Flaind vs Black Lizard Leader

"We no kill any of you!" shouted the leader of the green Lizards.

"Then why was our group heading to the cave entrance found dead just a moment ago?!" the black leader yelled back.

Then both groups lunged at each other and began a battle for life and death. Flain smirked—this was his doing.

Flain planned to take advantage of the situation and kill a few of them, but he had to wait until some had already fallen. If he attacked now, he didn't know how they would react, and there was a chance all ten of them would gang up on him—something he wouldn't survive.

The black Lizards efficiently slaughtered the green ones, losing only two of their ranged fighters, who were taken down by the green leader. Flain noticed that the leaders were far stronger than regular Lizards. Only three black Lizards remained—the leader and two wielding daggers.

Flain stepped out of the mist with delight. All the Lizards immediately turned their gaze toward him.

"One of those from above? Kill!" the leader shouted.

Flain rushed forward. There was no time to plan—he knew that if he gave the Lizards any room to prepare, it would be his end.

One of the dagger-wielders immediately lunged at him. Flain blocked his attack with one sword while striking at the second Lizard with the other. That one jumped back, while the first attacked again.

Flain tried to keep the fight under control, but the Lizards were fast. The first Lizard unleashed a flurry of quick thrusts, and one of them struck Flain in the side of his chest.

[-40 HP]

He quickly deflected the next strike and slashed the first Lizard's throat.

[+280 EXP]

The second dagger-wielder tried to stab him from behind, but Flain was ready. He turned and severed the Lizard's arm with a powerful swing. The Lizard screamed, but despite the injury, it attempted to attack with its remaining hand.

Flain kicked it in the chest, sending it flying backward, then drove his sword through its heart.

[+290 EXP]

Killing those two had been much easier without any ranged Lizards in the fight.

Only the leader remained.

Flain turned around, but at that moment, a long black spear pierced through his chest.

[-90 HP]

Flain staggered. He had only 50 HP left.

The Lizard leader was much larger and more muscular than the others. Unlike his kin, he didn't carry a simple dagger but a long, curved spear, which he wielded with incredible precision.

Flain knew that if he got hit again, he was dead.

The leader circled him, moving slowly, confidently. "You're not as strong as I thought," he growled.

"Yeah, even if I die now, I swear your worthless dead head will end up in my hands. That's a promise," Flain said, his eyes glowing maniacally.

"Hmh... I understand you?" the leader muttered.

The leader suddenly lunged, the spear thrusting straight at Flain's neck. Flain barely dodged, but the sharp tip slashed through his shoulder.

[-30 HP]

He had only 20 HP left.

The leader smirked. "I will kill you slowly," he said as he prepared for his next attack.

Flain smirked—instead of running, he lunged straight at the leader.

That caught him off guard. Flain ducked under the next strike and grabbed the spear with both hands. The leader reacted instantly, trying to wrench it from him, but Flain refused to let go. He held onto the spear so tightly that he could hear his own bones cracking. He could feel it—the leader was stronger than him.

He gripped the bone shaft tightly and planted his feet firmly on the ground. Using all his strength, he twisted the leader's arms into an unnatural position.

CRACK

The Lizard howled—his right wrist was broken.

Flain didn't wait. He ripped the spear from the leader's hands and, in the same second, drove it forcefully straight into his chest.

The leader stared in shock at the spear protruding from his body. His arms went limp, but he was still alive.

"No... I... can't... lose..." he muttered.

Flain grabbed his face and violently yanked him to the ground. Then, he drove the spear in even deeper until the leader's body convulsed in its final death throes.

[+400 EXP]

[+Evolution Shard]

The commander collapsed to the ground, dead. Flain severed his head and lifted it into the air.

"As I promised. But you didn't even manage to kill me like you swore. Quite disappointing," Flain whispered, then tossed the Lizard's head aside.

Flain had to admit he'd been rather lucky—if he hadn't made that surprise attack, he would have likely lost.

He slung Itai over his back, pulled out the magic map with the severed hand, and headed toward his cave entrance. Flain hoped he wouldn't run into anyone else on the way, except for the skeleton—otherwise, he'd die.

In the end, he made it safely without encountering anything. When he arrived, there was no trace of the black Lizards' corpses. Flain remembered that the black ones had found them, so they must have taken them along. He just hoped he wouldn't be bothered by large Lizard groups with commanders like at the lake.

Flain wasn't sure if he could defeat the group of green Lizards at the lake. If he had fought the green commander alone, he would have won, but if there had been four more Lizards and two ranged ones alongside him, he likely would have lost.

Flain propped Itai against the stone wall and sat down behind him. Now, all that remained was to wait until his HP was full.

Flain waited, but after only few minutes, Itai woke up. Flain still hadn't fully recovered his HP.

"Hmh... Flain, where are we?" Itai mumbled groggily.

Flain then told him the whole story of what had happened—truthfully. Just like in attempt 12, he had no reason to lie.

"So we're in some underground valley with intelligent Lizards. This could be some kind of dungeon," Itai muttered. Flain already knew what a dungeon was, so he didn't need to ask.

"Wait, you told me exactly what they said, so you understood them?" Itai asked.

"Well, since I'm an ultra-rare skeleton, I have a lot of abilities," Flain replied. Then, he explained his prayed-for soul system to him.

"I want to stay here until you supplies run out because I want to collect souls," Flain murmured and pointed at the barrels.

Itai looked at him...