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Chapter 46: I have to face them… alone.

Chapter 46: I have to face them... alone.

John lay sprawled against the jagged rock, pain screaming through every fiber of his body.

The sword embedded in his chest burned like molten iron, every breath drawing a fresh wave of agony.

But he clenched his jaw, refusing to pass out.

"I’m not... dying here..." he muttered, sweat mixing with the blood on his face.

He turned his head slowly, wincing as he caught sight of Caros lying motionless a few feet away.

The dagger was still lodged in his thigh, the veins around it darkening as the poison spread.

John’s pulse quickened.

He’s going to die if I don’t do something now.

Pushing through the haze, John dragged himself across the ground, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

His fingers trembled as he reached Caros’s spatial bag and began rummaging through it.

He pulled out talismans, beast cores, a bundle of dried jerky, even a folded pink robe that made him blink, but no pills.

"Where is it..." he hissed, grinding his teeth. "You better not die with all that smugness still on your face."

Finally, beneath a pile of tightly rolled scrolls, his blood-slicked fingers brushed against two crystal vials, glass-clear and glowing faintly.

One was a deep silver-blue, the other a vivid emerald green.

"A Superior Healing Pill and a Superior Poison Expelling Pill, they must be from Barnadon, Perfect," John gasped.

With trembling hands, he popped the green vial open and gently poured it into Caros’s mouth.

Caros’s body twitched, and his leg spasmed as the poison-fighting energies surged through him.

John didn’t wait to see if it worked.

He opened the Healing Pill, then hesitated, his eyes locking on the sword hilt sticking grotesquely out of his chest.

"This is going to hurt," he said, bracing himself.

Then, in one brutal motion, he ripped the blade free.

"AAARRRGGHHH!" he roared, his voice echoing through the crevice.

Blood sprayed from the gaping wound, but before he could collapse again, he shoved the silver-blue pill into his mouth.

The effect was near-instantaneous.

A cool, soothing energy surged through his body like a tide.

The gaping hole in his chest began to sizzle and pull together.

Skin, muscle, and sinew knit back into place, though the process still burned like fire.

He leaned against the stone wall, panting hard, his face pale but stabilizing.

John’s breath grew ragged as he looked down at his wound.

Blood still trickled steadily from the hole in his chest where the sword had been.

The Superior Heal Pill had managed to knit some of the deeper tissue back together, but it couldn’t replenish the Qi he’d lost.

That sword... it hadn’t just pierced his body, it had sucked most of the spiritual energy from his core like a leech starving for life essence.

He coughed, a small spurt of blood leaking from the corner of his lips. "Damn it..." he muttered, wiping it off with the back of his hand.

That’s when his eyes caught the slow, deliberate movement of something crawling toward him, low, slithering, heavy.

His heart dropped.

A giant lizard demon crept out from the thickets just ahead, each of its clawed limbs thudding against the ground like small earthquakes.

Its scales shimmered a dull bronze in the filtered sunlight, its eyes burning like twin embers.

Two scar-like streaks ran down its snout, giving it the appearance of an old, vengeful creature.

John’s Spatial Sense surged outward, brushing against the beast’s aura.

"Spirit Seed Realm," he whispered, grimacing. "If I were at full strength, this thing would barely be a warm-up..."

But in his current state?

He didn’t even want to imagine it.

His body ached with every breath, and his wound hadn’t closed fully.

If he moved too much, dodged or shifted or rolled, it would rip open again, worsening everything.

He’d already lost too much blood.

His vision was still slightly blurred.

If this lizard demon landed a single hit, it would be over.

"I need to end this quickly," John muttered, gritting his teeth. "No games. No drawn-out battle."

The lizard suddenly hissed.

Its tail swung violently, a blur in the air, slicing toward him like a steel whip.

John’s muscles twitched.

Instinct screamed at him to dodge completely, but he knew better.

If he moved too sharply, he might collapse from the pain or tear the fragile tissue the pill had just barely managed to stabilize.

Instead, he stepped back lightly, as carefully as he could, circulating his Slow Toad Breathing Skill with precision.

A wave of calm spread through him, not strength, but stillness.

His nerves cooled, and his hand clenched into a ready fist.

The lizard hissed again, more aggressive now.

Its jaws opened wide, revealing rows of jagged teeth coated in old blood.

With a thunderous shriek, it lunged.

John narrowed his eyes.

"I have to risk it..."

There wasn’t time to prepare his saber. There wasn’t room for mistakes.

All of his remaining Qi, what little wisps he had left, rushed to his forehead as he activated his Soul Piercing Gaze.

A crackling beam of concentrated spiritual light exploded from the center of his brow, burning through the air with blinding speed.

The beam hit the inside of the lizard’s open mouth just as it lunged in.

Its body froze mid-air, eyes bulging.

Then, a wet POP echoed across the cave, followed by a sickening squelch.

The creature’s head detonated in a mist of blood, brain matter, and shattered teeth.

Its limp, headless body landed hard on the ground, convulsed once, and then stopped.

John collapsed backward, his entire body trembling.

