Daniel finds yet another surprise when he wakes up the following morning. Naturally, he is startled at first, but it's not like the first night of their meeting. Hekate is asleep on his lap against his hip, but she didn't faint during an attempt to kill him. Instead, she's curled up in a ball like a cat, with her big tail curled around her cheeks and the blanket covering as much of both of them as possible, even though it's a small blanket.

He smirks, petting her head gently. She does seem to like it when he does, but…

This is going to bite me in the butt in a different way, isn't it?

Regardless, Daniel does his best to let her rest. She's a magic user, meaning restoring her mana and stamina are highly valuable. He has a handful of the mana restorative potations, which should be highly useful if they're in a pinch. Though, he has to be mindful of her small size. Unless he intends to also feed her antidote potions, just one mana potion could prove to intoxicate the small fox-eared girl. And, he doesn't even know what the repercussions of feeding her antidote potions would be, since they're still an alcohol. They just detoxify the alcohol before it can affect the person. It doesn't mean that there aren't any harmful long-term effects.

Of course, back on Earth, it would be unthinkable to feed a child alcoholic drinks, even if they're actually utilitarian in this world, which gives him pause as well. For now, she's doing well without any assistance from consumables. Daniel has plenty of revolver rounds remaining, plenty of food and water he seized, and of course, all but two of his rifle rounds. Assuming a Feldrok is comparable to a dragon, and assuming he can catch it off guard, he might be able to get them through this castle without either of them getting hurt.

They eat a good breakfast, and Hekate sits against his side, smiling.

Yep. Definitely getting bitten later. Oh well.

They clean up their camp after finishing breakfast, and they carefully sneak out of their alcove. They stay close, as they don't know if any new adversaries would come to investigate. They're in a hallway, which is winding, and Hekate listens carefully. She nods to indicate that it's safe, and Daniel pets her head. He leads the way, following the 'rule of right'; taking right turns when presented with intersections, marking corners, and investigating until they come to a dead end or recognize an intersection or room they've been in. Thankfully, Daniel has been collecting the bodies, but Hekate's sense of smell can detect the blood of the monsters they've slain, even down to unique identification, so she can confirm a room quickly without them having to walk all the way across the humongous, pitch black rooms.

Daniel suspects it's not an ancient temple or tomb, since there are no traps. Instead, it seems to be an ancient castle, as all of the hallways have defensive structures, and the walls are sturdy. He has some idea of the layout from the directions they've been heading, but he can't see well enough to make a map, and he doesn't have material to do so, since paper is expensive and none of the demons had any.

There are puddles and streams that are too deep for the young fox girl to cross without getting water in her boots or soaking her clothes. She rides on Daniel's back as he walks across, and she watches their front while holding his revolver. He taught her the basic means to use it, but he doubts she'll be willing to fire it. He'll have to be especially careful of her sensitive ears when he fires the rifle.

The next room they come to that is a new room is too large to see across, even for Hekate. She can barely see the ceiling, but confirms there aren't any airborne targets. However, near the middle of the room, a rather large creature, given the hand gestures she shows Daniel, is eating something else. They make their way along the right wall, still following the rule of right, moving cautiously to avoid any trips or slips that would draw attention of the monster. While Hekate's burden is the darkness itself, Daniel is on offense once she informs him of the hazard. As such, he uses her faintly glowing outline from her magic power to determine where he can step. So far, it's worked quite well, even if he can't see the thing he's stepping on. Hekate knows to pick the best footing for him, and she has been doing an excellent job as his guide.

Though, something has seemed strange. She seems a little easier to see than before, as if she's glowing just a touch brighter. He figures he must be imagining it, since it's such a miniscule difference, and as long as the other monsters can't see the glow, then it doesn't matter.

As they're sneaking, they avoid the eyelines of monsters that are also trying to avoid being noticed by the monster in the center. Daniel only knows for certain because it's hungrily snorting and tearing at flesh, indicating that there's definitely a monster there. Not that he doubted Hekate, but even he could tell that there's definitely a large creature bigger even than the big creature they defeated not too long ago.

Suddenly, Hekate freezes, and noise fills the dark room.

With a suddenness, a light enters the room.

