Meera gulped as a bead of sweat dribbled down from her forehead. Her heartbeat quickened. The thing was massive. She had seen the reanimated corpse of one, but that must've been a baby because it wasn't even half the size of this one.

It looked like a Komodo Dragon but the size of a truck. It must've been ten feet tall. Its dark greenish scales shimmered in the faint light of the torches. The worst were the claws. They were curved swords sticking out of the scummy water of the sewers.

Meera did as Kalrina asked. She stood as still as she could. The Drakasaros, or Drake's dark beady eyes, looked straight at them, but she didn't know how much it could see. Maybe it didn't have good eyesight, and it was dark here, so Kalrina had asked her to stay still. It was easier said than done.

Meera wanted to ask her how long she had to stay like this. The overgrown lizard kept staring in their direction. It's long, black tongue flicking in and out. Meera reached out with Mirror Wing and pulled off her level 2 chakram but kept it hovering in place.

She shouldn't have done that.

The Drake must've seen her chakram's movement as its tongue flicked out. Meera's eyes widened. The lizard's tongue was like a whip, spanning the twenty feet in a mere second.

Kalrina and Meera both erected their Mirror Shields. To Meera's surprise, Kalrina's shield looked like a regular Mirror Shield and not a Tower Shield, which meant hers had yet to reach level 100. This made Meera want to boast but given that they were facing an enemy where they had no margin of error, she kept her focus on the Drake.

The venomous tongue broke through Meera's Tower Shield like it was nothing, leaving Meera bewildered. But it did bounce off Kalrina's regular Mirror Shield, which was even more confusing.

"How…"

"It's the next evolution, dearie," Kalrina said. "You'll get there soon. Or maybe not, if you keep trying to distract me and die an agonizing death."

Meera raised a few more Tower Shields as the Drake snapped its whip-like tongue again. This time, Kalrina's shield shattered, as did Meera's.

"So much for an evolved shield," Meera muttered.

"We're going to have to fight this thing from afar," Kalrina said, ignoring Meera's comment. "They're worse than dragons in some aspects. A dragon's fire will take some time to kill you. This thing's poison will make you wish you were dead."

The Drake flicked its tongue in and out.

"Any tips on how to kill it?" Meera asked.

"Kill it? Have you lost your mind? There is no killing it. Our best bet is to fly away from this thing at top speed. Its saliva will leave us paralyzed and in excruciating pain. It has poisonous breath. Its claws inflict corrosion on anything they touch. Even its scales are coated with a thin layer of toxic venom. I don't think we should even be standing in the same water as it."

"How good is that thing's eyesight?" Meera asked.

"Don't tell me you're going to try to kill the Drake too?"

"How did you get to level 300 by being such a coward?" Meera asked.

"By picking my fights," the witch replied. "A concept you seem to have a hard time grasping, dearie."

"Okay, now, we're definitely killing this thing."

The Drake must've had it with their talking. It spat a fuming green venom at them. It came at them at such speed there was no blocking it. It would easily smash through their shields. Meera flew to the side.

She almost launched a chakram but decided to play it safe with a Mirror Shard Barrage, as she didn't want her chakrams getting poison on them. The shards hit the beast with the intensity of a tiny water gun. The Drake didn't even flinch.

Well, how about this then?

Meera angled her hand upwards, and the shards hit the Drake's face, and a couple pierced its right eye. The Drake shrieked so loud that the water at its feet vibrated as it splashed about.

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"Really?" Kalrina cried. "You're going to get us killed!"

"No! Just stay back and provide me cover with your shields."

"There's not much staying back I can do. I'm already touching this filthy wall."

"Good."

Kalrina muttered something about Meera being disgusting and other such flavorful things, which was totally out of character for her. Meera would be lying if she didn't admit it made her happy. But she had bigger fish to fry.

The Drakasaros's shrieks had died to cries, and it would retaliate soon. Meera blasted tiny pieces of her mirrors from her armor all over the sewers. The ones submerged in the water were practically useless, but she still saw enough of the mirror that it would serve as a jump point.

She activated Spectral Dominion.

Two shadow warriors stepped out of the darkness with Shadowsteel weapons in hand. She pointed at the Drake, and a dark skull appeared on its head, signifying the Death Mark. She ordered the two shadow warriors to attack the Drake while she prepared the next phase of her attack.

"So, shadows and mirrors, huh?" Kalrina said. "You have a funny combination of classes."

