Chapter 117: The Monsters
Basilisk Isles, Tear Island, Ruins of Gorgai
On a desolate piece of land southwest of Tear Island, a ruined city silently stood, like a witness to history, telling the story of its former prosperity.
Once, Gorgai was known as the "Tenth Daughter of Valyria," but unfortunately, now only ruins remained.
The once tall and magnificent city walls had already collapsed, leaving behind only segments of broken stone walls filled with cracks, many of which were already covered with moss and creeping vines.
The once extremely bustling streets had long disappeared, replaced only by rubble, stones, and broken bricks. Most of the buildings on both sides of the streets had collapsed, leaving behind only fragments of ruined walls.
At this moment, on the barren land outside the ruins of Gorgai, two figures who were fleeing in panic stumbled forward across the desolate ground.
Behind them, three terrifying wights were slowly chasing after them, emitting chilling hissing sounds, like wild beasts calling out to their companions during a hunt.
These two pirates, who were once powerful figures on the sea, had never imagined that they would one day fall into such a desperate and terrified situation after the disaster that struck this morning.
Jenis and Rick were the pirates responsible for managing the slave pits of Blood Bay. In the past, other pirates enthusiastically called them "sir," but everything had completely changed after that disaster occurred.
Their former glory and status had completely collapsed in the face of this unknown terror. Although they tried to resist desperately, their subordinates fled during the very first clash, leaving only the two of them behind.
Fortunately, at the moment when the wights were about to attack them, the two of them successfully jumped over the wooden fence and escaped.
Unfortunately, their luck was not particularly good. Ever since escaping from the outpost, they had been relentlessly pursued by the wights.
Now, they were in a miserable state, covered in wounds. Their bodies bore witness to all the hardships they had suffered during their escape.
Jenis's heart was filled with regret. He regretted following Rick to this cursed place, especially because Rick had claimed that the curses here might drive away those monsters.
Otherwise, he would never have come to this damned place.
Jenis was one of the earliest pirates to arrive on Tear Island, and he still clearly remembered how his companions had been devoured alive by those terrifying monsters during a single night.
His heart seemed to fall into a dark abyss, unable to find any hope of escape.
Looking at the three wights that were getting closer and closer, Jenis completely lost all hope.
In this despairing atmosphere, his emotions gradually became unstable, and the dissatisfaction and anger he felt toward Rick had reached their peak.
"Moo… Moo…"
Just as Jenis was preparing to take action, a strange and deep bellow suddenly came from deep within the ruins of Gorgai.
Upon hearing this sound, Jenis immediately trembled in fear, and the hand he had been about to raise instantly withdrew.
"Hoo… Hoo…"
"What is that thing?"
Rick, who was panting heavily, did not notice Jenis's earlier movement and directly asked the question.
"That must be the monster rumored to wander within the ruins! Let's quickly find a place to hide! If we let those things fight each other, we'll have a chance to escape!"
After realizing the situation, Rick quickly waved at Jenis. As long as the two groups of monsters started fighting, they would have a chance to survive.
After entering the ruins of Gorgai, the two quickly found a place to hide at a corner.
This was a small two-story building that still retained stone stairs. Although it looked somewhat dilapidated, if they could defend the stairway, they might still have a chance to survive.
"Clatter…"
In order to avoid falling, both of them climbed carefully along the wall, even though several stone steps collapsed during the process.
Fortunately, after hearing a familiar and terrifying roar, the two of them finally climbed to the entrance of the second-floor stairway.
After confirming that the floor seemed relatively sturdy, they quickly gathered several stones to use as weapons.
Their longswords and short axes had already been lost during the earlier fight. Now, relying on the narrow passage, they should be able to hold off the wights' attack.
"Moo… Moo…"
"Roar…"
Hearing the two completely different monster sounds, Jenis and Rick exchanged excited glances.
It seemed that both groups of monsters had already discovered each other.
Now, they only needed to sit back and wait for the two sides to fight in order to escape this danger.
"Today has truly been a mess… hoo hoo hoo…"
After confirming that they were temporarily safe, Rick immediately sat down near the stairway entrance.
"What kind of monster did that idiot Kars provoke?"
Jenis did not seem too concerned about what had just happened. For pirates, killing companions was nothing unusual.
"I don't know, but I think it might be related to Salladhor Saan. Yesterday I heard some of the men say that his fleet would be stationed here."
Rick seemed completely unaware of how dangerous their situation was, chatting casually as usual.
"Could it be that a Targaryen has taken action?"
"A Targaryen?!"
After hearing Jenis's words, Rick was momentarily stunned, but he quickly recovered.
"Magic disappeared long ago. I don't believe anyone can turn into a dragon."
"That's just because you haven't seen it. I've seen Asshai…"
Just as Jenis was about to continue speaking, a strange sense of unease suddenly rose in his heart.
"What's wrong?"
"Shh…"
After noticing Jenis's abnormal reaction, Rick immediately asked, but Jenis quickly made a gesture for silence.
"Rustle…"
After taking a deep breath, Jenis carefully pressed his ear against the broken wall.
Immediately, faint scraping sounds reached his ears.
Realizing that danger might be approaching, Jenis signaled for them to stand back-to-back.
When he felt Rick's back against his, Jenis's heart calmed slightly.
"Hiss… Hiss…"
At that moment, faint hissing sounds entered both of their ears.
"Who's there?!"
"Bang!"
Feeling a shadow flash past the ruins to his left, the highly tense Jenis immediately threw a stone.
The stone struck the ruined wall with a dull sound, but unfortunately, it failed to hit anything.
"What are you doing?! What if you attract those monsters?!"
Jenis was extremely dissatisfied with Rick's behavior. In his opinion, this action was no different from exposing their position.
"I really saw something! You'd better be careful!"
Rick replied firmly, though he also regretted coming here now.
"Hiss… Hiss…"
At that moment, a strange, low humming sound suddenly appeared right beside their ears.
The sound was like insects chirping mixed with the hiss of a snake, sending chills down their spines.
Suddenly—
A pair of blood-red eyes appeared within a crack in the wall directly in front of Jenis.
As the creature moved, a monster resembling both a human and a lizard appeared on the wall above him.
This creature had black scales, blood-red eyes, and an ugly head resembling a lizard with a rounded skull.
"Hiss… Hiss…"
As the creature continued hissing, more and more sounds began to appear around them.
Seeing those pairs of blood-red eyes, both Jenis and Rick began to tremble.
"A-are these things… the legendary Lizard Men? Ugh—Ah!"
After seeing these creatures, Rick asked in fear, but before he could finish speaking, a sharp pain shot through his head.
"Clatter…"
"Don't blame me. If I leave you to them, I might still survive."
After throwing down the blood-stained stone in his hand, Jenis spoke coldly.
Immediately afterward, he found an opening and jumped directly from the second floor.
"Thud…!"
A height of more than three meters was nothing to a pirate like Jenis.
After landing, he rolled forward to absorb the impact.
Although his clothes were torn by sharp stones, he didn't care—because he believed he now had a chance to escape.
"Hoo… Moo… Moo…"
However, just as Jenis staggered to his feet, he suddenly smelled a strong, foul odor.
Immediately afterward, his head spun violently.
As his body was flung into the air, the corner of his vision caught sight of a massive black bull's head.
Its blood-red eyes were exactly the same as those of the Lizard Men.
"Moo… Moo…"
"Thud…"
After rolling several times across the ground, Jenis's consciousness began to fade.
Looking at the enormous hoof—larger than his own head—he lost all awareness.
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