After a vicious battle, everyone was exhausted.
Pan Long was worn to the bone. On one hand, he had to run for his life; if he slowed even slightly, he would be turned into a pincushion. On the other, he had to watch his distance and stay close to the giant octopus. Heaven only knew whether its "javelins" would turn into a Gatling gun otherwise.
Only he knew how grueling it had been.
If this had happened a few months earlier, he probably would not have lasted.
Even so, he was in better shape than Big Horn and Langier. Both had been caught in the earlier explosion. It had hurled them away and left them with severe blast injuries.
Big Horn's worst injury was to his head. The shock wave had given him a serious concussion. Blood ran from his nose, mouth, and the corners of his eyes, and his eardrums had ruptured, leaving him temporarily deaf. If not for the Oni's tenacious vitality, he might have died on the spot.
As it was, all he could do was lie on the ground and vomit now and then.
Langier's injuries were mainly internal. Whether it was his stomach or his lungs, something had been hurt badly, and he kept coughing up blood. Lizardfolk were not known for their sturdy constitutions to begin with; he looked as though he barely had a breath left in him.
Franka, who had earlier collapsed from poisoning, was unscathed. She happened to be lying behind Pan Long, beneath a section of broken wall. Pan Long had absorbed some of the blast, and the wall had blocked the rest. The shock wave had never reached her.
Of the three who had gone out to search for clues, Electric Snake and Du Ling were unharmed. The explosion