Lizarius, his golden eyes glowing, his mouth covered in blood, turned towards them.
Trying to run? he thought.
As lightning crackled on his body once more.
The Senior Brother saw this, despair flooding him.
It's going to kill me! No, I need to run away! I can't die here! But he found he couldn't move—he was utterly paralyzed.
Lizarius swung his tail.
Golden scales, imbued with crackling lightning, burst forth, cutting through the air towards Senior Brother Li.
Dammit, I'm going to die without even being able to fight back!
The golden scales slammed into his chest, punching clean through him.
Blood sprayed from his mouth as the force of the impact hurled him backward.
The projectiles whizzed past the fox, still crouched nearby, and embedded deep into the rocky cave wall. Li coughed violently.
Crimson trickled from his lips as his vision dimmed.
A final breath escaped him. He collapsed. Dead.
Lizarius licking the blood from his maw and slowly turned his glowing golden eyes toward the fox.
Crap… the fox thought, its heart thudding in its chest. Is it going to kill me too? I thought I found a lifeline… but this is a death sentence in disguise…
But instead of attacking, Lizarius snorted, then turned back to his meal, tearing into Junior Sister Yue Ruo corpse.
The fox blinked. It didn't attack? Relief hit, but it was quickly drowned out by pain. A burning ache tore through its side. Blood dripped steadily from a deep gash across its stomach. It clenched its jaw. Crap… I really am going to die if I don't heal…
It looked at Lizarius again, devouring the human corpse. Wait… it only attacked the human. Maybe… because he tried to run? I didn't move. I didn't try to escape. That must be it. If I stay still… it won't see me as a threat. That means I can heal. I just need time…
Slowly, cautiously, the fox lowered its body to the ground. Its eyes never left Lizarius.
Without making a sound, it curled into a tight ball, closed its eyes, and began to circulate its spiritual energy.
Warmth current spread through its core as it guided the energy toward its wounds.
Minutes passed.
System Notification: Gained 3,000 Evolution Points.
Across the cave, Lizarius finished devouring Junior Sister Yue Ruo. licking the blood on his fangs, then turned his body and stalked over to the corpse of Senior Brother Li's lying in a pool of blood. His golden eyes glowed with primal hunger.
As he sank his teeth into his flesh tearing off a peace of flesh and started eating, his gaze flicked to the fox—still curled up, faint spiritual energy glowing softly around it.
"Hmm… what is that?" he thought.
System Analysis: Target: Demonic Fox
Rank: Foundation Establishment – Tier 3
Bloodline: Common Illusion Fox
A cunning beast with weak physical strength and defense, but a dangerous illusion ability.
Ability – Illusory Gaze:
Traps targets in illusions through eye contact. Highly effective on weaker minds, but easily resisted by strong-willed opponents.
Strengths: Mental manipulation
Weaknesses: Poor in direct combat
Lizarius grunted. "Foundation Establishment… Tier 3?"
System Note:
Foundation Establishment is the initial cultivation phase for beasts after their Core has formed.
Lizarius thought. So I'm at Foundation Establishment as well… He bit down again on Senior Brother Li, tearing muscle from bone. For now, he ignored the fox.
Minutes later, the fox uncurled and slowly opened its eyes.
It looked across the cave, watching Lizarius—still devouring the human.