*Swooooosh!

"ORAAAGHHH!

" Hannes runs at top speed straight towards the earth lizard.

"That damned fool! Didn´t he just see what happend to Nolan!

" Cursing out loud, Serran hastily guided his mana to the ground.

As the earth lizards came swiping towards Hannes's side with terrifying strength, just before the tail managed to ram at Hannes, a huge burst of lifeforce came out of Hannes's body which made his muscles bulge to the next level.

Jumping right as the tail came to his position, he pierced his spear to the earth lizard's tail like a heavy anchor in the ground, making the whole tail halt for a moment.

"Gwaaagh!

"

"How you like that you bastard!?

" Hannes said as he pushed his spear much deeper to the ground.

But as soon as the earth lizard had turned once again to his original position, the spear shook continuously while making creaking sounds.

"Oh, crap...

"

"You huge idiot! Get away from it!

" Serran yelled while finishing his spell.

"Earth Spikes!

"

With the mana gathering below the ground of the earth lizard tail, one by one, four earth spikes penetrated through the tail itself.

"Gwaaaagh!

" Screaming with his tongue out, it tried to pull his tailback, but with not much success.

*Crack~

"Huff~Huff, getaway...

" Serran said with heavy breathing while being on his knees.

Hearing him, Hannes quickly moved away after taking a last look at his spear.

"Dammit! I even liked that spear!

"

"Then you shouldn´t have done that fancy move of yours in the first place...

" Danzel mutter to himself, as he too finished one of his spells.

Below the struggling earth lizard, a sudden stone wall rose and hit the earth lizard jaws.

Pushing his jaw forcibly upwards, made the earth lizard bit his own tongue and fall to the ground, which resulted in a defining scream of pain.

"GWAAAAAAAGHHH!

"

*Crack~Crack!

With it flailing around in pain, cracks in the earth spikes together with the spear started to appear, they looked like they couldn´t hold the beast for much longer.

Seeing that the earth lizard lost his mind, Merrick turned to Danzel with a disdainful look.

"Hey, you! Continuing this any further with that things regeneration would only spell our doom!

" Pointed at the earth lizard with this finger, or rather this eye, Merrick started to dash.

"It's eyes though don´t regenerate as fast! I will use whatever I have left to get the eye while you finish it later!

"

"...

" Nodding his head, Danzel raised this hand and looked blankly ahead.

`Alright, with this I only got to finish the deed and get out of here!´ Merrick though he used a variant of abilities to enchant his spear similar to Nolan and his body.

Merrick who was closing in the raging earth lizard but all this hesitation away.

His decision didn't come from nowhere.

Although as much as he hated doing this job, he concluded that this was the only way.

As he consider the earth lizard's notorious regeneration and top of it being an anomaly, he heavily doubted that they will be capable of actually finishing it off before they exhausted themself.

Not only was one of them dead, their backline completely crumbled with their magic caster seemingly exhausted his mana, but their archer also seemed to be in a state of panic.

`That muscle head with now his spear lost would be of no help, which makes me and that murderer the only capable to fight.' Although he looks stronger and faster than I, with his armor...´

Merrick, who by diligence alone was capable of ascent to the middle tier of the 2nd-tier without possessing any kind of talent, knew that ignorance would be his demise.

Just by a glance of the speed and strength that Danzel showcased, it was enough for him to get a grasp of his strength, even if only a little.

`Probably in the high end of the 2nd-tier, at best the lowest of a 3rd-tier...´

If he managed to completely blind the beast and let Danzel fight that thing to the death, he was confident that he could escape from here.

Consider that the heavy armor would Danzel off and the three others being bait, leaving this place would be a piece of cake.

"But first I got give that guy some hope against that thing...

" Tightening his grip on his spear, he closed in on the earth lizard.

Grasping a glimpse from the side of his eye, the earth lizard in his rage swung his leg while sweeping the ground together at Merrick.

"I ain´t like that idiot!

" Making a huge jump back, the swinging leg went past him.

Using that opening, he jumped at the leg of the raging earth lizard, and using this leg as his own footing, he pushed himself closer to the earth lizard face.

"Take that!

" Holding his spear, on one hand, he pushed the whole spear deeply into the earth lizard's eye.

"GWAAAAAGHGH!

"

"That´s my take-off,

" Merrick said as he quickly pulled the spear out and pushed himself away with his leg on the earth lizard's nose.

*Baagh!

With the extreme pain going through his body, the earth lizard forcibly pulled his tail out of the spear while destroying the earth's spikes.

`Although if given the time I could probably push the spear much deeper to his bastard's head, just blinding it is fine. Staying anymore and I could be joining that annoying brick, Nolan.´ Merrick thought in relief, although the earth lizard's huge mouth tried to bite him, he felt relaxed.

Since he pushed himself in advantage he would be of no further danger. Once he step to the ground and created some distance he could make a run of it after he made sure that Danzel would battle it.

Though his plan was overall risky and dangerous, he would make it out alive.

"It´s now you turn Danz-

" As he tried to call his scapegoat out to take his place, he came to a sudden halt.

Literally.

"Huh?

" Feeling something pressing his leg, he looked down only for his eyes to widen up.

"Wha-!

"

Seeing the blue glow mesmerizing his eyes, he stared in shock at the two blue hands holding his leg.

`Mana Arms!?´

Seeing the similar color and form of what was in front of his eyes, he immediately recognized that spell from the time he was in the academy long in the past.

One of the spells that were known as the most useless and basic to learn to the point by just learning in would receive the mocking of having wasted his time learning such spell.

And currently, right in front of him, he was witnessing this very spell stopping his momentum and even slowly pulling him towards the mount of the earth lizard!

"Let me go!

"

Forcibly using his mana to make his arm swing faster with his spear on the hands, with just a hit both the mana arms shattered with the blue mana fading in the air.

Unfortunately for Merrick, the damage was already done.

With a shadow befalling on top of him, he stared at the huge mouth that was closing up to him with dread.

As the mouth was close to devouring him, the world seemed to come to a halt while images of his life were flashing in front of him.

From being a bastard's son of a great mage with high hopes to learn magic in the academy to impress his father, later to find out how he wasn´t talented and soon after to be completely abandoned by his own father. Unable to accept his fate, he worked hard to become stronger for one day to prove the people that looked down on him wrong.

But after turning at the age of 34, he finally accepts this fate of being one of the masses, an extra. Upon that realization, he dealt with many bad figures, with the hammerheads being one of them.

He didn´t understand why he deserved such a life.

And as soon as the images came into the blue mana arms holding him down, he forgot of anything else and turned to see who the culprit was behind the spell.

The first person he looked at was Serran who was their magic caster, but seeing his condition he crossed him out of the list.

Shortly after his sight landed on Serah and Hannes where one was panicking and the other going to get his destroyed spear.

Once he glanced at Danzel though, his eyes froze.

Unlike where the others focused on other things, Danzel in comparison had his eyes locked with his own.

Although one hand was grabbing the helmet as if he had a headache and the helmet itself covering his eyes.

He knew that he was looking at him.

As he remember how Danzel used a spell before, his eyes were filled with rage and hatred.

"You traito-!

"

Closing up the mouth, the earth lizard raised his head into the sky.

*Gulp

Seeing the earth lizard shallowing the annoyance down to his stomach, Danzel had a big grin on his face.

"Deadman tell no tales....

"