Whether it was a dragon or a human didn't matter anymore. Elric's conscience refused to let him turn back—not after witnessing this madness firsthand.
Despite the confusion and fear clawing at his gut, he couldn't just abandon the unconscious girl to be devoured by monsters. His grandmother had raised him better than that. One lesson she drilled into him like a school project deadline was clear: Never ignore someone in need.
Now, his eyes burned with a strange kind of determination. He scanned the crater where the girl lay, mostly buried in dirt and surrounded by scorched trees. Her long black hair covered her face and body, shielding her modesty from the rain that still poured from the heavens like a busted faucet.
Elric's soaked slippers squelched in the mud as he crouched behind a broken log. The forest around him hissed with cold rain and distant growls—reminders of the chaos not far off. He had to be quick. If his Lola followed him out here and saw this mess, she'd bury him herself—and then haunt him for eternity.
But the real danger wasn't family drama. It was the two monsters brawling just beyond the treeline.
The infamous Manananggal—a flying, intestine-dangling, bat-winged nightmare—and a furious Kapre, three meters tall and swinging tree branches like baseball bats, were still locked in a monstrous duel. Their fight shook the woods, scattering debris and flinging mud like a typhoon with fists.
Elric dared not draw their attention. He was already hanging by a thread—one wrong move and he'd become monster hors d'oeuvres. This was beyond Dota, beyond anime, and definitely not covered in his high school survival classes (which didn't exist, by the way).
"This time... curiosity might actually kill my poor graphic-artist ass," he muttered under his breath, half-joking, half-panicking.
Crouching low and breathing through his nose, Elric crept inch by inch toward the crater. Every step felt like a gamble. He ducked behind rocks, slithered beneath branches, and prayed his muddy footsteps wouldn't give him away.
Off in the distance, the screeches and bellows continued:
"Kyaaaheeii! Heii-heii!~""RAAAWWWRRHH!"
The Kapre's mighty branch whooshed through the air again—but the Manananggal cackled and zipped around it like a haunted wasp, leaving deep slashes across the Kapre's back.
Though massive and powerful, the Kapre couldn't land a single blow. The Manananggal, cunning and fast, danced through the sky and taunted the giant with gory laughter.
Their duel soon took them deeper into the woods, their yells and roars fading. Elric waited a beat longer, then made his move.
"Alright… go, go, go—!" he hissed to himself.
He bolted from his hiding spot, scrambled down the slick edge of the crater, and threw his soaked blue T-shirt over the girl's body to preserve her dignity.
That's when he truly saw her.
Even half-buried in dirt and soaked in rain, she was… stunning. Her faintly glowing skin pulsed like heated metal. Her features were delicate—like a porcelain doll, not a creature of fire and fury. Her hair was long, black, and silk-smooth even when wet. Her small lips and soft cheeks were almost unreal.
Is this even real? he wondered. Is she human? Or… is this a dragon in disguise?
Suddenly, her eyes flew open—and Elric's breath caught in his throat.
They were reptilian. Serpent-like pupils, vertical and slit, floated in irises of glowing green and red, like fireworks trapped in glass. Her gaze locked onto him with startling clarity.
She spoke in a sharp voice he couldn't understand.
"Bùyào pèng wǒ!" she shouted, her tone fierce—furious.
Before Elric could react, she whipped her arm—and him—into the air.
"AAAH!"
He flew backward like a ragdoll in a typhoon, crashing down several meters away in a wet heap.
What the hell was that?! Did she just throw me like a piece of laundry?!
Elric groaned, staring up at the grey sky as rain splashed his face.
"Okay… not a regular girl. Not even a tsundere anime girl. That was full-on ogre strength."
She had said something in Chinese—at least, he thought it was Chinese. He didn't understand it, but the message was clear:
Don't. Touch. Me.