Epoch of Twilight

Thunder and lightning filled the sky, resembling silver snakes dancing with glaring white light. Deafening loud noises travelled as far as towards the hills across the horizon. All creatures, no matter how powerful they were, seemed to be as insignificant as a tiny speck in a catastrophe as such.

The giant lizard was restless; it was spinning on the ground and roaring from time to time. Suddenly, a lightning struck the nearby forest, causing an earth-shattering thud and a white beam of light that glared into everyone’s eyes. Looking at this horrific phenomenon, the giant lizards took a few steps back. The scales on its tail stood up, and it let out a few angry roars before running towards the forest helter-skelter. Its eyes were bloodshot; it had completely lost its mind from all the fear.

Luo Yuan saw what happened and shouted, “Go in quickly, I’ll go after it”. Due to the effect of the anesthesia, the giant lizard was still weak and was not at the top of its game. As such, running into the forest in such a condition was a bad idea. The team could not afford to lose it as it was their main weapon. Furthermore, without the giant lizard as their mode of transport, it was impossible to leave this forest in a short period of time.

So by hook or by crook, he had to get hold of the giant lizard. He put the kids down and went after the giant lizard with his sword.

“Luo Yuan, no! Don’t go, please come back!” Huang Jiahui shouted repetitively.

“Please be quick!” shouted Zhao Yali and Wang Shishi with all their might. They were worried sick.

Luo Yuan disregarded their pleas and ran forty to fifty meters into the forest within seconds. Not long after, he disappeared into the forest with the giant lizard.

“Sister Huang, it’s too dangerous here, let’s go in. With Boss Luo’s ability, he should be back really soon,” said Huo Dong, glancing at the terrifying lightning.

“This brother is right, the lightning is getting more and more vicious. We should get going before it strikes us,” hurried Commander Xia.

Huang Jiahui took a deep breath, suppressed her anxiety and nodded obediently. She quickly ran towards the aircraft while carrying Chen Jiayi, while Huo Dong and Commander Xia carried Deng Chao and Zhong Chuqiang respectively.

Everyone arrived in the cave safely; they could finally feel a slight relief. Listening to the thunderstorm outside, they were glad that they managed to dig out this cave or else they would had been stuck outside praying for the lightning to spare their lives.

As time passed, Luo Yuan still had not returned. The atmosphere was tense once again. Not only Huang Jiahui and the ladies were jittery, the rest were getting anxious as well. They naturally did not feel an ounce of fear when Luo Yuan was around, but when he was absent, everyone was shrouded in constant fear. Especially being in a dark cave, it seemed to pose more threats than anyone could imagine.

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Luo Yuan ran fast, as he brushed through the trees in the forest. It was chaotic, with creatures bashing around aimlessly, and the birds and the bugs were flying haphazardly towards the sky. Some of them had been struck by lightning and burnt to ashes.

Luo Yuan tried catching up with the giant lizard running ahead of him. He was furious! It felt like the giant lizard had fallen to a powerful aphrodisiac; its body was weak but nothing was stopping it from running erratically. Obviously it was running out of fear, and it would not stop until it arrived a point of exhaustion.

The lightning was getting more and more intense, imminent of a heavy downpour. He was getting worried as the lightning had struck again with a sharp, glaring light. The most dangerous one was just ten meters away from him. The strong static electricity gave him goosebumps; it even felt like his hair was burnt, after experiencing a stinging sensation.

Compared to lightning speed, his +14 Agility was similar to that of ordinary people, and his response was not fast enough. Running in the forest was as if he was dancing with the devil. His heart was pounding, and he was at the edge of giving up, but he decided to bite the bullet and gave it all that he had.

“Damn it!” cursed Luo Yuan, while chasing after the giant lizard. He stepped hard onto a branch on the ground and bounced up like a bullet. He repeated the trick with the help of vines to bounce across the forest. It was not too hard to achieve that as the leaves were dense. There was almost no gap between them as the vines were intertwined everywhere. He did not have to worry about not being able to find a spot to land on.

The terrain was complicated, and the roads were rugged and slippery. He had to be extra careful with every step he took. He was not used to it at first, so he was very much behind the giant lizard. But with the help of the trees and vines, his speed was accelerating as he familiarized himself with the terrain.

After chasing for almost half an hour, Luo Yuan finally had a glimmer of hope.

He grabbed onto a vine and swung himself into the air with the help of momentum. As he reached the highest point, he let go of the vine and landed onto the giant lizard’s back. The strong force caused the giant lizard to stagger. It ran clumsily for a while, before slipping and falling into a muddy swamp.

The giant lizard struggled to get up, and attempted to continue running. Luo Yuan punched its head with all his rage. With that willful punch, the giant lizard fell onto the ground again. The thought of risking his life from getting struck by lightning, as well as the chase that lasted for half an hour, angered Luo Yuan. He gave it a few kicks to release his temper.

The giant lizard moaned in pain and could not get up. Luo Yuan’s Will had a slight elevation a few days back, and the effect was no longer the one he had back in the days where it was only capable of causing dizziness. His punch nearly knocked the giant lizard out. It slowly struggled to stand back on its feet after a minute.

When it had finally regained its senses, its fear had subsided. However, it still had a sense of insecurity which might translate into madness again. Luo Yuan felt much better after the punishment that he gave. He extended his hand, and the giant lizard bowed its head and came closer to him. It learnt how to do that from its extensive training. He gave it a pat on its head, before jumping onto its back, preparing for his return.

The half an hour chase was almost thirty to forty kilometers; it was akin to running around the hills twice. He had no idea where he was, but at least he wasn’t completely lost, as the giant lizard’s deep footsteps allowed him to trace its steps from where they came from.

The giant lizard took a few steps, collapsed onto the ground and could not move anymore. It was already weak before that, and the chase had depleted all its energy. Now that it had lost its hysterical strength, its body collapsed. Luo Yuan frowned. He could not leave the giant lizard alone, but it was too dangerous for it to stay in the forest. Now that the storm of the universe and the atmospheric ionization was getting more and more intense, he might get struck by lightning if he was unlucky. Despite his good physique, there was no escaping that.

Suddenly, he recalled that there was some attributes remaining for the giant lizard. Every time when its attributes increased, it was came with recovery and healing effects. Earlier, he was worried that once the giant lizard became stronger, it would not be easily tamed. He also feared that its Loyalty would decrease, or that this could even lead to betrayal. That was why he held onto the point. But considering the dire situation he was in now, he could not care less. Looking at its high level of loyalty, the chances of it betraying Luo Yuan should be slim! Moreover, its Strength was so much further ahead than it was before, and even if it had the thought of betraying him, it could use brute strength to suppress it.

After weighing the pros and cons in his mind, he did not think much of it anymore. He opened the attribution panel and added points to its Agility.