The cavern pulsed with tension. The sound of slow, deliberate breathing mixed with the faint rustle of shifting scales.
A man and a beast.
One seeking survival. One seeking domination.
But who was truly the predator here?
The lesser serpent loomed over him, its sinuous form rippling with controlled power. Its forked tongue flicked, tasting the air, tasting him. Eleven feet of relentless muscle and honed instinct. A beast that had hunted and killed for years, ruling this part of the cavern unchallenged.
And then there was him—bleeding, exhausted, with nothing but a stolen fang and sheer desperation.
But his hands were steady. His eyes were sharp.
"I refuse to die here."
The serpent struck.
A blur of black scales and fangs glistening with venom.
He moved.
[Dash]!
The skill activated in a flash. His body flickered, the world blurring as he disappeared from the serpent's trajectory.
Behind it!
His grip tightened around the fang, and with a sharp pivot, he slashed—aiming for the base of its thick skull.
But the serpent wasn't fooled.
Its tail lashed out at blinding speed.
"Shit—!"
[Dash]!
He barely evaded, his body flickering again as the tail smashed into the rocky floor, sending cracks spiderwebbing outward. Dust and debris exploded into the air.
He landed a few feet away, heart pounding.
[Stealth]!
He vanished into the shadows.
The serpent paused, its golden eyes narrowing.
It flicked its tongue, tasting the air, its body coiling tightly. It wasn't just attacking blindly anymore.
It was thinking.
"I need to be smarter."
The cavern was a maze. The pathways twisted unpredictably—some narrow, some wide.
And right now, it was his best weapon.
He pressed his back against a jagged rock wall, controlling his breath. The serpent slithered forward, its massive body scraping against the cavern floor.
He counted the seconds.
"Now."
He moved, stepping out from the shadows in a flash—
And threw a loose rock toward a narrow tunnel ahead.
Clatter!
The serpent's head snapped toward the sound.
It lunged.
That was all the opening he needed.
[Dash]!
He reappeared behind it and struck.
The fang pierced into the softer scales near the beast's midsection.
A hit!
The serpent screeched, its massive body convulsing in fury.
Too close!
It twisted, whipping its entire body toward him.
He barely managed to leap away, but the sheer force sent him tumbling.
Pain flared up his arm as he scraped against the jagged cavern floor. Blood smeared across the rock.
The serpent reared back, golden eyes gleaming with rage.
Its fangs dripped venom. It had taken damage now, but that only made it more dangerous.
He wiped the blood from his mouth.
And grinned.
"You're pissed, huh?" he muttered, breathing heavily. "Good… That makes two of us."
The serpent hissed, its entire body thrumming with deadly intent.
Then—
It attacked again.
The snake wasn't just lunging anymore.
It was hunting.
Every movement was calculated. Every strike was sharper.
He dodged by a hair's breadth, feeling the wind of its massive tail nearly crushing his ribs.
"I can't keep this up forever…"
His stamina was draining. Every Dash took its toll.
And the serpent knew it.
He could see it in its eyes.
It was waiting. Watching.
Biding its time.
One mistake.
That was all it needed.
He gritted his teeth.
"Then I just won't make one."
He charged forward.
The serpent struck—
And this time, he didn't dodge.
Instead—
He jumped.
Right over its lunging head.
He twisted midair, landing on its back. His legs locked around its writhing body, one hand gripping its slick scales for balance.
The serpent thrashed, slamming against the cavern walls, trying to dislodge him.
Every impact sent shockwaves through his bones. Pain flared in his ribs.
Hang on…!
He raised the fang high—
Aimed for its skull—
But the serpent rolled.
It threw itself into a narrow passageway, its entire body slamming against the rock with him still on top.
CRACK!
The impact nearly knocked him out.
His grip slipped.
And the serpent twisted.
Before he could react, he was thrown off—his body slamming into a stone pillar.
His vision blurred. His limbs felt heavy.
The world tilted.
The serpent loomed over him, victorious.
He coughed blood. His body screamed in agony.
But his mind was clear.
He still had one chance.
One final gamble.
He spat blood onto the cavern floor and looked up at the beast.
"You're strong…" he muttered, voice hoarse. "But I'm not dying here."
The serpent hissed.
It lunged—
And he moved.
The last of his strength.
His final Dash.
He disappeared—
Reappearing right under the beast's striking head.
And then—
He drove the fang deep into its jaw.
The serpent screeched, its body convulsing violently.
It threw the man with all it's strength.
"Gah!"
The man smashed into the wall
He saw his HP fall by a huge margin.
