Shortly after Noah entered the cave, he was struck by the immense depth of the hole in the cave floor.
"Wow! Do you have any idea how big this is?" Noah asked as he crouched at the edge, peering down into the abyss.
[My estimation is that it's about 5 kilometers deep and 500 meters wide!]
"5 kilometers...?! But what's all this for? The semi-dragon isn't even that large, right?" Noah inquired, awed by the sheer dimensions of the hole.
[Negative!]
[The semi-dragon out there is only about 2 kilometers long!]
"That's what you say..." Noah muttered as he stood up.
Glancing around, he sighed. There didn't seem to be anything he could use to descend safely, and if he were to jump, he was absolutely certain he'd die.
— Brram!
Bang.
"Wow! What was that?!" Noah exclaimed, nearly stumbling from the sudden blast.
Noah managed to stay put after the first blast, but he was perilously close to the mouth of the hole. When the second blast struck—much louder and more forceful than the first, something he hadn't expected—he had no choice but to fall into the hole in the cave floor.
"Phew! I'm glad I managed to hold on!" Noah panted, clinging with every ounce of strength to the edge of the pit.
Straining to climb out, he looked ahead and caught sight of the semi-dragon's tail swinging toward the cave.
"Damn..."
Now, with the cave taking a direct hit from the tail, it was nearly impossible for Noah—who had his back turned to the mouth of the hole—not to tumble further in.
"Aaaaaahhh!..." he shouted as he slid down the nearly vertical descent.
— Hack! Hack!
— Hack! Hack!
After shouting for what felt like an eternity, Noah began to cough from the strain. Yet he didn't stop; he continued shouting as he descended.
"Hack! Damn! Why is this drop so endless?" he complained, frustrated at the slow progress toward the bottom.
[There are still a little over 4 kilometers to go!]
"Okay, enough! That's not even the real problem. Tell me—what are my chances of surviving this?"
[I'd say it's about... 1%!]
"1%...? Well, that's better than nothing, I guess. Wait... why haven't I felt any pain while sliding down on my back all this time? I've gone hundreds of meters—how is this possible?"
[Those are the scales of the semi-dragon: hard and resilient on the outside, but on the inside they have a thick layer that's soft and warm.]
[Semi-dragons are also demonic serpentine beasts, though much more developed, which is why they shed their skin frequently. It shed its skin at this spot, which is why you haven't been injured. But if you continue descending at this speed, trouble is unavoidable!]
After hearing that, Noah began brainstorming a way to slow his fall. He scanned the area for anything he could grab onto to brace himself, but just as with the rocky ground, if any such holds existed, they were hidden beneath the semi-dragon's skin.
Out of ideas and desperate, Noah muttered several prayers in hopes that something would work. In a frantic attempt, he swung his arms to slow his descent—but one of the fingers on each hand broke immediately.
"Aaaaaaaahh! Damn! This hurts too much! ...At least tell me it's working!" Noah shouted, pressing his bloodied hand against the semi-dragon's skin.
[Yes, yes, it is working!]
"Really?!" Noah asked with relief, his eyes heavy and almost all strength drained from his arms.
[Ah, no... it was just a mistake!]
"Ah, you son of a—!"
Noah was in such agony that he barely noticed the passing of time. With tears streaming from his eyes, darkness was all that remained as he descended hundreds of meters, with half of his arms trapped beneath the semi-dragon's skin.
And, hardly believing he could really do it, Noah accomplished something that even the system deemed impossible: he endured the searing pain of his hands being torn apart—all in the name of survival.
`[Noah!]`
`[Are you alright, Noah?]`
Even as the system called his name, Noah didn't move an inch or even reply. In truth, the pain was so intense that, in the end, he fainted; but even while unconscious, he never gave up his struggle for life.
`[...You did it, Noah Evil...]`
**One Minute Earlier**
"Raaaaaawwww!"
The serpent roared and writhed, struggling to quench the fire that was steadily climbing up inside its body—from its tail.
"Raaaww! What have you done to me, you bastard?!" the serpent shouted, glaring at the Lion with eyes full of hatred.
Upon hearing those words, the Lion simply laughed:
— Ha! Ah! Ah!...
After laughing heartily, he exclaimed:
— Damn, me? I wasn't the one who ambushed you from behind! I might not see, but I can smell that you're just a little demonic serpent trying to evolve into a dragon. But don't be mistaken—dragons aren't filthy creatures like you!
He circled slowly around the serpent.
"Don't talk rubbish—I can evolve!" the serpent retorted, momentarily drowning out the pain as she heard the Lion's cutting words.
"Evolve? You never had a chance. A real semi-dragon would have killed me long ago. If you're not even on their level, then forget about true dragons," said the Lion, standing before the serpent.
Hearing the Lion's words, the serpent felt frustrated and, even more enraged by the undeniable truth in them, she attacked him again in a blind fit of fury against both herself and the Lion.
And once more—just as in her previous attempt—the Lion retaliated by unleashing that strange golden fire, which this time struck a large portion of the serpent's body, leaving an extensive strip along her back with exposed, burning flesh.
"Raaaaaawwww! You'll pay for that!" the serpent screamed as she lunged again through the tunnel beneath the cave.
"You never had a chance, little serpent... and now you're out of time," whispered the Demon Lion King, as he turned and walked away.
The serpent quickly darted into the tunnel, but gradually, her speed dwindled and, on the verge of losing consciousness, she murmured,
— I can't leave him here...
Struggling to keep moving.
Almost her entire body was now inside the tunnel, and she continued to strain to advance further, thinking,
*I can't leave him here...!*
Even as her senses began to fail.
Pushing herself harder and harder, she crawled slowly along the tunnel, driven by the burning desire to protect someone—although she knew it would only cause her body to self-destruct ever faster, and the more she deteriorated, the more pain she would endure.
With her tail reduced to nearly dust, she no longer felt any pain in the extremities of her body; in fact, she was practically numb—barely able to feel her own body, let alone the world around her.
And as she dragged herself further into the tunnel, it seemed she had finally closed her eyes and let go of this world.
At the sight of all this, Noah—who had awoken just as the serpent began her descent and had dashed off to hide—cautiously peeked his head out of his hiding spot.
However, as he did, yellow eyes fixed on him from within the darkness.
"...I like your eyes," she said, her voice tired.
Noah thought of fleeing, but with that shadowy figure looming before him, he could barely move. Desperate, he managed to say,
— If you're going to eat me, please... be quick!
He closed his eyes and bowed his head, accepting his fate—a swift end, for a rapid and hallucinatory adventure. Yes, hallucinatory; perhaps when it was all over, he'd simply awake alone in his room, and so yet another one of his infernal days would begin.
"Huh? I'm not going to devour you, human; on the contrary, I wish to make a request," the serpent said, lowering her head in pain. Her eyes had lost their luster, and her vision was almost gone.
"What..?!" Noah stammered, frightened and unable to comprehend what was unfolding.
"After all these thousands of years, I've labored so hard to become a dragon—only to end up as nothing more than a mere serpent, just as that damned Lion claimed. But... I do not want that to happen to my son. So, human... let's strike a deal."