Morrigan looked at the two crystalline eyes from the magical construct in horror. They were honed right on her, ready to capture her the moment she made any movement. Sweat began pooling on her forehead as she tried to think of how to escape from the beast.

The urge to just hide in the safety of shadows was unbearable. As a shadow, the monster would not be able to touch her or even see her for that matter. But if she did become a shadow, then it would be over. She would forfeit the competition and also the right to win that enticing Burmese Ruby.

"Not today," she whispered and the beast lunged for her. Morrigan erected a forcefield in front of her, protecting herself from the monster. It was stupefied by the forcefield for only a moment, destroying it with its giant paw as if it was made out of paper.

But that was enough time for Morrigan to put some distance between herself and the monster. Other participants fell into its line of vision, and it began chasing whoever was unlucky enough to be the closest. Among the chaos, Morrigan slipped into one of the narrow side streets, keeping as close to the walls as possible.

"Now dear participants who haven't been caught yet, the magical construct chasing you is based on a landwyrm. It is one of the dragon subspecies that possesses no wings and prefers to live in the Underworld. For the record, the first Demon King liked to take landwyrm's shape in battle," Azrael explained as if he was telling a story in front of a class instead of announcing it to poor people being chased by the monstrosity.

"Now while you might think that because it is a construct, it is less ferocious, I'm sad to say that it's not true. I worked very hard to make sure that it is as close to landwyrm in both build and behavior as possible," he cackled as he watched how the beast caught one participant after the next.

At one moment, when Morrigan dared to glance back she saw how the construct's giant maw closed around one of the contestants. It appeared like he would be eaten however when the beast's jaw opened again, the caught demon appeared completely unscathed aside from the armband which lay shattered on the ground. As the monster lunged for its next victim, the demon fell on his knees, no doubt scarred for life by such an experience.

Construct or not, I do not want to get caught by that thing. I need to move into places where it cannot follow.

So Morrigan moved deeper and deeper into the Old City, moving from one narrow side street to the next. Occasionally she would hear the landwyrm raging somewhere behind her or bump into another contestant who was also trying to find a hiding spot. However, despite the large number of buildings in the city, their doors and windows were marked with a shimmering red light, indicating that entry was forbidden.

What's the point of all these buildings if I can't even hide in them?

Morrigan continued running through the streets, trying to keep ahead of the monster whose snarls and growls always seemed to follow closely behind her. She ducked among the tiniest of buildings, hoping the lack of space would restrict the landwyrm. Unfortunately, it proved to be incredibly agile, often jumping over rooftops and landing in areas that seemed far too small to accommodate its size. But it always managed to squeeze in – like some oversized cat in a tiny box.

Just as Morrigan thought she had put some good distance between herself and the construct, she heard how its sharp claws clattered on the rooftops nearby.

It is hunting us from above now? I need to hide somewhere and fast.

She darted into the closest side street and ran through it, avoiding the many scattered crates and barrels. The clattering followed her, so she ran faster, desperately searching for hiding places. The narrow street led into a larger street, and Morrigan saw a large building with dark pillars by its entrance from across the street. Much to her surprise, its entry was not marked, so she made a beeline to it.

Just as she closed the large entrance door behind herself, she heard some screams from outside.

Seems like a few more people got caught. I wonder if that thing will follow me inside. I guess if the entrance wasn't blocked off, then it probably will. Maybe there's some corner where I could lay low for a while.

Morrigan turned to head deeper inside but was surprised as she realized that she had stumbled into what appeared to be a museum—or had been a museum? A thick layer of dust settled over every surface and most of the furniture was either broken or half-rotting.

Intrigued by her findings, Morrigan hurried inside one of the open rooms. It was mostly empty with large cobwebs sitting in the corners. However, there were also a few broken sculptures inside. She walked up to them and admired the handiwork on the smooth black stone. One sculpture depicted a demon woman carrying a torch, but sadly half of her body had been broken off.

Another one portrayed a demon man with ram-like horns and a large build of a warrior. Unfortunately, one of his legs was missing and his left arm lay shattered on the floor.

"What a shame! I bet these looked beautiful when they were whole," Morrigan muttered, gently pressing her fingers against the cold stone of the sculpture. Suddenly she heard a clatter from the main hall as the landwyrm made its way into the museum.

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Oh no! It's found its way inside.

Morrigan hurried to the adjacent room, using the connecting doors instead of running back to the main hall. However, just as she made her way into the next room, the construct crashed into the sculpture room, destroying the last remains of the exhibit.

"Did you have to break that, you uncultured worm!" she called out angrily to the construct, as she ducked out of the empty room, back into the main hall. Morrigan tried to run for the exit, but the landwyrm cut her off, snarling and hissing at her. She ducked under the staircase and then ran to the exhibit rooms across the hall, hoping to find a window that she could use as an exit.

