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Boom… Boom… Boom!
Cracks split open across the stone floor.
A bone-white claw burst through, followed by another.
From the ruptured earth, colossal forms clawed their way up, Skeleton lizards.
Hundreds of them.
Their empty eye sockets burned with ghostly blue fire, and their bodies, stripped of flesh, clattered as they moved.
These were not the lesser beasts of Skull Island; they were sub-Titan and Titan-level Skeleton Lizards born from the depths of the inner world.
The largest among them towered over the others, its spine glowed crimson, and its skeletal plates radiated an aura of feral power.
Miraluz recognized it instantly.
A Red-Backed Skeleton Lizard, a true Beta-class Titan.
He growled, voice low.
"APEX tried to create one like this once… a poor imitation that fell to Mechagodzilla in seconds. But this, this is the real thing."
The air turned electric. Both sides locked eyes.
Kong stepped forward, gripping his axe.
"This one's mine."
Miraluz gave a nod.
"Do not die."
The battle erupted with a chorus of roars.
Grey dove from above, blasting a Hell Eagle out of the air as she descended upon the lizard horde.
The ground forces of the Jurassic Alliance charged beside her —ankylosaurs, raptors, spinosaurids —all roaring as they clashed with the skeletal Titans.
The Red-Backed Skeleton Lizard shrieked and lunged at Kong, jaws wide, its teeth clashing like swords.
Kong ducked beneath the first bite and countered with an uppercut, the force cracking the monster's jaw and sending it sprawling.
He pressed the attack, leaping forward with a thunderous roar.
His axe came down hard, embedding itself in the lizard's skull, but the creature's bones were more complicated than steel.
Sparks flew as the blade skidded off.
Kong barely had time to react before the creature's tail lashed around, striking him across the ribs.
The blow hurled him into one of the Titan pillars, shattering the stone.
"Damn it!" Kong snarled, pushing himself up, chest heaving.
He spun the axe once, switching grip.
"Fine, let's see how much you can take."
The Lizard hissed, leaping again.
Kong raised his axe, but instead of blocking, he sidestepped.
The creature's claws slammed into the ground where he'd been, and in that split second, Kong pivoted, his axe glowing blue as he brought it down across the lizard's spine.
The impact sent an arc of atomic energy through the air.
The Lizard howled, its bones cracking, but it still didn't fall.
Elsewhere, Miraluz fought alongside his army.
His wings folded tight as he weaved between the skeleton beasts, claws glowing with energy.
He struck not with brute force but with precision, breaking necks, tearing spines, and unleashing atomic bursts that vaporized swaths of enemies.
Yet for every one he felled, more emerged.
Grey landed beside him, panting.
"There are too many!"
"Hold the line," Miraluz commanded coldly.
"We end this here."
[Kong's POV]
The Red-Backed Lizard slammed him against the wall again.
Pain surged through his body, but he refused to yield.
He caught the creature's skull between both hands, forcing it back.
The stench of decay and ozone filled his nose.
The monster's tail coiled around his leg, pulling tight. Bones creaked under the pressure.
"Enough!" Kong roared, channeling all his strength into one arm.
The axe flared bright as the charge reached critical levels.
With a deafening cry, he swung upward, cleaving the creature's head in half.
The energy burst detonated on contact, sending shockwaves through the chamber.
When the light faded, the Skeleton Lizard was motionless, split clean down the middle, blue fire flickering out in its skull.
Kong dropped to one knee, exhausted but victorious.
"Still standing," he muttered.
[Miraluz's POV]
He felt the tremor of Kong's victory through the ground.
A faint smile touched his maw.
"Good," he said softly.
"You're learning."
But his attention quickly shifted.
The cracks beneath the temple hadn't stopped spreading.
More energy pulsed below, stronger, deeper.
"Retreat from the lower floor!" he shouted.
The dinosaurs began to pull back, dragging wounded allies away.
The ground split further, and from the abyss below came a blinding red light… and a roar that shook the chamber to its core.
A shadow rose, massive, horned, burning from within.
Miraluz narrowed his eyes.
"So… the true ruler of the skeleton clan finally shows itself."
The battle wasn't over.
It had only just begun.