Unaware of everyone's thoughts, Rendell carefully walked down the basement. The feeling of extreme danger intensified the closer he got to the basement.
He pushed the dusty door and headed inside. He could barely see what was inside and his only source of light was the sun.
'I should have brought that guy here to act as my flashlight.' He thought about James. He wanted to go back upstairs, but he felt that something would attack him the moment he turned around.
He looked around, searching for the hiding creature, but it was too dark for him to see anything.
Rendell's hand was resting on the hilt of his sword. He was prepared to pull it out at any moment.
Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of what looked like a pair of eyes within the darkness.
Rendell halted and squinted his eyes, trying to see if it was what he was looking for.
At this moment, he saw the pair of eyes blink. The sound of its footsteps echoed within the dark basement.
Soon, a portion of its face was illuminated by the sunlight, revealing the scaled face of a reptilian creature.
'A crocodile? No, it has some resemblance to it, but it's definitely not a crocodile…' Rendell frowned upon seeing the creature.
Because of the darkness, he wasn't sure how big it was, but based on his estimates, it was about twenty feet long.
Its grayish skin was covered in granular scales. It has a long body, four well-developed legs, and a pointy tail.
Suddenly, it emitted a deep clicking sound, seemingly enraged that someone had intruded on its territory.
Rendell refused to retreat despite its obvious warning sounds. He grabbed his sword, an act that made the creature more furious. It created another sound, but this time, he could feel that it was threatening him. It was the creature's last warning.
Rendell took a step forward to provoke it.
Enraged by his provocation, it lunged at him and opened its mouth, revealing two rows of sharp teeth.
Rendell immediately twisted his body to the side, evading the creature's deadly bite.
A snapping sound echoed after it missed its target.
After evading its bite, Rendell struck out his sword.
Whoosh!
To his surprise, the large reptile managed to retreat with only a shallow cut to its face. The wound made it furious. It emitted a growl-like sound before making another attack.
The narrow path made it easier for Rendell to determine its attack.
He rolled over to the ground and slashed out his sword, leaving a deep cut on the creature's leg.
The pain made it thrash around aggressively. Its violent movements crushed a portion of the walls, sending debris and rubble towards Rendell.
He instinctively closed his eyes which allowed the creature to land a powerful tail whip that sent him flying across the narrow hallway.
Rendell crushed on the wall and fell to the ground.
He groaned in pain. He felt like his ribs were broken. 'It's strong! It's probably as strong as that Giant Millipede…' He thought as he lifted his aching body.
The reptile's body bent from side to side as it rushed towards him.
Seeing this, Rendell brandished his sword in an attempt to scare it away. However, the creature suddenly jumped to evade the trajectory of his sword and opened its mouth to bite him.
Snap!
"Argh!" Rendell screamed in pain as the huge reptile's teeth sank into his flesh.
He repeatedly stabbed its head with the sword to break free from its clutches, but it refused to let him go.
"Die! Die! Die!"
Rendell's screams and the reptile's deep growls echoed within the basement.
The people upstairs were terrified when they heard the commotion.
"It's Rendell! Aurora what's going on?" James asked nervously while grabbing Aurora's shoulders.
Celine immediately separated him from her with a light push. "You are hurting her." She muttered in admonishment.
Aurora used her Mystic Eyes to see the situation, but what she saw made her terrified. "Quick! Help him! He might die if we don't do something!" She shouted urgently.
Hearing this, Phillip cursed. "Dammit!" He rushed down to the basement.
James looked at Ralph and said. "Sir Ralph, please stay here and protect them. I'll go down and help those two."
Ralph nodded. "Alright. Be careful."
James quickly headed downstairs.
After they left, everyone gathered around Aurora.
"What's happening down there?"
Aurora replied with a shaking voice. "It bit him… It's trying to eat him…"
Hearing this, Kent and the others felt nervous.
At this moment, Phillip and James were alarmed when they saw Rendell struggling at the creature's maw!
James immediately summoned a ball of flame and sent it flying towards the reptile's body.
Bang!
Meanwhile, Phillip moved closer to the creature and waited for an opportunity to pull Rendell out of its jaw.
James' attack didn't seem to affect the beast so he released a bigger flame.
Bang!!
This time, his attack left a black mark on its body and it also let go of Rendell.
Seeing this, Phillip immediately grabbed his falling body and retreated into a safe distance.
James continuously attacked the beast with his flames, but because of the difference between their levels, his attacks didn't seem to deal much damage. "I'm running out of mana! We need to get out of here!" He shouted urgently.
Rendell who was in Phillip's arms suddenly said in a hoarse voice. "Put me down. We need to kill it!"
Phillip obediently put him down and inspected his wounds. Seeing the bloody holes in his body, his face sank. 'How could this guy remain standing even with such grievous wounds?'
Rendell glared at the creature. 'If not for my armor, I would have already been crushed to death under its maw!'
"What are you guys doing?! We have to leave now!" James shouted desperately.
"Continue attacking it!" Rendell ignored his injuries and lunged at the reptile.
It was still occupied by James' flames so it failed to detect Rendell.
After getting close to the creature, he stabbed its head with a loud grunt. "Haa!"