The coin attack missed the target by a large margin. His attempt to throw it was a fool's errand.
Up to this point, his Shock was a raw, uncontrolled force, meant to destroy whatever he touched. Trying to toss a coin with that kind of voltage was like trying to thread a needle with a lightning bolt; the lack of practice and understanding of the flow guaranteed it would miss its mark.
The conductive coin hit the ceiling and splattered instantly, its metal form incinerated into a burnt, unusable mess before it even hit the floor. Despite the destruction, the sound was the same: a simple metallic clink.
A single, faint note of screeching pierced the air, a sound so unnatural it cut through the chaotic noise of the battle. The lizard didn't react, but the sound was audible enough, especially to him.
'Is that what I think it is ?' he thought for a moment before his focus returned to the battle field.
He dodged another of the beast's searing blasts, his mind racing as he sprinted in wide circles. He recognized the sound, but he couldn't pinpoint the exact location.
'That screech was unmistakable,' he thought, his jaw tight. 'I have to try again.'
He grabbed another coin from his pouch and threw it against a wall opposite his suspected direction.
The coin struck the stone with a sharp, familiar noise.
He heard the screeching again, louder this time. He focused his thoughts, filtering out the chaos. The sound came from the east of the door he'd entered, but much higher up.
He craned his neck, his eyes sweeping the wall as he ran. That's when he saw it: a tiny, insignificant crack in the stone, and from within it, a small reflection of light.
'I see. It seems the goblins have made it, haven't they?' he said to himself, a grim smile spreading across his face.
With a sudden, explosive jolt, he changed his direction. He moved just as the lizard unleashed a claw attack aimed for his back.
"Fire Blast!" he roared.
The explosive torrent of fire collided with the monster's orange orbs, creating a blinding flash and an immense cloud of smoke that instantly filled the room.
Using the thick smoke as his shield, he sprinted straight toward the wall. With only a few inches of space between him and the stone, he sprung into the air, reaching a height of 45 feet(14 m) in a single bound.
He coiled his fist, and Shock began to hum with electric cracks, the air around his hand sparking violently.
"Shock!" he yelled, his voice echoing in the enclosed space as he slammed his fist into the wall.
The wall, already weakened from the battle, crumbled under the concentrated force, revealing the enemy waiting on the other side.
"Heh, we meet again, right?" he said as he used a fire blast to keep him afloat.
The wall crumbled, revealing the enemy and their spooked stature: a swarm of goblins and wolves, led by a single massive wolf.
"Why not help me out, eh?".
The smoke from the explosion thinned, revealing the lizard charging another fire blast, a searing, crimson light pulsing from its throat.
Hiroki was at eye level with the swarm of enemies. All of them, including him, were trapped directly within the lizard's blast radius for its fire breath.
For him, a quick blast of fire to his right would easily propel him to the left, but for them, it was certain death. They were trapped on a narrow, one-kilometer-long path with no escape.
They all scrambled forward, tumbling from the collapsed opening to the ground below.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The blasts exploded, a torrent of fire searing the air where they had just been.
Thanks to their great endurance, the goblins and wolves landed safely below. The giant wolf seemed to have gathered more of its pack along the way.
In total, there were 45 goblins, 15 wolves, and one giant wolf, all now facing the giant lizard.
Hiroki rolled to his feet and taunted the wolves, "Why not help me out, eh, puppy?!"
The fire lizard, annoyed by the human's evasive tactics, became even more bloodthirsty at the sight of another dungeon-dweller in its territory.
SCREEEEECH!
With a powerful swing of its claw, the lizard tore at the ground, sending a massive, scorching wave of rock and heat toward the goblins.
The pack's plan was to survive and return to their original position, but that was now impossible. They couldn't possibly face the lizard; even the giant wolf paled in comparison.
Their only hope, or so the wolf thought, was to hold out until the human killed the lizard.
But the wolf was wrong.
The human now looked refreshed, and he was even... smiling? He sprinted and took a position in the corner of the room.
"Okay, this was better than I thought it would be!" he said. "Now, even if by some miracle they manage to take it down, that won't be satisfying at all. I've been fighting this guy for two hours. If I somehow acquire his skill, I'll be unstoppable. But I need a way to kill it before it starts targeting me again. Okay, now I have to focus. What do I know about electricity or lightning, for that matter?"
While the human was lost in thought, the wolf pack engaged the monster.