Unfortunately, it isn't a harbinger of comfort, like a lantern while lost in the woods or an angel bringing divine providence. This light glows with a dark blue hue, illuminating a flickering aura similar to smoke as a titanic being glides. The noise isn't from the newcomer, though. It's from the many creatures that are able to choose to flee as they fearfully shriek and clamor to escape the room. The rest, like Hekate, are frozen in terror by a seeming power that gripped them before it was even visible.

Its glow makes it visible all across the room, and Daniel instinctively shields Hekate with his body, trying to keep her from making noise as they stay hidden in their secluded little corner of the gigantic room.

Fortunately, the great beast, easily the size of a one hundred passenger plane, wasn't there for them. Its glow illuminated the room, and it revealed as it swooped in the beast that was feasting until a moment ago; a gigantic lizard the size of a bus. One capable of carrying a great deal of luggage and breathing fire during a siege; a drake. Daniel only knows that because he was repeatedly corrected by the demonkin he befriended that drakes are distinctly different from dragons.

That said, drakes are, of course, not to be trifled with. And, this one is cowering in fear as it tries to retreat away from the avian newcomer.

In spite of the glow, the newcomer could most easily and quickly be described as a dragon. Its wingspan is vast, and it had actually pounced from the far end of the room into a glide, closing the distance on the drake before it could be noticed. It has a long, broad tail, flickering as its smoky aura of magic light swirled around and seemingly through the surface of the tail itself. From what he can tell, Daniel suspects it's an illusion from magical power, similar to heat waves from a hot fire. It could even be exactly that, though a blue glow would indicate a terrifyingly hot fire.

Its body is long and slender, jet black on its own and similarly wavering like a mirage over a grassy plain, and it uses its foreclaws to pin the drake down as flames burst forth from the latter's mouth in a desperate attempt to fend off the attacker that it couldn't possibly hope to outrun. In spite of its efforts, the flames glance off of the black dragon's wings, illuminating the monstrous beast in a hellish glow, further amplifying how dark its jet-black appearance truly is. If it wasn't glowing with light, it would be almost impossible to see in this castle until it was already far too late.

The creature then pins the drake down on its side with a violent boom that rumbles the castle, drowning out the monsters crying and fleeing in every direction away from the drake and black dragon. It's likely they were lingering in hopes of eating scraps from the drake's meal, but now, the drake is going to become the meal of an apparent apex predator of the ungodly huge castle.

The monstrous black dragon inhales as the drake again tries a desperate flame breath of its own. The dragon ignores it, exhaling a terrifying breath of pure white. Daniel can hear the crackling and creaking of… ice. The drake is being frozen solid in an instant.

The drake cries a pitiful shriek as its body freezes. That is until its lungs freeze, and its head collapses before turning to ice as well.

The glow of the dragon shifts to a red color, and it shakes its head, dripping liquid that looks like it could easily be liquid nitrogen or something similar; instantly cooling the humidity in the air to a steam even as it evaporates quickly.

With another deep breath, Daniel is brought back to his first real battle in this world.

The black dragon's mouth fills with an orange glow, and pops and booms erupt from its mouth as flames pass across its frozen teeth and lingering liquid freezing agent. Just as quickly as it had frozen the drake, the dragon melts the ice with crackling pops, though it only partially thaws parts of the drake… before tearing into it with its teeth.

Daniel watches for a moment, still hugging Hekate. the lingering flames on the moss and anything else flammable have created enough light to see, and the dragon is distracted presently as it enjoys its meal.

He might be able to extract his rifle, but there's no telling whether the dragon is his target. Though, given the ferocity of this beast, it's unlikely that there's anything more dangerous than it in the castle. Of course, that would be easy to believe of the drake before seeing the scene before them now.

Hekate whimpers, and Daniel hugs her, cooing softly, "Shh, Hekate… It's okay. I'm here. I'll protect you."

That resolves it. Whether or not he can defeat this thing, Daniel carefully draws his rifle off of his back. He definitely can't defeat it without his weapon at the ready. He's hoping, though, that the dragon is satisfied with its meal.

He does his best to keep Hekate's face hidden and comfort her as she silently cries into his chest. She's still terrified, and after a short while, she finally falls asleep. That, or the terror causing her to breathe less than needed led her to faint.