That's not all I have, Meera thought, but she didn't say anything as she didn't want to give anything away to the witch.

Seeing the shadow warriors coming, the Drake flicked its tongue at one of them. The shadow warrior dodged to the side. They were on him in the next moment, hacking away. The Drake raised its claws to finish off one of the warriors. But Meera wouldn't let it win so easily.

She activated Smoke Eclipse.

Dark smoke like the ones coming out of a Victorian factory's chimney spread out of Meera's mouth and filled the sewer, plunging it into darkness. The small burning torches might not have even been there.

Kalrina coughed behind her. "What in the name of Midiea is this?" She coughed some more and made for the turn in the intersection to escape the smoke.

The Drake tried to swipe its tail at the warriors in the smoke, only for its tail to smash into the wall.

Meera, of course, had no problem seeing through the smoke. After all, it was her skill. Smoke Eclipse didn't only bring out darkness, but it also amplified the attacks of all her shadow-affinity skills. Fortunately for Meera, both Death Mark and Spectral Dominion fell into that category.

The lizard cried out with each slash from the shadow warriors. It thrashed about, shaking the walls with its bulk, but its size played to its disadvantage in these tight quarters.

"I hope this is the Drake shrieking," Kalrina exclaimed.

"What do you think?" Meera replied.

"I think you're a girl with many tricks."

Meera smirked. Time to finish this.

She held out a hand, but Meera talking to the sorceress must've given away her position. The Drake sprinted towards her like a crocodile dashing for its prey. Poison dripped from its fangs as it tried to bite Meera in half.

But she wasn't about to be caught so easily. She used Mirror Step and teleported away. She activated Nightstalker Bindings, the upgraded form of Vampire Chains. The chains were strong enough to paralyze the beast while her shadow warriors fell upon it. With Smoke Eclipse's secondary effect, all three of her attacks became stronger.

The Drake fell not long after. Its shrieks died down to painful cries to moans and whimpers, and then finally, her shadow warriors finished it off by stabbing it in the head and leaving their swords there. She dissipated her smoke, chains, and warriors. This battle was rather anticlimactic compared to how much this beast was feared. It cost her a load of Mana, but the Drake couldn't even come close to scratching her.

Kalrina peeked around the corner and sighed before the self-confident grin returned to her face. "See, I told you we had everything under control, love," she said to someone behind her.

Meera heard the splashing of many feet, and a moment later, Leonel and half a dozen similarly dressed soldiers came behind Kalrina. She figured the men had to be Leonel's underlings, as their armor was similar to his, though less grand. They stared wide-eyed at the Drake's corpse.

"You killed that…by yourself?" One of Leonel's men asked.

Meera nodded. "Truth be told, it wasn't too difficult. I don't know why everyone is so scared of them."

"Did you cut off its head?" Leonel asked.

Meera frowned, but she felt the ground rumble before she could reply. Leonel's man backed up a few steps. Water splashed, and the Drake stood up behind her. She turned slowly, but the Drake knew where she was.

It opened its mouth to swallow her whole. Venom dipped from its fangs, somehow avoiding Meera.

Leonel bashed the butt of his spear into the ground, and an earthen replica of his spear jutted out of the ground and cut off the Drake's head. The head, with its jaw wide open and fangs dripping with poison, fell toward Meera. She used Mirror Step and teleported out of the way.

"Always remember to cut off a Drake's head, or they will come back to finish you off," Leonel said.

"What is it with these things?" Meera sneered. "Dragons explode after death, and these things come back to life."

"That is why they say, if you kill a dragon, you better make sure you can survive its vengeance," Leonel said.

Meera nodded. "Thanks for the assist." Even though, on the side, it chaffed her that she would have to share the kill's experience with him. She looked at the annoying witch. "Shall we?"

Kalrina smiled at Leonel. "Well, love, we'll be heading out now. Hopefully, you all can survive here until the dragons get bored."

Leonel stared at her for a long moment, then finally turned to Meera. "Thank you for holding off the Drake. If it had found its way into the city, who knows how many people would have suffered a cruel fate. One thing I will say to you before you leave. I will not come to save you a second time on the surface. I pray to the gods that you can leave the city safely, but you will not be coming back this way. We will place earthen barricades along the sewers to prevent any beasts from coming this close to us. This will be our last meeting."

"Oh, come on, Leo, don't be like that," Kalrina said.

"I understand," Meera replied to the warrior. "Let's go, witch."