The pain... the exhaustion... it hit him all at once.

His Soul Piercing Gaze had drained the very last drops of Qi he had left.

Every inch of his body cried out for rest.

His limbs wouldn’t respond.

He blinked wearily, vision flickering.

Just a few meters away, the lizard’s spirit core gleamed, untouched in the sun-dappled grass.

So close... yet completely out of reach.

John tried to move, but all he could do was slump further against the stone behind him. "Damn it..." he groaned. "One more step... just one..."

But before he could close his eyes and fall into unconsciousness, something shifted in the air.

A pulse.

A ripple of dread crawled across his skin.

A deadly pressure, silent and ancient, descended on him like a shroud.

His eyes shot open, though every nerve begged for sleep.

Above him, in the dome-like hollow of the crevice’s ceiling, what had looked like mere darkness, began to take form.

Eyes.

Dozens of them.

No... hundreds.

John’s breath hitched.

His stomach twisted.

Rows upon rows of glowing, predatory eyes blinked open all at once, peering down at him from the black ceiling.

They stared.

They watched.

They... hungered.

John’s fingers tightened weakly.

"This isn’t over..."

The glowing eyes, which had moments ago only watched, now began to move, crawling downward from the ceiling onto the jagged stone walls of the crevice like an oozing tide of death.

He focused his blurred vision, squinting against the weight of his exhaustion.

That’s when he saw them clearly.

"Lizards..." he whispered hoarsely.

Hundreds of them.

Each one was similar to the demon he’d just barely killed moments ago, massive scaled bodies, slit-like pupils burning with eerie intelligence, teeth sharp enough to shatter bone.

And every single one was now crawling toward him with methodical precision, eyes locked onto his frail, collapsed form.

John’s breath caught in his throat. He didn’t even realize it, but his gaze shifted sideways, toward Caros, who was still lying on the rocky floor, unconscious.

His face was pale, his breathing shallow.

The poison was still working through his system.

He won’t wake up in time, John thought bitterly.

"I have to face them... alone."

The realization hit him like a hammer.

One lizard had cost him all of his Qi.

He’d had to gamble his life just to fire off a single Soul Piercing Gaze to take it down.

And now... now there were hundreds.

Dread clawed at his chest.

His vision swam with pain and fatigue.

For a moment, tears pricked the corners of his eyes—hot, helpless, bitter.

"Is this how I die...?"

A thousand images flashed in his mind, the pain of his transmigration, the prison cell he’d woken up in, the nights spent meditating under the threat of death, Riara’s smirk, Caros’s purple eyes, the system panel that had guided him, and the promise of strength he had sworn to chase.

He wanted to scream.

He wanted to curse the heavens.

But instead...

He took a breath.

One. Then two.

Slow. Deep. Steady.

His hands trembled slightly as he clenched them into fists.

"Think, John... Think..."

His mind scrambled for solutions.

Anything. An escape. A trick. A delay.

And then, like a spark in the darkness, a memory flashed before him.

"Brandon..." he muttered. "That bastard. He used some kind of Qi-boosting pill during our fight."

John’s eyes darted back to Caros’s spatial bag, which lay beside him.

Without wasting a second, he lunged forward, his ribs screaming in pain, and dragged the bag toward him.

His fingers, still slick with sweat and blood, struggled to unfasten it.

Inside, he rummaged frantically, pushing past bandages, scrolls, broken talismans, and a couple of healing pills.

Then he found it.

Another smaller spatial bag, golden, flamboyant, etched with an insignia in the shape of a flame-wrapped coin.

Brandon’s.

His heart leapt.

He tore the golden bag open and dumped its contents, vials of unknown pills, a few unused talismans, a small mirror, and a gleaming red pill that radiated an overwhelming Qi.

The pill almost hummed with energy, each swirl of crimson light on its surface rippling like molten lava trapped beneath glass.

"This..." John stared at it, and his instincts screamed one word, danger.

But also... power.

"This must have been his trump card. But he died before he could use it..." he muttered.

There was no time to consider side effects. No room for hesitation.

The lizards were halfway down the walls now, their claws scraping against the stone, tails slapping the ground, their hisses echoing like funeral drums.

John popped the pill into his mouth.

The moment it touched his tongue, fire exploded through his body.

He bit down, swallowing quickly, and clutched his chest as an unbearable heat surged into every cell in his being.

It was as if a furnace had been lit inside his dantian.

His veins lit up like burning rivers, glowing faintly through his skin.

He screamed.

Not in pain, but in overload.

The Qi was wild. Untamed. Vast.

It filled his core so quickly he felt like he was going to burst apart.

But then his breathing stabilized.

His mind cleared.

His limbs stopped trembling.

His wounds weren’t fully healed, but strength flooded back into his muscles, along with a searing clarity.

From a dying ember, he had become a rising inferno.

He rose to his feet.

And when he opened his eyes, they burned with a renewed light.

The lizards paused, only for a breath, sensing the shift.

Then, with a chorus of roars and screeches, they surged forward.

And John, grinning despite himself, raised his saber.

"Let’s dance."