A shrill crack split the night.
Elder 1's thoughts shattered as the lizard's tail snapped—a clean, vicious motion sharp enough to slice the air. Lightning ignited along its length, then detonated outward in a storm of scales, each one charged with lethal arcs of blue-white power.
They shrieked toward him like a rain of electric daggers.
Elder 1's eyes blew wide.
Move. NOW.
His body responded before conscious thought could catch up. Instinct overtook terror. His hands blurred, sigils burning across his palms as he forced raw Qi into form. A barrier burst into existence around him—thin at first, then hardening with desperate will, a dome of shimmering energy forming just as the storm struck.
CRACK—CRACK—CRACK—CRACK—
Lightning-laced scales slammed into the barrier in a blistering cascade. Each impact erupted in bursts of crackling light, splashing against the shield like thunder trying to claw through glass.
It held.
Barely.
Elder 1's breath escaped in a trembling gasp as he hovered midair, suspended within his weakening ward. Sparks crawled across its surface, the edges smoking from strain. His robes fluttered wildly in the electric turbulence.
He didn't wait.
He cut the barrier's power, letting it fade around him, then shot forward like a launched arrow—fleeing, fleeing anywhere, anywhere but here. His mind raced, heartbeat hammering so loudly it drowned the wind.
I blocked it—
Where is it now?
He risked a glance over his shoulder—his head snapping around.
His blood froze.
The night sky was empty. The courtyard far below was silent, untouched. No whisper of scales. No glimmer of gold.
The lizard was gone.
It was as though the creature had never existed at all.
Not trailing behind.
Not approaching.
Not anywhere.
Nothing but night sky and the crackling remnants of lightning.
A cold panic seized his lungs.
Where… where is it? he whispered.
It was there—right there—how could something just vanish—?!
Desperation twisted his features as he flung out his spiritual sense, pushing his divine will outward in every direction, searching for even a flicker of presence—
A soft sound answered.
A thwip—too faint, too close.
Before he could comprehend it, something hit him.
Not a claw.
Not lightning.
Not a scale.
Just… force.
Pure, overwhelming force.
His half-formed barrier caught it—but only barely.
The impact detonated against it, sending cracks spiderwebbing across the surface as the shockwave hurled him backward.
WHAM—!!
Elder 1 careened through the air, tumbling helplessly, the world flipping end over end as Qi sputtered chaotically around him. The barrier shattered in a burst of flickering shards. His vision blurred. His lungs seized. His spine burned with the violence of the blow.
As he spiraled downward, the night seemed to grow colder.
The pressure of a predator's gaze pressed into his back.
A presence so sharp it felt like a blade between his ribs.
Elder 1 choked, tasting iron. The world spun around him—sky, moon, and shattered tiles blurring together in dizzying spirals.
It didn't even break the barrier… yet the force—
His vision swam.
The fear returned—cold, primal, ancient.
He twisted hard, forcing his body upright midair, breath ragged, Qi trembling. His heart slammed against his ribs like a trapped beast.
But he didn't stop.
He couldn't stop.
Using the momentum of his flight, Elder 1 dove low, skimming just above the rooftops, streaking toward the ground with desperate, reckless speed. His thoughts tangled in a frantic snarl.
What was that—?! I didn't even sense it until it hit me. It just—vanished. Disappeared completely. If I get tangled with that thing again, I'm dead. It's too fast—too strange—too—
A flicker of movement caught in the corner of his eye.
His eyes widened in horror.
In the reflection of a broken window he shot past—
the lizard appeared.
Crackling with lightning.
Jaws wide open.
Teeth glinting like lightning-forged blades.
Instinct took over.
His body snapped around, arms crossing in front of him, Qi exploding outward—
CLANG—!
The lizard's jaws slammed down onto a freshly summoned barrier, fangs screeching across its surface. Sparks burst into the night as lightning surged from its teeth, dancing violently along the dome.
Elder 1's breath caught.
Then they were gone—
Both figures hurtled sideways at unbelievable speed, smashing through a rooftop, then another—
BOOM—CRASH—CRACK—!
Debris erupted in their wake as they plowed through walls like two meteors locked together.
The final collision sent them bursting through a thick stone façade and out into a wide, empty street. Night wind whipped between the abandoned stalls, scattering parchment and broken tiles in their wake.
The moment they crashed through—
The lizard unfurled its wings, spreading them wide to balance itself. Lightning crawled along its membranes. Its claws gouged deep trenches in the ground, carving long, glowing scars across the stone as it skidded to a halt.
Elder 1 slammed into the street, boots scraping violently against the stone. He skidded backward, sparks trailing beneath him, but he managed—barely—to regain control. With a desperate push, he shot several feet back, gaining distance, breath heaving, barrier trembling.
But his eyes—
His eyes never left the creature.
The lizard slowly lifted its head, golden gaze locked on him, jaws still crackling with residual electricity. Blood—someone's blood—glimmered faintly between its teeth.
The night went silent around them.
Two figures.
A ruined street.
The smell of ozone thick in the air.
Elder 1 swallowed hard, body trembling despite his stance.
This wasn't a battle.
This was a hunt.
Elder 1 hovered in the air, chest heaving, sweat mixing with the metallic sting of blood on his tongue. His eyes stayed fixed on the lizard, never daring to blink.
His thoughts raced.
I can't outrun it… it's too fast. I didn't even sense its last strike—if not for the protective talisman…
His pulse spiked.
That bite… if it had landed cleanly, I would've been seriously wounded. Or killed outright.
The lizard crouched low, lightning running in sharp, sizzling lines along its scales. Each spark coiled with purpose, every crackle a reminder of power wound tighter than any bowstring.
Elder 1's teeth clenched hard.
He forced his shaking breath to settle, straightening his back despite the tremor running through it. His fingers curled, knuckles whitening, the remnants of fear hardening into something bitter and sharp.
Finally, he spoke—voice low, tight, but refusing to break.
"You're… one persistent creature. Not giving me even a heartbeat to escape…"
The lizard's golden eyes narrowed—listening, weighing.
Elder 1 hissed through his teeth.
"But don't make the mistake of thinking I'm easy prey."
Qi surged faintly around him, flickering in agitated waves.
"I may have run…
but I am a Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Fourth Layer."
He raised his chin, defiance cutting through his fear like a shard of steel.
"Even an insect will bite back when pushed to a corner."
The wind stirred between them, carrying the scent of ozone and fractured stone.
The lizard's tail lifted a fraction. Its wings shifted. Lightning spiraled tighter around its limbs.
And its gaze—cold, measuring, predatory—never left him.