Either way, Daniel keeps watch over her as the Dragon contentedly feasts on the drake, melting more of it as it reaches bones. It doesn't finish the meal, though, and roars as it carries off the remaining half of the frozen drake, lumbering rather than flying as it drags the beast. It walks on its rear legs and effortlessly drags the drake with one 'hand'. It's only as it's leaving that Daniel notices the edges of its head moving, almost like canine ears listening. It's not alert, but listening casually.

After it leaves, Daniel shoulders his rifle and scoops up Hekate, carrying her in a princess carry with his revolver under her legs draped over his forearm. It's not ideal, but he'll be able to fight, even if he has to drop her to the ground momentarily.

He reluctantly makes the decision he knows he needs to make, though. He heads in the direction that the black dragon lazily lumbered off to. He'll make camp again after a little while, and he can verify with Hekate what he doesn't really want to be true; that the black dragon isn't a dragon at all.

Given that it was able to use two distinctly different elements so quickly, he's afraid he just witnessed a Feldrok in person.

Daniel manages to find a good camping spot in the next hallway. An additional advantage to following the suspected Feldrok is that none of the monsters will be likely to appear again right away. Of course, his rational brain also knows that it's dangerously ludicrous for him to be pursuing that very same predator. But, he imagines that, like the dragon, it's not particularly threatened by something of his size, and as such, won't pay him any mind until -hopefully- it's too late. It's like approaching a running tank. Just because it's on doesn't mean it's a threat to Daniel. As long as it doesn't know he's there and doesn't perceive him as a threat -the driver of the tank in that case-, he is nothing more than a part of the terrain; a stone on the road or a mouse in the thicket.

This mouse, of course, has a semi-open secret. While common knowledge in his own world, with a moderately more limited pool of those who could craft them, the mouse known as Daniel has a bite that has already brought down two dragons.

As Daniel checks over his weapons and equipment, Hekate begins whimpering. He looks at her, and it looks like she's struggling with a nightmare. It's likely she fell unconscious, and now, has fallen into rem sleep. Daniel sighs. "You're so needy, Hekate. You're lucky you're cute." He slides over to her in their shelter, and he carefully cradles her, petting her head. She calms down almost immediately, even squirming more into his lap to curl into a small ball with her tail wrapped around her body and face. He tucks the blanket over her again and continues petting her for a bit until even he falls asleep.

Of course, he's awakened in the morning when she violently scrambles up to search around, disoriented by her new surroundings. Or rather, her relatively familiar and safe surroundings of a secure shell.

She exclaims, "Daniel!" She spins, finding him, and her eyes water instantly. She throws herself onto him again as she cries. "Danielllll! D-D-Daniel!" She fires off words quickly as she sobs, but it's clear it's whatever language she speaks. Daniel hugs her gently, petting her for a long while as she slowly calms down her breathing.

Daniel checks with Hekate after she seems ready to talk, "Hekate, I think I know, but I want you to confirm for me. That wasn't a dragon, was it?"

She shakes her head, clinging to his jacket's chest.

"Then…"

She squeezes tighter, whimpering. He finishes, "A Feldrok, huh?"

She tries to curl into the tiniest ball she can, endeavoring to hide in Daniel's presence as much as she can. She chokes out one of the three words she knows, "Y-Y-Yes…"

"I see." Daniel keeps petting her head, and he says softly, "Glad I know what it looks like, now. We'll avoid it as long as we can." Daniel lies to try to comfort her. He doesn't intend to make her fight it, but from what he's gathered, Hekate can't leave the castle until she conquers it. He wants to help her, and, although he now knows that the Dragon Lord isn't present, it's likely this Feldrok needs to be dealt with. It behaved more like a monster, even though it's supposed to be more powerful and intelligent than a dragon, which have been definitely sentient from the two he's met.

After breakfast, though Daniel has no actual concept of what time it is at the moment, given how long they've been in the dark castle, they clean up and continue their journey. Once more, Hekate is leading them down the hallway. She has no idea yet that they're following the path of the Feldrok, and since its smell probably filled the whole castle the whole time, she was likely just afraid being in its presence.

