Is That A Wisp?

With every sound he uttered, his Sonic Radar activated relentlessly, giving him a detailed outlook of his surroundings. Whatever his Sonic Radar bounced off of, everything was mapped out and formed a three-dimensional image in Krune's mind. 

And now, he noticed a dagger-shaped hook fly straight at him. As he ducked, it slammed into the rock he was resting on, cracking it a little as the knife-like hook was lodged almost until its hilt. It showed the sheer power it contained as it was thrown by the Mutant Monster Gecko.

Even though the surroundings were dark, both parties were able to move without trouble. Krune relied on his Sonic Radar to move around while the Mutant Monster Gecko seemed to be perceiving the thermal image of its surroundings. Different methods were used for the same purpose. Who knows which one was better in this instance.

As the place was a warm area, its thermal imagery functioned without any problems, outlining Krune's figure clearly. The knife-shaped hook flew out as the Mutant Monster Gecko reeled in its fishing rod, not even grabbing hold of the hook as it used the momentum to launch another attack.

And this time, it curled its wrists a little, adding a hoop in the threat that coursed through it, transferring the force to the hook that made a curve in the air and targeted Krune, making it harder for him to defend.

Left with not much choice, Krune could only double-tap his glabella in a hurry as the hook slammed into it with tremendous force, knocking him back as the tablet fell out of his grasp. Krune rolled on the floor, taking a second before the Mutant Monster Gecko could launch a second attack, hurriedly double tapping on the tablet the moment he grabbed hold of it. 

As it vanished into his glabella, he summoned it again, defending against another attack, grunting as he slid on the rock floor. Leaving his hold over the tablet, he pulled out his Whale Tooth Dagger and slashed downward onto the thread, intending to cut it.

Sadly, the Mutant Monster Gecko was much faster, reeling it back immediately, which caused him to only hit the air. He retracted the tablet and began to run, jumping behind a bone tree as the hook lodged into it, almost peeking out on the other side. 

As the Mutant Monster Gecko pulled the hook, the stem of the bone tree snapped as it fell. Krune had vanished behind another bone tree by then, hiding as he tried to calm his thumping heart that felt like it would burst out of his chest. 

He didn't have any ranged attacks. As for close combat, he didn't have the guts to attempt that just yet. After all, the Mutant Monster Gecko was more than twice his height. Considering the sheer power behind its ripped muscles, one hit was enough to snap his body in half. 

His life was in danger. A single mistake would result in his death. But as for his opponent, his attacks might not be fatal in any way. There was just too much difference in their physique.

Krune slid on the rock floor, flinching when the edge of the knife-shaped hook scraped past his stomach, causing him to bleed. He hurriedly slipped behind another tree, hearing the sounds of a tree trunk getting snapped as the Mutant Monster Gecko was closing in on him. 

'I have to destroy its fishing rod first. Otherwise, my problems will never end. I might really die here,' Krune thought as he shouted, "Hey you, damn lizar…"

Though, before he could finish his taunt, a hook flew his way, penetrating the bone tree he was hiding behind. He hurriedly used his tablet to defend it, sliding 10 centimeters back before stopping. As he had defended the same quite a few times already, and as the hook had penetrated through a bone tree trunk before hitting him, the Mutant Monster Gecko was a tad slower in recalling it this time. 

Krune pushed the tablet on the tree trunk's side, making the hook coil around it partially as he slashed forth with his dagger. At the same time, the Mutant Monster Gecko pulled the hook back, raising the tension in the thread.

The force caused the hook to lodge into the side of the trunk while his dagger slashed onto a part of the thread. As the tension in it increased, it snapped as the Mutant Monster Gecko stumbled from the lack of force, hitting a bone tree on its back. 

It then looked at its fishing rod that had no hook now, looking at the cut at the end of the thread. Followed by a growl, it coiled the thread around the fishing rod, now wielding it like a club as it sprinted immediately, moving with a lot of momentum. 

Krune bolted with a start, hastily getting into motion upon seeing its imposing approach. He quickly ran through the forest, deliberately taking narrow paths that were okay for him to run through but were small for the Mutant Monster Gecko. 

