184

Mark and Albert stood by the pool, facing the giant beast rushing out of the water, their hearts filled with shock and fear. The creature was so huge that it almost occupied half of the cave. Its eyes were like two red stars, flashing dangerous light in the darkness. Its scales reflected a faint luster under the dim light of the fire, and each scale was as hard as iron.

Mark's heart was beating wildly in his chest, he could feel his blood boiling in his body, and a sense of urgency of life and death enveloped him. He held the fire sword in his hand tightly, and the sword body trembled slightly because of his strength, emitting a faint red light.

Albert's lips moved slightly, and he whispered a spell. A ball of blue light began to gather at the top of his staff. That was the next spell he prepared.

"We have to find a way to subdue it." Mark whispered, his voice echoing in the cave, seeming a little empty.

Albert nodded, his eyes fixed on the giant beast, looking for possible weaknesses. "Its scales look tough, but we can try to attack its eyes."

The beast seemed to sense the hostility of the two. It let out a low roar, and the sound echoed in the cave, causing pain in Mark and Albert's eardrums. It moved slowly, and its huge tail dragged on the ground, leaving deep marks.

Mark took a deep breath, knowing that they had no way out. He took a step forward, pointing the fire sword at the beast. "Come on, you monster of the abyss!" His voice echoed in the cave, full of challenge.

The beast's eyes glowed red, it opened its huge mouth, revealing sharp teeth, and then pounced on Mark. Mark dodged the beast's attack by moving sideways, while swinging the fire sword and slashing at the beast's abdomen. The fire sword collided with the scales, making a harsh metal collision sound and sparks flying.

Albert took the opportunity to swing the staff, and an ice-blue light shot out from the top of the staff, hitting the beast's right eye. The beast roared in pain, twisted its body, and whipped Albert with its tail like a whip. Albert rolled to avoid it, but the beast's tail still brushed his shoulder, knocked him out, and hit the wall of the cave hard.

Seeing this, Mark's heart tightened, he roared, and rushed towards the beast again. His speed was faster than before, and the fire sword drew red tracks in the air. The beast tried to resist with its claws, but Mark's attack was too fast, and it could only retreat continuously.

At this moment, a black flame suddenly spurted out of the beast's mouth and rushed straight towards Mark. Mark hurriedly rolled to avoid it, but the flame still burned the edge of his clothes. He felt a burning pain.

Albert got up from the ground, his face was pale, but the light in his eyes was more determined. He began to recite more complex spells, and the light on the top of the staff became more dazzling. As he chanted, the rune stones in the cave began to emit stronger light, and their energy was guided by Albert and gathered on his staff.

"Mark, get out of the way!" Albert shouted.

Mark immediately rolled to the side, and at the same time, Albert pointed his staff at the beast, releasing all the energy he had gathered. A huge beam of light shot out from the staff, hitting the beast's chest, knocking it out and hitting the other side of the cave hard.

The beast let out a painful roar, and a charred wound appeared on its chest. Blood gushed out of the wound, dyeing the pool water under it red. It struggled to stand up, but its huge body was shaking, as if it would fall down at any time.

Mark took advantage of the beast's weakness, raised the fire sword high, and with blazing flames burning on the sword, he slashed at the beast's injured chest. "Now!" He gritted his teeth and poured all his strength into this blow.

The fire sword deeply embedded in the beast's wound, deepening the depth and width of the wound, almost splitting its entire chest.

Albert endured the severe pain in his shoulder and quickly got up from the ground. He gritted his teeth, covered his injured shoulder with one hand, and held the staff tightly with the other hand. His face was pale, and his forehead was covered with sweat, but his eyes were unusually firm. He muttered something, and the spell echoed in the cave like an ancient ballad. The surrounding rune stones flashed with more dazzling light, and their energy gathered on Albert's staff like a stream, forming a powerful energy vortex.

The beast stared at Albert angrily, and it could feel that Albert was preparing for a more powerful attack. It opened its huge mouth and spewed out a ball of black flames. The flames were like a black python, with a scorching breath, rushing straight towards Albert.

Albert dodged sideways, and the black flames almost brushed past his body and burned the stone wall behind him. The stone wall made a sizzling sound and emitted a pungent smell of burning.

Albert's heart trembled, he knew that if he was hit by this flame, the consequences would be disastrous.

Seeing Albert in danger, Mark immediately gave up attacking the beast, turned around and swung his sword to scatter the black flames approaching Albert. The flames were split in half and scattered in the air, fluttering like black butterflies.

Albert took this opportunity to smash the staff hard on the ground.

"Now, end it all!"

He shouted. The moment the staff touched the ground, a powerful energy wave burst out from the top of the staff, the whole cave shook violently, and the stones above fell one after another, making a deafening roar.

The water in the pool rolled violently, as if boiling. The beast let out a desperate wail, and its body was overturned to the ground by the shock wave of the explosion and buried by the falling rubble. Dust flew, covering the sky and the sun, and the whole cave fell into chaos.

Mark protected his head with his hands to avoid the falling rubble. He looked at Albert, and Albert also looked at him, and both of them were full of gratitude for surviving the disaster.

"Ahem..." Albert coughed a few times and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his hand. "It seems... it's over." Mark nodded, "Let's go, we should leave here."

"Wait," Mark held the crumbling cave wall and pointed to the place where the giant beast was buried with his other hand, "Confirm it." He frowned and stared at the pile of rubble vigilantly.

Albert nodded, took a deep breath, and calmed his violently heaving chest.

He clenched his staff and almost exhausted his energy.

Mark walked towards the pile of rubble, taking every step carefully, as if what was buried underneath was not a giant beast, but some dangerous goods that could explode at any time.

The cave was filled with choking dust, and the air was mixed with the smell of the giant beast's burnt flesh, which was disgusting. Several pieces of rubble rolled down from the pile of stones, making a slight sound, which was particularly clear in the silent cave.

Mark stopped, held his breath, and listened carefully. In addition to the sound of rubble rolling down, there were other movements. A low, wheezing sound came from under the rubble.

"It's still alive," Mark said with a hint of solemnity in his tone, "It's still alive."