Two-Faced Princess

It was a perfectly calculated distance, but the moment Uriel turned his body, the queen was already glaring at him, right in front of his face. It was as if she had read his movements.

*THWACK*

Uriel swiftly moved backward to avoid it, and at the same time, the queen’s long snout barely grazed his collar. As he gazed at the queen who was no longer interested in tasting him, Uriel took a deep breath. Had he ever witnessed something of this massive size moving so quickly? Despite considering Evangeline’s warning, this monstrous creature surpassed all expectations not only due to its enormous size but also its eyes that had turned blood-red. Surely, the poison itself should have had an effect, but its resistance to being struck by those poisoned arrows multiple times was incomprehensible.

*THUD*

Before he could even gather his thoughts, the queen charged toward Uriel like lightning. As he dodged a few steps to avoid it, he felt a large rock brush against his back. Similar rocks were lined up on both sides and beyond them was a cliff. Uriel’s eyes widened a bit. The queen blocked his path with her tail and body, pushing him further.

“She’s utilizing the terrain?”

*SNAP*

As he twisted his body to evade, the queen’s teeth once again closed in front of his face. A bead of sweat fell from the tip of his hair. This creature was unusually intelligent. Only the shadow of the queen’s silhouette, illuminated by moonlight, loomed over Uriel’s body. Once again, she growled, showing her appetite. Uriel tightly bit his lip. Something was wrong. Caelion may have had reckless tendencies, but when it came to planning tactics, he was a cold and practical commander. He hadn’t come here to die. Surely, when he entered the mountains, he must have believed he could defeat the queen. There were traces of a successful arrow shot in the queen’s eye, were there not?However, the queen was still alive. With an unheard-of strength and intelligence. On the other hand, Caelion hadn’t returned even after a day.

“I must keep my promise.” Uriel muttered softly. He no longer had the confidence to find Caelion in a pristine state. Perhaps he was already…

*CRUNCH*

Interrupting his thoughts, the queen charged once again. Instead of evading this time, Uriel raised his sword and aimed it at the queen.

“Your only weakness is your eyes.”

The moment when it seemed impossible to defeat this monster, Uriel found a slight slowing down when he dodged to the creature’s right side. While his sense of smell and hearing were still keen, losing vision in one eye narrowed the creature’s field of view. That was its weakness. He calmly waited for the right moment and, as the monster collided with him, he leaped to his right side. Instead of dodging, he approached the queen’s face. He had only one chance; he had to finish it in one strike. The sword he held suddenly gleamed coldly.

*CRUNCH*

Just as the queen was about to read his position and react, Uriel leaped closer to the hundreds of sharp teeth. As his body approached, the yellowish eye on the left, which had not been pierced by an arrow, flickered with a horrifying glint as if it had finally discovered him. Uriel raised the hand holding the sword and aimed it directly at that eye, bringing it down in a long, slashing motion.

Grrrrrgh!

With a swift and cool motion, the sword’s silver blade drew a satisfying arc, causing blood to spray from the queen’s left eye. From the eye to its mouth, a long gash, resembling the trajectory of the sword, was engraved on the creature. Uriel’s body suddenly changed direction in mid-air.

Puh-uk!

He readjusted his grip on the handle and thrust the long sword back into the wounded left eye. He wanted as much of the poison to enter the creature’s body as possible.

Kraaaaaaang!

The monster let out a painful howl. Its massive body writhed in convulsions.

Whizz-thud!

With a violent movement, Uriel was thrown off balance and fell to the ground. His sword remained deeply embedded in the monster’s eye. If the poison applied to the arrow was not enough, the sword had to be more effective.

“Die, please.”

Uriel got up and raised his head. The monster’s convulsions were gradually subsiding until its movements almost ceased.

“Just die.” He spat out the words once again.

*CRUNCH* *CRUNCH* *CRUNCH*

However, the queen, who had momentarily ceased her movements, immediately writhed her body.

“This is insane.”

Kraaaaaaang!

Uriel clenched his fist and let out a sigh. The creature was not dead. Instead, it howled in fury, shaking the mountains with its thunderous roar. Its sightless eyes were vacant, but there were no limits to its movements. The queen soon snorted and sniffed the air, accurately facing the direction where Uriel stood. Uriel swallowed a dry spit, picked up his dagger, and then let it go. He had applied poison just in case, but it seemed unlikely to reach a lethal dose. He took a deep breath and looked down at the cliff below, behind his back. Which way should he jump to minimize the risk of breaking a bone?

While Uriel pondered, the queen charged toward the rock he was standing on at an incredible speed.

“Damn.”

At the moment the queen’s teeth were about to close in, he considered jumping onto the rock and falling off the cliff. His body would undoubtedly suffer, but depending on how he fell, he might be able to preserve his life.

*CRUNCH*