. It was obviously a tunnel. They moved carefully, step by step. Hours later, they reached the end. Peter summoned fire and approached the wall. Examining it, he saw strange carvings.
Larla stepped forward to inspect. She looked confused and shocked. "What's wrong?" Skylar asked.
"This doesn't make sense." Larla muttered. "It says this place was created by a powerful being. And this being… lost its word?"
Everyone stared at her in confusion as she continued. "Apparently, this sub-world found its way here and remained for years. Beasts that reached this place got trapped. This was the norm until two king-ranked warriors got trapped here in battle. Because of their power, the sub-world chose them as its new masters. When they were caught, it pressured their powers, making them lord rank. Of course, the world couldn't have two masters, so it opened its gates. One managed to escape, while the other got trapped here. The one trapped here can only escape if replaced or killed. Once a powerful lord rank appears in the sub-world, the gates open again—allowing one to leave and one to stay. If the original master is killed, the gates will be open for some time, trapping or freeing others."
As she finished, Peter spoke first. "But I thought you said this world was created by the fallen prince and that the lord rank was only his clone?"
"I thought so, too." Larla said softly, when suddenly the ground shook. Moments later, the group fell into a pit. They landed safely and got up quickly. As they recovered, they froze. In front of them stood over a dozen flaming lizards, plus a dozen large cat beasts, with more creatures lurking behind. Hundreds of beasts, from rank 1 to rank 3, surrounded them inside the tunnel, completely outnumbering them.