Of course, Daniel has also watched a lot of anime and read a lot of comics and manga, as well as a fair number of books. Something favored with the presence of especially powerful enemies, from the most evil of sorcerers in the most well-known series to the most powerful and dangerous monsters in fantasies of eastern origin is the aura or presence itself; a fear aura. Sometimes it is caused by magic, others the sheer overwhelming power of the being's presence. Either way, merely existing was enough to descend those before the being into a fit of fear and despair.

Daniel has no way of knowing, but the idea came to him after he was comforting Hekate in her sleep. She and the other beings were so terrified, they dropped into balls of instincts, and Hekate even fainted. A magical effect would explain why Daniel's fear was only from his survival instincts as a small being facing a monster, but because he was able to isolate his fear with the knowledge that there was almost no chance it would take interest in them, it was a normal level of fear, rather than crippling. With the exception of the drake, which managed to meagerly fight back, everything else had no choice but to panic in the face of the monster.

If he was on the mark, then he wonders if Hekate would be able to overcome her fear. In games, certain abilities of one character could boost the morale of another, making the latter more resistant to fear. In essence, it would be described as a song or words of encouragement, or even a spell. Daniel can't cast spells, but he can encourage her with words, if it's enough. He doesn't know the true source of her fear, but he'll have to try.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Either way, his goal for the next time they encounter the Feldrok is to relieve Hekate of the burden forever.

***

Hekate nibbles on jerkied meat that Daniel gave her at request. He taught her several words, but this one, he taught her a quick sign, since she was struggling to learn all of the words she needed to communicate with him. She was nervous, and his words seem to soothe her, but just as quickly, they melt away, like a joke or story that gives her too much joy to be focused on remembering every detail. She can fumble through words that she can remember some of the syllables, but it's easier to just rub her tummy when she wants a snack. Daniel is quick to accomodate, and it allows them to keep exploring.

She's been eating more, though. Being on edge is making her nervous, and to distract herself, she's been unconsciously asking for food. The Feldrok was just as terrifying as described. She couldn't even breathe properly in its presence. She was certain she was going to die simply from the oppressiveness of its terrifying presence.

Instead, she awakened in Daniel's arms. He had cradled her in her sleep because she was having a nightmare, which she had already forgotten by the time she woke up. Though she cried almost immediately, she was immensely relieved to still be alive and to have Daniel by her side.

It's strange, though. The hallway they've been walking in has been eerily quiet. The Feldrok's scent and lingering magic fill the whole of the Citadel. She wouldn't be able to pinpoint it until they were already on top of it. And then, if it wanted to kill them, it would merely take a sliver of its deadly power. Daniel's metal wand was powerful and peculiar, or 'revolver', as he calls it, but there's no way it possesses the power to take down the Feldrok. She knows he's keeping her company, but she ultimately knows how their journey together will have to end.

He'll have to leave eventually, leaving her trapped alone in the Citadel once more.

Neither of them stand a chance against the Feldrok itself, and Daniel isn't bound to the Citadel by a command given to a slave.

That said, he has kept her company for a long time already, and though he can't understand what she's saying, she enjoys something she says to him every morning. She'd be too bashful if he could understand, but because he can't, she confesses her admiration and love for him in a small prayer of selfish desire to keep him around for yet another day longer, and she's able to sleep at night knowing that he stayed all the way through.

Feeling particularly affectionate again, she tugs his sleeve softly. "Daniel, {Thank you for staying with me. I love you.}"

He looks at her at her garner for attention, and he smiles. "We haven't conquered the castle yet, so be careful, right?"

She nods, whispering affectionately, "{I'll never leave your side. Please don't leave mine.}"

He sighs. "Someday, I'm going to ask you to tell me what you've been saying. I can tell it's the same handful of phrases every day. I'm not an idiot."

Thankfully, the darkness hides her blush from the human, but she walks close to him as they continue down the hallway.

Ahead, a room is producing light that is leaking into the hallway; likely either an actual room with windows or a hole from damage. They've ascended pretty high in the Citadel, though Daniel doesn't seem to realize that they've actually climbed up. He has just been following the path.

