Chapter 11 - Overlord Salamander
The hidden current grew stronger and stronger. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t gain control over my movement. Instead, my body was carried forward by the rush of water, while the enormous monster followed right behind.
Most of its body was submerged, creating ma.s.sive waves in the water. The cavern was too dark to see much else, as such, I could only hearand not see. Based off of the noise, its body was at least seven to eight meters long.
Towards the final section of the river, the current was at its strongest. All four of us were afraid of being separated and so we held each other close, tumbling towards the next cavern.
Below us was an enormous underground river. The temperature of the water was abnormally high and there were several other smaller currents that were similar to the one we pa.s.sed through that sprouted from the walls of the mountain. They almost looked like enormous pipes that converged into one main river. On both sides, there were several protruding rocks that released hot white steam. Some of them even had a faint red firelike vein. Looked like this was the volcanic region that Luo Ning was talking about.
The river water’s temperature was getting too hot. We struggled to climb up onto a large rock that was beside the river, only to find out that even it was fairly warm. Since there was firelight nearby, we turned off our flashlights to save the precious little battery we had. I asked the others, “Did you guys see clearly? Just what was that behind us? It had an enormous head.”
Giant and Luo Ning both didn’t get a clear look at the beast and shook their heads. Ga Wa was the most miserable. He drank a whole belly full of river water, and his stomach was even distending from all the liquid. When he opened his mouth to speak, he ended up vomiting water. As he held his stomach, he said, "I done saw that there f*ckin bear. It was right behind us, but it done fell somewhere mid way down the river."
Just to be cautious, Giant kept his weapon at hand. He stood up and examined the situation in the water, “What water beast? There’s nothing here.” As he finished talking, he turned around to walk back. Suddenly, a red tongue emerged out of the water. It was two meters long, and it furled around Giant’s two legs. It dragged his feet from under him and pulled him towards the river.
Thankfully, Ga Wa reacted quickly and he pierced his bayonet right into the tongue. The monster retracted its tongue from the pain and let go of Giant. Its lantern-like eyes glared at us as it began to crawl out of the water.
It looked very similar to the salamander that Giant had initially opened fire upon. Its head was like a frog, while the rest of its body looked like a skinless alligator. It’s just that this salamander was f*cking enormous. It was actually a dozen meters long. The scales on its body reflected a menacing light. It swung its enormous tail and ferociously glared at us.
I hurriedly asked Luo Ning, “Mrs. Luo, are you sure that it doesn’t harm people? Why is it so big?”
Luo Ning’s face was completely pale. Her voice trembled as she replied, “I… I was talking about the last one… this… this is… the Overlord Salamander. It’s extremely aggressive… But it went extinct during the Ice Age. I never would have imagined there’d be one here.”
Of course, n.o.body would have been able to expect something like this. After all, this was practically an alternate dimension, to actually have a beast that supposedly already went extinct was impossible.
Fire-bellied salamanders were typically cold-blooded animals. The abnormally high temperature had pushed the Overlord Salamander before us into a frenzy. Furthermore, Ga Wa had stabbed its tongue. The iron taste of blood in its mouth only further increased its aggressiveness. Not to mention, we had fired upon and killed the other fire-bellied salamander. Who knows if it was some grandson or niece of this Overlord. All in all, we were faced with a deathmatch.
I threw a glance at both Giant and Ga Wa, hinting at them to attack the salamander from both sides. The three of us would create a pincer attack, giving us an advantage.
The Overlord Salamander hissed and began swinging its claws and biting at the three of us. It didn’t even wait for us to make the first strike. It swept out its tail, flipping Ga Wa onto the floor. It then grabbed Ga Wa and opened its jaws for a bite. The fire-bellied salamander didn’t have any teeth, but there were three rows of sharp fangs lined on the top and bottom. If it bit Ga Wa, he wouldn’t escape with his life.
Giant and I saw that the situation was making a turn for the worst. We lunged forward and worked together to pull apart the Overlord Salamander’s jaws. No matter what, we could not let it bite down. Otherwise, Ga Wa’s head would be gone.
As long as it had nothing to do with religion and superst.i.tion, Ga Wa incredibly strong. Even though the salamander’s tail was wrapped around his waist, he could still move his arms. When he saw that the monster’s skin was thick and resistant to the elements, he saw that his only way out was to be cut into the mouth with his sharp blade.
Once the Overlord Salamander took a slice to its mouth, it was both stunned and enraged. It reared up into the air, throwing the three of us onto the ground. That b*st*rd was incredibly strong. I was thrown onto a rock, making my head whirl from the hit. Gold flecks spun before my eyes as the world rocked. As I tried to clear my head, Giant was thrown into the river. He quickly climbed up onto sh.o.r.e as white steam rose from his body and he wailed from the burns he received.
Trying to defeat this Overlord Salamander with just three weapons was no different than trying to break a rock with an egg. The four of us yelled to each other and quickly ran off, while the Overlord Salamander chased behind.
The floor was covered with magma rock and ash. Stepping across the surface felt soft and squishy. But in order to lose that beast behind us, we ran across the volcanic rock and climbed up along the wall, as far as our hands and feet would take us. I had climbed halfway up the wall before I heard Giant shout out to me, telling me to be careful. I glanced down and saw that the Overlord Salamander was climbing up, just like a scorpion. It swung its tail in my direction. It was but three meters away. It stuck out its long tongue, almost touching my bottom. I wanted to jump in an effort to escape but I was too far. I didn’t have the confidence to jump into the river. If I made the slightest mistake and hit the rocks on the ground below, I would be f*cked. I cursed loudly and pulled out my sword with one hand, preparing for battle against the monster. If I had to die, I would at least drag this beast down with me.
The other three watched as the Overlord Salamander caught up to me. However, the wall was too steep, and there was no way they could catch up to us and help. All they could do was clench their teeth in nervous suspense, unable to do anything.