Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Esper
Bena saw its intention at a glance. It wanted to drag someone down with it before it died.
No. 1 immediately retreated, trying to put some distance between himself and the mutated lizard.
Bena didn’t just stand there and watch the mutated lizard attack his companion. Pushing off the balls of his feet, he burst forward at top speed, his spear striking straight for the lizard’s abdomen.
However, the mutated lizard, knowing it was doomed, ignored his block entirely. Its claws, glinting coldly, swiped directly at No. 1.
No. 1 had been kiting from the backline, and after Bena intervened, he had retreated even faster.
But the mutated lizard, unleashing a suicidal attack, had clearly tapped into all its potential. It was even faster than it had been at its peak. At his speed, No. 1 had no hope of dodging.
Bena’s spear tore through the mutated lizard’s relatively soft abdomen. With the pull of the weapon, the lizard’s entrails spilled out from the wound.
And yet, the creature completely ignored the horrific injury.
A chill went down Bena’s spine. ’This is bad.’
With No. 1’s slight build, there was no way he could withstand this blow.
However, just in the nick of time...
...a cold voice rang out from behind Bena.
"Bind!"
Suddenly, seven or eight silver chains, each as thick as a thigh, appeared around the lunging mutated lizard.
The chains wrapped tightly around the mutated lizard, stopping it from advancing another inch.
Its lunging body froze in mid-air. The next moment, the mutated lizard was yanked to the ground.
As the chains tightened, Bena watched the lizard struggle on the ground, his mind going blank.
He immediately looked toward the source of the silver chains.
One of the lone walkers stood with his hands raised, the silver chains extending out from his body.
Seeing this, he immediately realized.
’It’s an ability!!!!’
Bena sucked in a sharp breath. ’One of these two lone walkers is an ability user, too?!!’
And unlike his own useless ability, this person had an extremely powerful control-type ability.
No wonder the two of them dared to explore the wasteland all by themselves.
Everything made sense now. With such a powerful ability, they naturally had the skill and the right to go it alone.
Before Bena could snap out of it, the other man shouted anxiously:
"Hurry up and kill this beast! Xisuo can’t hold it for long!"
Startled, Bena instantly understood. With no time for further thought, he swung his spear again, this time aiming for the creature’s eyes.
The silver chains held the mutated lizard firmly to the ground. Bena’s attack met no resistance, the sharp spear plunging accurately into its eye socket.
Bena brutally twisted the spear, scrambling the mutated lizard’s brain into mush.
The mutated lizard was already a spent force. It had been disemboweled, and now its brain was pulp. It stopped breathing in an instant. The taut chains, no longer strained, went slack, falling with a metallic CLANG.
Still wary, Bena raised his spear and stabbed its vital spots a few more times. When there was no reaction, he finally let out a sigh of relief.
With the mutated lizard dead, the silver chains binding it instantly dissolved into countless points of silver light and vanished into the air.
Seeing these points of light, Bena, who had just relaxed, quietly tightened his grip on his spear.
He cursed himself for being too careless.
The mutated lizard was dead, but there were still two strangers beside him—one of whom was an incredibly powerful ability user.
His control ability had completely subdued a powerful mutated lizard; locking him up would be child’s play.
However, when he thought about their recent actions, he hesitated.
’If they really had bad intentions, he wouldn’t have used his ability to protect No. 1 just now.’
’They could have just let the mutated lizard kill No. 1, which would have damaged my side’s combat strength.’
’And by keeping his trump card hidden, he could have caught me completely off guard if a fight broke out.’
As he wondered whether his recent allies would instantly turn into enemies...
...an alarmed cry came from nearby.
"Xisuo, are you okay?"
Bena looked up. The lone walker who had used the ability was now kneeling on one knee.
He started to walk over, but then worried they might misunderstand and think he was trying to take advantage of the situation. He froze, unsure of what to do.
A moment later, the situation changed rapidly. Xisuo, who had been kneeling on one knee, suddenly went limp and collapsed on the ground.
The other lone walker was frantically fumbling to undo the protective mask on the face of the man named Xisuo.
"Xisuo, are you okay?"
Bena couldn’t quite make sense of the situation. He thought for a moment, then planted his spear firmly in the ground.
He didn’t get too close, so as not to cause a misunderstanding.
"Excuse me, is something wrong with your friend? Is there anything I can do to help?"
Hearing Bena’s voice behind him, the lone walker helping his companion jumped in fright. But when he saw that Bena was unarmed, the wariness on his face faded slightly.
Recalling their well-coordinated fight and Bena’s sudden assistance, the man gritted his teeth and asked:
"My brother is..."
"Do you have any medicine that can lower radiation levels?"
Bena: ???
Although he had no idea why the man was suddenly asking this, Bena shook his head.
"That kind of medicine is incredibly precious. Why would we have any?"
Hearing Bena’s reply, the man’s expression didn’t change much.
He was, of course, well aware of how precious the medicine was. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have taken such a huge risk to hunt this mutated lizard.
Just then, the previously unconscious Xisuo suddenly opened his eyes.
"Simon, I’m fine. I just overused my ability. I’ll be okay after some rest."
Simon pressed his lips together and said, displeased:
"’Just’? ’Only’?"
"Why do you always make it sound so trivial?"
"Don’t you know the condition your own body is in?"
"The last time we checked, your internal radiation level was already over forty percent!"
"And this time you used your ability on such a powerful mutated creature. How is that any different from suicide?"
Xisuo shook his head.
"If he hadn’t helped us just now, we’d already be dead."
"What’s a small increase in my radiation level compared to that?"
Listening to their conversation, Bena grew more and more confused.
He didn’t quite understand what the connection was between internal radiation levels and abilities.
’From what they’re saying, using an ability increases your internal radiation level?’
Bena had never heard of such a thing before.
More importantly, it didn’t seem to happen when he used his own ability.
