Volume One, Chapter 35: Beheading

Cold sweat beaded on Li Yan's palms. A forty-meter-long Titan Salamander loomed in his field of vision, resembling a moving mountain covered in dark green scales. He gripped the hilt of his energy blade so tightly his knuckles turned white.

To protect his fellow survivors from Parallel World 87, this was the first time Li Yan had shouldered such a heavy responsibility, facing danger head-on.

In Li Yan’s eyes, there was the fear of confronting a behemoth, the resolve of not abandoning his kind, and, deep within, a surging spirit of battle.

Since he had no other choice, he would fight.

Clutching his energy blade, Li Yan stood like a lone hero facing an entire army.

"Big guy, if you want to eat people, then I’m going to butcher you."

The Titan Salamander seemed to understand, or perhaps it was simply provoked by the tiny creature before it. Its massive head lunged downward like a falling pillar.

Li Yan swung his long blade, aiming straight for the creature's skull.

*Clang.*

A piercing metallic screech rang out, and sparks showered down like a fountain. The edge of the energy blade struck the scales and vibrated violently—he had only sliced through the outer layer of diamond-shaped scales, revealing the tougher, light-gray keratinous layer beneath without even breaking the skin.

The tremendous recoil sent Li Yan flying back like a kite with a broken string. His heels plowed two deep furrows into the ground, and he slid for a full fifty meters before regaining his balance.

Blood surged in his chest. He wiped the corner of his mouth, a chill running through him: the defense of this monster was more than an order of magnitude stronger than the mutated dinosaurs he had killed before; it was a living fortress.

"Big worm, try this one!"

Li Yan feinted a strike, then darted quickly to the side. Only a fool would clash head-on with those jaws; one slip and he would be swallowed whole.

The blade raked across the Titan Salamander’s belly, another spray of sparks flying. The scales were sliced through, but he still failed to reach the flesh. He couldn't deal any substantive damage.

The Titan Salamander’s body was so gargantuan that dealing with such a small target felt like a human swatting a mosquito, putting the beast at a slight disadvantage. However, the blade in the small creature's hand was becoming a genuine threat.

"Can't catch me, can you? Again!"

Li Yan dodged left and right like a flea. Every time he moved, the massive head of the Titan Salamander would slam into the ground, quickly cratering the earth with deep pits.

"Another strike."

Whenever he found an opening, Li Yan would hack repeatedly at the Salamander’s belly. Finally, he broke through to a wound.

Scarlet blood began to flow.

Feeling the pain, the Titan Salamander became extremely violent. Its massive body began to roll like an overturned truck, chasing Li Yan across the terrain.

"Getting smart, are we?"

With the creature rolling, Li Yan could no longer focus his attacks on the wound. Instead, he was forced to dodge constantly, with no room to counterattack.

"Look out!"

Suddenly, a woman’s voice cried out to warn him.

Li Yan felt a jolt of alarm and instinctively turned toward the sound. As a rookie, he had committed the greatest taboo of the battlefield: he had lost his focus.

The person who called out was the woman with the injured leg who had previously fainted in terror.

The alarm on his combat suit shrieked. A foul, fishy wind gusted from his side and rear. He turned sharply to see the Titan Salamander’s tail, thick as a giant whip, sweeping toward him with a thunderous whistle. It was moving too fast to fully evade!

*Bang!*

Li Yan was swatted away like a baseball.

*Crack, crack...*

He crashed through several large trees before coming to a halt. The impact was brutal; even with the protection of his combat suit, he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

The Titan Salamander curled its body into a defensive coil, using its tail and head as weapons, while its thick, armored plates protected the wounded area.

"Bastard."

Li Yan cursed. He hadn't expected this giant worm to actually possess intelligence.

This was going to be difficult. He couldn't even break through its defenses; if he kept fighting like this, the energy in his suit would be exhausted in no time.

*Hiss, hiss...*

The Titan Salamander’s roars echoed, clearly enraged by the injury the tiny creature had inflicted.

Li Yan’s original plan had been to open a wound and use the quantum cannon to blast its internal organs. The quantum cannon was designed to deal with Void-Eaters, which had thick outer shells; once breached, the cannon would create a small singularity—a black hole—inside the creature, which would expand until it pulverized the organs.

With the Titan Salamander in this defensive posture, Li Yan was momentarily at a loss. He couldn't risk creating another wound; if he tried, he would just be swatted away by its tail again.

*Aren't Jurassic animals supposed to have low IQs?*

*Does that not apply to Titan Salamanders? Experts are going to be the death of me.*

Suddenly, Li Yan saw the Titan Salamander open its gaping maw, and a daring plan formed in his mind.

*If you won't let me open a wound on your body, I'll fire the cannon straight into your mouth.*

There was a risk, of course—if it went wrong, he would be swallowed whole.

On the other side, the injured woman hid behind a tree she deemed safe, watching the battle. Her eyes were fixed on Li Yan, the young man who had saved her from the serpent's jaws. To her, Li Yan was a hero, a towering and magnificent figure.

There were no other options left. Li Yan gritted his teeth and decided to take the risk. He switched his energy blade to the Quantum Space Cannon.

"Hey, you big stinking worm, come and get me!"

Li Yan shouted and sprinted toward the Titan Salamander. When he was less than five meters away, he leaped high into the air.

The Titan Salamander opened its mouth, its body coiling like a spring as it lunged to snap him up.

The woman watched the scene unfold. It looked as if Li Yan were throwing himself into the monster's mouth, committing suicide.

As he felt the maw of the Titan Salamander closing around him, Li Yan raised the quantum cannon.

"Go to hell!"

The quantum energy blast fired precisely into the creature's throat. Li Yan followed it, diving straight into the beast's mouth.

The woman stared blankly. Her hero had been eaten.

*It's over, it's all over.*

Li Yan felt his vision blur as he landed inside the monster's maw. He scrambled to grab onto the creature's teeth to keep from being swallowed.

The Titan Salamander seemed momentarily confused. The tiny creature wouldn't go down; it was stuck in its teeth.

At that moment, a small black hole began to form in the creature's throat. It expanded rapidly, acting like a vortex that tore through flesh and bone.

"Faster!"

Li Yan gripped the teeth tightly, preventing himself from falling deeper.

Finally, the black hole grew larger, consuming more and more flesh. The Titan Salamander felt an agonizing pain in its throat and began to roll its massive body in a frenzy.

*BOOM!*

The quantum cannon detonated, severing the Titan Salamander’s head from its body. It was, in effect, decapitated.

The head slammed heavily into the ground. The massive body continued to thrash, snapping trees for a wide radius.

"See if you stay alive after that!"

Li Yan let go and slid out from the creature's mangled neck.

Common knowledge dictated that if a serpent's head were severed, it wouldn't die immediately. True to form, the Titan Salamander’s jaws were still opening and closing. Even without the rest of its body, it hadn't yet realized it was dead.

Li Yan hurried to put distance between them, watching as the giant head continued to twitch and bite at the empty air.