The battle between the two Monster Gecko groups ended up in a stalemate as the Monster Geckos from the first village retreated into the village in fear of an ambush. As they were just monsters without any sentience, despite their superior physical prowess, they only reacted based on external disturbances, behaving accordingly.

That's why they retreated into their village immediately, not even thinking of any other solutions. Besides, their first instinct was to protect the regular populace that was in the village, the non-fighters.

​​

Based on what Krune had gathered over the past months, the Monster Geckos had non-combatants among their populace. Moreover, non-combatants made up most of their populace. They were in charge of collecting the fruits, harvesting materials for building constructs in their village, making their tools and weapons, giving birth, and so on.

The combatants among their populace made up only a small fraction. It was only this fraction that patrolled their village and usually only did that. Even though every Monster Gecko that had survived had gone into the ocean at least once and hunted a fish, due to their lifestyle, their battling skills had no longer been sharpened.

Moreover, it wasn't as if everyone hunted massive predator fishes. Most just survived the ocean and hunted a relatively easier target that was within their capabilities. Only the ambitious ones targeted the dangerous ones, grabbing their attention until either one of them died.

Now that a group fight had erupted, and it seemed like the strained tensions between the villages would result in a war, all the non-combatants retreated into the village as the gates were soon shut.

Krune watched the ongoing fight, observing the Monster Geckos die one after another. As they went at each other without any hesitation, every attack removed flesh and drew out blood. Though, until now, both the Mutants were uninjured, dodging the attacks of their foes while attacking.

They used their superior agility to dodge and move around. And no matter what happened, it seemed a victor between them wouldn't be decided that easily, at least unless the surrounding Monster Geckos did something.

Nevertheless, the other Monster Geckos were immersed in their fight, moving the battle to a nearby location. Upon seeing their actions, Krune muttered, "The two Mutants are equally matched. The fight would only result in a pyrrhic victory. That would be a waste, too much of a waste of this opportunity."

Krune frowned as he heard the sounds of rocks being shattered. Noticing their massive figures, his eyes lit up as he sprinted back to his cave, picking up three Blood Essence Crystals before heading back to the scene of battle.

Without hesitation, he threw two of them forward, watching them land on the rocky ground and skip a couple of times before stopping near the two Mutant Monster Geckos. He kept the other one in his hand, intending to swallow it at a moment's notice, retreating further back as he observed.

There was only a moment's hesitation in the two Mutants that acted based on their instincts, scurrying to the Blood Essence Crystals after sensing the sheer energy in them, fighting between each other as they picked one each. And in their hurry, they swallowed the Blood Essence Crystals and continued their fight.

But this time, they possessed explosive vigor. Their attacks were stronger, they were able to move faster, and their momentum was more imposing. But even with that, since their skill levels were similar, they still failed to land an attack on their opponent.

Moreover, spurred by the sheer energy gushing into their bodies, they moved at a faster pace, making elaborate leaps as they danced through the area, encroaching upon the territory of the battle between the two Monster Gecko groups.

As they missed each other's bodies when they attacked, the attacks of the two Mutants wounded the Monster Geckos one after another, soon beginning to kill them. And whenever their side lost a member due to the actions of the other party, the Mutant Monster Geckos would increase the flurry of their attacks.

Unsurprisingly, this increased the speed at which the Monster Geckos fell. It created a vicious cycle, at the end of which only the two Mutants were alive. During all this commotion, they had noticed Krune's heat signature, slowly moving towards him as they fought.

Upon noticing the third party in the place, they were wary. But despite that, their fury continued to drive them to attack each other. As for Krune, whenever the two Mutants approached him, he backstepped accordingly, moving farther away from the first village as he approached closer and closer to the edge of the forest.

Time passed in such a manner with Krune sweating buckets, being extremely vigilant all this time. After all, the moment the two Mutants targeted him, he had to sprint with all his might at a moment's notice. A delayed reaction at this moment would just cause his death.

Just as he had expected, after more than an hour passed, the two Mutants were unnerved by his presence, intending to finish him off first before continuing their fight. As if they had come to a tacit understanding instantly, the two Mutants shot towards Krune.

