Johan safely grabbed a branch that stuck on the cliff, and using his grip strength, he lasted for only 10 seconds, and then he fell, falling on the fire-tailed lizards, the Fiery lizards.
Along the place where he landed, there were patches of hot lava boiling here and there with large spaces between them. There were small-sized to big-sized stalagmites arising from the ground. The ground didn't have any cracks.
Johan couldn't help himself, and suddenly there is a surge of lizards over his body; he tried to push them away. He grabbed one of its arms; it suddenly bit him, injecting the greenish liquid from its gland into the body system of Johan. The gland appears to be large and has the look of a pouch. It was placed on the bottom of its mouth, in the ear parts of the lizard, and fire burned with no heat, emitting a red light of illumination around its head.
AAHH!!
Numerous lizards pounded on him, and he scoffed a callus of flesh mixed with greenish blood from his mouth while some of the lizards bit Johan. His skin started melting as he yelled in pain; he tried to regenerate it by thinking, but no use. He can't use his precious powers from when he fought the Mesich in the tomb of Keyphase 7. Johan's skin started tearing as the lizards tore his body. Johan screamed and took the belt from his pants and started to swing it around him.
Yaa! Get away from me!
Cough cough
Eek!
Johan screamed without a break; his sound could be heard even in hell.
They started to spit the greenish acid with full force. It was a disaster. As Johan's body melted, revealing his bones in his hands, some of them chipped his stomach muscles and ate them. One by one they started squirming on his body. Vapors of melting skin arose from his body. Johan stopped screaming; his facial skin has been lost, leaving the red muscle above the skull exposed to the open hot atmosphere. Johan moved his legs backwards towards a big rock of rough and flat surface and fell on it as he touched his left hip with his hands, which leaked most of his blood. He breathed hardly, his breath back slower as lizards ate his body parts.
He didn't think anything; his mind became blank as he entered a state of nothingness. He remembered the last words of his more-than-a-friend, Elias: "You go; it doesn't matter."
Johan opened his eyes and saw his body of torn muscles and broken bones in a half-awakened state. He then fell on the rock again; suddenly a green-colored glow originated from the center of his chest. It was a faint glow. The lizards retreated for some reason, the reason...
Johan's body trembled as he cried in pain; he regretted the decision to survive here. Then he had no idea why Ricardo came to save him yet; it's almost 30 minutes! His mind wandered among the possibilities of saving himself.
Suddenly a large black dragon-like monster came and saw the faint green glow as the lizards slowly retreated. The dragon was almost 9 feet in height, weighing approximately 650 pounds. It had a muscular arm with exemplary bony structure showcasing the ultimate strength of that dragon-like monster. It had an emotionless red eye, with a red tongue that locked its dark dragon face. The Dark Dragon had black steel scales on its body with magnificent, powerful wings backing it.
Johan's consciousness fell into a deep darkness that existed within himself.
Johan drifted in a void so absolute it seemed to swallow even the memory of pain. No sky, no ground, only a darkness that pulsed like a damaged heartbeat. He tried to lift his arms, but his body felt distant, as if it had already abandoned him.
"Is this where a defeated man ends?" He thought to himself, remembering the past bitter memories from the time he was born to this time; he remembers only the things that always fell off his hands.
A whisper stirred at the edge of the emptiness, giving a hint of hope to Johan, who was on the brink of collapsing. Not a voice, but a faint, warm, stubborn flicker. Ahead, a thread of light unraveled, brunette-gold in hue, as if woven from sunlight filtered through autumn leaves. Hope existed, steady and patient, the door to the outside waiting for him to decide.
Johan's chest tightened. He remembered the moment he fell; the dragon took a cold stare and breathed at Johan. Johan's breath was torn from his lungs, and the cold rush of failure swallowed him whole. That shame still clawed at him now. But the light refused to retreat.
Something inside him moved. Something inside him craved to move up. A slow, trembling spark that refused to die.
He forced his will to step forward. The void rippled beneath him. Another step. Then another. Each stride felt like pushing against the weight of every defeat he'd ever endured, but he kept moving. The light grew, sharpening into a beacon that cut through the dark like a promise he had once forgotten how to believe in.
And when he finally reached it, the darkness collapsed around him like old ash.
[SYSTEM has temporarily activated.]
[The Iron Will has activated]!
[The Anomaly Inviter effect has taken place]!
A breath rushed into his lungs—real air, cold and alive. His fingers twitched. His eyes snapped open.
Johan awakened, not reborn, but restructured his will knitted back together by the very struggle that almost broke him. Whatever had crushed him before would not find him so easily now. The world had taken him to the edge of collapse, but he had chosen to walk back. In the center of his chest, the green glow in his heart region brightened. It abruptly emitted rays of curvy lights, eventually turning into a blue aura-filled one. The blue light flowed through his veins, his blood, everything synchronized at that moment.
Johan's flesh regenerated as his hands touched the face of the dragon that placed its head near his face. There is an unnarratable bond, a connection that existed between them, joining their will.
[SYSTEM has reactivated!!]
[You successfully awakened your seed.]
[Increasing your exp. points to upgrade your skill]
[The gocher can now access the events in the user bar.]
The cold and emotionless stare remained in the eyes of the Dark Dragon. It waved its heavy-edged tail, moving the lava in a patch, but it didn't melt the tail.