The Draco gripped the berserker ape's leg. Using its other free claw, it pushed down the ape's body by applying its enormous weight on the ape's chest. Using the chest as leverage, the Draco intended to rip the ape's leg from its body.

The ape squirms as it futilely tries to get away from the Draco. Looking around with frantic eyes, the ape sees a nearby rock. It reaches out for it, an action that the Draco chuckled at.

Fear gripped the ape’s heart as it felt the Draco slowly apply strength to its claw. At first, there was only a pulling sensation.

The ape continued to resist. It kept thrashing in a desperate manner. But the Draco’s strength was too much for it.

Eventually, the pulling sensation started to become painful. The Draco was grinning the whole time.

Then the ape starts to scream as the pulling becomes extremely painful. It could feel some of its fur getting ripped apart along with its skin.

The Draco started laughing.

The ape’s dread becomes larger as it sees the Draco’s eyes full of bloodlust. Despite this, the ape continues to struggle. It didn’t want to die. It had so much to prove.

It raged against the creature on top

But it was still here. The berserker ape’s doom was still in front of it.

As the berserker ape felt its leg about to rip, the Draco suddenly roared as its eye was struck by an arrow. The arrow did not pierce its protective layer but it still felt pain. The berserker ape felt relief as its leg was let go.

For a moment, the berserker was free and it took advantage of it.

The berserker roars as it raises the rock by its hand, striking the Draco’s jaw. The Draco is staggered and falls back a bit. The ape crawls away but it screeches in pain when it feels both of its legs being clamped down again by the Draco’s powerful claws. The Draco roars as it feels another arrow pelt its face.

It bounces off but it still feels annoyed.

Looking around, the Draco couldn’t find the source of the flying arrows.

Its cautiousness level shot up.

The ape was still trapped but its arms were free. Moving its head around, the ape tried to find the source of the arrows but its senses were weaker than the Draco so if it couldn’t find it, the ape wouldn’t be able to either.

Then another arrow flies toward the Draco.

Angry, the Draco roars and lets go of the ape. It ignores the arrow that bounces off its wings then it charges toward the source of the arrow.

Before the Draco could get a few feet towards the forest line, where the archer was, it is suddenly shoved to the side as the berserker ape charges towards it.

Both creatures roar as the ape uses its body to strike the Draco.

Yes!

Evelyn felt elation as she saw the berserker ape charge forward.

I knew it! I fought with one of those! Those things wouldn’t back down from a fight until their heads were punched off their body.

Evelyn respected the berserker ape as a species. She started to wonder if she was a freak who enjoyed fighting.

Seeing the ape attack the Draco, Evelyn felt invigorated. She still hated the berserker ape and would kill it without any second thought if they fought but as of now, they were temporary allies.

It’s still weaker than the Draco. I need to help it.

To prevent the Draco from regaining momentum, Evelyn let loose another volley of arrows. The Draco releases an angry roar as the arrows pelt its body. The arrows didn’t pierce its scales but there was still some pain, albeit minor. The ape takes advantage of this and slams the rock on the Draco’s leg, causing it to fall again.

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Despite the pain it felt in its chest, the berserker ape continued its attack. It was wounded and if it fled, other animals could take advantage of its weakness or the Draco might just chase it down like a dying dog.

The ape had no chance of surviving if it ran away but if it stayed and fought, then it might just survive.

It continued its rampage of attacks.

The Draco raised its claw to swipe at the ape but another stone arrow hit the gap between its body and arm, basically hitting its armpit. The arrow bounces off but it still stopped the Draco’s strike which allowed the slower berserker ape to move away.

While moving away, the berserker ape throws the rock straight onto the Draco’s snout which causes it to roar in pain.

The ape looks around and finds that the arrows were coming from a hidden part of the forest, just near its edge.

Another arrow flies out of the forest and strikes the Draco’s eyes. Like before, the arrow doesn’t pierce the protective layer but it causes the Draco to cover its eyes.

The ape screeches towards the forest which Evelyn notices.

It’s telling me to attack more? What?

After a quick battle cry, the ape picks up the trunk parts that were broken in two. It then charges toward the Draco with a powerful screech.

Using its right arm, the ape strikes the Draco’s neck then it uses its left arm to hit its chest.

The Draco grunts in pain. It couldn’t get a proper attack due to Evelyn’s well-timed arrow shots. Each time the Draco tries to attack or counter, Evelyn hits

As the berserker continued its attack, Evelyn kept shooting arrows.

Oof… out of arrows.

