Isekai Lizardman Survival Log

The massive beast came charging, demolishing all the trees in its path.

Brown fur covering its entire body. Round ears and a narrow snout. A body so large I had to crane my neck to look up, and six legs with claws as long as swords on each.

“Grooar―!”

The monster reigning at the top of the food chain howled at us.

No, to be precise, it howled at me. I guess it thought there was more to eat because of my size.

It stared blankly at me as if facing a toy it could kill at any time, but while its gaze seemed fixed on me, it was also keeping Karakt in view.

After cracking my neck left and right to loosen it, I lowered my stance. The beast looked down at me with eyes full of curiosity.

I thought while maintaining eye contact with it.

How should one hunt a bear? They’re strong due to their size, and contrary to their bulky appearance, they’re quite agile.

Moreover, because of their size, they’re full of muscle and fat, making it difficult to inflict damage, so hunting them is never an easy task.

The one in front of me was clearly larger than other bears, probably because it had lived longer. If there was anything unusual, it was the lack of scars on its body.

No matter how strong a bear is, it’s bound to be vulnerable in its youth, so it’s normal to have scars somewhere on the body, but this one seemed to have lived comfortably as no scars were visible.

“Karakt. Don’t damage the skin.”
“You can say such things at a time like this―!”

Well, if the skin gets damaged, its value as material decreases. We came all this way to catch the oldest one, so what’s the point if the skin becomes tattered?

Karakt seemed to understand this as he laughed heartily and shouldered his axe.

“Well then… Match it yourself―!”

I shouted at Karakt and leaped at the bear. The beast, perhaps with the composure of a strong one, arrogantly stood still.

As I got closer, it raised its front paw and swung as if shooing away an insect.

Whoosh―

I rolled on the ground as if falling, and the massive bear paw brushed over my head. If it had hit me, I probably would have bounced away like a rubber ball.

Even though I wasn’t sweating, I felt cold sweat forming. The beast, seemingly curious that I had dodged, tilted its head and swung its front paw again.

Perhaps due to the close proximity, the front paw swung faster this time, grazing the tip of my tail.

Splash―

As if caught in the aftermath, the skin at the tip of my tail burst and blood flowed out. The beast’s narrow snout turned towards me, perhaps its appetite whetted by the smell of blood.

Dodging the snout falling from above, I leaped towards its middle legs.

It shook its middle leg roughly as if a human was shaking off an insect that had climbed onto their arm.

“Ugh―.”

I gripped its fur tightly, holding onto my body that was about to fly off at any moment.

Thinking I lacked strength, it shook more violently, but I endured with gritted teeth and slowly climbed up.

Seeing my tenacious resistance, it seemed to change its mind and tried to strike me directly with its front paw.

“Over― here―!”

Karakt shouted loudly and swung his axe. The bear, distracted by me, turned its head in surprise.

Thwack

“Grooar―!”

Karakt’s axe cut off one of its claws. As the claw, about as thick as a decent-sized log, flew into the air, the beast howled in sudden pain.

As expected. I had noticed from the lack of scars on its body, this one has little combat experience. It probably had always been in the position of one-sidedly dominating others.

Due to the beast suddenly standing up, I ended up hanging on its side, gripping its fur as if about to pull it out.

Supporting my body with just my right arm, I moved my left hand as if rock climbing. The beast, seemingly unable to escape this unfamiliar pain, just kept howling.

It’s probably no worse than stubbing a toe on a doorstep, yet it’s moaning for so long. How comfortably must it have lived?

Soon, the beast came to its senses and glared at Karakt with fiery eyes, but our brave orc had already fled far away.

I quickly moved my arms to climb onto its back, and the beast, seemingly forgetting my existence due to anger, chased after Karakt.

Bang―! Crack―! Cra―ck―!

I lay flat on the back of the bear as it advanced, demolishing all trees in its path, and crawled along its back like a commando, avoiding the debris flying past.

