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"Crack!"
The energy axe slammed into the red lizard's skull, biting deep into bone.
The shriek that tore from the creature's throat echoed through the ruined temple like a thousand nails on stone.
King Kong's massive arms trembled with effort as he tried to wrench the axe free.
The blade had sunk too deep.
The red-backed lizard thrashed beneath him, claws tearing furrows in the stone floor.
Dust and bone fragments filled the air.
"Damn thing's skull is thicker than a tank hull!" he growled, abandoning the axe for brute force.
He raised his fists, each one the size of a boulder, and hammered down on the lizard's head.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Each impact sent tremors rolling through the ground.
The air vibrated with the shockwaves.
The monster's roars turned into gurgles as cracks spread across its skull.
With a final, thunderous blow, the head exploded in a wet burst of red and gray.
The smell of blood and decay flooded the chamber.
King Kong stepped on the corpse, chest heaving, eyes blazing with the rush of victory.
He ripped the axe free, lifting it high.
"ROOOAR!"
His voice shook the entire temple, echoing off the ancient walls like a war horn from another age.
But his triumph lasted barely a breath.
From the shadows behind him, another red lizard lunged, smaller, but faster.
It slammed into him with the force of a battering ram, knocking him flat on the cracked tiles.
"Guh!"
The creature's tail coiled around his neck like a constrictor, muscles rippling, tightening with deadly intent.
"Not… again!" King Kong rasped, grabbing at the tail.
The lizard hissed, hot breath washing over his face as its serrated jaws snapped at him.
The ape fought back, digging his fingers into the tail's bony ridges.
His muscles bulged, veins standing out like ropes as he tried to tear it loose.
The creature twisted violently, its claws raking across his chest, opening deep, steaming wounds.
Across the temple, chaos reigned.
The dinosaurs fought the swarming skeleton lizards pouring from cracks.
The reptiles were relentless; every time one fell, two more emerged from the dark.
Gray, her wings tattered and scales scorched, smashed her tail into a red-backed lizard's side, sending it tumbling.
She leapt, fangs flashing, tearing into its throat before it could recover.
But exhaustion was catching up.
Her breathing was ragged.
Every muscle screamed.
"These things… just keep coming," she muttered, wiping blood from her snout.
Behind her, another Allosaurus screamed as it was dragged underground by clawed hands.
The ground was literally splitting apart, bones and claws bursting from below.
"They're nesting under the temple!" Gray shouted.
"They're coming from below!"
Her voice carried across the battlefield, reaching Miraluz.
High above, the Dragon King watched.
Miraluz hovered in the air, his six wings spread wide, the silver scales along his body glowing faintly from the lightning pulsing beneath.
His sharp eyes scanned the temple floor, calculating every movement, every energy fluctuation below.
The skeletal lizards were evolving faster and more coordinated.
Their glowing spines pulsed in unison, like a hive-mind.
"So… that's your secret," he murmured, his deep, rumbling voice echoing through the cavern.
A thousand possibilities flashed through his mind in seconds.
His allies were tiring. The lizards were multiplying. The nest below was feeding them energy.
It was time to end this.
He folded his wings slightly and shouted, "All units, fall back!"
The dinosaurs recognized the tone instantly.
They didn't hesitate.
Gray and the others withdrew, dragging wounded allies with them.
Only King Kong, locked in his brutal wrestling match, didn't notice.
"RAAARGH!"
King Kong tore the red-backed lizard's tail from his neck and hurled the creature against the wall.
He stomped forward, snatched his axe, and with a snarl, swung it downward.
The glowing blade cleaved through the lizard's torso, splitting it clean in half.
"Try locking my neck again," he snarled, kicking the twitching corpse aside.
Then he froze. The battlefield had gone silent.
The other dinosaurs were gone.
"What the…?" He looked around.
"Where'd everybody go?"
The sudden darkening of the sky answered his question.
Thunder rumbled above.
"Boom!"
A bolt of crimson lightning exploded from the heavens, striking the temple floor.
Then another. And another.
Forked red arcs split the air, spreading like roots across the battlefield. Each branch of lightning twisted unnaturally, following Miraluz's will.
"Ultimate Volt," the Dragon King whispered.
The storm obeyed.
Chains of lightning lashed through the skeleton lizards.
Their bony armor shattered, their flesh seared.
The air filled with ozone, blood, and the sizzling crack of cooked bone.
"Too slow," Miraluz muttered, weaving his claws.
The lightning shifted shape, from long lines and whirling rings to deadly orbs that rolled across the battlefield like living storms.
The red lizards tried to scatter, but it was useless.
Lightning struck faster than sight.
Their bodies convulsed, glowing from the inside before exploding into smoldering chunks.
One bolt hit dangerously close to King Kong.
"I am still here!" he roared, leaping aside as another bolt detonated behind him.
Static energy surged through his fur, leaving it smoking.
His once dark mane now stood upright like burnt wire.
From the sidelines, Gray laughed breathlessly.
"That's what happens when you ignore orders!"
"Next time, warn me!" King Kong bellowed, shaking sparks off his arm.
The battlefield was chaos incarnate, lightning storms, roaring beasts, and the ground splitting under the force of Miraluz's attack.
When the final flash of red light faded, silence followed.
The skeletal army was gone.
What remained were smoldering craters and twisted bones.
Miraluz descended slowly, landing atop the fractured temple steps.
His silver body still shimmered faintly with residual energy.
He extended his senses, his super perception reaching deep into the cracks below.
What he felt darkened his expression.
"There's more," he said quietly.
"A whole nest of them."
He motioned for Gray to stay back, then spread his wings again and dove toward the fissure.
The temperature dropped instantly.
The smell of rot thickened.
Beneath the temple lay an entire network of tunnels.
Bones of ancient beasts lined the walls, glowing faintly with a sickly red hue.
"So this is where you've been breeding…" Miraluz muttered.
His tail flicked, releasing a metallic canister that clinked against the rock.
A hiss filled the air.
Within seconds, thick green vapor poured out, neurotoxin.
The screams started almost immediately.
Dozens of skeleton monitors writhed, their crimson spines dimming one by one.
Even the red-backed titans tried to crawl away, but their flesh was already rotting, their bones turning to dust.
Miraluz watched, unmoved.
"Let the poison finish it."
When silence returned, he emerged from the crack, smoke curling off his scales.
System messages flashed in his mind:
[You hunted a Skeleton Giant Lizard obtained 300,000 gene points.]
[You hunted a Skeleton Giant Lizard obtained 350,000 gene points.]
[You hunted a Red-backed Skeleton Giant Lizard obtained 6,000,000 gene points.]
...
A deep rumble of satisfaction escaped his throat.
"Not bad."
The harvest was immense, over thirty million gene points from this battle alone.
And the Titan-level lizards' blood contained rare sequences he could refine later.
He turned toward the horizon, eyes narrowing.
"Looks like we've only just begun."
POV: Gray
From the temple's edge, she watched her brother land beside King Kong.
The silver light reflecting off his wings made the whole battlefield look like dawn had broken underground.
King Kong was still grumbling, patting out the smoking patches of fur on his arm.
"Next time you start calling lightning, give a guy some notice."
Miraluz's eyes glowed faintly red as he looked at him.
"Next time, keep your distance when I say fall back."
Gray smirked, watching the two.
They bickered like brothers, but she knew they'd saved each other's lives more than once.
"What now, Lord Miraluz?" she asked.
He gazed toward the smoking fissure.
"We move. There are more enemies to fight."
His voice was calm, almost cold.
"No more surprises."
King Kong snorted.
"Guess that means no rest for any of us."
"Rest is for the dead," Miraluz replied.