According to legends that Hekate overheard, the Citadel was once an ancient magic fortress belonging to the Feldroks. With their powers, they were able to power a special core that prevented invasion by monsters and pests. The only reason the Citadel fell, supposedly, was because a dragon schooled in the magic arts of the Feldroks betrayed them somehow. But, that is ancient history, and at best a story Hekate has heard only by piecing together tidbits. She suspects that, in the off-chance the Dragon Lord had believed that she could win, he would come and reactivate the core, which would have an unknown number of benefits over the castle they currently occupy. Of course, he also clearly wasn't trying that hard to conquer the Citadel, as Hekate alone stands no chance of success. If anything, he's getting rid of her.

As they approach the room emitting light, Daniel quickly darts to the wall, approaching the corner cautiously. For once, rather than his revolver, he draws the long metal staff into his hands, holding it in a strange posture.

He peeks around the corner, pulling back just as quickly. He takes a deep breath and calms himself.

Curious and cautious, Hekate warily sneaks towards the large opening. She peeks around the corner as well.

Fear grips her soul. The very ability to hear drains from her ears. The very ability to see narrows to a small, narrow tunnel, locked on the source of her terror. Every hair on her body begins to tingle and stand on end. Her broad tail, having regrown some of her missing fur, puffs up to provide a bigger presence, but also to allow her to shield herself if she needs to.

Assuming she even could attempt to defend herself, that is. When Daniel told her of the drake managing a futile defense attempt, she hadn't seen any of it. She was so tunnel-visioned in fear.

Now, her heart is pounding once more, and her voice squeaks.

She's suddenly yanked back, and Daniel sits her down against the wall, cooing quickly but as quietly as he can, "Calm! Stay calm, Hekate. It's okay! It's alright! We can do this! You and me!"

She begins to cry, and tears pour from her eyes as she shakes her head vigorously. "No! No!" She cries. "No!"

"Shhh! Please, I need you to stay quiet. You saw, didn't you? This is our chance!"

"NO!" She cries, and he hugs her to his chest, muffling her cries as she bawls into his jacket. She continues to cry, "No! No!" Into his chest over and over again. She can't even think of anything else to say. Is she trying to convince him not to even try it, or is she trying to deny its existence? She wouldn't be able to say. She can barely process anything. Her only rigid stone in a tumbling rockslide is Daniel; her only friend in the world. The one she truly loves. The only one she could love after the life she's lived. In spite of how ugly and small she is, he still treats her so kindly.

Daniel finally extracts himself, whispering, "Hekate, I agreed to help you conquer this fortress, didn't I? That thing's an obstacle. I know you don't believe me, and you don't have to. But, I won't give up without trying. Alright?"

She shakes her head, unable to form words any more as she sniffles and whimpers, trying to keep her breath.

How could you even think something so crazy!? Why can't we just stay like we were!? Like we are!?

She can't get the words out at all. She doesn't need to conquer the Citadel. The Dragon Lord was never going to check on her progress. If she could find a happy medium of surviving with someone she cares about…

However, Daniel pulls her head to his, and his lips touch her forehead, causing a spark to pass through her body. At least, that's how it feels. She has never felt anything like it. The closest is when Daniel holds her and pets her head. But, this is different. It burrows deep into her soul, growing there like a small swelling feeling.

It leaves her speechless and unable to move. And, it is that moment in which Daniel makes his move, quickly darting around the corner while Hekate is stunned. She finally snaps to, finding his magic bag on the ground in front of her. His words finally processed through her brain, even after he's already around the corner. "Just in case, be safe, Hekate. First and foremost, take care of yourself."

She scrambles to collect the bag. "N-No…!" She whispers.

She starts to fearfully crawl towards the corner again. She needs to stop him, but it's already far too late. The human has already disappeared around the corner. All she can do is try to call him back.

But, the image flashes through her mind. It's there; the most powerful being in the world. It may be feral compared to the Feldroks of legend, but it still keeps the dragons away from the Citadel, the last and most powerful stronghold of the mythical race.

Go! He needs your help! He's going to die! Get him to come back! You have to! He's given you all you have now! MOVE!

In spite of her desires, her fear keeps her frozen steadfast. Tears fall from her cheeks as she tries to force the courage to go to him and pull him back. He is committing suicide, and all for a foolhardy…

SKREE-BOOOOOOOOOOM!

