Chapter 269


    Authors note: Thebat in this chapter took a bit more of a brutal turn than most. Just a warning since usually things are less gory than this chapter.


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    Despite Alvas protests, Fuzz knew this was <em>exactly</em> the time to eat. He just couldnt have exined it to anyone if asked, both because of the inability to speak and the unclear reason behind it. Sometimes, there were things you just <em>knew</em>.


    That was why Fuzz didnt give up even though it was really tough to chew these things. He didnt give up when he was being attacked by the small ones, despite them wing at his fury. He wasnt going to give up on chewing through this big hunk of arm, despite the rming number of teeth he was breaking. He fortified his mouth with as much energy as he could and it could barely ovee the durability and lingering energy of the limbs.


    That was a problem. That was <em>the</em> problem Fuzz had, actually. He was supposed to be stronger than Alva so he could keep her safe. If he couldnt be stronger than her, he at least had to keep up with her but ever since shed reached the next level of power he hadnt been good enough. He doubted the pack would just abandon him, but he needed to keep up. The strong, chewy muscles beneath the scales he tore through would provide him that power.


    Hopefully. Otherwise he was making Alva fight more or less alone for no reason at all. But nothing was going to stop him from chewing now. Not iing creatures, not the pain in his mouth, and not a ssh of extremely hot liquid rock from one of the two big lizards. The one in the pool of the glowing stuff was quite upset, and was sshing around with the clear intention to create a big mess.


    When a huge chunk of that flew towards Fuzz, he dodged out of the way- Alva was still riding on his back after all. The arm was a bit heavier than anticipated so he was swung around and didnt quite leave the radius of danger, but as some of it sshed over his head he merely added it to the pain he was experiencing. He shook his head, flinging off the burning globules before Alva could try to brush them off with her hand.


    Fuzz was hot. Obviously his fur was far too warm for such a ce. Rocks werent supposed to melt, but melt they had. It was a testament to his durability that his fur hadnt instantly caught on fire as he entered the area, though it was certainly smoldering now. His face was of course very hot where it had directly touched theva. His own burned flesh was an unappetizing smell, especially when mixed with that of his blood, but he continued to rip out pieces of the inside of the limb he now held in his paws, most of the pesky scales discarded.


    The hottest part was not either of those things, however, but instead Fuzz insides. He was quite aware of the difference between energy and fire in most circumstances, but inside of him the line was really starting to blur. But he couldnt stop now. The heat and pressure inside of him built up until it finally cracked.


    Part of his back split open when it did so. Nothing big, just a line about the size of a humans arm. A squiggly one, like the things Catarina made in his fur and had tattooed on him. Those didnt hurt. This one was painful, but in a good way. Like when you gorged yourself on too much of a beast and then had to vomit it out, it felt good to have the pressure relieved. In this case Fuzz hadnt eaten too much.


    He tore another chunk out of the arm in front of him, finding it slightly easier than before. He felt pretty good now, and some of his teeth were even straightening out where theyd been broken. The others would probably take some time to grow back, but he also had his ws. And he was feeling much better.


    He focused in on Devon, who was fighting the big one that had sshed the hot rock on him. It was risky to bring Alva close to that, but Devon was a member of the pack too. Family of Anton and Alva, specifically. If Alva didnt want to go close, she was entirely capable of being independently mobile.


    Fuzz readied himself, then charged- knocking aside the smaller creatures that tried to stand in his way. His newly empowered energy protected him while his body was beginning to knit itself into what he was certain was a stronger and more durable form. He couldnt wait for it to finish, however, because the battle wasnt over.


    Alva remained with Fuzz right up until the edge where the big lizard was half-sticking out of the pool of very hot liquid rock. He was d she chose to dismount there, because the big creature could attack her directly on his back with either teeth or ws. Plus there was all of the sshing rock.


    Devons chains surrounded him defensively, but they were not actively holding onto the creature. Likewise, the powerful armored man fighting next to him would asionally strike the creature, but maintained a defensive position. Such a strategy might draw out the battle, but it would not win. Fuzz leapt forward andtched onto its foremost limb on the left side. He wasrge, but still significantly smaller than the creature. Even so, he could restrict its movements, and as power flowed through him he thought <em>maybe</em> he could drag it out of its defensive position.


    His teeth pierced through the scales to find a grip and he yanked hard, pulling it back a single step. Then the creatures many limbs stopped its movement, and its overlyrge maw chomped down on his shoulder.


    Despite hisck of scales, Fuzz hide was extremely durable. His bones were too, which was very important in this particr case because it kept his front-left appendage from being severed. The teeth sunk deep, though, and the mouth yanked.


    Fuzz had to choose between keeping his own leg and holding onto the creatures leg. If it had fewer of them he might have stood firm, but he only had four himself versus the many fours it had. And while the lizard seemed quite willing to give up its limbs, Fuzz was less certain he could grow his back.


    So he let go, and found himself flung up into the air, sailing over the lizard. Such a slow and meandering arc would normally not have been a problem, but thending ce was a bit problematic. The good news was that Fuzznded on his feet. Yet more good news was that the swirling energy flowing through and out of him kept his pads from instantly burning away. The best news was that he was sinking slowly into the very hot, liquid rock.


