The tongue pierced the air as it hurtled towards the survivors.
Yet it never reached them.
A splash of blackish liquid splattered the half-turned face of Lavitha who was trying to flee, as well as the clothes and faces of Rickard and his son.
The tip of the appendage fell to the ground and wriggled like a worm for a second before stopping.
The creature let out such a shrill cry that the windows of the convenience store cracked, forcing the fledglings to cover their ears as best as they could.
Yugo shook his dark blade, which spilled all the mucus onto the floor, and brought it back in front of him in an almost immaculate state.
His sword was aimed steady in front of the creature, and only the curved tip of the weapon stood out from the rest. A silver, star-shaped guard served as the base for a blade engraved with runes that glowed reddish in the middle.
"GO TAKE SHELTER!" Yugo urged them, pointing to the convenience store with his other hand.
There was no need to repeat himself, as they rushed inside.
While the small group was retreating, the giant beast attacked its targets again, its severed tongue whistling through the air.
Yugo took a quick step to the side and, twisting just in time to avoid the appendage that was now above him, cut off another slice of the tongue by pushing the sword's blade with both his hand.
In the same motion, he pulled a throwing knife from one of the sheaths at his waist and threw it straight at one of the creature's eyes.
The weapon plunged into the eyeball and a new blackish splash spread across the floor.
The wounded creature let out a cry of rage and charged, rolling into a gigantic ball.
Yugo rolled to the side, dodging the attack, then rolled again to avoid the slimy lizard's tail, and finally rolled a third time to get back into position.
The monster had already took its own positions, circling around and gauging its human opponent.
'This thing, it's not a normal Negacion.' Yugo thought.
Rickard, who was hiding just behind a magazine stand, in the partly destroyed convenient store, saw the scene and wondered why their saviour was having such a theatrical move.
'Who rolls around in a fight like that ?'
He didn't have much time to further reflect on it, as he saw a danger coming his way and crouched down just in time to avoid a piece of debris that grazed his head by a few centimetres, swept away by the beast's tail.
Yugo threw a second knife, but this time the creature curled up, exposing only its back, which was showing spines similar to those of a flame iguana that could be found near Mount Carthatos.
The weapon bounced off it, but Yugo took advantage of the momentum and his opponent's distraction to sprint towards the beast.
"Flamae!"
Red sparks flew from the runes engraved on his sword, and the blade burst into flames.
He swung his sword down and severed one of the Negacion's legs, the blade leaving a bright scarlet trail behind it.
Unfortunately, his attack had little effect, and the creature, which had returned to its attack position, raised one of its enormous legs, intending to crush the gnat beneath it.
Yugo rolled forward again, ending up directly beneath the monster's abdomen.
He took out his last knife and plunged it into the abdomen, at the level of the orange luminescent mark, shaped like three vertical scratches and two diagonals.
He pushed with all his strength, and the blade tore through the creature's rough skin, letting its entrails spill out.
The Negacion screamed in agony, but it still seemed full of energy, even waving his long tail around, which Yugo avoided just barely enough to have a momentum to roll to the side.
It leapt into the darkness of the night, high above the streetlights and their blue glow, the energy of the jump creating enough shaking to make the earth tremble.
It came crashing back down with a hellish roar, smashing the ground and creating a small crater that quaked the area.
Yugo, who had dodged the impact and then re-positioned himself, dived again to the side and, in his rhythm, picked up a pebble which he threw just above the beast.
"Displacium!"
He immediately found himself in the place of the stone, above the beast, and using gravity, raised his sword above his head, grasping it with both hands so as to generate enough force, then plunged it violently into the beast's back.
A huge jet of blackish fluid escaped, and gas spread.
The now wounded creature wriggled, then jumped again.
With the force created by the jump, gravity sent a pressure on Yugo's body and he had a hard time even opening his eyes at first. But when he finally did, he could see the distant towers and skyscrapers of the city centre in the far distance.
'How high are we?' he thought, seeing the landscape that presented itself, with an almost ethereal sight to it.
But he didn't have the time to get amazed or even reflect much on his question.
Unfortunately, the leap was so fast and strong that it destabilised Yugo, who lost his balance.
He caught himself just in time by catching and gripping tightly one the back spine of the lizard, but he suddenly felt dizzy and found his strength leaving him for a second.
This moment of inattention distracted him enough that he couldn't stabilise himself more firmly, and he slipped on the creature's slimy skin, but caught himself again at the last moment by plunging his sword into it.
'Crap! If I fall from this height, I'll die instantly!'
He grabbed hold of his sword and tried to use it as a lever to pull himself back up, but the animal began its descent.
The impact was so violent that Yugo, who was still clutching his sword, was thrown away.
"ARGH!"
There was a cracking sound.
He rolled over and tried to get up, but at the same moment the beast charged him and though he managed to dodge the tackle, Yugo felt his leg being torn.
The Negacion continued his way, almost as if it wanted to flee but then made a U-turn and leapt onto a building not far enough. The building instantly collapsed under the weight of the massive beast, and pebbles and gravels flew out in all direction.
