“MICHAEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Evelyn’s mind screamed at her as she rushed forward to grab the evolved super reptile’s neck. The creature’s sudden evolution allowed it to move at speeds that Evelyn or Michael wouldn’t be able to catch but it was too distracted with Michael’s flesh, allowing Evelyn to catch it by surprise. She squeezes its large neck as hard as she can.

The evolved super reptile thrashes with all of its strength but Evelyn, empowered by pure desperation, holds on as tightly as she could.

While choking the evolved reptile with her entire body, Evelyn noticed that Michael was standing still. He was in shock from losing his arm.

The image broke Evelyn’s heart but she didn’t let go. She was going to kill this thing and get his arm back.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck!!!

Reason and emotion clashed within Evelyn. She wanted to go and immediately comfort Michael but the evolved reptile in her arms had his arm and if it escaped, it would surely ambush them again.

Desperately focusing on the task at hand, Evelyn was suddenly reminded of an earlier memory. Earlier, she was knocked out by the Draco’s powerful tail but she was quickly woken up by a piercing pain in her legs. That same super reptile that she ignored was the very same creature that ripped off Michael’s arm.

I IGNORED IT!!!

Evelyn grits her teeth as she realizes that she might have caused Michael to lose his arm.

I shouldn’t have ignored it! I SHOULDN’T HAVE IGNORED IT!!!! NOW, IT FOLLOWED ME!!

Evelyn teared up but she didn’t intend to stop. She was going to either kill or knock this creature out and retrieve Michael’s severed arm. Maybe, just maybe, Michael can somehow reconnect it. She knew that without modern technology, re-attaching an arm is impossible.

But this was Teremarae. Evelyn knew that things here were different. Evelyn thought of Michael. For as long as she’s been here, Michael made the impossible possible. If it was him, Evelyn believed that he could find a way to re-attach his arm.

It’s going to be fine! It’s going to be fine!

Evelyn was still terrified. This might just be a waste of time but she continued to do it anyway. She didn’t know what else to do.

The Draco watched as Evelyn wrestled its lesser kin while Michael stood still, missing one of his limbs. It wanted nothing more than to devour the two humans but it finally received an opportunity to rest.

Its body felt immensely exhausted after taking so much damage in such a short amount of time but the real cause for rest was something it couldn’t explain. Its soul was growing weary due to creating so much miraculous effects in a short period of time, especially considering that it had only recently awakened.

While it did gain the ability to regenerate its wounds, it couldn’t heal incorporeal wounds. It also didn’t regenerate the Draco’s stamina, only its physical wounds. For now, the Draco took a second to rest.

After all, Michael and Evelyn were too preoccupied to harm it.

While the Draco took the opportunity to rest and Evelyn was focused on taking back Michael’s arm, Michael was in shock.

A mistake… I made a mistake.

Despite being an experienced hunter and a superhuman, Michael didn’t have the experiences necessary to resist such a harrowing situation. He’s never lost a limb or knew someone who’s lost one. The experience was completely alien to him.

Unfortunately, in this regard, Michael was still indeed a normal human.

Michael slowly turned to look at the bloody stump where his left arm used to be. His vision darkens as he focuses on the bleeding stump. His breathing starts to become erratic.

When the evolved super reptile bit his arm, Michael tried to back away to minimize the damage, underestimating its new evolution. Its bite force and ability to maneuver its body meant that Michael didn’t use enough force to escape the creature.

The creature moves so fast and was able to deal irreparable damage.

Stupid… stupid…

Michael also recognized the creature. It was the super reptile he allowed to escape so he could destroy the Draco’s eggs. Because of letting it go, it managed to evolve and separate his arm from his body.

If I tracked it earlier… It would have never evolved… and my arm would still be attached to me…

Michael balled his remaining hand into a fist. If he only stuck to his guts and didn’t let his emotions get the better of him, he would still have his left arm.

And right now, he was also doing something stupid. Instead of helping Evelyn, he was here feeling sorry for himself.

I’m so stupid…

If not for Evelyn grabbing the evolved super reptile, it would have surely dealt more damage.

No, he was being optimistic.

Whether Evelyn was here or not, if he made a mistake of this severity, he was sure to die. And because of his stupid mistake, the woman he started to care for was going to die as well. Once the Draco moved again, they were doomed. It would rain fire on them and turn them all to dust.

