A monstrous blast tore through the air behind them, a savage, uncontrolled detonation — almost demonic.
"What the hell is that?!" Yūshin shouted.
The ground trembled as if the earth itself were screaming beneath their feet, ready to split under the violence of whatever had just appeared.
A massive gust slammed into them.
Without understanding, Yūshin and Reiboku were hurled into the air like mere twigs, their bodies ripped from the ground before crashing several meters away.
The impact was brutal. Their breath was knocked out instantly. The world reeled around them.
Everything was swept away — dust, debris, slabs of concrete. Nothing had been spared.
The dead dog was torn from the ground and thrown against a pile of rubble.
Its head burst on impact with a dry crack followed by a wet sound.
The other mutant dog didn't wait. Panicked, it bolted toward the more rugged terrain.
But whatever had just arrived… had no intention of letting its prey escape.
In a lightning-fast leap, the creature lunged.
A sharp snap rang out, brutal, final.
Jaws closed.
The next instant, it was over.
The attacker crushed the dog in a single bite, like a worthless scrap of meat. No hesitation. No mercy.
Blood ran down its mouth.
In its monstrous momentum, the creature pulverized the surrounding ruins. Rubble, dust, and blocks of concrete were blown aside like ash.
A shockwave swept the area, making the ruins themselves groan as if this broken world were begging for mercy.
Its eyes, burning like living fire, swept over Reiboku and Yūshin.
Two targets.
Two pieces of flesh still standing.
Rows of long, jagged teeth dripped with a mix of blood and black saliva.
It wasn't hungry.
It wanted to kill.
Stunned, Reiboku wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Blood. A lot of blood. But he was still standing.
His eyes locked onto the horror with icy clarity.
Yūshin staggered as he got back up, his skull still ringing. He could have faltered, given up for a second — just one.
But Reiboku grabbed his shoulder and forced him to look.
"Look at that…" he rasped.
They raised their eyes.
Wide open. Pupils dilated. Yūshin's glasses fogged as he tried to process what stood before them.
And reality crushed them.
Massive legs, thick, ending in claws long enough to rip through rock.
A body covered in black scales, hard and cold like a stone coffin.
Powerful muscles rolling beneath armored skin.
Above, two folded wings already trembled, eager to spread and hunt.
And its head…
A disproportionate maw lined with fangs made to crush.
Two jagged horns framed a deranged gaze.
A massive monstrosity.
Too real to be a nightmare.
Too large for this already broken world.
But that wasn't the worst part.
The worst were its eyes.
Two amber embers, gleaming with predatory intelligence.
Not an animal.
Not a wild beast.
Worse than that.
It didn't kill to live.
It hunted… for pleasure.
"We're going to get eaten…"
"How the hell are we supposed to lose it?!" Reiboku snapped, breath short, terror twisting his gaze.
Yūshin inhaled, heart clenched tight.
"We split," he said, trying to stay calm — failing. His hands trembled.
Shit… this is suicide.
"You go left. I go right. If we stay together… we're dead."
His voice tried to sound firm, but his whole body betrayed a primal fear. The kind that comes right before death.
Reiboku read it clearly in his eyes. Yūshin was afraid — but he was still standing. He wasn't running. He wasn't breaking.
Reiboku placed a firm hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry… we'll make it out."
I trust him. He already saved me. We can do this.
Yūshin didn't answer. He stared at the monstrous shape ahead, unable to look away.
Terrified… but ready to fight.
Then, without hesitation, they sprinted in opposite directions.
Reiboku ran toward the far end of the urban zone, a tangled mass of ruins and unstable structures.
Yūshin headed straight for a dense cluster of tall trees, hoping their thickness would give him cover — a place where the creature couldn't move as freely.
The monster slowly turned its head left and right.
Slitted eyes analyzed both trajectories.
Then a deep, guttural roar shook the air.
Wings thundered behind its back.
It had chosen.
The wyvern launched toward Yūshin with insane power, slicing through the air with a monstrous hiss.
Each beat of its wings unleashed a violent gale, sweeping the entire area in a brutal surge.
A horrifying scream tore through the air like an echo from another world.
Reiboku felt his heart hammering in his chest.
But after a few strides, a strange sensation crept in.
He wasn't being followed.
He stopped, panting, staring toward the horizon… and clenched his teeth.
Yūshin was alone with the horror.
In a surge of resolve, Reiboku spun around and sprinted back toward the screams, ready to risk his life for his companion.