Unexpectedly, the Mutant Monster Gecko just smashed through them like they were nothing. Moreover, there wasn't even a reduction in its imposing momentum. It was like a raging tidal wave, unstoppable.

Krune had no other choice but to keep running, trying to sense for any areas that he could use as traps. Despite everything, he continued to run, feeling that his lungs were on fire. He saw that the Mutant Monster Gecko was closing in on him, now almost within arm's reach. 

Using all the momentum he had accrued, he jumped, landing on a bone tree, storing all the momentum built up from his run into his leg muscles. 

Then, his entire body radiated with intense light, akin to day, lighting up the entire area with a hundred-meter radius, highlighting the face of the Mutant Monster Gecko that was in proximity. 

It could stop its run, but the intense light blinded it momentarily. The rapid increase in brightness overwhelmed its optic nerves. After all, it was using its eyes to see all along, the only difference being that it was able to perceive the heat signatures during the dark using its eyes. 

Having understood their behavior and having tested it on his previous prey, Krune knew that his Neon Radiance was effective on them. A moment after unleashing his Neon Radiance to the limit, he jumped to the side, watching the Mutant Monster Gecko crash head-on into the bone tree. 

Unlike before when it rammed through them, it was defenseless now, tumbling down as it broke the bone tree, having lost balance as its head spun. The intense light had short-circuited its optic nerves, causing its head to spin. 

The moment he landed on the floor, Krune unleashed all his power in his legs, bolting forward once again as he approached the Mutant Monster Gecko, holding a dagger in each hand as he lunged forward, slashing with all his might as he attacked its palms.

At the same time he attacked, he wasn't even able to evade, having no choice but to double-tap his glabella, summoning his tablet as he tanked the backhanded swing from the Mutant Monster Gecko using its fishing rod.

The impact sent him flying for almost ten meters, cracking his bones, causing him numerous injuries as he crashed into a bone tree before stopping. His left hand was a mess, while he was barely able to exert strength in his right. 

Quickly, his hand trembled while taking out a vial, bringing it close to his mouth as he swallowed the Water Essence, immediately feeling something cool circulate through his body, starting from his stomach. 

Sadly, the effect wasn't as fast as he had hoped for, noticing the Mutant Monster Gecko shake its head before slowly getting up. It was currently bleeding a lot. Lodged in its feet were the two daggers, making it unable to even stand up properly.

On top of that, the worst thing was the bone branch that was lodged in its stomach. Surprisingly, the Mutant Monster Gecko wasn't bleeding. Rather, all its blood was being absorbed by the bone tree branch that voraciously drank all the blood it came in contact with while swiftly growing, turning from a branch to a stem almost within a couple of seconds as it began to grow branches, even sprouting a couple of leaves. 

Krune dragged himself forward a couple of steps, sliding on the floor as the pain made him wish to close his eyes and faint. Of course, he knew that leaning on a bone tree was a death sentence. So, he had no other choice but to do this. 

Thankfully for him, the Water Essence he had swallowed was healing him bit by bit. 

As for the Mutant Monster Gecko, it was stunned for a moment before pulling out the two daggers from its feet, unable to get up due to the blood loss and the severe pain. It then saw Krune crawling forward, swiftly throwing the fishing rod in its hands, knocking him away from the impact, causing him to slide a fair distance away. 

It then placed its hands on the bone tree stem growing out of its stomach, grunting as it tried to pull it out, slowly doing that as it could feel its strength was waning rapidly. A sense of exhaustion stemmed forth throughout its body as its blood was being sucked at a rapid rate. 

Alarmed, it used all its remaining strength, pulling out the bone tree branch, all to its dismay seeing that it had already rooted itself within its body to a fair extent. So, when it pulled it out, a lot of its internal organs were also pulled out as a result. After all, the roots of the bone tree had seeped into them. 

The Mutant Monster Gecko barely managed to drop the bone tree branch nearby as it lost all its strength, plopping on the ground, facing upward as its eyes felt heavy. But, it hadn't died yet, displaying its tremendous lifeforce. 

A lot of time passed in such a fashion before it could hear the sounds of footsteps. A weary Krune arrived before it, inching his trembling right hand to his glabella before double-tapping, summoning the tablet that he dropped onto its face. He then sat on it, suffocating the other party until a row of words flashed on the tablet.