73 One duvodiad appeared ...

The commandant barely had the time to take a step back before a huge mouth pierced the hot sand and ate his arm. His previously majestic posture, his saber proudly pointing at the sky was no more. Under the intense pain that was the result of the loss of his limb, the man stumbled backward and fell on his butt, retaining with a great effort his scream of pain. Profiting of the shock of everyone, the snake didn't linger any longer and use the momentum of his assault to attack a group of warriors. Seeing the dark hole, filled with fangs sharper than steel, coming far too quickly toward them, no one managed to react in time.

"AARGH" "AAA MY LEGS!" "WHAT IS THIS THING?"

Screams of fear, pain, and confusion filled the air as three soldiers were violently swallowed by the huge monster, and two others had some of their limbs torn apart. In barely a few seconds, the brutal assault began and ended. Leaving only a relatively organized army, shaking out of fear. Everyone was used to battle with the different monsters inside the desert, and casualties were never avoidable during those skirmishes.

But nothing, absolutely nothing, ever attacked them directly in their base. The only safe haven for them, in the entire desert, was no more. "CALM YOURSELVES, PREPARE FOR THE NEXT ATTACK!" The commandant, holding his left arm that was bleeding, tried his best to prevent anyone from fleeing. The worst thing that could happen would be that since they had no chances of surviving if it did happen. Without noticing themselves, every group began to shrink a bit, their members seeking a closer companion.

Normally, it could have been a good idea, but when the ground began to rumble again, instead of only 3 men missing, seven were killed by the already closed maw of the snake. Only its head was leaving the ground, and its escape was already achieved when they turned their sights at it. After that, not even the two efforts combined of Adin and the injured commandant managed to prevent a few men to panic and tried to escape.

They barely made a few steps outside of the range of the torches before screams began to resonate, lingering in the air for a second. After that, no shadows were moving, and the very pale lights coming from the moons showed nothing moving in the desert. A few clouds were obscuring the sky, but it was barely enough to let them notice forms in the darkness. Some soldiers that were late of a few seconds stopped right in their tracks and waited a bit to see where their former peers were.

One, more coward or brave than the others, tried to make walk away. But when his foot knocked a broken sword buried in the ground, he turned around, shouting loudly. "THEY ARE DEAD! WE CAN'T ESCAPE! WE ARE DOOMED, WE HAVE NO CHA…" His beheaded head flew in the night, putting an end at his pessimistic words. The lieutenant was watching the rest of the deserters, slowly cleaning his blade. They didn't dare to suffer the same fate and returned inside the center of the encampment.

Nodding at this resourceful man, Adin took note that if they ever escaped this ordeal, this man will definitely be rewarded. "As you can see, no one will be able to outrun this monster. Don't be mistaken, it is either us or it. Now, don't stand in groups like that, spread out. I want every man to be at least half of a meter away from his next neighbors. Every hit will count, so be prepared to strike at any moment."

That was the extent of what they could do. The terrified army obliged to the orders of Adin, since their only other choices would be to be eaten. Turning around to face the female magus, Adin only saw fear and panic. She was attending the injured commandant, and his injury already stopped bleeding. Without even bothering to turn around, she answered the questions of Adin.

"I'm sorry, commandant Adin but, this monster is far too quick. The moment I manage to finally track it down, it already has attacked and killed more soldiers. The only reason I was able to sense him the first time was because of the closeness. I am barely weaker than magus Khala and if even he didn't manage to beat it, our only hope is the bombs. But you know…"

"Yes, I know." Since he arrived here, he lamented about the fact that he inflicted such a heavy attack on the monster that he probably made it more careful. From the beginning, that snake never approached the tent of the commandant, where the bombs were put nearby. Even when it attacked the commandant, it was only when he stood up in front of the crowd and approached the soldiers.

"AAAAAAJ MY ARM!" More screams and obviously, more deaths. In the illuminated plaza in the center of the base, more and more soldiers were dying. Some managed to at least slash at the incoming monster, but as expected, the sturdy scales nullified those weak attacks. The next minutes were a pure torment for every human, seeing their friends, colleagues, dying one by one, being so powerless at doing anything to prevent that.

The rare moments the snake stayed above the surface of the desert long enough for the magus to do something, her spells were still not enough. Whether it was [Blizzard], [Burning Hand] or even other powerful sorceries, they barely slowed down the monster. As she further and further launched assault after assault, the dim light of hope that resided in the eyes of the soldiers was irreversibly snapped out. For them, there was nothing a magus could not do. But now, they realized it was not true.

From the hundreds and hundreds of warriors that were suddenly awakened, only less than one hundred still survived. On the ground, bloodied limbs and destroy equipment were dispersed, between two shuddering soldiers. Now, holes of more than a few meters could be observed, brutal signs of the absence of humans.