While Michael was spiraling, Bob started screeching but Michael was too deep in his own thoughts to hear him. Then Bob resorted to hitting Michael.

Michael’s thoughts turned to Bob, his closest friend.

What about Bob? Would he die here too? Can he survive without me and Evelyn?

Would his mistakes cost Bob’s life too, the life of his best friend?

Screaming her lungs out, Evelyn tries to snap Michael out of his shock.

“Michael!!!!!”

He couldn’t hear her voice. He couldn’t hear anyone’s voice. He was too focused on his missing limb.

“MICHAEL!!! SNAP OUT OF IT!!!!”

The evolved super reptile thrashed hard but Evelyn kept holding on. It started to bite her arm and if she didn’t have her gift, she was sure she would end up like Michael. She needed to help Michael so she strained her muscles just to knock the creature out.

At first, the evolved super reptile kept thrashing but Evelyn’s effort bore fruit. She was slowly choking it to death.

Despite Evelyn’s efforts, Michael continued to spiral.

“MICHAEL, PLEASE YOU HAVE TO SNAP OUT OF IT!!!”

The Draco’s body was slowly recovering. Its wounds were still fresh but it was ready to fight again. Evelyn saw that and she started to panic.

On the other hand, Michael was spiraling deeper into his shock.

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I shouldn’t have left the cave… I should have just told Evelyn to prepare to move out. Bob… I’m sorry. I’ll be leaving you…

“BOB! SNAP MICHAEL OUT OF IT!!!”

Seeing that his best friend was still out of it, Bob starts to angrily screech. He jumps off Michael’s shoulder and quickly looks around.

He found what he was looking for.

Desperate to snap Michael out of his spiral, Bob rushes towards his best friend and slams his head with a thick rock.

Michael was suddenly jolted back to reality by the rock striking his skull.

His mind starts to regain some of its focus then he hears a powerful screech in his ears. He turns to his right and sees Bob clinging to his right arm.

Bob…

Seeing Michael still slightly out of it, Bob raises his arm and uses all of his strength to slap Michael’s face. Then he screeches at Michael’s face.

That finally jogs Michael’s mind in place.

Bob was about to slap him again but Michael quickly grabs Bob’s hand. Evelyn sees that and she gasps.

“Michael!”

Michael looks at Bob and quickly turns to Evelyn.

They needed him now. He needed to focus.

Now was not the time to give in despair.

If he stopped acting as a leader, both Bob's and Evelyn’s lives would be in danger. Looking at the stump where his left arm used to be, Michael pushed down the bile brewing in his throat so he can focus.

Need to clean it.

Michael opens Evelyn’s pack and pulls out a bottle of purified anti-biotics and pours it on his stump. The pain was immense but Michael didn’t care. He then pulls out a long clean bandage.

With his remaining hand, Michael quickly wraps it around the stump on his left arm. Using his teeth, Michael locks in the clean cloth. Evelyn watches Michael regain some momentum and she feels relieved.

For the moment, Michael was back.

The white cloth quickly becomes red as it absorbs the flowing blood. Michael knew that he needed to stop the bleeding but he didn’t have the tools necessary for now. He needed to finish the battle before he bleeds out.

Michael looks at the Draco. The monster looks back.

It was time to resume their death match.

The Draco moves first.

“Michael! Move!”

The Draco opens its maw, releasing a cone of fire toward Michael.

Michael gives Bob a reassuring squeeze and throws him upward to dodge the incoming fire. Still feeling the effects of the powerful drugs coursing through his veins, Michael dashes to the side. For a moment, Michael almost lost his balance due to the missing limb but he quickly adapts and he escapes the cone of fire.

He then runs beside the fire and toward the Draco. He kept looking up, watching where Bob would land. Bob looked at him and the two quickly came to an understanding. Bob angles himself so he lands on Michael’s arms.

Without hesitation, Michael throws Bob above the fire and toward the Draco’s head.

The Draco sees the little monkey fly towards it and it raises its mouth to burn it.

Michael rushes towards the Draco and notices that it was using its wrists instead of its palms to stand up.

The dagger and arrowheads must be causing it a lot of pain.

Michael clenches his remaining fist.

If I want to stand any chance, I need to get a weapon.

Still mid-air, Bob pulls out a stink bomb and throws it at the Draco’s nose. It explodes, releasing a putrid liquid that addles its senses.

