“Oh crap,” Rayden muttered.

Every tiny hair on his body stood on end. Not that there was much to begin with.

His eyes trembled.

His instincts screamed one word.

Danger.

No.

Death.

Doom.

It was all crashing down on him at once.

Grah was stunned beyond words. His body froze under the sheer presence the beast radiated. One icy slit eye locked onto him.

And that was enough.

Grah’s body locked.

His mind locked.

His very being trembled, screaming at him to fall, to bow, to submit beneath this almighty existence.

But the Lord’s words echoed in his head.

Do not cower.

Raise your head proudly.

Only then will you achieve true strength.

The blue-horned wolf forced his head up. Forced pride into his spine. Ready to unleash another defiant howl.

The lion’s tail moved.

It was fast.

Too fast.

By the time Grah sensed it, it was already too late.

A crushing force slammed into him.

His entire body shattered under it.

The sound of bones cracking rang through the cave.

Then came the boom.

Grah lifted off his feet like he weighed nothing and rocketed across the cave.

He hit the wall so hard the stone cracked, a massive dent forming on impact.

His body dropped.

Head hanging.

Blood pooling beneath him.

Still.

Rayden’s eyes widened.

The mind link cut off.

Just like that.

One of his generals.

Dead.

And he had not even seen the lion move.

One glance.

One casual flick.

And a trump soldier was gone.

Rayden gritted his teeth and tore his eyes away from Grah’s crumpled body.

No.

He could not start feeling guilty now.

Yes, he was the one who dragged Grah here.

Yes, this was his fault.

But there was no time to drown in that.

If he did not find a way out now, he would be next.

Before the thought even finished forming, Rayden was already moving.

Dashing toward the exit.

The lion’s eye shifted from Grah’s corpse to the small human child trying to flee.

“Where do you think you are going?” the lion said.

Its voice was rough.

Grumpy.

Ancient.

It spoke in human language.

Rayden’s heart nearly stopped.

If he had any doubt before, it was gone now.

He was completely screwed.

The lion’s tail whipped again.

It was barely a meter long.

Nowhere near enough to reach him.

Yet every alarm in Rayden’s mind exploded.

He rolled just in time.

A devastating force slammed into the top of the exit instead.

Rock shattered.

Stone collapsed.

The entrance caved in.

Blocked.

Rayden’s eyes widened as his heart pounded like it was running a marathon.

The armored lion had sealed the exit.

Locked him inside.

With it.

To eat him.

Rayden slid to a stop before the blocked entrance.

His skin turned jet black instantly.

Hellskin Fortification.

Ultra Boost activated.

He struck the rocks with everything he had.

Cracks formed.

A few stones split and fell.

That was it.

Nothing more.

Rayden felt his racing heart slow.

Then sink.

He was trapped.

Nowhere left to run.

For a few seconds, dread swallowed him whole.

Cold.

Heavy.

Crushing.

Then it passed.

His eyes sharpened.

Cowering would only speed up his death.

If he panicked, he was finished.

Calm down.

Think.

There had to be something.

He turned slowly.

The lion had not moved from its resting position.

Still lying there.

One eye open.

Watching him.

Like a cat watching a toy.

The lion slowly rose to its feet.

On all fours.

Its massive frame dwarfed Rayden completely.

Rayden gulped.

Why did the bastard have to stand up?

Was crushing his confidence part of the show?

“Human,” the lion rumbled, its voice deep and steady, “you have gone far beyond your limits this time. I will not be sparing you.”

It continued, almost lazily.

It had known the exact moment Rayden entered its cave. It had felt him pick up a few of its belongings. Trinkets. Meaningless scraps.

The lion had been too lazy to deal with him.

It would retrieve them during its next hunt.

But the human was far more foolish than the others before him.

He disturbed its sleep.

Once.

It let it slide.

Twice.

Still fine.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Irritation built.

Until the noise was right in front of its face.

“You have dug your own grave, human. The punishment is your life.”

Rayden’s smile twitched.

He would have tried forming a mind link to negotiate, to agitate, to stall.

But with the way the beast was looking at him, if he stepped any closer he would be killed instantly.

Not that distance mattered.

He was trapped in a sealed cave with a bloodthirsty armored monster.

If he did not find a way out soon, he was dead either way.

“Do you have anything to say in your defense,” the lion asked calmly, “or will you accept your punishment immediately?”

Like this was casual.

Like this was routine.

Rayden flashed a cheeky grin.

“Well, you killed one of my best friends in this new world. That should settle the score, right?”

He pointed at Grah’s crumpled body.

The lion did not even glance at the corpse.

Its gaze remained locked on Rayden.

Cold.

Unmoving.

“I do not understand your gibberish.”

Rayden almost hit himself.

Of course.

In his panic, his words had come out as baby babbling again.

He had never hated this useless child body more than he did now.

“Well, if that is all, take your judgment,” the lion said.

It casually swiped its paw.

The distance between them was wide.

Yet the moment the paw moved, a blatant death signal exploded across Rayden’s senses.

No evading this.

He knew it instantly.

So he did the only thing he could.

Hellskin Fortification.

He roared it in his mind.

The air in front of him solidified.

Three obsidian-like mirrored shields formed instantly, layered one after another.

Rayden’s eyes flickered in surprise.

Another application.

Hellskin was not just reinforcement. It could manifest outward.

A real shield.

But the next moment shattered that brief hope.

The shields broke.

Perfect synchronization.

Bam.

Bam.

Bam.

They exploded like glass struck by a hammer.

Rayden’s eyes widened.

The force did not stop.

It slammed into him.

Crushed him.

His small body smashed against the blocked exit, carving a dent into the stone before dropping to the ground.

He coughed.

Blood spilled from his mouth.

Even with Hellskin Fortification active, his insides felt violently shaken.

Rattled.

Broken.

To be continued.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep