“Oh. My. God,” Henry feasted his eyes on the Great Ravager as it came into view.

True to its name, the forty feet tall giant freak of a scorpion was truly of a size that could be called “great” and the “ravager” part of its name was even undermining the destruction it was capable of wreaking.

Henry discovered the Great Ravager amongst some ruins of a long forgotten time and it was currently battling against what looked to be horse-sized komodo-like monsters but their hide was of a lustre silver. The battle was fierce and unrelenting but the komodo-like monsters were clearly the would-be losers of this battle.

“That’s the Great Ravager?” Yula asked.

“Indeed,” Eria answered.

“It really is a lot bigger than you, Henry.”

“You don’t say?”

“And what are those komodo creatures?”

“Those lizard monsters are Iron Drakes. They are the top predators in the southern region, second only to the Great Ravager. As their name indicates, their skin is as tough as iron, sometimes even tougher.”

“Drakes, huh… They’re your cousins, aren’t they, Henry?” Yula quipped.

“Very distant cousins.”

“Drakes were believed to be merely Dragons that had lost their wings but it would seem we need to revise that perception of ours. Forgive us, Lord Henry.”

“That’s so silly, Eria. Your apology is unneeded. I’m not that petty.”

“Thank you, Lord Henry.”

“What’s our battle plan?” asked Riva in a low but firm tone. She was a Goblin but extremely unlike how western fantasy tends to portray them. Riva’s appearance was as humane as Eria with the glaring difference being the tone and shade of their skin colour.

“No plan for now,” Henry said. “Just hold on tight.” The speed of his flight picked up as the tattoos on his wings glowed.

“Unwise,” Riva said.

“Yeah, but I can’t make a plan if I don’t know what this colossal bug is capable of.”

“It has a corrosive spit attack,” Eria reminded.

“I remember that but that’s not what I’m trying to find out.”

The Great Ravager finally noticed Henry just as it crushed an Iron Drake under its pincer. It turned its whole body around since it didn’t have a neck.

“Ah, and I thought it would never notice me,” Henry remarked.

The Great Ravager, or just Ravager, shot out a thin raging stream of green fluids at him.

“Holy mother—” Henry couldn’t even finish swearing. He swerved to the side with a barrel roll and barely avoided the so-called “corrosive spit” attack.

No one fell off of Henry when he suddenly spun. Yula was practically fastened to his back using her shadows. Eria and Riva were simply experienced and dextrous enough to not be shaken off with just that much of turbulence.

“Spit attack, my foot!” Henry baulked “That was a highly pressurised stream of an attack. Even if it wasn’t corrosive, it could still cut through rocks like a hot knife through butter.”

“A hot knife through butter? That’s a very accurate comparison.” Riva muttered.

“Forgive me, Lord Henry. I’m not the best with words. You best take my words in an exaggerated manner. I— Watch out!” Eria suddenly shouted.

“Son of a—” Henry did another barrel roll in order to dodge a large piece of rubble from the ruins that the Ravager tossed with its tail. “It can use its tail like that? What the fuck else can it do!? It better not start jumping!”

The Ravager tossed a few more large pieces of rubble at Henry before it was forced to reel its attention back to the Iron Drakes that were slowly rallying their forces after a recess that was Henry’s intervention.

“My turn,” Henry sneered and unleashed his Fire Breath as he flew over the Ravager.

The blaze of his roar spread fast and wide, engulfing the Ravager in its entirety in less than ten seconds. However, the flames were doused half as fast and the Ravager’s carapace was only slightly singed.

“Well, that’s unnerving,” Henry muttered dryly.

“Impossible… It can withstand the flames of a Dragon,” Eria also muttered but in a grave tone.

“Surely you have other means of attack, don’t you, Henry?”

“I got another one but if that doesn’t work, I don’t know what will.”

“Can’t hurt to try.”

“Very well,” Henry said and made a U-turn, flying straight back over the Ravager.

The Ravager knew Henry was flying back towards it but the Iron Drakes were relentless and not giving it a moment of reprieve.

Henry unleashed his strongest breath attack, the Inferno Breath. A large vortex of flames descended upon the colossal scorpion monster and quite a handful of the unfortunately nearby Iron Drakes also fell victim to the enormous and devastating blaze.

“How romantic,” Yula gasped in wonder. “It’s like witnessing the sun dying right in front of you.”

“If I may say, that’s a very elucidation, Yula,” Eria said. “A tad unsettling even.”

Riva nodded slightly. “Hm, unsettling.”

“It is quite a romantic sight, is it not?”

“Fucking hell, women! I would appreciate it if you three help brainstorm some ideas instead of chatting!”

“Ideas? What for? Surely the Ravager couldn’t have—”

The Great Ravager burst emerged from the inferno with an earth-shaking screech. It wasn’t mortally wounded but its carapace was charred in some parts and there were cracks here and there.

“Oh… sorry, Henry…”

“This is beyond belief. Such a massive fire but it is barely hurt.”

“We need a plan,” Riva suggested calmly.

“Eria, how do you usually fight against monsters or just enemies with very strong defences?”

“Such foes usually have very soft insides. Against armoured foes, we aimed at the gaps or crevices where the armour meets. If it’s the entirety of their skin, we aim for the mouth or the… posterior.”

“Alright then, I’ll distract it while Eria, you and Riva will aim for those two holes.”

“What about me, Henry?”

“Now’s not the time for— What the fuck!?”

Suddenly, the force of gravity increased by many folds to the point that it straight-up plucked Henry right off the air and slammed him harshly to the ground. The silver lining was that it was sand below them and his latest evolution had spared him from great harm from the sharp drop. If it was him before this evolution, he would have shattered a few bones.

However, his main concern wasn’t himself but his passengers.

“Is everyone alright?” he shouted worriedly.

“I’m fine, Henry,” Yula said, groaning and wincing.

“Nothing’s broken,” Eria responded.

“Safe,” Riva’s response was as brief as ever. “Can’t move.”

“Me too,” Eria said. “Seems like it can manipulate the force of gravity. This is unprecedented!”

Henry was surprised Eria knew about gravity but he then realised it was stupid to judge their knowledge of science using his former world’s standard considering there was magic in this world.

As they flailed and struggled motionlessly, much to their despair and dismay, the Great Ravager was approaching them with bloodshot eyes that were holding unmatched fury. It was greatly disgruntled by Henry’s Inferno Breath. It was the first time it had been hurt this badly with just a single attack. Its status as the apex predator of the south was threatened. Its pride and ego could not allow Henry to mock it further by flying around unharmed and free.

“Lord Henry, can you move?”

“If I can, I would have already done so, damn it!”

“As I have said, unwise.”

“Yes, thanks for your input, Riva. We absolutely did not hear you the first time.”

“Henry, it’s getting closer!”

“No shit!” Henry yelled. No matter how much strength he put into his limbs, he just couldn’t fight against gravity.

The Great Ravager was gradually nearing them. Its shadow was already upon them. It stopped before it got too close to them. It stayed around forty feet away from them and prepared its acid breath.

Oh… shit… Nadea, some help, please!

Just as the Great Ravager was about to unleash its acid breath, tendrils of darkness erupted from the shadows directly underneath its mouth. The acid breath was unleashed but it was released in the wrong direction. More shadow tendrils emerged from the Ravager’s own shadows. They wrapped themselves around its body and its limbs. The shadows tightened their constrictions and pulled the Ravager down to the ground.

Yula moaned with a strained expression. “This is harder than I thought,” she groaned.

Just like that, Henry and the rest could move again. The spell was lifted.

“Well done, Yula. I love you so fucking much.”

“Nicely done, Yula!” Eria praised, brandishing her great sword as she charged at the incapacitated Ravager.

“Thanks,” Riva muttered and joined Eria in her charge as she materialised a spear out of thin air.

“Henry… I can’t hold it down for long!”

“I’m on it!” Henry leapt towards the bound Ravager.

The Great Ravager’s tail whipped around in a frenzy, desperately fending off Eria and Riva who was aiming for its mouth and posterior. Its tail was the only part of its body not restrained. However, Henry blocked its tail with his own body by flying right into it and then landing right on top of its back. The Ravager touched the sands completely with its underside. Henry was far too heavy for the strength it had.

Yula released the hold of shadows on the Ravager as there was a better form of restraint now.

Henry hammered down his fists repeatedly from atop the Ravager. It tried getting Henry off of its back with its tail but the stinger just bounced off his scaly hide. Still, the stinger was hurting him quite a bit, so he grabbed the Ravager’s tail and bit off the tip. The Ravager shuddered in agony and let out a deafening shriek. Henry seized this opportunity to pry its mouth further apart, allowing Eria and Riva a bigger target to strike.

The Great Ravager floundered in vain as Henry’s weight was too much of it. It could flail its legs and tail but it couldn’t go anywhere. It tried using its acid breath but Henry would slam its head into the ground and let it spit wastefully into the sands.

The Ravager still had its forelimbs, its pincers, but not for long. Eria switched her targets to the pair and lopped them right off by aiming at the narrow gap between the carapace plates.

Eventually, the Ravager gave up on struggling and resigned to its fate. Instead of driving her spear into its mouth, Riva tossed her spear. The spear transformed into a glowing projectile mid-flight and when it hit the inside of the Ravager’s mouth, it exploded.

Henry half-expected the Ravager’s mouth to simply burst into a gaping hole from the explosion, but it didn’t. The Ravager’s mouth was simply disfigured and gravely wounded but it was still very much alive. However, the carapace around its head had been blown off from the internal explosion.

“Checkmate,” Henry said and let out his Jetstream Breath. The high-pressure air cut through its flesh, muscles, and brain, and came right out from the other end.

The Ravager screeched louder than before. It trembled vigorously for a few short seconds before completely collapsing. Its legs and tipless tail were twitching intermittently but the rest of its body was utterly motionless. The Great Ravager, the ultimate predator of the south, was dead, slain by the Great Dragon of Ulrum alongside his bride, the Augur Warchief, and a Goblin Spell Weaver.

“We did it… The Great Ravager is no more… I can’t believe it… we actually did it…”

“Awe-inspiring.”

“So, we’re done here, right?” Yula asked.

“Well, you and Lord Henry’s work here is done but our work has only just begun. We still have to investigate the cause of the Great Ravager wandering out of the Scorching Sands. But that would be a task for another day as we are not well-equipped enough to challenge Scorching Sands. Nevertheless, thank you, Lord Henry, Yula. This wouldn’t have been possible without your help. A tremendous reward and feast are in order.”

Henry’s tired eyes widened when he heard there would be a feast. “I’ll be looking forward to that but first—” He ripped the Ravager’s carapace out piece by piece.

“Uh… Lord Henry? What is it that you’re trying to do?”

“Harvesting its Murux Core,” Henry answered as he dug into the Ravager’s six inches thick flesh before finally reaching the organs.

“Desecration,” Riva muttered.

Henry ignored Riva’s critique until he finally found what he was looking for and he gasped in great awe at the sight of the Murux Core of the Great Ravager. It was twice the size of his palm. “Hmm, how am I going to eat this?” he wondered out loud.

“W-what?” Eria stammered. “Eat the Murux Core?”