Yūshin ran like hunted prey, breath short, his basket slowing him down.
He dropped it, keeping only his arrows, ready to do anything to escape his predator.
He zigzagged through narrow passages between trees, hoping the natural obstacles would slow the massive body chasing him.
He knew something that large couldn't pass everywhere.
Behind him, Reiboku sprinted at full speed, determined to reach him.
He fired rapid shots to distract the creature, trying to buy him a moment.
The wyvern didn't even react.
Fuck… it doesn't even feel the hits.
It kept charging straight at Yūshin, eyes locked on its prey.
Suddenly, it pulled a brutal aerial loop, changing direction unpredictably and forcing Yūshin to veer off course.
As if it were guiding him exactly where it wanted — a cruel game.
Yūshin fired two arrows in succession, activating [Double Arrow].
A green light ran along his arms like veins of energy pulsing to his fingertips.
His bow vibrated in his hands, charged with a crackling aura.
The projectiles left the string at blinding speed, carving twin luminous trails through the air, sharp as blades.
They struck the wyvern's flank…
…and bounced off its reinforced hide without even slowing it.
No effect.
Not even a scratch.
"What?! You've got to be kidding me?!"
Reiboku fired too.
Same result.
Out of breath, Yūshin spotted a hollow — a partially underground den.
Without hesitation, he dove inside, narrowly escaping the beast's furious charge.
Jaws snapped shut just behind him. Violent. Close enough to feel death's breath.
By some miracle, he disappeared into the shelter, avoiding the fangs.
Reiboku reached him moments later.
The creature turned toward him, massive, terrifying.
His heart nearly stopped.
I fought… I survived death, cold, hunger… all that just to end up as a snack? Seriously?
He glanced left, then right, searching for an opening.
He began running in circles, trying to confuse it.
The wyvern barely moved, waiting for Yūshin to come out… so it could take them both.
In the darkness of the den, Yūshin understood.
To survive, he had to give everything.
Damn it… if I don't act… it'll kill him.
A long, brutal exhale.
He closed his eyes. Emptied his mind. Focused everything.
No room to fail. Not now.
He pictured his bow. His arrow.
He pulled the string to its limit — blood burst from his clenched hand.
Muscles screamed. Nerves burned.
He poured everything into it.
Power. Agility. Raw will.
A crackling green aura wrapped around his hands and bow, pulsing, unstable, like a living force ready to erupt.
A low hum spread through the den, oppressive.
His arrows began to shimmer.
Green light gathered around their tips, vibrating, trembling.
Hold… just one more second…
Veins bulged, ready to burst.
The glow intensified with every heartbeat, throwing unstable reflections across the den's walls.
The air itself seemed to tremble.
The world narrowed.
Nothing existed anymore but the tension in the string and the silent scream of the light surrounding him.
It has to work.
He knew he could fail.
He fired anyway.
At worst… he would have tried everything.
Time bent. Fear vanished.
Only one choice remained.
"[Double Arrow] — MAXIMUM POWER!!!"
He released the string.
The recoil slammed him to the ground.
His hand opened, palm torn, unable to close.
The tendons in his arms nearly snapped under the strain.
The projectiles flew almost simultaneously, bound by an invisible link.
Two lines of pure energy tore through the air, tracing twin green trajectories so fast they seemed to merge into a single fractured bolt.
The air vibrated in their wake.
A distortion wave rippled behind them, as if space itself had tightened under the force of the skill.
Stones lifted from the ground, shattered by the pressure.
The arrows struck.
Instantly, they formed a wall of swirling wind, accompanied by a piercing whistle that sent the wyvern leaping into the air, disoriented.
A brief opening.
One chance.
"REIBOKU, RUN!!!" Yūshin screamed, voice on the verge of breaking.
Reiboku dashed toward the den at full speed, heart pounding so hard he could hear each beat in his skull.
The creature understood.
With a terrifying growl that shook the ground for meters, it charged with such fury it felt like rage itself made flesh.
Only a few meters remained.
Reiboku sprinted toward the shelter.
The wyvern lunged in the opposite direction, maw wide open, ready to swallow him whole.
Now or never.
With a superhuman effort, Reiboku dove into the den just before it reached him.
Fangs bared.
A stream of burning saliva splashed across his face, blurring his vision and tearing a groan from his throat.
The impact shook the earth.
Stone walls cracked under the violence of the collision.
He fell into the pit.
The wyvern crashed into the ruins, raging, furious.
And one thing was certain now:
In this world, mistakes are never forgiven.