Having been ready for this all along, Krune swallowed the Blood Essence Crystal he had been holding all this time, sprinting instantly as the two Mutants closed in on him. To ensure their hooks wouldn't pierce him, Krune ran through a curved path, slipping past the bone trees.

But within a couple of minutes, the two Mutants were now 10 meters away from him. At this very moment, his back radiated with the Neon Radiance, shining two beams that targeted the Mutants, one beam each.

The beam was stronger than his maximum, amplified thanks to the Blood Essence Crystal's energy. This blinded the two Mutants, causing their heads to spin for a couple of seconds. As all their senses went haywire, their bodies lost balance, crashing into a couple of bone trees along their way before tumbling down to the ground.

It took them a few seconds before they regained their senses, getting up before dusting off any pieces of the bone tree on their bodies. They had only sustained mild injuries, nothing to fret about as they had removed anything related to the bone trees.

In this period, Krune had increased the distance between them considerably. The two Mutants looked at one another, communicating something as they chased after Krune, taking a wider path as they intended to encircle him.

Krune wasn't flustered, despite his opponents closing in on him. The moment they arrived closer, he unleashed Neon Radiance on them, causing them to stumble once again. But this time, they weren't caught off guard, quickly getting up before giving chase.

Krune was pressured, having to use his abilities to the limit in order to stay alive. Using the Sonic Radar, he scouted the route, the terrain, and the position of the two Mutants that chased after him. Using the Neon Radiance, he kept them at bay whenever they approached closer.

Even though the Mutants had to rely on their eye while using their thermal sense, they were somehow able to time themselves accordingly whenever they closed in on Krune, closing their eyes on time to negate most of the damage from his Neon Radiance.

This way, they continued to close in on Krune, looking like they would trap him soon after. But, the moment they had such a thought, a beam of light landed on their faces again.

They swiftly closed their eyes, barely managing to prevent themselves from stumbling as they waited for a second before opening their eyes. After all, the beams only lasted for a short second before vanishing.

And, as they had thought as such, due to their habit of facing the same attack numerous times till now, they were fooled to believe that information. With that, when their eyes shot open, the beam of light was still going strong, blinding them once again, causing them a headache.

Their heads spun as they tumbled down to the ground, taking a couple of seconds to gather their bearings. In the meantime, Krune headed to a cave far away, something he had scouted and marked for use in such cases.

It was a narrow cave, only wide enough for him to pass through. Moreover, it had a small curve in its path, preventing anyone at the entrance from being able to see the end. There were quite a few of these caves. It was the reason he was running towards one of them in the first place.

Thanks to the Sonic Radar, Krune was always a couple of steps forward in his plans. Soon, by the time the two Mutants got up and gave chase, he slid into the cave, side-stepping his way as he quickly proceeded into it.

Upon seeing that he was trying to escape, both the Mutants brandished their fishing rods, sending the hooks flying into the cave path. Krune managed to move towards the end right at this moment, watching the two hooks hit the wall behind him.

As they were too sharp, they just lodged into the rock. If they had blunt edges, they would have bounced off the walls and hit him due to the cave's curvature. His heart thumped, enough for the sound to resound loudly in his ears as Krune watched the hooks being recalled.

Thanks to the proximity, even the sounds from his ragged breathing were enough for him to sense their positions. Through their thermal sight, they noticed that he was right next to their reach, unwilling to let their prey slip away.

So, they began to try all sorts of methods in order to fish him out, trying any means to kill him. But as they couldn't trust one another, they had their guard up. Moreover, they didn't have anyone to use and send a message to their respective villages to ask for reinforcements.

The gap in the cave was something a regular Monster Gecko was barely able to crawl into.

The Mutants didn't have too many methods to use or think of. They mostly relied on their fishing rods to reach Krune or, at times, threw rocks into the cave to hit him. In such cases, having observed their throwing posture, he was able to determine the approximate place the stone would bounce off the walls and approach him, evading it accordingly.

As time passed in such a fashion, the two Mutants suddenly felt intense exhaustion. Unsurprisingly, this exhaustion hit them all of a sudden, causing them to lose their balance. Naturally, right at this moment, blinding radiance was reflected on the cave walls and slammed right into them, knocking them unconscious instantly.

Ten seconds later, Krune exited the cave, letting out a sigh of relief as he pulled out his rope, setting out to work with an excited expression.