Luckily, one thing Nick did have in his advantage was his smaller body.
Compared to the Whiteclaw Snake King, he was like a mouse before a cat. But due to this, the environment played much more in his favour.
The moment he saw the huge beast nearing close enough to him to get one good lunge in, he shifted.
Crash!
He made a sudden sharp turn to the right and carried on going, while the huge Whiteclaw Snake King had to put much more effort in to slow its momentum, and even when it did, it crashed into some of the nearby trees, shattering them in the process.
Whoosh!
Nick turned once again, facing his original direction after he saw what had happened with the huge Radiant Beast.
"Haha! Fuck yes it worked!" He shouted, exuberant.
Crash!
Crash!
Cra…
"Fuck, no it didn't!"
But his glee only lasted a few moments before the Whiteclaw Snake King restarted its charge and quickly started to catch up to him once again.
'God, give me a fucking break for once…'
This time it paid no heed to avoiding any shrubbery or trees in its way.
Instead, it simply bulldozed right through them, only avoiding the larger and thicker ones that might actually impede its speed a little if it tried to just slither right through them.
By now, half of the duration of his speed boost had passed, and he was still too far away from Dido and the others to make it in time.
His only saving grace at the moment was the occasional huge tree that managed to slow down the Whiteclaw Snake King, or completely block it, making it slither around them.
'Those fuckers lied to me!'
By now, Nick had directed his anger towards Dido, Meylin and the rest of the War Beasts.
Sure, he 'agreed' to be their bait, but that was in exchange for them keeping him safe and alive!
It sure didn't look like they were honouring their end of the deal right now! In fact, it seemed more to him like they were waiting for him to die before they would step in…
But he just continued running.
That was all he could do.
Nick's lungs were on fire.
His legs ached like they were about to snap in half at any moment, and every second that ticked by only reminded him that he had less and less time of his speed boost from his Beast Armament left.
Not to mention that his stamina had already passed its tipping point, only managing to stay on his feet by the adrenaline pumping through his body like crazy.
The severe strain from pushing himself past its limits was taking its toll on his body, but Nick couldn't care about any of that anymore.
His internal organs, not just his lungs, started to throb with the strain of his overclocked movement. Yet, no matter what, he didn't stop.
All he could do was keep running, zigzagging through the trees to stay barely ahead.
Because if he did… he'd die.
Then Luna would be left all alone.
'Luna…'
At the thought of his sister, Nick's emotions rampaged even further, becoming even more determined to live.
If not for himself, then for her!
The Whiteclaw Snake King was relentless.
Its silvery white scales shimmered under the small bits of sunlight that filtered through the canopy as it bulldozed through the dense forest. Uncaring of the devastation it left in its wake, since it was all its territory at the end of the day, it could do what it liked in there.
Trees were split; even huge boulders were shattered.
Every time Nick dared to spare a bit of energy to glance back, those burning yellow eyes sent shivers through his body.
'Almost… there… just… a bit… further…'
Huff…
Nick's breathing was more than ragged, every breath was a heave at this point.
And this made him sluggish. Careless.
Crack!
His foot caught on a root, and he stumbled forward, barely catching himself.
Blood pooled from his nose and mouth, with his lungs becoming severely injured from his overuse of them.
But finally — finally — the dense forest began to thin.
He wasn't at the very edge of the Whiteclaw Snake King's territory just yet, but he was getting close. Close enough that, with some luck, someone would hear him.
He opened his mouth.
Tried to scream.
…Only a dry wheeze came out.
"Shit—"
He forced himself to keep running, rapidly approaching the end of his 79 second time limit.
Scarily close to death…
The boundary wasn't far.
If he just had a few more seconds—
A massive crash behind him shook the earth, nearly throwing him off his feet. The Whiteclaw Snake King was getting too close.
'No time to make it to the boundary!'
Nick sucked in the deepest and most painful breath he could manage, then bellowed with all that he had left.
"DIDOOOO! HELP!"
The cry tore his throat to shreds, but it did its job. It echoed across the woods like a desperate warhorn signalling the start of a battle.
There was silence.
…And then more silence.
Then—
"Was that Nick? Wait! It sounds like he's in trouble."
Dido's voice, faint, sure, but unmistakable to Nick in his desperate state.
More voices followed, but Dido's was the only one who seemed genuinely concerned for his life. The others seemed more surprised or annoyed that he was still alive.
"Shit, he really did find the beast!"
One voice, probably Meylin's, added. Her disbelief was clear.
Nick didn't waste any time celebrating. In fact, he couldn't even if he wanted to. His speed boost from the Sabertooth Wolf Beast Armament had just run out, and the stress and strain his body was under for all those 79 seconds came crashing on him all at once.
He rag-dolled to the ground, no longer in control of his own body.
The sounds of rapidly approaching steps, clearly from Dido and the rest of the War Beasts, entered his ears.
'Thank go—'
He was half way through his immense relief, when the unthinkable happened.
Hisssss.
The Whiteclaw Snake King reached him and…
Swallowed him whole.