Hekate leaps away from the corner in terror as the single loudest noise she has ever heard thunders from beyond the corner. It pierces her ears, shakes her body, and rattles her bones.

It was undoubtedly the power of a Feldrok. It was the very voice of not just thunder, but the God of thunder in a fit of anger.

Hekate's ears are ringing, and she can't help the cries of agony from the pain in her ears, the jolt on her body, and the tearing in her heart.

In an instant, everything she's ever had is suddenly…

KRA-KABOOOOOOOOOOM!

Hekate is startled by another sudden shout of the thunder god, which easily breaks through her momentary deafness from the first attack. Again, it unmistakably came from the next room, where Daniel disappeared to.

A second attack.

A second attack between Daniel and the Feral Feldrok.

Daniel, a human without any magic in his body, survived an attack from a Feldrok. Thunder rumbles through the mountain-like fortress as the Feldrok bellows and roars, slamming parts of the fortress with its vicious attacks.

Hekate's mind is stuck. She can't process. She feels numb. It's unthinkable that a human would be able to survive a single attack from a Feldrok.

It would be more unthinkable to hope that the second sound, which shares similarities with Daniel's revolver, was actually him launching his own attack.

The whole hallway shakes dust and debris from a massive impact as the Feldrok snarls, and she can barely hear the collapsing of something heavy, though her ears are still ringing more than not.

Hekate finally scrambles to the corner, nervously peeking her eyes with her ears folded back, trying to lower her profile as she reveals her face.

White smoke and dust is filling the room heavily, obscuring everything. Hekate's eyes water, but something seems off. She can sense the magical power of the Feldrok as it moves around, but it isn't quite as oppressive as it was initially. More importantly, it is not relaxed in a state of triumph. It is searching the area desperately, though clumsily, as if it can't see.

A magic-less human is actually engaged in battle with the most fearsome monster in the world that even the dragons fear.

Dashing in front of the swirling flame that is the magic power of the Feldrok is a tiny black shadow.

***

Back at the beginning of Daniel's mission into the room with the Feldrok, he quickly makes his way to the nearest pillar supporting the ceiling high above. Or, given the size of the fortress known as the Citadel, it could be merely decorative. Regardless, it is his jungle that he is going to have to make use of to try to defeat a monster far more powerful than he could ever hope to be. Hidden behind the first one, he puts makeshift earplugs in to try to protect his ears as much as he can. He won't be able to waste time nursing blown out eardrums if something goes wrong.

The Earthling works his way across the open gaps between the columns until he's relatively close to the sleeping black dragon-like beast.

However, just as he's peeking around the column to plan his rush to strike, he notices its head lift, its eyes open. The feldrok's features remind Daniel much of a werewolf, but with massive wings and a dragon-like overall shape, other than the fur that the werewolf would possess.

Its ears and nose seem to be similarly acute, as it sniffs the air and tilts its gigantic ears to listen.

Daniel is remaining quiet for now, but for all he knows, natural satellite dishes like the master of the Citadel possesses can detect his heartbeat even behind the pillar as he is.

Regardless, Daniel is committed now. With the Feldrok awake and suspicious, and his position relatively central to the room they're both in, Daniel has no hope of escaping any time soon.

He has greater chances of the monster finding him in the next few minutes from smell, sound, or simply searching if it decides to go that far.

Wanting to purge the room quickly, the Feldrok roars as it bursts a heat blast out from its body, and Daniel ducks into cover behind the column. He can feel the heat, but he suspects he would be rapidly incinerated if he were to step out into the hot air rushing by.

I'm a fricking idiot… thinks the mechanic to himself.

While not especially noticeable to a human's nose while sealed, there's a reason canines have very little trouble finding bombs and bullets in a pile of bags at an airport or in other situations; the ingredients that combust the most vigorously have very distinct scents.

There's almost no chance the feldrok won't find Daniel, who hasn't bathed more than an occasional wipe-down in weeks, is armed with an assortment of potent chemical concoctions meant to explode in different ways to different ends. He has three smoke bombs, three flash bombs, and about ten of his twenty millimeter bullets on a belt across his chest and a few on the one affixed to his pants. He's among the furthest things from a Navy SEAL, but he still chose to come this far, and he'll die if he doesn't do anything.

