The large shadow of the creature spread across a wide area. Lux and Fie looked up it engulfed them. A voice… In the sky flew a massive creature, a red dragon. Its scales looked sharp, the wings enormous, and the dragon's body was about twice the size of the entire castle. Its four enormous legs swung through the air, and many wounds could be seen across the body of the gigantic being.
Immediately, Fie and Lux pressed themselves to the ground, but they knew the creature would not notice them anyway. Goosebumps ran down their skin. One flap of its wings was so loud their ears nearly went deaf. A massive gust of wind pushed down, making the grass sway in every direction. This sight was literally mythical.
After a few minutes, they saw the huge dragon's tail whipping through the air. The mythical dragon seemed to have noticed the castle but only observed it before suddenly striking straight upward, so high that the clouds obscured the gigantic creature. Lux was scared truly scared, even more than he had been with the mud monster. Fie stared, speechless.
After a few seconds, Lux spoke in a small, weak tone:"D-d-that was enormous…"
Fie stared and said,"A mythical creature! In every trial, there was one explained to me by my father… th-this is ours."
Lux sighed,"Well, I guess we can already rule out fighting it, right…?" he asked panically, but Fie did not answer and continued staring at the sky. The clouds were still; it seemed the enormous creature had moved on.
Lux added,"D-d-that was insane! That something like this exists in our world… there are only shadow creatures, of course some can be large, but nothing this massive…"
Fie interrupted him,"No, without a doubt, this was the largest thing I have ever seen…!"
After several more minutes of staring at the sky, Lux said,"Okay, I think it's gone. Put on your a-armor and let's keep moving. After all, we have to destroy that crystal as quickly as possible!"
Fie nodded. She went to her white armor lying on the ground and put it on piece by piece. She spoke,"Ah yes… but how are we supposed to destroy this crystal?"
Lux had already thought about it. They could not possibly destroy such a massive crystal by themselves. He considered an answer… the best he could come up with:"Hmm… strike it?"
There was no sarcasm; he answered seriously."I don't think that will work. Maybe there are people who can help us."
Fie was ready to go. Lux grinned but then asked,"People? I don't think there's anyone here, right?"
Fie nodded."I don't know, but it's possible. In some trials, entire populations exist, in others, not a single one."
Fie walked a little ahead. Lux quickly caught up and stood beside her, then said,"Okay, so it's possible this castle was built by humans, right?"
Fie nodded."Yes, that could really be a sign. We'll find out when we get there!"
Lux and Fie continued on without stopping, but their mistake of not being cautious during the night would not be their last. Excited to reach the castle in about a day, both were lost in thought and did not notice the terrain they were on. The muddy ground of the sludge stuck to their boots and slowed them down. Lux's eyes widened."Fie… look where we are!"
Lux immediately looked back. He could no longer even see the start of the mud zone. Fie flinched."Oh no! We didn't see it! W-what do we do?"
Lux spoke calmly but panic was evident:"Let's run forward, in 3-2—"
He was interrupted. A long brown tentacle shot out in front of Lux. His eyes widened, he immediately panicked, and fell to the ground. Fie drew her sword but did not know what to do, and accidentally struck toward Lux. She shouted,"Behind you!"
Another long brown tentacle lunged, grabbing Fie with a leap and coiling tightly around her. Panicked, she screamed,"Lux, help!"
Full of panic, Lux jumped. The tentacle in front of him moved and twitched. He immediately swung with all his strength. Green blood splattered onto the muddy ground. The tentacle was cut in half. Lux quickly pulled out his sword and left the shredded tentacle behind. He saw Fie trapped in another tentacle's grip.
Farther away, a large brown mass moved toward them. The monster was almost upon them."Shit, shit!! SHIT!" Lux shouted, and with all his strength, he struck the tentacle holding Fie. The tentacle twitched but then struck Lux with a massive blow. Lux was thrown backward, his sword embedded in the tentacle. Fie was in shock. When Lux landed in the mud, the monster was only a few meters away.
He landed brutally in the sludge. His body felt heavy; the strike hit him hard. Lux looked to the right and saw a massive brown sphere rushing toward him. He quickly dodged with his last bit of strength. The monster shot forward rapidly. This time, the two were lucky one last time. With full force, a second brown sphere emerged from the ground and collided with the first. The entire muddy arena shook they seemed to be fighting! A second mud monster had appeared.
Immediately, Lux felt a helping hand. Fie helped him up."Lux, are you okay? Can you walk?"
Lux staggered and gasped,"Yeah… I think so."
The blow had hit him hard, but now he had to push himself. They needed to get out of there quickly. The monsters collided again. Many tentacles shot from the ground, moving through the mud on the surface. They seemed to be fighting too. The tentacles surrounded the others and crushed them. With a single strike, the two monsters surfaced. Their circular brown bodies, mouths wide open, collided against each other.
Lux said in astonishment to Fie,"The two are eating each other… what luck!"
Fie nodded."Lux, maybe we can wait until one survives, wounded, and then finish it off. What do you say?"
It was a good but dangerous idea. What would happen if a monster survived without being weakened enough? But it was a good chance, Lux had to admit. So he nodded."Okay, but if the monster that wins isn't weakened enough—"
Fie interrupted Lux and said,"Then we run first—!"
She drew her sword and waited. Lux reflexively wanted to draw his own, but he couldn't find it. Then he remembered the massive strike he had taken. He looked away from the monster fight and down at the ground.
A few centimeters away, a blade lay in the mud. The blade was covered in green blood that ran into the sludge his sword! Quickly, Lux looked back at the fight. The two monsters were devouring each other; the tentacles slammed into their strong brown bodies, tearing the flesh. The monsters screamed.
Lux grabbed his sword from the mud and held it in his hand. Suddenly, a massive tentacle shot toward Lux. He reacted quickly.........