Evelyn struggled to move. Her body convulsed and twitched in anger and desperation as she continued to scream.

“MICHAEL!”

She felt some semblance of control return to the tips of her fingers and toes.

“MICHAEL!!!”

Anger so potent starts to flow through Evelyn’s veins. She feels her feet and hands again.

Putting an immense amount of effort into her wrists, Evelyn crawls toward the shattered cave.

Screaming again, Evelyn begged for a sign, any sign that Michael was still alive.

“MICHAEL!!!!!”

As she gets closer to the cave, she sees the shattered rubble moving.

----------------------------------------

The Draco saw Michael pull out two rocks that were capable of creating fiery sparks. Then it finally clicked. It was similar to those small explosions Michael used earlier to damage the Draco.

It then remembers the brown pouches scattered across the cave.

The Draco's desire to devour Michael quickly disappears. Right now, only survival was on its mind. It tried to turn around but remembered that the tight confines of the cave wouldn’t allow it to escape unless it was willing to break its bones.

And it was. After everything it has gone through and suffered, it was more than willing to destroy its body just to survive.

It then starts to slam its body into the walls in a desperate attempt to create more space. It feels its wings get scratched as the Draco continues to create wiggle room.

Michael turns around and sees the Draco struggling.

Sorry, there’s no way out of this one.

Unaware of Michael’s thoughts, the Draco continues to struggle. It feels a glimmer of hope as it manages to turn its body ever so slightly. But this quickly disappears when it sees that Michael is preparing to create fire.

The Draco’s struggle becomes more desperate. Its right wing snaps as it struggles to turn around. Pain doesn’t register in the Draco’s desperate mind.

It snaps its right forelimb in an effort to turn around. It growls in excitement as it manages to just turn its head around.

Seeing the once majestic creature act so desperate, Michael sighed.

At the very least, die with some dignity. Isn’t that what a king is supposed to do? But I guess, you’re not a king. Just an overgrown tyrant.

Then he snaps the rocks in his hands, creating a spark that ignites a nearby white thread drenched in oil.

Fire ignites and time seems to slow down.

Michael’s thoughts seem to accelerate, moving at a rate way faster than before.

He looks around, trying to find any way to escape his fate.

The fire is moving so slowly…

Michael watched as the burning thread ignited at a snail’s pace. Even the Draco’s desperate thrashing seemed so minor in comparison.

What was I worrying about again?

He continued to look around, trying to find a way out of his predicament.

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I guess I should have prepared an exit when I made this tomb of mine… Who am I kidding? I never planned to survive when I made this…

Michael internally smirks.

I almost forgot about it because of you, Evelyn.

Then Michael sees a gap, a small space that he could squeeze in.

There.

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The rubble explodes outward as the powerful familiar form of the Draco escapes the mountain’s clutches.

It looked pathetic.

Its right wing was snapped in half while its left wing was completely gone, replaced by a scorched stump due to the explosion. It limped forward with a broken right forelimb and melted hindlimbs. Its tail was gone, ending with a melted stump. Its entire body was scorched.

Nothing about it expressed dominance or power.

The tyrant was laid low and now it was limping away with its absent tail tucked between its legs.

The Draco limped towards the edge of the plateau, wanting to leave. Its body was so damaged that regeneration was impossible. Even if it escaped, it wasn’t sure that it would survive.

While the Draco was focused on moving, it didn’t notice a certain creature, a few meters away.

Evelyn felt angry. No, she wasn’t just angry, she was livid. She felt her blood boil to the point that it felt like magma.

YOU PIECE OF SHIT! I’M GOING TO MURDERIZE YOU! WHERE’S MICHAEL?!?!?! WHERE’S MICHAEL! I’M GOING TO OBLITERATE YOU!

The rage felt maddening and for a moment, Evelyn’s mind turned off.

And everything went black.

Evelyn!

Then she was back again.

“Michael??”

Looking around, Evelyn finds herself on her feet. She was standing up. She studied her body and noticed that she could feel her arms then her legs, then her hips, then her shoulders. Eventually, Evelyn could feel everything going back to normal.

