The scale-beast Treotil glared angrily with its three remaining eyes, making a sound like a loud gurgle without opening its jaws—either of them, in this creature's case.
On the other side, Sol held the long dagger he had received from Arisu's children in his right hand. No tension or worry showed on his face—just his usual gloomy, dark expression, devoid of lively features.
[You said you had killed a creature like this before, didn't you? Then you should be able to kill it easily.]
The system's voice asked without tension either—sounding confident in Sol's ability to slaughter this creature without knowing his actual capabilities.
"No... it was difficult. The first time we were in a small cramped area surrounded by trees... he couldn't move freely then.."
Sol spoke in his mind, conversing with the system's voice.
[cramped area? Trees? Wait a minute... isn't that bad? We're now in a wide open area!]
The system's voice was shocked and loud, making Sol frown slightly in annoyance.
"Yeah, it would have been if I didn't know his attack patterns, but I do know it.."
[attack patterns?]
Sol was staring intently at the beast, which was swinging its tail in the air lightly He recalls the attack patterns from triotil that he fought before.
Every creature capable of fighting has its own unique style—a pattern, whether innate or acquired. If you understand that pattern, you can uncover many things… including its weaknesses.
As for 'attack patterns,' Sol had grown accustomed to them, since one of his brothers was obsessed with video games and combat techniques, often using them as a way to learn during his fights. and he called them attack patterns
"its attack patterns relies on swinging its heavy tail. As long as I stay out of the tail's rang—"
But suddenly, before Sol could even finish, his eyes went wide. In a single second, he raised the dagger to his right side from above, and blue sparks flew from something heavy scraping against the blade. The heavy tail had shot out fast—extended.
Sol gritted his teeth hard, resisting the immense weight and pressure of the attack he had barely dodged, his legs fighting not to collapse. He supported the dagger with his other hand until the tail's fierce momentum stopped and it retreated.
"Damn it!"
Sol said, his arms trembling and his legs shaking from the sheer weight, staring at the thick tail returning to its previous size.
"it can stretch its tail... Staying out of its range won't help. , but—"
Sol looked at the guards and villagers behind them. Their expressions had completely changed. The laughter and smiles that had been on their faces moments ago were gone, replaced by shocked, astonished looks.
Sol shifted his gaze to the opposite direction—toward that empty space leading to a cluster of tents, rocks, and wood.
"There..."
Sol ran in that direction fast, trying to draw the Treotil's attention. But as Sol ran away, he realized the beast wasn't following—it just watched him, then turned its gaze to the tent where Azure was.
[Look, it's still going toward the tent!]
The system's voice shouted inside Sol's mind.
Sol stopped in place for a few seconds, then rushed toward the beast with a new plan—attack from behind, exploiting the opportunity. Yes, the idea carried the risk of being right in front of the tail, but he had an idea for that.
Sol advanced without slowing, exploiting two things: first, the Treotil was distracted by the tent, so it wouldn't see Sol approaching its blind spot. Second, he would use his fast reflexes to try to dodge attacks rather than block them.
Sol tightened his grip on the dagger and increased his speed, staying in a straight line directly behind the Treotil so it wouldn't notice him, getting as close as possible. And indeed, Sol got very close—only a few steps away from being behind the beast. But then—
Suddenly, the tail shot out from the right side of where Sol stood. The tail was long, so he couldn't retreat in time. Sol jumped sideways over it, but the tail rose at the last moment and struck Sol's ankle, forcing him to fall hard to the ground.
When Sol hit the ground, he exhaled all the air in his lungs with a low grunt. Before he could pull himself up, he saw the tail returning quickly overhead, falling straight toward him.
When Sol tried to stand and move away, he couldn't—his ankle was broken, and three scales were embedded in the flesh like sharp fangs at the center of the foot's joint.
Sol had no time to wait for regeneration. The tail was directly above him, falling fast with a sharp sound as it cut through the air, threatening to crush him beneath it. Sol had only one option in that moment—rely on his reflexes, intensely.
He rolled quickly out from under the tail as it slammed into the ground with an explosive sound. But it didn't stop there—the tail rose again, then fell fast on Sol, but he dodged with another roll. The tail rose and fell, and Sol dodged left and right.
The last scale slid out of Sol's flesh. Now only the ankle joint remained to heal, and then Sol could move freely again. But the tail surprised him—instead of falling from above, this time it came from below, horizontally. Rolling was useless now.
[Watch out!!]
The system's voice shouted.
Sol jumped using his hands and good foot, high enough to dodge the attack at the last moment, and fell to the ground. The joint healed. Sol jumped back, focusing on the tail's movement.
One of the Treotil's eyes was already fixed on Sol. The beast turned its massive body toward him, swinging its tail in the air with a strange ease that contradicted the crushing weight from moments ago.
"It's smart."
[What do you mean?]
"It knows I'm trying to lead it away from the tent."
[What will you do now?]
Sol studied the Treotil carefully, looking for any weakness or way to end it or get close, but all his ideas failed in his imagination—they all led to the same result.
