103 Hibernation

"Kill him and I'll waive your quota for a year!" Samantha yelled towards the men.

A large blond man stepped forward while pounding his bandaged fists together. "Sorry lad. It's nothing personal." He rushed forward and threw a strong right-hook.

Ed caught the incoming fist and took a step back. 'Another powerful esper.' He sighed as scales began covering his body. He glared at the man. "You know, I really hate espers stronger than me."

"Is that so." The man laughed. "There's always somebody better. A higher mountain and all that. Best get used to it now."

Ed frowned as the other men began closing in. Unlike the blond man, they wielded spears and swords. Three spears stabbed towards him at once. He hurriedly dodged backwards only to be slashed by a sword, leaving a large bloody gash on his back. "Ugh." He groaned as he looked around the encirclement. There was no way out except for escaping back the way he came. He glanced at Samantha, who was casually watching the fight. He looked back-and-forth between her and the tunnel he could use to escape. There were also some lava lakes and rivers nearby he could dive into, but that was even more likely to kill him.

'Fuck it.' He shook his head as he turned his back on the tunnel, preparing himself to launch a suicidal battle. 'If I try escaping, they'll just hunt me down. The last thing I need to do is get forced into other caverns. She should know this area of the maze better than me. It'd be foolish to run into her traps.' His feelings resolved, he no longer held back. He stayed close to the ground as he charged forward on all four limbs, mimicking the combat style he had often seen Ochre use in the past. It proved to be effective as the swordsmen and spearmen struggled to adjust their fighting styles.

Ed dived towards the nearest esper and grabbed ahold of his leg, twisting his torso around his body as he did so. The esper quickly fell to the ground with him. Claws grew on Ed's hands and feet as he crushed his opponent's skull. A spearman tried stabbing him in the back, but he quickly scurried to the side, making it so that the spearman stabbed his own dead teammate instead. With the spear wedged in the dead body, Ed was easily able to counterattack. A crocodile tail sprouted from his body and whipped across the spearman's chest. A crunching sound echoed as the spearman was blasted backwards, crashing into a cavern wall.

"Who's next!" Ed growled as he picked up the abandoned spear from the dead body.

Many espers stared in shock at the monster in front of them. They thought they had signed up for an easy task to meet their quotas and curry favor with a guard. But instead, they were facing something that normally only existed in nightmares.

The blond man from earlier stepped forward again. It seemed he was the de facto leader of the bunch. "I love a good fight." He smiled while looking towards his men. "Stay out of it. I'll beat him myself."

'Confident.' Ed's eyes gleamed. He rushed forward while the man was still distracted, throwing his spear towards the man's neck.

"Woah!" The blond man jumped back, a small nick appearing on his neck due to the spear. "That's playing dirty." He laughed. "I can play that way too." He partially unwrapped his bandaged fists, leaving the bandages hanging down from them. He threw a punch forward and the bandages followed, tearing through the air.

Ed hurriedly dodged and watched as the bandages directly sliced into the cavern floor. 'Flexible manullium metal?' He wondered. He stayed low to the floor as he rushed forward again. Unfortunately, the blond man was far better than his companions. Whenever Ed got close, the esper flung the metal bandages forward, forcing him to fall back or take injuries.

The fight dragged on as Ed repeatedly approached and fell back. The longer it went on, the more injuries both men accumulated. Ed had to trade blows whenever he wanted to get a hit in. By now, he was covered in blood. His breathing was ragged as he heavily gasped for air. Slowly, his eyes began turning red, and his teeth grew sharper. 'Damn!' He forced himself to stay conscious, knowing he was just a single step away from losing himself once again.

The blond man wasn't much better off than Ed. Though his wounds were less severe overall, his body lacked the natural defenses and healing capabilities of a chimera. The fact that he was stronger didn't end up helping half as much as his proficiency with the metal bandage blades. Wearily eyeing his opponent, he rose an arm into the air. "Men! Attack!" He yelled.

"What?!" Ed replied in shock as he looked around himself. With the exception of the ponytail pilot, all of the remaining espers were closing in on him. 'Why?' He wondered. Until now, the blond man had fought honestly and honorably.

"Sorry." The blond man sighed while shaking his head. "We'll call it a draw officially, but my men will finish you off. I know better than to risk my life killing a wounded animal."

Bu-bump. Bu-bump. Bu-bump. Ed's heart beat faster and faster. He grew dizzy from breathing all the purple smoke, not to mention his lack of food and sleep in recent days. Still, he forced himself to stay awake. His tail slammed against the ground, propelling him towards the nearest esper. His foot landed right on the esper's neck, pushing the man to the ground and killing him.

Ed quickly kicked off again, accepting a stab wound to his waist in order to push past several men. It only took him a few moments to break out of the encirclement, but he had taken several severe wounds in the process. A sword had cut through almost half of his upper arm. Three more spears had stabbed deep bloody holes into his shoulder, leg, and stomach. His vision grew darker, but he didn't lose focus. He concentrated on his target. It wasn't the blond man whom he had already almost defeated. Instead, he planned to take out the ringleader, Samantha. If she was dead, then the espers had no incentive to kill him. It was his only chance.

"DIE!" Ed growled as he ran forward on all four limbs, his tail repeatedly pushing him forward.