She drops her first quiver and quickly pulls out another quiver from her pack.

It’s good that Michael is extremely well-prepared.

Evelyn notches another arrow. She watches the Draco’s eyes. Every time Evelyn shot its eyes, the Draco flinched. But she also noticed something bad.

Its eyes are becoming tougher. Shit, is it evolving?

Michael warned Evelyn that the Draco evolved at a rate that was even faster than most of the creatures in Teremarae. He didn’t have an explanation for it except that the Draco was simply a very special creature.

The berserker ape raises both of its sticks and brings them down with all the force it can muster.

The two trunks splinter and the Draco falls to the ground. Evelyn nods approvingly as the ape releases a victory cry.

As Evelyn was just about to celebrate, she saw the Draco move again.

Ugh, no time to relax.

The ape notices it as well and backs away. Its weapons were broken and it didn’t want to risk using its arms. After striking the Draco with its arms earlier, the ape knows it couldn’t deal any lasting damage. Each strike would slowly build damage that would eventually harm him.

The Draco slowly stood up, using its hind legs to slightly stand up. It spreads its wings and then releases a powerful and ground-shaking roar.

The roar travels a long distance. Each creature that heard it either cowered in fear or ran away from it. No creature dared to challenge it. After all, it was the roar of a tyrant.

While there was no actual force, Evelyn and the ape felt like they were being pushed down to the ground. The ape almost knelt down but doing so would mean death. Evelyn calmed herself and removed all of her thoughts.

She needed to focus. One misstep and the Draco would kill the ape and she would have to deal with the Draco on her own. So far, she hasn’t been seen yet so the conditions for the Draco to spontaneously evolve haven’t occurred yet.

She needed to keep it that way.

The berserker ape raises its arms in defense. It was prepared to fight once more so it could leave this place alive.

The Draco glares at it with murderous eyes. Earlier, it considered the ape as a toy, an object to be played with but now, it was something to be stomped on.

It roars but then it charges forward.

Notching her next arrow, Evelyn aimed once more. She couldn’t let the Draco have a single advantage.

The ape was expecting an arrow to support it so it didn’t escape, at least not yet. It roared at the Draco to boost its own confidence.

The Draco was close and Evelyn let loose an arrow. The arrow flies straight and strikes the Draco’s eye.

But the Draco strikes the ape’s body unchallenged.

NO!

The ape screams in pain when its chest is ripped apart by the Draco’s claw. The ape falls to the ground as it clutches its chest that was starting to fill with blood.

Evelyn notches three arrows and lets loose all of them.

Each arrow strikes the Draco’s body. All of them bounce off without any effect. One of the arrows also hit its eye but instead of flinching, it grins.

It evolved…

The Draco looks in Evelyn’s direction. For a moment, the Draco contemplates staying to kill the ape but after looking down, it sees the ape already clinging for its life. Its chest was already caved in by the Draco’s fist but now it was rent open by the Draco’s sharp claws.

Then the Draco walks toward the edge of the forest. Evelyn internally curses when she sees this.

Fuck!

Evelyn stands up. She looks at the ape. It was trying to stand up.

It was weakened but its body was trembling with rage. But it wasn’t just rage. Evelyn saw that the ape’s body was moving in a familiar manner.

It was going to evolve.

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While Evelyn was distracting the Draco, Michael continued the path toward the reincarnation area. He called it that because it was where he and Evelyn first appeared. If the two of them succeeded in their plan, they would retake this place and make sure that any incoming humans wouldn’t have to be greeted by super reptiles or other similar apex creatures.

Bob was on his shoulder, keeping watch.

So far, the two of them haven’t seen any super reptiles but Michael wasn’t stupid. He heard the roar of the Draco. He was very familiar with that type of roar.

It was a roar of anger.

It only meant one thing. Evelyn managed to annoy or damage the Draco to the point that the Draco considered her a threat.

That was good but also bad.

Michael felt nervous but he decided to trust Evelyn.

Eventually, Michael started to sense movement around him. He smells the scent of super reptile droppings.

Bob bares his teeth.

Michael looks around and sees the barely visible eyes of super reptiles slowly going out of the trees.

The lower caste.

Michael hears the super reptiles growl. They saw him as prey, something to rip apart and devour.

Michael closes his eyes for a bit. He imagines the Draco then he opens his eyes again.

He sees the other super reptiles and how small they are compared to the Draco.

Michael takes out his steel spear, the Draco Slayer, and his steel dagger. He brandishes the two of them.

None of you are my hunters.