The fire disappears as the Draco coughs up a mouthful of saliva.

For a moment, the Draco closes its eyes due to irritation and forgets about Michael. Michael closes the gap between them.

Without my left arm, I can’t properly twist my body… Legs it is then.

As he is about to close the gap, Michael lightly leaps off his feet and spins. Using the ulatron fluid’s effects, Michael pushes his body past its natural limit. His strained muscles start to rip and his creaking bones start to crack.

After coughing out the disgusting liquid, the Draco manages to open its eyes only to see Michael just about to strike its body.

Michael’s spinning sidekick connects with the Draco’s chest, delivering a stone-pulverizing kick. The Draco bares its teeth in pain as Michael’s kick knocks it back, causing it to balance on its hind legs.

Landing on the ground, Michael grits his teeth and ignores the building pain in his legs. He then grabs the dagger’s handle and pulls it out of the Draco’s palm, causing it to roar in pain.

The Draco manages to put its front claws back on the ground and it clumsily swipes at Michael.

Michael steps forward and turns to the side, dodging the attack by an inch. As he dodges past the Draco’s outstretched arm, Michael slices forward, cutting deep into the creature’s arm.

The Draco pulls its claw away and lunges forward to bite Michael’s head off. Bob lands on the Draco’s back and immediately unloads everything left in his small pack.

The Draco was suddenly assaulted by a cacophony of horrid sensations. The chemicals mixed horribly with the smoke, causing the Draco’s throat to burn up. Its open wounds started to sting, slowing down its regenerative abilities.

It starts to retch again. Michael and Bob quickly take advantage of the situation.

Michael goes to the side of the Draco and strengthens his legs. He jumps up and lands on the Draco’s massive back. The Draco was too addled by the mixtures to focus on Michael which allows him to grab Bob. Michael puts Bob on his shoulder and gives the little monkey his dagger.

+Hold.+

Michael then walks across the Draco’s back and grabs the spear embedded in the creature’s neck. Despite being embedded so deep into the Draco’s body that Evelyn would have a hard time pulling it out, Michael pulls out the spear without any issue. Even with only one arm, Michael was still enhanced by the ulatron liquids. He could still exert more power than Evelyn.

With the Draco slayer in his right hand, Michael jumps down and quickly runs toward Evelyn, who just finished knocking out the evolved super reptile. The Draco tries to roar but it accidentally inhales the thick and viscous liquids near its mouth. It retches again.

Evelyn sees Bob holding the steel knife and shouts at him.

“Bob! Knife!”

Bob sees Evelyn raising both of her arms. He then raises the steel dagger with both arms and throws it toward Evelyn. The knife spins and Evelyn easily catches its handle mid-air.

With the knife in her hand, Eveyn quickly kneels downward and uses the momentum to stab the evolved super reptile’s neck. Unlike the Draco, the evolved super reptile didn’t have metal-like scales and the blade quickly sinks into its neck. It suddenly wakes up from the pain but Evelyn doesn’t stop with just a deep stab, she gouges its neck. A fountain of blood spurts out of the evolved super reptile’s neck, quickly covering her naked body.

The creature desperately struggles against Evelyn’s hold but she finishes the job by stabbing through its skull, causing it to seize. It eventually dies, drowning in its own blood.

With a large hole in the evolved super reptile’s neck. Evelyn shoves her hand inside the artificially made hole. With a powerful yank, she pulls out Michael’s bloody severed limb. Looking at Michael with a triumphant appearance, Evelyn calls him.

“MICHAEL! LOOK!”

Michael ignores his arm and grabs Evelyn then he runs. Evelyn doesn’t lag behind and runs with Michael. Looking at the place where Michael’s left arm used to be, Evelyn’s heart sank. Without any hesitation, Evelyn made a decision.

“Michael! Let’s go home! Let’s try to re-attach your arm!”

Michael looks at Evelyn. He shakes his head.

“What do you mean, no??”

Michael lets go of Evelyn since she can run without his support. The two of them continue running at a quick pace. Without stopping, Michael signs toward Evelyn.

+We need to kill the Draco now.+

Michael had to individually sign every letter since he lacked the limb to properly sign. Evelyn’s eyes widen at Michael’s signs.

“Huh??? Don’t you see yourself??! We need to go back and heal!!”

Evelyn’s face scrunched up with rage at Michael.