The battle had gone beyond mere survival.
Man and beast—both drenched in blood—stood locked in a battle of attrition.
The serpent was wounded. Its thick, armored scales had been pierced, its flesh torn apart by the fang of its own kin. Black blood oozed from the gaping wounds across its body, dripping onto the cavern floor.
But it refused to fall.
And so did he.
His breaths came in ragged gasps, his vision blurred from exhaustion and pain. His body ached from the constant assault, his muscles screaming for rest.
But rest was death.
The cavern was a maze—a twisting labyrinth of stone corridors, some tight and suffocating, others wide and open. Every path led to uncertainty. Every wrong step could mean his end.
He had no choice but to keep moving. Attack. Dodge. Hide. Repeat.
A brutal game of hunter and hunted, where the roles blurred with each passing second.
But as the minutes dragged on, his body slowed.
And the serpent—despite its wounds—adapted.
It moved with more precision now, using its full length to strike from unpredictable angles. Its tail lashed out when he tried to slip behind. Its massive head struck with lightning speed when he faced it head-on.
It wasn't just a mindless beast.
It was learning.
He gritted his teeth, his entire body burning with exhaustion.
"I can't keep this up."
But there was no choice.
The moment he faltered—
He was dead.
And then it happened.
A misstep.
A single, fatal mistake.
He had pushed too deep into the cavern, unknowingly backing himself into a dead end.
The moment he realized—
It was already too late.
The serpent lunged, its gaping jaws descending toward him like a hammer.
No room to dodge.
Desperation surged through his veins.
"DASH!"
His body blurred—but the serpent twisted mid-air, cutting him off.
The skill was on cooldown.
Stealth was useless.
There was nowhere to run.
His instincts screamed—he did the only thing he could.
He twisted his body and drove the fang into the side of the serpent—
But the cost was too great.
CHOMP!
His world exploded in agony.
The serpent's fangs sank into his left arm, crushing bone and tearing through muscle.
A sickening rip.
A geyser of blood.
His body convulsed, collapsing to the ground as his vision flickered black.
Agony.
It was beyond anything he had ever felt. A storm of unbearable pain crashing through his senses, threatening to tear his mind apart.
"I'm going to die."
The thought was ice-cold. Unshakable.
His breath came in short, shattered gasps, his body trembling violently.
The cavern spun. His heartbeat hammered in his ears.
And then—
A system notification.
[Pain Resistance has leveled up to LV 5.]
The pain dulled.
Just enough for him to stay conscious.
Just enough to realize—
The serpent was still moving.
It wasn't unscathed.
The fang had pierced deep into its eye, black blood gushing from the wound.
The monster screeched, its massive body thrashing violently.
It was hurt.
But it wasn't stopping.
Neither could he.
His arm was gone.
His strength was fading.
But he was still alive.
"Move. MOVE!"
He forced himself to his feet.
The serpent lunged again, this time without hesitation.
No skill. No tricks.
Just sheer instinct.
He threw himself aside—
And the serpent smashed into the stone wall with a deafening BOOM.
Rock shattered. Dust exploded into the air.
For a single second, the monster was dazed.
It wasn't much.
But it was enough.
Through the haze of pain, through the overwhelming exhaustion—
He saw one last chance.
A crevice in the rock—too small for the serpent to fit through.
His only escape.
He ran.
Not away—toward it.
The serpent hissed, thrashing wildly. It tried to coil around him, to stop him from escaping.
Too slow.
He dove into the crevice, forcing his body through the jagged stone—
And just as he made it through—
CRASH!
The serpent's massive body slammed into the rock, unable to squeeze through.
But I was just a temporary solution. He had to kill the snake at any cost.
The cavern stank of it—his own, mixing with the serpent's.
His body was on fire. Every muscle burned, his vision flickered, and his breath came in ragged gasps.
HP: 50.
He was barely standing.
The serpent wasn't much better.
Its once-powerful body—so fast, so deadly—now lay sluggish, battered, and bleeding. Black blood oozed from the deep wounds he had carved into its flesh, dripping onto the cavern floor like thick tar.
It wasn't twisting anymore.
It wasn't dodging anymore. The fang he has impaled the serpent was still stuck in it's eye, blood pouring out continuously.
It was at its limit.
But so was he.
His grip tightened . His remaining arm trembled, his fingers slick with his own blood.
"This is it."
This was the final struggle.
The Last Barrage. He had to conclude the battle with his fist.
He dashed.
The serpent hissed, its wounded body lurching forward to meet him.
The final struggle was beginning.