This room was filled with old paintings, some weathered and muddled from neglect while others simply were torn by some bored hooligans.

I swear, some people have no appreciation for the finer things in life.

She longingly looked at the paintings, when landwyrm's maw appeared at the entrance. Morrigan grabbed a large broken table with her levitation magic, straining a little bit under its weight, and tossed it straight at the construct. Its head was forced back, and she took the opportunity to climb out of the broken window.

The window turned out to be rather high up so in her hurry to get away from the beast, she fell painfully down to the ground. Morrigan feared she might have broken or sprained something during her fall, but after carefully inspecting both of her legs, she concluded that aside from a few minor scrapes she didn't suffer any serious injuries.

Now to get as far away from here as possible.

Morrigan dove into the nearest alleyway, and it wasn't a second too soon as the snarling form of the landwyrm appeared right where she had fallen before. A few demons that had been hiding in the alleyway scampered to their feet as they heard the beast rage, running as fast as their legs could carry them. But before they and Morrigan could make it out, a stone wall was erected before them.

"Sorry, lads. Better you than I," resounded the gruff voice of the duergar champion.

That dirty little cheater! When did he even get there?

The construct ran straight into the alleyway, heading towards Morrigan and the demons with jaws wide open. She grabbed a few rogue boxes that littered the alleyway and flung them at the beast using her levitation magic, in an attempt to stop it. Unfortunately, it just swatted the heavy boxes away like they were mere twigs.

"We're done for!" one of the demons screeched, pressing close against the wall. But Morrigan refused to give up. She levitated the remaining boxes and formed a way for herself to climb up to the rooftop. Then she erected a forcefield in front of the beast to buy herself a little bit of time. Landwyrm collided with the forcefield, dazed by the shimmering wall for a moment. But then it destroyed it just like it had the first time.

I really need to train more with my forcefield ability. It is far too weak in its current state.

But it had bought Morrigan enough time to get up to the roof. One of the demons that was stuck in the alleyway with her was trying to follow her up to the roof, but the construct closed its jaws around him before he could reach it. Then it went for the remaining two demons in the alleyway before making its way up to the roof.

Morrigan ran as fast as she could across the shingles, the clatter of her feet resounding across the area. She paused a bit as she reached the edge of the roof, unsure of where to go next.

I wonder if I could use my forcefield as a bridge of sorts.

She created a shimmering forcefield bridge from one rooftop to the next and tested it with her foot before fully committing her steps. It held her weight just fine, so she sprinted across to the next roof. Landwyrm ran after her, occasionally jumping into a nearby sidestreet to eliminate a poor participant who happened to be hiding nearby.

"My, oh my, do you see that dear audience? Our little princess is leading the monster according to her whims. Truly the daughter of our powerful King!" Azrael announced, and the crowd responded with a loud cheer.

I am just trying not to get caught!

Morrigan screamed inwardly as the beast got closer and closer to her with each rooftop she crossed. Her feet were beginning to tire, and she knew if she didn't end the chase soon, she'd get eliminated.

I need to lead it to an area where there are other people it could focus on. But where would most people go?

As she surveyed the area over the rooftops, she realized that the most obvious choice was the starting point. The beast was very unlikely to wander back to the place it emerged from, instead chasing participants into the depths of the Old City. No doubt many realized that and went back as soon as they felt safe to do so.

Morrigan changed her running trajectory, focusing on getting back to the Cathedral in the center. It seemed like her plan worked well, as the landwyrm got distracted more often before resuming its chase after her.

I wonder if it's just inclined to chase after the easiest prey. Unsuspecting hiding people are easier to catch than I am, but once they are caught then it switches back to me. I should try getting off the rooftops, but how can I do that without breaking my neck?

The landwyrm jumped down into an alleyway again, and a scream resounded in the area as yet another person got caught.

"And with this catch dear participants, everybody else remaining uncaught officially moves onto the next task. But don't think the competition ends here, the one who remains as the last uncaught person will gain a boon in the next task. And trust me when I tell you that it could be what decides your victory or defeat," Azrael announced smugly.

You really couldn't have told us that at the start while explaining the rules. Does there have to be a surprise each time?

Morrigan had no intention of running herself ragged to obtain the first place. But if the boon could help her win in the next task, she should try to obtain it. She began to search for a place where she could descend back onto the ground – a stack of boxes, a staircase or anything that could serve as the middle ground. She even considered levitating herself to the ground, but self-levitation was very difficult. If she wasn't careful she could easily lose control and injure herself.

Landwyrm's heavy form became too much for the old roof, and it began to crumble under its weight. The shingles under Morrigan's feet began to cave in and she fell, desperately trying to keep hold of something. The monster fell into the half-decaying building, flailing and thrashing about all the while. Its heavy tail tore through the supporting beams like matchsticks, forcing the roof to come tumbling down.

Morrigan couldn't grab hold of anything and fell straight down along with the heavy debris.