I Became an Evolving Lizard in a Martial Arts Novel – Chapter 87

Chapter 87 A Source of Confidence

A thunderous roar, as if the heavens and earth were collapsing, reverberated.

The king of birds revealed its true form.

And standing against it was the largest Soaring Dragon, Hunhwi.

Hunhwi had originally been an ordinary dinosaur.

In fact, he could be called the smallest dinosaur, a Compy.

That was his true identity.

Aside from his peculiar appearance, which was a mix of black and white, he was no different from other Compys.

He was a very ordinary and small dinosaur.

Even now, he was just an ordinary-looking dinosaur.

Of course, his size had grown to be larger than the Snake Queen’s true form.

But that was the end of it.

He couldn’t fly, nor did he have horns or anything like that.

He was neither an Eastern dragon nor a Western one.

Yet, he was called the Soaring Dragon.

“Grrrr….”

The power of the black and white Soaring Dragon burst forth mightily.

Kwarurung!

A thunderous roar, reminiscent of the Eastern dragons known to control the weather, echoed.

But it was not some mystical ability of the Soaring Dragon.

He merely swung his hand filled with internal energy.

Chooeoeok!

Every time the Soaring Dragon swung his hand, gigantic trees fell helplessly.

“Indeed…. Not a trace of old age.”

The king of birds dodged all of Hunhwi’s attacks while flying in the air.

The overwhelming size of Hunhwi combined with the formidable power of Soaring Dragon’s Ascension Step was burdensome even for the king of birds flying in the sky.

If one only looked at the current situation, they might think the battle was flowing in Hunhwi’s favor.

But the two combatants knew who held the advantage.

The king of birds had never launched a single attack against Hunhwi.

The only attacks he used were occasionally firing destructive rays to break the supports.

“You know well how this battle will end.”

Chooeoeong!

The king of birds flew through the air, spewing flames from his mouth.

Again, this attack was only meant to keep Hunhwi in check.

If the king of birds used all his strength, he could probably defeat Hunhwi.

But he didn’t want that.

It wasn’t out of respect for his master.

On the contrary, he wished for his master’s death.

What he didn’t want was to use all his strength.

With Gokaduri dead and the Snake Queen on the loose, he had already taken hits.

There was no way the cunning Snake Queen would leave the king of birds alone if he used all his power.

The best move for the king of birds was to prolong the fight and achieve his goal.

His goal was to capture that peculiar lizard.

If Hunhwi retreated recklessly to save him, he could then strike a fatal blow.

His strategy was to keep dragging out the time and make Hunhwi impatient.

The longer this stalemate continued, the more overwhelmingly advantageous it would be for the king of birds.

The old lizard would become increasingly anxious over time and eventually make a mistake.

Even if he couldn’t kill Hunhwi, it didn’t matter.

“Your victory condition is to defeat me and return to your territory.”

The king of birds stared at Hunhwi with a pale face.

“On the other hand, I only need to keep you here to win.”

He deliberately stated his objective.

It was truly foolish to tell the enemy his plans.

But the king of birds had calculated even that.

There was no way the old lizard didn’t notice his intention.

Instead, by speaking the truth, he aimed to shake Hunhwi’s psychology.

To blur his judgment even a little.

To make him turn around and retreat to his territory immediately.

Boom.

Flash!

The fierce attack from the Soaring Dragon continued.

Kwarururung!

The king of birds dodged his attacks with a leisurely attitude.

Though powerful and fast, hitting the king of birds flying in the sky was no easy feat.

“Surely, you aren’t expecting your disciples, are you?”

Currently, all of Hunhwi’s disciples were insignificant.

There were a few stronger ones, but from the king of birds’ perspective, they were all the same.

Hunhwi only took in small creatures as disciples.

The small ones defeat the intruders.

That old master is having a futile delusion.

The king of birds smirked wickedly.

If he shattered that delusion, his will would also break.

“I sent an especially strong one. Stronger than Gokaduri. You know the strength of that monster.”

That monster.

Though it seemed like a casual remark, Hunhwi knew exactly what he meant.

He hesitated for a moment.

His words had struck home.

The king of birds cheered inwardly.

In that brief moment of distraction, the victory was bound to shift overwhelmingly.

Paak!

A tremendous light burst forth.

One of the abilities of the king of birds, the humanoid bird, was hypnosis.

Hypnotizing someone with deep internal energy like Hunhwi was almost impossible.

But amplifying the emotions within him was possible.

The humanoid bird amplified the anxiety within Hunhwi.

The Soaring Dragon’s body wavered.

Chooeoeoeong!

The humanoid bird’s mouth opened grotesquely, firing a beam of immense power.

There was another reason why he hadn’t directly attacked until now.

By attacking the surroundings and then aiming for the main body with such a variation.

The chance of hitting would inevitably increase.

Kwaggagagagak!

