The situation grew even more tense. The rodent monsters shuddered in fear; they could only freeze and hold their breath. They gnced at one another as if silently sending messages about how to escape this nightmare.

  Now Tyrex leapt toward the cave’s entrance, the doorway fnked by two massive boulders—the very pce where he had slept earlier. Jyu and the rodent monsters were trapped between the rocky gap. They could not flee forward because the cave’s entrance was sealed by a giant stone, and fleeing backward meant facing Tyrex, who stood ready to pounce.

  Tyrex roared louder and louder, as if celebrating his lunchtime feast. This drove the rodent monsters to attempt escape by climbing the ?????-shaped rocks. Unfortunately, their efforts failed. The stones were slick, and there was no foothold for their tiny legs.

  “That’s not how you do it, idiots!” Jyu gred at the rodent monsters in annoyance. For a human like him, climbing these slippery rocks was not impossible, as he had done before.

  Jyu could have escaped now, perhaps—but it would be pointless. Tyrex stood before him. If he tried to climb, he would surely be snatched by the massive beast.

  Tyrex, who had been still until now, seemed to lose his patience. He suddenly lunged forward, but his target was the rodent monsters. With his powerful hands, he tore them apart and devoured them greedily.

  “Ciiit!” The shrill cries of the rodents rang out, as though sending messages of agony.

  Tyrex truly feasted, easily catching and consuming them. It was only a matter of seconds before his attention would turn to Jyu. But Jyu was already gravely injured; he had no strength left to fight. He could only rely on the chaos. And then—he found an idea!

  When a rodent monster ran past him, Jyu immediately leapt onto its back. He intended to use the rat-like creature as a wild horse beyond control. Wild creatures ran unpredictably, their speed driven purely by instinct to survive.

  “Don’t try climbing the rocks, idiot! Run beneath Tyrex’s legs!” Jyu cursed, as his unwilling mount failed to see an opening for escape.

  At st, the rodent carrying Jyu was caught—Tyrex’s massive hand cmped around its body. But before that grip tightened, Jyu sprang onto Tyrex’s hand, clinging there desperately.

  “Good! Take me to your mouth, you ugly monster!” Jyu intended to strike. With the st remnants of his strength, he would exploit this tangled situation.

  Because Tyrex was too busy enjoying his meal, he failed to notice the threat. Jyu waited for the slightest opening—any tiny gap—to make the monster suffer once more.

  Finally, Tyrex brought his hand toward his mouth, attempting to bite the rat in his grasp. When his face came close enough, Jyu leapt upward, drew his sword, and stabbed into the right eye of the half-goril monster. Now both its eyes were completely blind!

  “Success!” Jyu shouted in triumph after wounding the giant beast.

  And then—

  A deafening scream of pain echoed. Tyrex lost control, his movements wild, destroying everything around him. Meanwhile, Jyu still clung desperately to the edge of Tyrex’s mouth.

  Tyrex grew more uncontrolble, standing only to colpse again from the agony in his eyes. Blindness robbed him of direction; he smmed into massive rocks, inflicting even more pain upon himself.

  Jyu refused to let go, still hanging onto Tyrex’s face. In this state, the safest pce was on Tyrex’s body. The ground was certain death—he could be trampled or crushed beneath the monster’s enormous frame.

  Tyrex’s frenzy intensified. He shed out, smashing his hands and tail against everything nearby. Yet this chaos worked in Jyu’s favor—the sweep of Tyrex’s tail struck the giant stone blocking the cave entrance, cracking it severely, nearly shattering it.

  Jyu wanted to enter the cave immediately, but danger still loomed. Tyrex raged so violently that Jyu began losing his strength; his grip on Tyrex’s scales weakened. If this continued, he would fall and be crushed beneath the beast.

  “Arrgh!” he cried, his hold now supported by only four fingers. Jyu struggled with all his might not to fall.

  But at st, he fell.

  In a fraction of a second, Tyrex’s hand struck him. The force was overwhelming, his bones felt shattered. Jyu was flung aside, crashing against the rocks beside the cave’s entrance.

  The pain intensified; blood poured again from his mouth and head. His body felt utterly broken.

  Now Jyu felt death approaching—perhaps only minutes away. Yet everything y before him. The cave entrance stood wide open; Tyrex’s savage rampage had destroyed the giant stone sealing it.

  “I want to fight a little longer.”

  Jyu encouraged himself. Amid Tyrex’s frenzy, he began crawling slowly toward the cave. Fresh blood marked every inch of the path he crossed. Now inside, he continued crawling deeper.

  Yet obstacles still awaited. Tyrex’s rampage shook the cave violently, cracks forming along the walls. In mere minutes—or even seconds—the cave might colpse entirely. If that happened, Jyu would die.

  He realized this, but his body could no longer push harder. The only thing he could do was crawl slowly, praying that the colpse would not come too quickly.

  But that seemed impossible. Tyrex still raged outside, out of control. The cracks widened, and now small stones began to fall. Jyu could not avoid them; he endured the rain of rocks helplessly.

  He kept crawling, enduring the pain, deeper and deeper into the cave. Gradually, a faint glow appeared from blue stones emitting a bright light.

  “There it is! My demonic power lies there!” Jyu excimed, recalling the vision of its location from his meditation.

  He tried to crawl faster toward the source of light, though in truth, his speed barely increased.

  At st, the end of the cave came into view. “Why is there a teddy bear doll here? There should be the corpse of a giant bear,” Jyu muttered in confusion. In his meditation, it had been the body of a great bear that rested within this cave. But reality was different!

  Jyu no longer had the strength to think. He crawled toward the adorable-looking teddy bear.

  Unfortunately, the cave’s condition worsened. The cracks grew rger, and the falling rocks became bigger. Several times, sizable stones struck Jyu, intensifying his suffering.

  One second ter, the cave finally colpsed completely.

  Jyu was buried alive.