+This is exactly why we can’t go back now.+

“What do you mean??! Are you stupid?? You need medical attention!”

Michael gives Evelyn a confused look.

“Why are you looking at me like that?! You’re the one that’s being confusing.”

Michael tilts his head which causes Evelyn to immediately apologize. She knew that Michael was not the type to make irrational decisions without thinking of the consequences.

+I lost an arm while the Draco gained an evolution.+

They continued to run while communicating with each other. Then they heard the Draco roar and the sound of wings flapping.

It was already moving towards them.

“And??? We can recover! We’ve already managed to kill its children. We have time.”

Michael shook his head again. He pulls Evelyn and the two of them turn to the right as a plume of fire almost catches the two of them.

+Its evolution now is too strong. If it mates now and successfully produces offspring, there’s a chance that it might pass on the ability to breathe fire. And next time, the Draco will be more careful. Next time, it won’t fall for our traps. If we don’t kill it now, we’ll never be able to kill it.+

“Bu-but?! Your Arm?! We can’t just leave you like this!”

Michael looks at Evelyn with a wry smile. He turns his eyes toward his severed limb in Evelyn’s hands. It was still bright and healthy. If he was on Earth, he could have it re-attached. But he was on Teremarae and he didn’t have the ability, knowledge, or technology to reconnect his arm to his body.

But Teremarae wasn’t just a primitive version of Earth.

It was a different world with different rules. Michael’s knowledge from Earth wasn’t always applicable in Teremarae. And after seeing the Draco breathing fire due to its soul evolution, Michael realized that if he completely relied on his knowledge from Earth, he wouldn’t survive. He had to be extremely open-minded if he wanted to survive in the future. After all, it was possible that in the future, a creature could evolve to become more dangerous than the Draco.

With all this considered, Michael sincerely believed that he could somehow re-attach his arm.

Then a fiery plume descended on them. Seeing the fire, Michael stopped in his tracks with Evelyn. The fire strikes an area in front of them, stopping their advance.

Not even a second of rest huh?

The Draco lands in front of them. It looked exhausted but its body was empowered by rage. Its wounds stung with each movement, refreshing its anger.

The creature in front of them would never let them go. Evelyn realizes that Michael knew that the Draco would never let them rest and recover.

After losing its family, the Draco would never settle over licking its wounds clean while its enemies were still alive and breathing. Today, either the Draco died or Michael and Evelyn did.

Michael looks at Evelyn and Bob. Despite being at a disadvantage, the two of them were ready to fight. Evelyn was buck naked and only had a steel knife in her right hand. Michael noticed that she was out of breath. Bob, on the other hand, was weak from the smoke. And he himself just lost a limb.

They needed a moment to recuperate if they wanted a chance to kill the Draco. That meant they needed to distract the Draco.

He had no intention to split up which meant he only had one safe option.

It was just a costly decision.

Steeling himself, Michael quickly grabs his arm from Evelyn and before she can react, he throws it toward the Draco’s gaping maw.

For a moment, the Draco’s rage was suddenly suppressed as it watched the severed arm of its most hated enemy fly toward it.

The Draco was an immensely powerful tyrant that ruled the forest but it was an animal. Despite its above-average intelligence, it was still an animal. When it saw the bloody arm of its prey, it obviously wanted to eat it.

But what if eating the arm would put it in danger? Before, the Draco would first prioritize the danger and would ignore the hunk of meat in favor of surviving but what if it also hated that creature with every fiber of its being?

Then like any animal, the Draco would eat the arm.

Instead of drowning Michael, Evelyn, and Bob with hellfire, the Draco lunges forward and opens its maw to devour the flying arm. Its mouth chomps on Michael’s flesh and for a moment, every hardship it has experienced today melts away.

It was delicious.

The Draco’s physical sensations told it that Michael’s arm tasted like any other meat but its awakened soul believed that Michael’s flesh was the tastiest meat it has ever eaten. The Draco couldn’t help but treasure this moment. It was as if the meat was making it more capable of appreciating life.

Then what seemed like an eternity passed for the Draco, it finally swallowed Michael’s arm.

For a moment, it was satisfied but that satisfaction was quickly replaced by hunger.

Hunger for more.

For some terrifying reason, the Draco knew that by eating Michael, it would evolve again.

Opening its eyes, the Draco looks in front to see the most delicious meal it will ever partake in.

But, Michael and Evelyn were already gone.