But the internal heat never dispersed.

Evelyn flexed her fingers and noticed that her body was healing. Closing her hand into a fist, Evelyn could feel an immense strength flow through her veins.

I… I evolved? Is… is this how Michael feels? This… this is wild.

Evelyn couldn’t help but feel in awe of her body. It was like there was constant electricity moving throughout her body, providing her with endless stamina and overwhelming strength.

Michael is this strong…

Shaking her head, Evelyn couldn’t dwell on this.

She turned to the limping Draco. It was slow but she knew it would eventually gain strength. She needed to kill it here.

Then the rage returned.

Blood-like fire boiled within Evelyn.

For a moment, her mind became blank again but this time, she managed to direct her body with a singular goal.

KILL THAT REPTILE SON OF A BITCH!

Evelyn’s body charged forward with all of the might available to Michael’s healthy body. Combined with her God-given defense, Evelyn was able to ignore the limitations of her body, allowing her to emulate Michael’s strength while under the influence of the Ulatron liquid.

The Draco sensed danger rushing toward it. Turning toward Evelyn, it could only see a quick blur as Evelyn smashes directly into its body.

Blood and pus spill out as Evelyn shatters the Draco’s ribcage, causing the two of them to fly off the plateau’s cliff.

The Draco tried to resist but its broken forelimb and melted hindlimbs provided no help against Evelyn’s monstrous strength. It turned to its assailant and saw Evelyn. All of her wounds were gone. It was as if she was reborn once again.

The giant beast internally cursed this irony of fate.

Desperate to survive, the Draco tried to create fire but its pained body wouldn’t allow it to focus. Its now-sharper mind processed the pain in a more complex manner than earlier.

As the ground got closer, Evelyn regained her clarity. She saw the large pool of water where the waterfall lands. She could also see the large shapes within it, waiting for the next piece of meat to land in it.

The Draco hatefully glared at her, hoping that at the very least, she would die with it.

Then the two of them collide with the water. For a moment, the water tension holds and the Draco feels the force of falling from a skyscraper and landing on concrete at terminal velocity.

Evelyn feels the shock but quickly ignores it. Such force would’ve knocked her out a second time but this time, she was more than capable of withstanding it.

The water breaks and the two of them immediately sink.

Evelyn could see the shadows in the dark move with frightening speed. Within seconds, the two of them were enveloped with the slimy bodies of the river monsters. Serpentine creatures with immensely sharp teeth built for ripping apart their targets.

They watch their targets as they slowly drown.

The Draco held its breath but it wouldn’t last. It watched in horror as it saw the beasts in the dark. With its evolved eyes, it could see more than just shadows. Large serpentine creatures with blank eyes and razor-sharp teeth.

The Draco then tried to swim but quickly realized, something was holding its only working forelimb. Turning to it, the Draco saw Evelyn holding onto it with burning determination.

Then to its horror, Evelyn gave it a wide smile.

The Draco struggles and that was the call to dinner.

Hundreds. No, thousands of shadows swam forward with wide-open maws.

Evelyn smiled as the shadows overcame them while the Draco struggled in horror.

Being the larger of the two, the Draco was the first to be overwhelmed. It struggled and even breathed out fire, burning some of the creatures but it was not enough. There were simply too many for the dying Draco.

Evelyn was prepared to be overwhelmed as well but surprisingly, none of the creatures attacked her.

Many of them even swam toward her and hugged her with their bodies, seemingly thankful.

Evelyn watched as the mass of flesh and blood continued to fall. And when it was finally gone to the depths, she swam up.

Reaching the shore, Evelyn climbed and immediately stood up. Without resting, she rushes toward the elevator.

Using her newfound strength, she easily scales the high walls. While she looked calm, Evelyn’s inner thoughts were in turmoil.

Michael… Michael, please be alive…

Reaching the top of their home, Evelyn scrambles toward the rubble.

She sees the familiar figure of Bob moving away some of the rubble.

“BOB!”

Bob didn’t react but instead continued to shovel the rubble away.

Evelyn drops down beside him and starts doing so as well.

Silently, the two toil to remove the mountain.