    The reason thetter was good news was because if he had been fully submerged Fuzz wasnt sure how long he would survive. Even with his energy protecting him Fuzz felt the burns. He started running his way back towards the big lizard, wondering if he could hop onto its back and damage it there. His jaws couldnt get around its neck, but he might find purchase <em>somewhere</em>.


    A flicking movement distracted him from the side. He half saw it half felt it, as something veryrge moved under the surface. Not another creature, but the same one. Its tail, lobbing globs of fire at the group fighting it. And a section ofnd nearby that was not quite so hot as to be melted.


    Thinking wasnt for wolves. It certainly wasnt for wolves in the middle of battle. The most important thing he could do was be <em>active</em>. So he quickly changed his trajectory to his new target.


    Fuzz would have liked to stand on the less-burning-hot ground and grab the end of the tail, but it remained firmly buried in the goop most of the time. Even when it flung chunks, it rarely broke the surface.


    So he dove for it instead. Fuzz was very good at digging, and while the ground here was not nearly so friendly for a burrowing wolf as dirt, he ignored the way it sttered against his belly as he went a legs length into the hot goop. The heavy density of it was actually quite convenient, as it flowed together more slowly than loose dirt. It would be a problem if he wanted it to keep its shape, but he only needed a very short time to reach his target. A nice, tender, mouth-width chunk of moving flesh and scale.


    As his jaws mped onto it, he also got a mouthful of the liquid rock. That was extremely ufortable, but nobody ever said battle wasfortable. Not <em>real </em>battles. And this one was probably going to get worse.


    As Fuzz lifted and pulled, his feet sunk into the surface below. It took several yanks before he broke a chunk of the tail free from the material, then it began moving and thrashing to throw him off.


    He let it pull him in a particr direction, but kept his feet nted as firmly as he could most of the time. His jaw remained mped even as everything burned.


    When his feet found the solid segment, he pulled upwards, standing onto his hind legs. It was something he would do only rarely, as he was not a human. He just didnt work like that. But he couldnt get enough height otherwise.


    He then threw himself to the side, using his weight to snap the tail tight and that momentum to yank the creature towards him.


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    Devon felt great sympathy for Fuzz as his shoulder was bitten into, and great worry as he was flung onto the magma. The wolf was already pretty badly beaten up, and he didnt look like he could withstand much more. The intense aura of determinationing from Fuzz didnt help him feel better about that.


    When the wolf diverted course he was almost distracted enough to get himself mped between the lizards jaws, but two chains flexed apart around him and gave him time to dodge away. Unfortunately, that brought him <em>under</em> the creature.


    The chains were crushed and broken apart, which was a shame. He had developed a method to make his energy durable and more akin to a real object, but that meant when it broke it was more damaging than just a standard chunk of energy being broken through. Since he was already pushing himself to his limits to deal with the overlord, he didnt have the spare energy to form more chains. Thus, the two that protected him were simply lost.


    While Devon hadnt expected Fuzz detour, the beast was clearly even <em>less</em> prepared for it. It was actually yanked backwards, its front feet sliding back over the magma where it quickly sank. That left just its head and neck above the surface, a fact that Devon took advantage immediately.


    His position below it was suddenly useful for a brief moment, as his remaining handful of chains looped around to either side and up and over the creature. Without the distraction it would have simply crushed him, but when its head came down the force was much less than the whole weight of its body. He broke one, maybe two or three ribs <em>at most</em>.


    Elder Magro was quick to react, leaping up onto the creatures head as Devons chains wrapped around its jaws. He punched an eye, and when an eyelid simply blocked the blow he grabbed firmly and pulled it open. Another translucent eyelid remained inside that one, which he grabbed with his other hand.


    That left the creature rtively restrained and an easy target for Alva. With its eyes being nearly the size of a standard archery target, it was difficult for her to miss even with it thrashing about. Her first arrow barely prated at all, but each subsequent one broke furtheryers through the eye.


    Elder Magro participated by kicking at the oversized orb, while Devon tried to keep the thing <em>slightly</em> still. The fact that it was dealing with assaults from both ends had thrown it off, but it was still overpoweringly strong. The nearby disciples were quick to leap to their assistance. The ck Earth n members formedyers of rock around the creatures forelimbs. Each was nearly instantly snapped off, but another was ready to form immediately afterwards.


    Disciples of the Iron Fist Sect leapt onto the head as well, targeting the other eye and anything else they could vaguely guess was a weak point. Their efforts werent useful for the damage so much as the extra weight holding the creature down, even if it made it more difficult for Devon to edge out from underneath its jaw.


    Alvas arrows and Elder Magros steel toed boots soon found their way through the left eye, and then into the creatures brain. Even though the brain was very small byparison to its size, it still took several hits to cause significant damage, ending with Elder Magros entire leg in the beasts head before it stopped <em>consciously</em> thrashing.


    The creature still took some time to properly perish, but it <em>did</em> die. That freed up everyone fighting it to move on to the other creature, though all participants were at least a <em>little</em> bit bloodied and some were barely standing. But Devon knew that his grandfather was holding down the fight with the other one and they would certainly ovee it though it wouldnt be easy.