The humanoid bird’s destructive beam tore through the ground’s surface.

Though his goal was to drag out time, if there was a sure chance, he had to seize it.

“…Did I get him?”

There was no way he could have avoided it.

There was a reason why the king of birds was so confident.

There was a brief moment when Hunhwi showed an expression.

An expression similar to when the Snake Queen, the king of birds, and the Soaring Dragon had split.

That state of Hunhwi couldn’t possibly have avoided the attack.

The king of birds was confident of his victory.

Having dealt a fatal blow to his old master, he only needed to wait leisurely for the lizard to be cooked.

That’s what he thought.

Kwarururung!

Until he heard a sound akin to thunder.

Saaaak!

The terrifyingly powerful Soaring Dragon’s Ascension Strike brushed the humanoid bird’s forehead.

The king of birds doubted his own eyes.

He should have been directly hit by his attack.

The Soaring Dragon cherishes the small ones.

And a monster that can annihilate those small ones.

Hunhwi’s anxiety had definitely been amplified.

Yet, how did he avoid the attack?

Siiik.

The Soaring Dragon smiled.

And then mimicked the cry of a certain creature he had in mind.

“Gegegegek!”

The old master stared at his disciple.

The humanoid bird was momentarily flustered by the master’s eyes.

There was no sign of anxiety in his eyes.

As if he had something to rely on.

*

Shwaa.

Suddenly, rain began to pour from the sky.

Rain, it’s been a long time since it rained.

It rained when I first met the Caiman.

Getting wet made me feel nostalgic.

His size was similar to mine now.

Back then, the Caiman seemed so huge.

He looked like an insurmountable wall.

If it weren’t for Tail Cutting, I would have been eaten long ago.

…Yes, Tail Cutting.

I had forgotten about this guy’s existence.

No, saying I forgot would be misleading.

The mysterious skill, Tail Cutting, would assert its presence whenever it was almost forgotten.

But I decided not to question it anymore.

I had been saved by this skill more times than I could count.

If left alone, it would surely help again someday.

If I get tied up in spider webs again, it better help me then.

While I was having such idle thoughts.

Kwarurung!

Thunder roared from a distance.

Kwarung!

The thunder continued.

The large thing barely visible seemed like lightning.

If I get hit by that, I’m done for.

Even with the body of Komodo-Lania, it would be hard to withstand.

Luckily, it was a natural phenomenon, but imagine if someone used it intentionally.

It’s terrifying just to think about.

I played around with the Gecko family that settled next to me.

…No, I was training.

Hoping to possibly lift the miniaturization.

Sigh, when is that Compy old man coming?

At his speed, he should have circled the jungle by now.

I don’t know, he’ll come when he comes.

It was while I was admiring the slender legs of the Gecko lizards.

Saaaak.

My body tingled.

It was a sensation I had felt countless times.

Killing intent.

Someone filled with killing intent was coming this way.

“Gegegek!”

I urgently shouted.

I was warning the lizards lurking around me.

They tilted their heads, wondering why I was suddenly yelling, but a few perceptive lizards began to echo my cries.

“Kekekek!”

“Gerrk!”

“Geget!”

The lizards moved in unison.

It seemed the Compy old man had trained them.

The disciples of the Compy, including Coelophysis, evacuated the lizards.

There were a few dinosaur-origin disciples.

If they lifted their miniaturization, they would become a formidable force incomparable to the lizards.

But look at the killing intent coming from afar.

It was an insurmountable difference that their power could not overcome.

With the Compy old man gone, the defense here was laughably weak.

The strongest disciple was Coelophysis.

The

lizards were unusually strong, but in this situation, they would be of little help.

“Gegegek!”

The Geckos grabbed my arm with their cute little hands.

They wanted to run away together.

“Gek.”

I shook my head.

While everyone else fled, I walked in the opposite direction.

The faith in the Soaring Dragon was a flimsy one, relying solely on the Compy old man.

Look. As soon as the Compy was gone, everyone was running away.

Usually, there would be no problem.

The old man was always here.

Was it because my body had shrunk? The closer I got to the source of the killing intent, the harder it became to breathe.

If I had stayed with the Green Gecko, I would have grabbed a Gecko’s hand and fled without looking back.

An enemy attacking as soon as the old man disappeared.

And the old man left because of me.

It was an ironic situation.

The old man probably left because he felt reassured with me here.

He must have thought I could somewhat replace him.

And knowing I wouldn’t run away without looking back.

…What a cunning old man.

Even though this fight wasn’t planned, there was no choice.

Foolish intruder.

Show yourself.

“Gegegek!”

“Kwawoooong!”

【Megatherium lv40】

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【Megatherium】

A type of ground sloth, its body length can reach up to 6 meters, shoulder height up to 2 meters, and weight up to 4.6 tons.

Comparable in size to an African elephant, its scientific name also means ‘giant beast.’

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…It’s quite big.