The sellsword couldn't believe their eyes. A tortoise, high as a building, materialized before them. Its figure loomed over the two minuscule mortals: its spiked shell, along with its stumpy yet robust clawed legs, was a frightening sight, one that struck fear into the hearts of those foolish enough to challenge it. A quick look at the shell revealed that a small portion of it lacked prickles, most likely due to the ones previously fired. However, in the blink of an eye, new prickles were growing in the empty area.

"Seriously, a giant turtle!?" the mercenary groaned and put a hand on their left hip, where the hilt of their sword was supposed to be. But that spot was instead vacant: their weapon had to be buried under the heap of the damned rubble. This was normally the worst-case scenario if they didn't consider the giant turtle.

The great tortoise opened its beak and let out a thunderous grunt as if to let them know that their remark hadn't been appreciated. The sellsword glanced at the young mage beside them. She seemed ready to have a serious fight with such a colossal enemy and confident of winning this disadvantageous match. There was only one thing they could do to ensure their survival. Without delay, the mercenary grabbed the girl, threw her over their shoulder, and began running as fast as they could to get as far away as possible from the reptile.

"What art thou doing!?" the startled girl asked before demanding to be released.

"Saving our lives, little princess. And for that reason, I can't let you go unless you want to be eaten by that thing."

The 'thing' wasn't going to let its preys run away though, so it sent some spikes after the duo. Sensing the imminent danger, the mercenary started running in zig-zag not to be an easy target. Although this method was fine for regular darts, it didn’t work the same way on the spikes in the long run: even if they missed their targets and got stuck to the ground by mistake, they would break free and resume their hunt soon later. Don't tell me that the turtle can control these things at a distance? As though on cue with their thought, some of the quills went ahead of the runner and stopped mid-air, only to thrust themselves into the street floor a moment later. With their path ahead blocked and the great tortoise suddenly emerging from a hole in the ground behind them, the mercenary had nowhere to go. So turtles are good diggers too. Their heart swelled with uneasiness. Could they survive this whole ordeal? What if their opponent had other tricks up its sleeve? Unexpectedly, a wall rose from the ground in front of the giant beast. It was the work of the young girl, now standing beside the sellsword after finally getting off them. Needless to say, their pursuer didn't enjoy the little interruption in its hunt: it began pounding relentlessly on the impromptu obstacle while shooting multiple quills at the two humans.

"The beast hath a heightened sense of smell. It can recognize its prey at a moderate distance, thus fleeing will be toilsome," the mage explained, all the while moving away from her companion and diverting the trajectory of the spines by firing rock bullets in turn.

Then she added, "Whilst the creature is focused on destroying the wall, thou canst take the opportunity to flee."

In the meantime, the wall got destroyed by the great tortoise, only for another one to be erected shortly afterwards. At that moment, the beast realized that the real obstacle to its hunting was the magic user, thus it focused its attention on her. The mercenary couldn't do anything but watch as the girl resisted the merciless attacks of the large reptile, unable to comprehend why she would sacrifice herself for a stranger. However, they weren't going to let a child be a decoy just to save their skin: they ran towards the girl, caught her, and once again carried her over their shoulder. This caused the quills to pursue the pair once again. Shocked by their stupid conduct, the mage was about to reprimand the sellsword harshly, but their swift question preceded her lecture.

"Can you make a hole in the ground?"

She gave a positive response.

"Then do as I say. There's a chance of survival for both of us if we succeed. We've just met, but please trust me."

The second wall was at last demolished. Eager to finish off its bothersome preys, particularly the one who had mistaken it for a turtle, the tortoise rejoiced when it found them on the steep roadside and soon recalled the spikes. Even though its shell could generate new ones, the process required more time in case a wide amount of spikes was used, but above all, it wanted to kill the duo by itself, perhaps by crushing them with its large foot. And so, it got closer to the pair.

"Ignis!"

The shout was followed by a fireball that erupted from the mercenary's hand and later landed on the tortoise's left eye, making it scream in pain.

Then they cried, "Now!"

With its still functioning eye, the reptile saw the sellsword, with the young mage in tow, jump down the cliff. It couldn't let them escape, not after what they had done to its eye. A long tentacle came out of its beak and darted towards the falling humans, grabbing hold of something heavy a moment later. The tortoise pulled back the appendage in the hope of seeing the despaired faces of its preys, but what it saw was something else instead: a piece of rock. It then looked down from the protruding cliff road. Several earthen platforms were placed along the rock face, creating a sort of staircase that ended at the bottom of the crag, where the first district was. Even if they had reached the lower level, the runaways couldn't have gone too far in a short time. Because of that, the beast released some of its spines and threw them towards the lower district, while trying to track its preys through their smells. Its nose immediately picked up the scent of burnt flesh, obviously due to the wound inflicted on its left eye by the fireball. After recalling the immense pain it felt, the great tortoise was more determined than ever to find its targets. Their odour still lingered in the air, but even after many attempts, their whereabouts couldn’t be pinpointed, maybe for the long distance between the two ground levels. The fired spines were also coming back with no result.

Although the reptile wished it could go down there and chase the pair, it was well aware of who controlled that territory. It had to give up on its hunting. A furious growl reverberated through the second district.