I Became an Evolving Lizard in a Martial Arts Novel-Chapter 263

"Please... anything but my hair...!"

"I can’t go bald! Noooo!"

What the hell was that?

Wouldn’t your bald leader be offended hearing that?

Well, not that it mattered—he was already foaming at the mouth, unconscious from the poison.

Using poison as leverage seemed to be working well.

It wasn’t a lethal poison, but I had no way—or reason—to explain that to them.

They were letting their imaginations run wild, assuming the worst.

Especially after watching their companions lose their hair right before their eyes.

"I—I’ll offer you snacks!"

That was tempting, but... did they really think I spread poison just for some treats?

"Gek."

"T-Then... dried meat! I have some hidden jerky...!"

"Gekek."

Did they still think I was just some tiny lizard with strong poison?

"Gekek."

"W-What do you want...?"

"Geeeek."

Why were they so bad at understanding me?

Even Soyeong could figure things out with just a glance.

"Wait... d-does he want... information?"

"Gek!"

Ah, finally, someone with a brain.

I nodded, and even in his fear, his face brightened slightly.

"Y-You’ve been consuming a lot of elixirs... so are you looking for the hidden stock we’ve stashed away?"

My gestures and tail movements were finally working.

"Gekeng."

Bingo.

"If I tell you where it is... will you give us the antidote?"

I nodded.

There was no actual antidote, but they’d only talk if they thought there was.

"If you go straight to the left, there’s a room made of iron. You can’t miss it—there are guards stationed there."

The fear of losing their hair had loosened their tongues.

I already had a rough idea of the location thanks to Mantis, so I just needed to cross-check it.

"Gek."

"A-And the guards...?"

I narrowed my eyes slightly.

Oh?

They hesitated.

I opened my mouth wide—

"H-HIIEEK!"

—And snapped my jaws in the air.

"Aaahhh! It’s the Black Gale Squad, White Gale Squad, and Yellow Gale Squad! Those three units are guarding it!"

Ah, so it made sense that Black Cloud Hall had a Black Gale Squad under its command.

"To be precise, the Black Cloud Hall has five squads—Red, Blue, Yellow, White, and Black. The Red Gale Squad and Blue Gale Squad went with the Hall Lord to deal with the spy, while the other three are guarding the elixirs!"

Oh, nice.

Just one fake bite and they started spilling everything.

"Gekek."

"T-Thank you! A-And... each squad’s leader is at the Transcendent Realm, while their deputies are at the Peak Realm."

...There were five Transcendent-level warriors?

Wait. Five?!

That was a lot.

It took so much for me to reach Transcendent, and suddenly five just appeared?

Well, Transcendent wasn’t a fixed level—not all of them would be equal.

They’d probably curse me out if they knew a one-year-old lizard had already surpassed them.

But still... there were a lot of strong enemies here.

It made sense, though.

This place was responsible for recovering the True Dragon—so gathering this much force wasn’t unreasonable.

If anything, it was too little.

If someone actually tried to harm the True Dragon, Transcendent warriors wouldn’t be nearly enough.

Even someone like Gongbok would make them utterly useless.

That was why the Hall Lord—a Flower Realm master—was here.

So that meant Seolhwa was facing one Flower Realm master and two Transcendent warriors.

Meanwhile, I was up against three Transcendent warriors.

I needed to wrap this up quickly and go help Seolhwa.

Not that I thought she’d lose, but... I couldn’t be sure.

This place was deeply connected to the True Dragon.

"U-Um... Sir...?"

"Gek?"

"T-The antidote...?"

Ah. Right.

I chewed on nothing for a moment.

Then—Ptooey!

I spat out poison, and they scrambled to grab it, rubbing it on their scalps in desperation.

If they believed it was an antidote, then it was an antidote.

With that, I left the poisoned warriors behind.

They wouldn’t be able to move properly for a while.

They could still walk, though, so they might warn the Hall Lord about me.

That was even better.

A diversion.

My plan was already in motion, so it was better if the Hall Lord’s attention shifted toward me.

If he spread his forces too thin, Seolhwa would have an even easier time crushing them.

And the first poison I had spread was contagious—so if the wounded warriors rejoined their comrades, they would all start collapsing on their own.

That was why I didn’t finish them off.

No need for unnecessary bloodshed.

I walked with my tiny lizard steps toward my next target.

It was easy to identify the location that had been described.

If there was a place where guards were stationed in divided formations, it had to be important.

This was Black Cloud Hall’s most valuable vault—where the elixirs meant for the True Dragon’s recovery were kept.

There were three strong warriors standing guard, each dressed differently.

They had to be the squad leaders.

"Who goes there?!"

One of them sensed my presence and shouted.

"Gekek."

"Hm... just a lizard."

Great. Thanks for the acknowledgment.

If I were human, they might be suspicious.

But no one was going to see a tiny lizard and immediately sound an alarm.

"Wait a second... why is it walking on two legs?"

"Gek?"