"You're underestimating me." Samantha smiled as she threw away her cloak, revealing her toned body. She hadn't taken her weighted clothing with her, so she was already primed to fight. "HA!" She screamed as she hurled her fist forward.

Ed didn't even try to avoid the blow. A snapping sound rang out as he felt several of his ribs breaking. He wrapped himself around her arm and slithered forward, his mouth agape as he aimed to bite into her neck.

"GET OFF!" She yelled as she slammed her other fist into his back. Ed ignored the pain as he quickly bit down. She hurriedly tilted her head away from him, causing him to miss. His teeth sank into her shoulder close to the neck instead. "AGHHH!" She screamed in pain as Ed's needle-like teeth tore through her flesh. "FUCKING! LET! GO!" She yelled as she repeatedly slammed her fist into Ed's head.

Ed held on stubbornly, refusing to budge a single centimeter. His tail wrapped around her legs, preventing her from running, and his hands restricted her arms. Her blows grew weaker due to the limited range of movement, but the other espers would be able to help her in just a few seconds. Knowing he had limited time, he held nothing back as he shook his head back and forth, digging deeper and deeper into her shoulder. Finally, when the espers were just about to attack him, he pushed off her body and jumped backwards, tearing a large chunk of her flesh as he went.

"AHHH!!!" She screamed in horror as a huge portion of her shoulder went missing. Blood from the wound sprayed everywhere. Ed had seemingly managed to rupture the artery in her neck despite mostly biting into her shoulder. Panicked, she quickly applied pressure to the wound. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to help. Her eyes slowly grew vacant, and her breathing grew heavy. She struggled to speak, her voice barely managing a hoarse whisper. "Why didn't you run...? I had prepared so much. I had-" Her words were cut off as she collapsed to the floor. It was unknown if she was just unconscious or already dead.

"Damn!" The blond man frowned as he looked over her body. He glanced at the wounded Ed, who remained standing despite all of the gashes and holes covering his body. The blond man bent down and picked up the ponytail pilot in a princess-style carry. "Fall back." He ordered in a deep voice.

"He's almost dead! We can finish him!" A fat esper confidently stepped forward.

"I said fall back!" The blond man yelled. "What's the point of killing him when the guard is on the verge of death? Who will grant us our reward? We can't afford to sacrifice any more of our men to him. We're going to be busy enough trying to save our own asses once the Warden finds out about this."

The fat esper hesitated, glancing back-and-forth between Ed and the blond man. "Tsk." He clicked his tongue as he turned around, returning to the other espers. The blond man nodded towards Ed before leading his group to leave through the nearby tunnel.

"Huff! Huff!" Ed stood alone in the cavern, a pool of blood forming beneath his feet. 'I won.' He grinned to himself in satisfaction. There was nearly zero chance of them being able to save the ponytail pilot. Things hadn't gone quite as he planned, but he had rid himself of his biggest enemy in the cage. Unintentionally, he allowed himself to relax, feeling relieved at finally being able to take a breather. Unfortunately, that was the final straw that broke the camel's back. All tension left his body as he fell to the floor unconscious.

...

A tiny crocodile lazily swam through the river, his red eyes glaring at anything that came nearby. As he swam through the river, he entered new territories. Rain fell from the skies, and he happily bathed within it. However, the storm grew worse as he continued swimming upriver. Eventually, lightning began to fall, landing upon the small croc's body. He roared in pain as he tried escaping the river, only to be sucked into a whirlpool. After forcing his way out of the whirlpool, he was met with an icy tundra. Freezing, he travelled across the wasteland, trying to find a more comfortable dwelling. When he finally escaped, he was greeted by a hellish landscape of flames that scorched his body. It seemed the further he travelled, the worse things got.

Conflicted, the croc debated on going back the way he came. It was at that time that he spotted a nearby lion. It towered majestically over the croc, seemingly unbothered by the weather phenomenon surrounding them. Anger and humiliation swelled within the croc's heart as he watched the lion having such an easy time. However, another emotion overshadowed any other. 'HUNGRY!' The croc's eyes turned blood red as it scurried towards the lion. He could already picture the delicious meal resting pleasantly within his stomach.

The lion snorted as it looked down upon the pathetic lizard. He swiped his paw towards it, planning to teach it a proper lesson. However, his eyes widened in shock as the lizard bit onto his ankle.

The croc held on for dear life as he bit into the lion's leg, swallowing as much flesh as he could. The lion soon managed to shake him off, knocking him back several meters. The croc had no hesitation as he charged forward again, biting into another chunk of flesh. The battle lasted for what felt like a very long time. Days? Weeks? It was hard to say, but the crocodile finally won. Feasting on his meal, a small purple orb fell from the lion's head. Staring at the orb, the croc felt a mix of trepidation and temptation. His mouth watered, and soon, he gave into his instincts. He swallowed the orb whole, delighted at finally feeling full. However, that delight was soon replaced by extreme horror. His stomach burned with what could only be described as the fury of the sun. The heat was soon replaced by extreme cold, as if his stomach was encased in a block of ice. Shock and other unusual feelings followed, alternating as they went. The croc struggled to keep moving forward, hoping to find something that could relieve the pain. He eventually crossed a sea of plasma and lightning. Finally, He was unable to withstand the pain. The croc entered a deep coma, going to sleep for a very long time.