ROAR!!
The roar rattled the air like the dungeon itself was flinching.
Ropes of saliva dripped from the monster's jaws, thick, glossy, and profoundly disrespectful.
As the creature thundered forward with murder gleaming in its eyes, Dio felt his spine turn into an icicle.
His body tensed, every instinct screaming run, hide, retire, fake death, literally anything sensible.
But he did not run.
A grin, far too wide for someone seconds away from becoming dinosaur garnish, cut across his face.
"It's a pity I didn't awaken," he muttered, voice low, chin lifting with the kind of confidence normally found only in idiots and heroes.
"But don't think I'm so easy to bully."
The universe barely had time to judge him before Dio took off, charging toward the monster, not away.
He sprinted straight at the towering reptile, feet hammering the stone, and leapt.
"Because I'm Dio Scarlett—THE KING OF BULLYING!"
He cocked his fist back, aiming for the creature's skull.
The T-rex thing lowered its massive head and retaliated with the most savage headbutt a living being could offer.
Boom!
The collision detonated like a boulder dropped on a war drum.
Shockwaves blasted outward, dust flying, the dungeon trembling.
Dio shot backward like a discarded toy, slamming into the wall with enough force to make the carved stone whine.
But he stood up.
Instantly. Casually. Zero hesitation. Zero blood. Zero fractures. Zero anything.
Any normal unawakened human would've died instantly.
Even an awakened one would be coughing up teeth like loose change.
Dio? He looked mildly annoyed.
He'd been like this since childhood, a body that broke logic the way he broke school rules.
Unnaturally tough, unfairly sturdy, and entirely too durable for anyone's sanity.
It was the reason no one at school ever resisted him.
It wasn't courage; everyone simply understood there was no point challenging a kid who could tank a beating like he was made of reinforced myth-steel.
He'd even taken down upperclassmen by himself once. No magic. No awakening.
Just raw, unreasonable durability.
And the confidence of someone who'd never learned the meaning of "Stop, you'll die."
And now?
He squared his shoulders at the giant monster, eyes steady, grin sharp.
That same unreasonable durability was the only reason he wasn't already a smear on the dungeon floor.
Dio lunged again, fist swinging, but this time the creature snapped its jaws shut around his arm with brutal precision.
"Shit!" he spat as teeth punched through his skin like a dozen angry knives.
The beast jerked its head, roaring loud enough to shake dust from the ceiling.
It yanked him back and forth, trying to tear his arm clean off.
Bone should've snapped.
Flesh should've peeled. But Dio's stubborn body refused to cooperate with physics.
His arm stayed attached.
Barely, but still attached.
He hung there, half-eaten, half-annoyed, while the monster thrashed.
He couldn't pull free, couldn't twist out, couldn't even punch with his trapped hand.
But he didn't panic.
He reached up with his free hand, grabbed the creature's nostrils, and yanked hard.
Its massive head jerked down in surprise.
It gave him just enough space to bend forward, way more than any human spine should.
He drove his fingers straight into the creature's eye.
He hooked behind the socket.
And ripped.
POP!
A wet, ugly pop followed by a spray of hot blood marked the end of the creature's depth perception.
"Not so tough now, are you?"
Dio gritted, face twisted in pain and fury.
ROAR!!!
The beast let out a roar so broken it sounded like something dying inside it.
It whipped its head and hurled Dio like garbage.
He pinwheeled through the air and smashed into another wall, stone cracking around him.
Dio staggered as he pushed himself upright.
This time he wasn't just bruised, he was genuinely messed up.
His right arm hung uselessly at his side, twitching slightly like it was reconsidering its employment contract.
Blood leaked from the small but deep teeth marks, running warm down his skin.
"Tsk." He clicked his tongue, staring at the wound with irritation instead of fear.
The pain was bad, but what concerned him was the green, sticky slime clinging to the punctures.
It oozed slowly, sinking into his skin.
"If it were just the bite, fine…" he muttered, eyes narrowing.
"But this crap? This looks like a long-term problem."
It didn't take a genius to figure out what was happening.
The stuff was seeping into him like it had rent to pay.
His muscles twitched.
His skin burned.
His breath shivered in his chest.
Poison.
And not the mild kind that gives you a fever.
The dungeon-special, high-grade, melt-your-organs kind.
He let out a breath, not panic, not despair.
Just acceptance with a side of sarcasm.
"Oh whatever. I'm going to die either way."
He said it almost casually, like he was admitting he'd lost a bet.
He looked ahead at the wounded creature.
Blood poured from its missing eye.
Its posture had gone from arrogant predator to furious, wounded beast.
It wasn't hunting him anymore, it was offended he still existed.
Dio tightened his jaw.
Fine.
If he was going out, he might as well give the oversized lizard one last headache.
He sprinted forward, ignoring the pain tearing through his arm.
His steps were uneven, but his eyes were sharp.
The T-rex-like creature saw him coming and this time, something snapped.
It wasn't attacking out of instinct or hunger, it was pure anger.
It let out a roar that shook the tunnel and opened its mouth wide.
A swirl of foul green mist churned in its throat.
A second later, it spat out the same glowing gas from earlier, thicker, stronger, and much faster than before.
Dio didn't hesitate.
He threw himself straight into the cloud of poison gas.
The moment he entered it, his body started to go numb.
His head felt light, and a wave of dizziness pushed at his thoughts.
His vision blurred almost instantly.
"This won't kill me right away," he said through clenched teeth.
"Before it does, I'll make sure you stay blind for life."
He kept running even though he couldn't see anything anymore.
His steps were shaky, but he refused to slow down.
Then a sharp, burning pain tore across his back.
It felt like something had sliced him open.
"Damn it! You perverted lizardy!" he yelled.
"Fine! Give me everything you've got!"
He pushed forward, raising his left hand.
As he formed a fist, something strange happened.
A faint aura, silent, invisible, but strong, wrapped around it.
He didn't notice it.
He couldn't feel anything except the poison crushing his senses.
The creature, now completely enraged, charged toward him.
It lifted its right limb and swung it down like a massive hammer meant to crush him flat.
Dio didn't react to the incoming strike.
He didn't dodge, didn't flinch.
He only aimed for the creature's head.
"Take this, you perverted lizardy!!" he shouted with everything he had.
Boom!!
Dio's left fist smashed into the creature's jaw.
A loud creak followed, the sound of bone cracking under extreme force.
The creature's entire body lifted off the ground.
It flew backward and crashed down hard, sliding across the stone floor like a dropped sack of meat.
For the first time, the monster didn't get up right away.