The American finds one of his smoke bombs in his belt pouch at his back, and he leans his massive rifle against his shoulder as he pulls the pin. Please… Please work… I can do this. You can do this, Daniel. It's just a game. A video game. A really, REALLY realistic video game.

He swallows hard, throwing the smoke grenade around the pillar towards the direction he came from, but aimed as far into the center as he can get with a decent toss.

After all, his plan is to use the smoke grenade to move closer to the feldrok and try to take it out in one shot.

Clank, clank, clank zrrrr.

The distinct sounds of the metal canister landing on the ground reaches Daniel's ears, and he braces himself to dart around the pillar, setting his eyes on the smoke as it starts billowing out of the canister.

Once the cloud is large enough, I'll use it for cover and throw the next one to get…

As he's watching the smoke spraying out of the small canister, a strong ringing sound comes from the direction of the Feldrok, and Daniel only glances at the massive lycan-beast.

Its mouth is glowing vibrantly like the most classical of Japanese movie monsters popular in global culture. A streak of light illuminates the room vibrantly, and Daniel flinches back a step as the cloud of smoke is swallowed by an explosion of stone and fire three times as large.

The American pins his back to the pillar, and his knees nearly buckle.

What the hell!? What… It… It attacked. No… I almost… Oh God… I can't do this… I…

Daniel can hear his own teeth clicking together, and his wavering eyes glance at his own hands. They are shaking violently as he grips the rifle with a white-knuckle hold.

What the heck was I thinking? I'm no hero. I should be scraping grease out of parts and replacing broken components.

A sudden image of a tiny girl with big, black fox ears and a bushy black tail flashes across his mind. She is curled in a ball, covering her ears as she tries to deny reality.

If I die, she dies. Come on Daniel. Be useful for once…

The Feldrok is investigating the sight of the smoke bomb, which means its massive head is relatively right on top of Daniel. He closes his eyes, squeezing the heavy rifle he built to fight monsters.

He knew he had to defend himself from fantasy monsters, and he mentally prepared for dragons. But, the Feldrok is something else. He can hear its deep sniffs as it ponders what has invaded its den.

God damnit, thinks the former sailor to himself. "Fine. What's the worst that could happen? I die a virgin?" Daniel scoffs digging through his bag for a flash bomb. The Feldrok growls as it notices his grumbling.

"Yeah, I'm here. And, here's a gift for ya…" Daniel tries to deny reality with his banter. Video games were his hobby.

And he wishes he could fool himself into believing it's nothing more than that.

For now, he has to cling to survival, particularly after he got himself into this mess.

The mechanic throws the pin and releases the spoon, which he intentionally took the time to assemble the basic design of grenades to make it easy for him to use.

And, as the fuse burns, he counts in his head, throwing it after about two seconds.

The abyssal black creature notices Daniel's movements and it growls. It is ready to strike, but before it can do anything, the self-made flashbang grenade explodes with a 'KRA-KABOOOOM!' that tears through the air, while a blinding light briefly illuminates everything directly in line with the small bomb as if the sun briefly winked inside of the room.

Likely a combination of the darkness and quietness causes the flashbang's effect to hit the sensitive canine-like ears and dark-attuned eyes of the Feldrok several times as hard.

It bellows and shrieks as it throws itself backwards.

Daniel is but an average human, and he is fighting a beast that roughly rivals an international passenger airliner for size, now that he's seeing it up close and its massive form is towering over him.

Its lurching escape from the flashbang grenade gives it over thirty extra yards from the mechanic, who has no doubt he'll need a perfect shot to stand a chance of defeating it.

Daniel exhales as he grips his rifle.

Maybe he should have retained his faith in God, weak as it was at best from his own miserable experience. Maybe he should have found a new faith. Or maybe, he should have given up on faith entirely and found a new way to live his life full of fearlessness and confidence.

He'll never truly know, at least certainly not in this moment, how people achieve true fearlessness, but the Feldrok is now fully aware of his presence, and it will take every ounce of his strength to beat it with Earth's weapons meant to equalize the battlefield.

Daniel, the simple blue-collar mechanic from a small town in the United States of America, is clinging to life against an otherworldly monster.

And, if he wants any hope of surviving, he's going to need to win.

***

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