The battle was heating up on the Lizard Hill. All the lizards looked exhausted but still had energy to fight. So did Roine—despite his agility, splitting his attacks between the steel lizard and the electric one was wearing him out. Especially when the electric lizard entered berserk mode—several of Roine's dagger slashes missed their mark due to fatigue. Hara, who was busy battling the ice lizard, occasionally helped with some of his skills, allowing them to take down the electric lizard just before it released its lightning storm. This was the third time it had revived, and both of them were still struggling to defeat the ice and steel lizards.
While Hara was focused on dodging the ice lizard's attacks, a steel spear suddenly flew toward his back. Reacting quickly, he struck it away with his mace. Then, using the shield on his left hand, he blocked another spear from the ice lizard attacking from the side. In a split second, he leapt into the air to avoid an ice spike erupting from the ground below. He slammed his mace down, striking the ice lizard and forcing it to retreat underground.
With an irritated look, Hara glanced toward Roine, who was still attacking the electric lizard. Noticing Hara's gaze, Roine darted toward the steel lizard and pulled out another scroll. "Summon Shadow."
A black silhouette in the shape of Roine appeared and began attacking the steel lizard.
"Sorry, Hara—my shadow cat was defeated earlier!" Roine shouted as he ran back toward the electric lizard.
Frustrated, Hara yelled, "I told you to—argh!" Suddenly, an ice spear erupted from the ground and stabbed into his shoulder from behind.
"Hara!" Roine shouted in shock.
Hara pulled his shoulder free from the sharp ice spear as blood poured down. "This armor isn't enough to block magical damage," he said calmly, though in pain.
Roine rushed to Hara and used his healing skill, Chakra Energy.
Hara's wound closed instantly.
"Chakra Ring." Roine formed a chakra tunnel that boosted his speed, then dashed toward the electric lizard just in time.
Everything happened so fast—Hara was briefly surprised by Roine's speed, but refocused and searched for the ice lizard. The ice lizard burst from underground right beneath him. Thankfully, he quickly dodged and activated his immunity skill, making him invulnerable for a few seconds.
"Looks like the Ice lizard's almost done, but the steel one still has one armor left," he muttered.
"Roine, we need to switch!" Hara shouted.
"What?!" Roine responded, shocked.
"We need to switch! I've got Shield Breaker—I can finish off the steel lizard right after you pull the ice lizard. They'll die at the same time!"
"But… I'm afraid I'll accidentally kill the ice lizard too early," Roine hesitated.
"You don't need to attack—just distract and dodge!"
Roine hesitated until a jolt of electricity zapped him. "Argh, damn it!" Luckily, it wasn't fatal.
"Fine," Roine muttered. He used Shadow Clone again to distract the electric lizard, then ran toward the ice lizard and struck it. Hara broke off and dashed toward the steel lizard.
He activated his skill: "Armor Break!"
CRACK! The last of the steel lizard's armor shattered.
"Nice! Roine, gather all the lizards in the center, then we'll unleash all our skills within 10 seconds!" Hara shouted.
Breathing heavily, Roine sprinted around the edge of the cliff to avoid the fast, lethal attacks from the ice lizard. "Got it," he said while rushing to the center.
The electric lizard was already there, fighting Roine's shadow. Hara herded the steel lizard toward it. Then Roine emerged from the cliff edge, bringing the ice lizard. Hara raised his mace and used Provoke to pull the attention of all three. The lizards focused on him. He activated his immunity skill.
"Now—everything we've got!" Hara yelled.
They unleashed every attack they had. The ice and steel lizards collapsed to the ground. The electric lizard, however, still clung to life.
"Damn it—10 seconds left!" Roine yelled.
He activated his ultimate skill: "Ringstrike!"
He leapt into the air, spinning in a spiral with his legs cutting through the air, landing a direct hit on the electric lizard. It was thrown back but still stood, barely conscious.
"Five seconds!" Roine shouted.
5…4…3…
"Lightning Thump!" Hara leapt high, raising his mace to the sky, summoning lightning, and slamming it down onto the electric lizard.
The electric lizard crashed to the ground. Then—vanished.
Roine let out a sigh of relief, gasping. A smile spread across his face. His legs gave out beneath him, and he dropped to the ground. Hara still stood where he had landed his final attack. Suddenly, the ground trembled.
Roine's eyes widened. "Did we fail?" he asked, disbelieving.
The ground below him rumbled and began to collapse into a sinkhole. But Roine no longer had the strength to dodge. Hara ran and grabbed him, pulling him away from the landslide just in time.
A massive pit opened in the middle of the battlefield.
Hara approached the hole and peered down. "We did it," he said.
Roine was so moved he couldn't speak. Inside the pit, a treasure chest shimmered—protected for ages by spells and the trio of lizards.
Inside were enchanted stones, magical accessories, and a map to the next destination: Rock Golem Tamon Island.
Finally, their struggle had been worth it. After loading everything into their packs, they left the Lizard Nest and began their journey home—to their guild in Saint Haven.