Yugo who was already battered and exhausted by his extensive use of Kilith during the night, wanted to move away, but his leg made him suffer just enough to be momentarily paralysed.
As if that was not enough, he could feel a sharp pain coming from his right deltoid and arm, that made it difficult to manoeuvre more with his acrobatic moves.
Speaking of his arm, it was hanging limply, and every attempt to move it caused Yugo excruciating pain.
'No way! My arm's out of service'
A piece of rubble flew past him, grazing his cheek, as he barely avoided the projectile. The creature continued to sway his tail, using it as a sort of ballista to threw rocks of different sizes at Yugo.
Seeing the rain that was about to come, Yugo used a pebble which he threw right behind the convenience store, and cast his spell. He found himself under the cover of the building and used this moment of respite to make an assesment of the situation, while sitting with much difficulty.
Once that was done, he came back, crouching, to the "main battlefield", and realised that the beast was prowling like a predator watching its prey, hesitating wether to attack or not.
He struggled to get up, panting and sweating; and saw that his black clothing, a sign of his bond with the SCYTHE Agency, was torn on his right arm.
He spat out the blood that had risen to his mouth and began to run towards the creature, holding his injured arm and forcing on his left leg.
The Negacion attacked him with its tail, but he performed another forced acrobatic move, worthy of a circus performer, landing on one knee — whilst gritting his teeth because of the pain — and picking up another stone and throwing it at his sword, which was still stuck in the monster's blackish skin.
"Displa—"
He couldn't finish his spell, because the beast's tongue whipped him in the chest, sending him flying a few metres away.
He fell heavily and tried to get up, but the monster's tongue, which seemed to have regenerated, grabbed him by the torn leg and lifted him up, then slammed him violently to the ground, his head hitting the asphalt.
The impact knocked the wind out of Yugo, and the pain that spread through his skull made him feel as if his head was going to explode.
He even vomited a little blood and felt some of his ribs break.
It then tossed Yugo away by shooting him with one of its enormous leg. The hit made Yugo fly away a dozen metres and fall violently on the hard ground, aggravating the already precarious state of his ribs and arm.
The creature lifted him up again, this time hanging him by his feet, resembling an animal being hung up to be skinned, then moved closer.
It raised him up to the level of its mouth, which it opened wide, mandibles cackling and shredding the air. A large trickle of black saliva even spurt of of the Negacion mouth. The beast's still functioning eyes darted around, trying to focus and get a good look at the meal that was now right in front of it, and that nothing and no one in the world could have taken away from it at that moment.
BAM!
A small explosion rang out and flames shot out.
A deafening scream resounded as the black lizard, jaws open and mandibles savagely cackling, fixed its three remaining eyes on the source of its pain.
Rickard was standing nearby, aided by Lavitha, a bottle of alcohol in his hand, its tip ablaze, and a small number of others by his side, on the ground.
"TAKE THAT!" he shouted, throwing his projectile weapon.
The bottle landed near the creature's face and burst into flames, taking advantage of the gas naturally emanating from the beast to spread.
The Negacion screamed at the top of its lungs — if it had any.
Yugo used this same time to painfully lean forward, slightly, and he threw yet another pebble — he had picked up before being lifted by the creature — onto its back.
"Dis...placium."
He immediately found himself on the monster's hump and clung as tightly as he could to the beast's slimy spine and skin, plunging his nails into the black, open flesh of the creature, which was writhing because of the flames that continued to harass it.
Another bottle exploded near one of the left paws of the monster, and the blaze made the creature move comedically as if it was dancing, just to avoid being burnt more than it already was.
Nevertheless, it stopped because the flames were beginning to subside, and wanted to make the new attacker pay for this affront. But Rickard was already preparing his next throw.
As if frightened by the flames that had already battered it, the creature took a few steps back, its enormous limbs allowing it to cover more than fifteen metres in a single stride.
It remained at a distance, circling vigilantly, undecided whether to attack.
Yugo, still lying on the beast's back, took a small vial — from which a green liquid floated — from the small leather bag hanging from his belt and drank its contents.
A greenish glow, nearly imperceptible, emanated from his body, and he instantly felt a little better. At least, his head no longer felt like it was about to explode and his foot felt less hindered .
He took advantage of this moment of respite to take a small bunch of herbs tied with black thread from another bag and place it on the beast's back.
He crawled forward a little and pulled the sword out with his good hand, letting a trickle of sticky black liquid flow out.
The beast howled as the blade withdrew from its skin and wriggled, but Yugo held firm.
He cut himself with the tip of the blade, allowing some of the creature's blood to mix with his own, and let the droplet flow on the metallic surface of the sword, right to the red-glowing runes.
"Mero Displacium"
A reddish glow spread along his sword, the runes extending along the blade, then to the hilt, and finally to himself.
He plunged his sword into the beast, and it too was affected by the expansion of runes.
A scarlet, blinding, glow then emanated from beneath the beast, as it was screaming as if the light was physically burning.
Then they disappeared.
Rickard and Lavitha, who were still standing there, projectile in hand, couldn't believe their eyes.