...Oh.

Maybe walking like a human was a bit too suspicious?

I quickly dropped to all fours and looked at them.

One of the guards frowned in confusion.

"Uhm... Sir... there's something strange here."

Wow. Really? You’re snitching on me?

Do you want to go bald?

"Strange? I don’t sense any human presence. What are you talking about?"

"There’s a lizard here... but its expression is weird, its walking is unnatural, and most of all—its tail is really plump."

...What’s wrong with my tail?

"A lizard? You think I’d be concerned about a—wait. A lizard?"

The squad leader paused, as if something clicked in his mind.

Judging by his yellow robes, he was probably from the Yellow Gale Squad.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! CATCH IT!"

"Yes, sir!"

Shiiing!

The soldiers drew their swords—

Only to be immediately scolded by their leader.

"FOOLS! Do you want to damage the elixirs meant for the True Dragon?!"

"T-Then...?"

Did they still think I was just some offering for the True Dragon?

"CATCH IT WITH YOUR BARE HANDS! IT’S JUST A LIZARD!"

"Y-Yes, sir!"

They approached, hands reaching out.

...This was exactly how Soyeong always tried to catch me.

Except, with her, it was cute.

With them, it was just disgusting.

Should I use poison again?

It would work on the grunts, but not on the Transcendent squad leaders.

They had probably developed resistance to poisons from managing the elixirs and spirit beasts.

I glanced up at the ceiling.

It was high, but not high enough.

If I enlarged myself completely, the entire building would collapse.

I had wanted to do this the easy way, but now it was going to be a pain.

Oh well.

Crack—Crack—Crack.

A dark aura flared as my bones shifted.

I wasn’t releasing my full size—just adjusting it slightly.

If I grew too much, I’d bring the entire place down.

At 80% of my full size, though... this place should be able to hold.

*

The warriors who had rushed forward to capture the lizard found themselves frozen in terror.

The plump-tailed, somewhat cute-looking lizard had suddenly grown in size, transforming into a beast that towered over them several times over.

"H-Huaaagh!"

"A... a monster!"

These were battle-hardened warriors of Black Cloud Hall, but never in their lives had they encountered anything like this.

Those glowing blue eyes.

The way its vertical pupils locked onto them sent chills down their spines.

It was an absolute certainty—if they made one wrong move, their heads would be torn clean off.

Those thick, razor-sharp claws.

They wore armor, but they knew it wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference.

"Krurrrrrr..."

The viscous, venomous saliva dripping from its fangs.

Wouldn’t it melt their bones the moment it touched them?

The creature before them was not something humans could stand against.

A monstrous beast, the very embodiment of death.

And yet, paradoxically, it had an aura of divinity—as if they were looking at a sacred spirit.

"I-It’s... a dragon!"

One of the warriors cried out.

A being of that form could only be a dragon.

The squad leaders, who had been watching from behind, also realized that the situation had taken a drastic turn.

It had been a lizard.

When had it turned into this?

Was this the result of consuming so many elixirs?

"...Yellow Gale Squad, listen!"

"Black Gale Squad, listen!"

"White Gale Squad, pay attention!"

This was no longer some lizard to be captured.

It was a beast—a monster they had to stop at all costs.

If the lizard meant for the True Dragon’s offering was harmed, they would be executed.

But if they failed to stop this thing, they would die right now.

It was clearer than ever—their best chance of survival was to fight it together and try to seize its core before escaping.

"Draw your swords! Slay the beast!"

But despite the command, the warriors did not move.

They merely trembled, their heads hung low.

"Black Gale Captain! What kind of training did you give them?!"

"White Gale Squad is no better, so don’t talk!"

"Enough! There’s a reason why they’re acting this way."

The Yellow Gale Captain knew a few things about dragons.

A dragon’s roar carried the same effects as Lion’s Roar, making those with weak wills lose their fighting spirit just by hearing it.

It was a unique ability known as Duragon Pier (杜羅霣 翍語)—the speech of dragons.

If they wanted their subordinates to move, they had to move first.

"If all three of us attack at once, it’ll break their fear!"

Without hesitation, the Yellow Gale Captain charged forward.

Swiiish!

A brilliant yellow aura ignited on his blade.

Following him, the Black Gale Captain and the White Gale Captain also moved in.

One wielded a dark wind-like sword aura.

The other’s blade shone with a white, gusting aura.

Their swords flew toward the creature’s shoulders and neck—

CLAAAAANG!

—Only to be deflected back in the exact direction they had been swung.

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"...Impossible."

The White Gale Captain muttered in shock.

A coordinated attack from three Transcendent warriors.

And yet, not even a scratch.

They hadn’t pierced a single scale.

"...Are those... really dragon scales?"

The Yellow Gale Captain murmured blankly.

Even Transcendent warriors couldn’t cut through its scales.

This wasn’t just a beast imitating the form of a dragon.

It was a true sacred spirit, bearing genuine dragon scales.