Not capable of seeing this gruesome spectacle anymore, Adin suddenly grabbed the normal bomb, filled with powerful fire magic and presented himself in the middle of the plaza. Carrying the deadly device in one of his arms, and his saber in the other, he taunted the creature, to leave his underground hole.

"COME HERE YOU FOOL SNAKE! I AM STILL ALIVE, EVEN AFTER YOU KILLED ALL OF MY MEN! SHOW YOURSELF!" The once proud and confident commandant was slowly losing his mind, and the feeling that his end was near was getting bigger and bigger. His reckless action was the direct result of his inner fear, that he was trying to hide as much as he could.

But his sentences apparently meant nothing to the monster, that instead ate another soldier a few meters away from Adin. And then another. And another. The closest soldiers were picked off one by one, and the rest of the warriors began to distance themselves with Adin. Because the plaza was no longer filled with living beings, they were capable of creating an empty circle around Adin, of at least ten meters.

Seeing the soldiers fearing him as much as the snake, Adin finally snapped out and began to furiously hacked the ground with his saber. He moved erratically, and as his steps were bringing him closer to one warrior, the latter immediately backed off and escaped in panic. The injured commandant, the lieutenant and even the magus were the witnesses of that pitiful spectacle. The problem was that they didn't know what to do, and could only see the rest of the camp slowly losing their minds.

It took a while, but in the end, only Adin stayed in the open. The rest of the army, they were all gone. Slowly and steadily, a single monster managed to annihilate two forward bases by itself. The only survivors where the four breathing beings that were close to the commandant tent and Adin. By no one was even remotely moving. What they had seen will be engraved in their memory for the rest of their, probably short, lives.

Breathing loudly, as he was gasping for oxygen, Adin fell on his knees, totally defeated. Tears were slowly falling on his cheeks. He had tried everything he could. When he saw the last soldier being eaten, he knew that they were truly doomed. Even if they had the powers of the magical bombs, he was certain that the monster won't let them escape. And from the information given by the magus, the next time someone will arrive is in a month.

"COME HERE YOU BASTARD! I AM WAITING FOR YOU!" He howled at the intention of the snake, waiting for him to finally appear. But only silence greeted him. Dropping his saber, he took the bomb with his two hands, looking for an answer. He marveled at the details on that relatively inconspicuous thing, that had so much power in it. It was shaped like a dodecahedron, meaning that it was a cube with 12 faces. That way, it was not quite a sphere but was far more stable than one.

For the first time, he truly wondered what was the indestructible material that was used to protect its good. It had a silver color, a slightly metallic one, similar to steel. But it was far more durable than steel, and one of the faces, there was a little hole. Just a bit of mana spread in that hole, and the bomb was armed to explode. This particularity prevented some soldiers to manipulate it, but nearly all the officers were magicians of the 1st Circle. Adin barely scratched the 2nd Circle, so he was capable of arming the bomb by himself.

If he did it right now, the bomb would explode five seconds later. But that was only if he used a bit of mana. If he emptied all the reserve of mana in his body, he could make himself instantly explode with the bomb. This behavior wouldn't have crossed his mind a day ago, and he would have violently slapped anyone with this kind of idea. But now, if he could at least take the monster with him in his death …

Raising his head, he saw two eyes looking at him from the edge of the desert. It was looking at him just beyond the circle of torches, like a predator waiting for its prey. Slowly, the immense body still buried under the sand appeared to the sight of the few humans still alive. As the monster approached, he meticulously knocked down every lantern and torch planted on the ground, obscuring their vision.

The only female began to cast a spell, to finally do something, but the injured commandant put his hand on her arm. He shook his head, signaling her that it would be pointless. The moment her spell would be unleashed; the monster will just dig to the underground. Now that their enemy finally showed itself, why waste this opportunity with something useless?

But to their surprise, the snake began to contort itself, like it was in pain. It squirmed on the ground, trashing everything around it, and Adin had no choice but to back off. Everyone was baffled by that sight, not knowing what was happening? "Maybe …" The feeble voice of the lieutenant made everyone turned to face him.

"Maybe, it ate so many armored soldiers that its stomach can't handle it?" That idea was so weird, so strange, that it made everyone froze for a second. But the small seed of doubt still grew, because it was the only logical explanation. What else could make the living nightmare that was in front of him act like this?

Because of this, no one tried to attack the monster, letting it suffer alone. But to their surprise, it not only squirmed, but it also shrunk. More and more, the huge snake finally ended up the size of a human. And then, limbs began to grow on its scaly skin. His reptilian head turned rounder and rounder, hair even began to grow. Immobilized by this never seen spectacle, none of them had any idea of what was happening. Finally, what remained was just a tall, hairy and feral human, looking at them with a smile oddly animal.