The giant wolf, a blur of dark fur, dodged a sweeping tail and unleashed its own magic. A swirling whirlpool of wind erupted from its jaws, a defensive vortex that shielded its pack members.
Wind and fire were a terrible combination, but the wolf, with a fierce growl, used its skill to protect its own while openly sacrificing the goblins.
The lizard's scorching breath dissipated uselessly against the swirling barrier, but the goblins behind the wolf's wind screen were easily scorched to ash by the creature's attacks.
Finally, hiroki came to a decision.
His mind raced as he considered his options. He had to find a way to deal a fatal blow.
But for now, he can rest and recover.
He grabbed a potion and started drinking it as his legs uncotnrollably twichtec and his tummy ached.
As he exhaled , the wolf came closer, its body shaking in exhaustion, its eyes meeting his.
He instantly formed a flame in his left palm aiming it at the wolf to defend himself.
The wolf stopped and bowed it's head as it's kin and the golins were slaughted in the background of it's view.
'Is it surrundering ?'
The wolf then raised it's head, hiroki is now certain it is an inteeelgent being.
The wolf showed him its wind magic skill, a tiny breeze swirling around its paw.
'What is it trying to say ?'
The wolf then pointed it's head at Hiroki's palm that was filled with flames.
'Oh...'
It was now clear to him what he needed to do. They needed to combine their skills.
The fire lizard, with its majestic body and aura, slowly turned its head. It saw the wolf using its magic; its eyes were glowing a bright blue. But it couldn't see the effects.
Just as it was charging its final attack to fire at the wolf—
"Checkmate!" he said.
As if straight out of a movie finale, he stood with pure confidence in the center of the ceiling.
The giant wolf unleashed its Whirlpool skill, creating a torrent of wind beneath the human, holding him suspended in the air.
He charged his attack, fire in his left palm and Shock in his right. He laced the fire with the wolf's wind and his hands with an incredible voltage, with everything he had.
The big wolf growled, its eyes gleaming with triumph.
CRACKLE CRACKLE CRACKLE.
BOOM!
The fire mixed with the wind of the whirlpool from the wolf, igniting the ceiling and causing a massive explosion.
He propelled himself toward the ground, all his forces focused on a single attack: a punch.
"Superior, Ultimate Punch!"
He plunged his fist into the lizard's neck, somehow tearing the most vulnerable tissue. He then aimed for its head with his sword, stabbing it relentlessly between its eyes.
All the wolves, sensing their opportunity, joined in and tore at the lizard's body.
"Again, again, again! Full power Shock, full power Fire Blast! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!" he shouted.
It finally died.
'The monster died'
Sweat dripped from his body. After all, he had been standing on a stove!
"I have won!" he panted, his chest heaving. "Now, it is time to betray my 10-second friend, the big wolf."
He tightened his grip on his sword. The wolf, exhausted from the fight, wouldn't stand a chance against this new, refreshed version of him.
Suddenly, the massive door the lizard had entered through began to glow a furious, pulsating red.
Confusion etched his face, but the wolf's expression turned to one of pure terror—a look far more frightened than when it had faced the lizard.
Without a second thought, the wolf started running. It bit the head of one of its allies that was blocking its path and scrambled up the cracked wall.
The other wolves, lacking the giant wolf's agility, had no means of following.
Seeing this as free experience, hiroki swiftly sliced the heads off the 14 remaining wolves and pursued the giant wolf, knowing that whatever was coming couldn't be good.
He used his fire blast and every other trick he had to chase the wolf, who was sprinting as fast as it could.
For a mere moment, he glanced back.
He was instantly terrified as a wall of fire came crawling toward him, consuming everything in its path.
He ran as fast as he could through the narrow, one-kilometer-long path.
'Light!'
He saw the light outside, a brilliant glow that resembled the sun.
He gave himself one final push just before the entire chamber blasted apart, launching him into the sky.
"Ahh!" he grunted, suspended several hundred meters in the air.
He then witnessed an even more terrifying sight.
"A city ?!" He exclaimed.
A sprawling city, but no ordinary one. A city of goblins and wolves stretched out before him as far as the eye could see.
He knew he could not survive there.
As he descended, still moving in the air, he saw an opening in the artificial ceiling of the dungeon. He planned to take it, though it would take forever to blast his way there.
He blasted his fire just once, aiming at the crack.
Suddenly, his firepower increased to a massive degree. The surge of energy was so immense it propelled him toward the crack at an incredible speed.
He was in front of it in less than a second.
Then-
Everything went black.