Finding herself back inside the ravine she had been trying to leave only seconds earlier, Scaly hesitated for a short moment before deciding to escape in the direction that the big forest rabbit had been moving before it had been grabbed by the passing ancient dire wolf. Knowing that there should be a way out of the ravine in that direction, she would only run into a dead end if she tried going in the direction she had come from.
After all, even if she could climb up the walls of the ravine far more efficiently than the group of humans chasing after her. Doing so would ultimately also expose herself to being attacked without having the ability to try and dodge... And considering the strength difference between herself and these humans, she had a feeling that even a single attack reaching her would mean death.
Ah! There is also the ancient dire wolf who might pass by above...
Having been far too focused on escaping the group of humans who had suddenly appeared in front of her, Scaly suddenly remembered the reason why she had decided to leave the ravine in the first, as she couldn’t help nervously looking at the empty sky above. Feeling like the massive body of the ancient dire wolf could block it at any moment.
If that ancient dire wolf really did show up again, she wouldn’t be able to hide with the group of humans chasing after her.
Given how she had personally witnessed just how easily the weakened ancient dire wolf had dealt with the few level 50 humans who had chasing after her back when she had been trying to escape from the human town, she had a feeling that the humans behind her wouldn’t even be able to serve as a distraction in the face of the even stronger ancient dire wolf.
Whoosh~!
Lost in her own thoughts as she ran through the jagged and rough terrain of the ravine, Scaly was brought back to reality as a water spear similar to her own barely grazed past her scales before slamming into a rock not too far away in front of her. Reminding her that she didn’t have the time to think about the possibility of running into the ancient dire wolf.
Instead, she had to focus her full attention on not getting killed by the humans who were rapidly closing the already short distance between them, while at the same time dodging the eerily similar water magic being thrown towards her by the water mage among the humans chasing her.
Luckily, it seemed that her water magic was above that of the human water mage. Allowing her to counter it relatively easily with her own water magic without slowing down her speed in the process.
Unfortunately, she was still far slower than the explorer human, who had already managed to catch up to her by the point that she had begun to counter the water magic of the human water mage-
Chiiing~!
Only barely giving her enough time to raise her claws to block the two large daggers he brought out to attack her. Sending her flying back a few meters due to the sheer difference in size and strength between the two.
Even worse, it wasn’t in the direction she had been escaping in, but instead directly into the nearby wall of the ravine.
Wait! I might be able to use this!
Whoosh-!
Thinking fast as the wall was rapidly approaching, Scaly skillfully grabbed hold of the rocky wall and began to rapidly climb up the side of the ravine before the humans had any time to react. Intending to try and use this opportunity while the humans were still a bit away from her and she had the human water mage locked down with her own magic, to escape from the ravine.
Knowing very well that the humans would have no chance to catch her if she managed to escape from the ravine and make it into the forest, as they would take far too long to get back out of the ravine compared to her.
"This- Stop that lizard! Don’t let it escape!"
"I’m trying! But it also has water magic and counters everything I throw at it!"
"I know! Talking to the others who still haven’t pulled out their bows!"
"Ah... My bad..."
Knowing this as well, the humans in the ravine below all began pulling out bows and other long-range weapons before aiming towards the escaping lizard whose bright blue scales were beautifully reflected under the bright sun. Making it incredibly easy to spot.
Hehe, too late humans! It’s my victory!
Unfortunately for the humans, they had been far too slow to react to the sudden escape, as Scaly managed to crawl over the edge of the ravine and out of range before they could shoot their bows.
"Damnit! It escaped!"
"Ah...! So much money... Gone!"
"Tch! I never expected it to be so skilled at water magic, it’s our loss..."
Filled with regret as they watched Scaly disappearing, the humans slowly put down their weapons and began packing away their bows. Getting ready to make their way up the ravine in defeat.
Whoosh-!
"Huh? The lizard jumped back into the ravine...?"
However, just at this moment, the bright and easy to spot figure of Scaly appeared above them once again as she plummeted directly towards the water mage of the group under the shocked looks of the surrounding humans-
Thump!
And before any of them could react, she landed directly on top of the water mage. Using the poor mage to soften her fall before getting up and rushing in the opposite direction of the group of humans without wasting any time.
"What in the-"
ROOOOOOOAR-!
Just about to try and figure out what had just happened, a terrifying roar echoed out above them, as the group of bewildered humans turned to look up-
[Ancient Dire Wolf, lvl 65]
Only to come face to face with the reason why Scaly had jumped back into the ravine...