"If I still had this body's physical strength... Can you restore this body's power?"
[Physical strength? What are you talking about? You?]
The system's voice was confused—clearly, she didn't know anything.
Sol sighed.
"This is no time for nonsense... There's only one option."
[What?]
"Try again."
Sol ran forward fast, using his reflexes once more. The tail shot toward him at tremendous speed, but Sol slid under it and dodged. Then the thick tail moved toward Sol, but he dodged again with a jump over it, twisting in the air to avoid injury to his feet, and landed perfectly.
Sol ran and dodged the tail until he reached directly in front of the Treotil's face, his expression calm. But something was strange—the Treotil was completely still.
Sol raised the dagger high, then brought it down fast, aiming for the Treotil's eye. But then—
Slaaaash!
Sol felt pain in his stomach. When he looked down, his eyes went wide. One of the thin tails had pierced his stomach, making a hole. But this didn't stop Sol—he aimed the dagger at the beast's eye again, but couldn't reach it.
The Treotil lifted Sol slowly, its three eyes watching him as if mocking him, hanging shamefully from the thin tail, blood dripping from his mouth.
[Sol!]
The Treotil swung its thick tail hard, then sent it with tremendous force toward Sol, still hanging from the thin tail.
Crack!
The sound of his ribs breaking was loud. But that wasn't all—the broken ribs turned into sharp spears piercing his lung and stomach from the force of the blow, making Sol vomit a massive amount of blood in an instant before he flew through the air and fell to the black soil, staining it dark crimson. The long white coat he had received from the villagers the day before was now soaked.
"He's losing..."
Said one of the villagers.
"The Sacred Sky Dweller is losing."
"But the Sacred Sky Dweller doesn't lose... He's strong, unbeatable."
"Wait, does that mean... he's not the Sacred Sky Dweller?"
"But he came from the sky... Could he be one of those cursed ones?"
Such whispers grew among the villagers standing, watching the second part of the miserable bloody show. But this time, instead of laughter and mockery, shocked and questioning faces murmured about Sol.
Meanwhile, Sol couldn't breathe—his windpipe and lungs, or what remained of them, were filled with blood. He trembled violently, his extremities growing colder.
Sol had regeneration, yes—but it was worse than death. He had to experience the fullest extent of death for his injuries to regenerate. But the disgusting part wasn't just that—his lungs were filled with blood. Regeneration healed injuries and restored the body, but it didn't remove secondary damage like expelling blood. So he had to endure the blood leaving his lungs—like drowning.
[Sol! Can you hear me?... Sol!]
The system's voice shouted at the top of its volume, but Sol's breathing sounds—like painful, loud scraping—covered everything. Even those were covered by the heavy footsteps of the Treotil approaching him.
The Treotil opened its outer jaw, then its inner jaw as wide as possible, bringing its jaws slowly toward Sol's head. But something struck the small stone embedded in the dagger still stuck in its eye, making it rage and snarl in anger.
The beast turned to find that the one causing it such disgusting pain was nothing but a small blue girl—badly injured, limping on one leg. It was Azure.
"St... stay away! Stay... away from him!"
Azure said, her voice hoarse and tired, her exhausted eyes and withered, dirty face holding a stone in her good hand.
The Treotil turned slowly and walked with heavy steps toward Azure, who couldn't move because of her injured leg.
[Sol! The girl... the girl is going to die... Sol!]
Sol glanced in the direction of the Treotil and Azure.
"N... no... th... th... that idiot... she... she should run."
His words were difficult and heavy, accompanied by blood streaming from his mouth. He tried to stand but couldn't. He tried again—useless. Blood mixed with the haze in his eyes, making his vision poor.
Meanwhile, the Treotil had arrived. It approached Azure. A few more steps and it reached her. Standing there, no fear on her face—maybe trying to pretend bravery again, or something else—but tears like waterfalls streamed down her blue cheeks.
The Treotil opened its outer jaw, then its inner jaw, with a sticky sound and a hot, foul smell. It leaned toward the girl and lunged, closing its outer jaw. But—
It wasn't Azure caught in the Treotil's jaw. It was Sol's arm—him standing there, swaying. He raised the dagger and brought it down on the Treotil's eye, but the dagger struck the beast's hard scales. Sol's vision was poor, making aiming difficult.
The Treotil raised its thick tail and swung it in the air.
[This is bad! This is bad! Sol, try to break free!]
Sol tried to pull his arm out but couldn't—the beast's jaw was too tight.
[Sol!..There's no other option. Cut off your hand now! Now, Sol! Now!]
Sol heard this.He was not fully conscious and was choking on his own blood. He already had the dagger raised toward his arm. He placed it on his arm and began to pull the blade. But it was too late. The Treotil sent its hard tail toward Sol's head with tremendous force.
[Sol!]
"Th... the naked man..."
Azure screamed.
Dinng!
The tail struck something very hard, making a loud sound that made the swaying Sol turn toward it. He found a blue-skinned person—braided hair, pointed ears like the rest of the tribe. He was wearing clothes like Arisu's from the day before.
A hunter.