Its momentum was so tremendous that although Karakt must have run quite far, it caught up in an instant. If I were hit by debris while clinging desperately to its back, I’d probably be thrown off immediately.

“Ugh…!”

As it tried to push me off with all its might, I desperately resisted and slowly moved forward.

Bears are tough. Their skin is thick, their fur protects the skin from blades, and they have so much muscle and fat that it’s hard to inflict damage inside.

Even if I had brought a spear, it would likely slip on the fat before reaching the heart, and the dulled tip would be stopped by muscle.

So, how should I kill it?

“Hoo―up.”

I finally crawled up to its head. I wrapped my legs, thick as logs, around its neck and applied force to support my body.

Ridiculously, due to its huge head, my arms couldn’t reach its eyes, but that’s fine. The eyes weren’t my target anyway.

I tensed my thighs and pulled my calves close, pressing them against its neck. Although I couldn’t fully wrap around due to the thick neck, the bear slowed down, seemingly feeling some pressure.

Being so heavy, the beast couldn’t easily lift its legs while running, but if it slowed down, it could move, so I quickly extended both arms to wrap around its neck.

I gripped it as if digging my claws into its skin and concentrated force in my arms and legs.

The muscle structure of reptiles and mammals is different. While mammalian muscles are energy-efficient and have good endurance, reptilian muscles are less efficient.

Reptiles had such poor fuel efficiency that it wasn’t uncommon to find snakes that had starved to death unable to digest their prey, but as a trade-off, their muscle explosiveness was extraordinary.

The height difference was simply double, and in terms of weight, it was probably eight times different, but.

“Hng―uh―ah―!”

It was possible to break this neck, which was so thick that even a decent-sized tree couldn’t compare.

“Grooar?!”

I pulled the beast’s neck while leaning back as if lying down. Ignoring the resistance of the muscles and forcibly pulling, a creaking sound came from its neck.

Surprised by the sudden pressure, the beast completely stopped and tried to raise its front paw to strike its neck.

“Where are you― looking―!”

As a hand axe thrown by Karakt flew towards its head, the surprised beast tried to turn its head, leaving its front paw.

“Groo?”
“Aaaaargh―!”

But my arms and legs, clamped like a vise, were holding its head in place. The hand axe flew towards the immobile head.

“Grooar―?!”

Although it had no combat experience, its reflexes were good, and it closed its eyelid to block the hand axe aimed precisely at its eye. But the eye is one of the vulnerable vital points.

Blocking with an eyelid doesn’t completely negate the impact. The beast screamed as it was struck precisely by the back of the axe blade.

Given its size, the eye itself must be quite tough, so it probably wasn’t a severe injury, but we succeeded in diverting its attention.

“Aaaargh―!”

I pulled its neck back with all the strength I used to break eggshells. The neck, which was like a rock, gradually pulled back and then.

Crack

It made a sound of bones shifting. Perhaps a disc slipped from the slightly misaligned neck vertebrae, as the bear suddenly stopped moving and frantically moved its front paw to strike the back of its own head.

Thwack―

My body screamed as it was struck by that massive paw, but I didn’t stop pulling its neck with my arms and legs.

Crack―

A clearer sound brushed my ears. The increasingly frantic front paw kept striking at the prey clinging to the back of its head, but.

The arms and legs clamped like a vise didn’t fall off, and bit by bit, I managed to twist its neck slightly.

“Keh―hack.”

At some point, the front paw that had been beating me like a meat tenderizer stopped. In that gap, I spat out the blood and tooth fragments pooled in my mouth and caught my breath.

“Grooar―!”

Had it made a decision? The bear started running again. With its head lowered, it began charging full force into the dense forest.

With determination to shake me off somehow, I scraped every last bit of strength into my trembling limbs.

Clinging to the neck of the bear that was recklessly charging forward with its crown, I gritted my teeth against the impact, slightly raised my body using my tail as support, and pulled its neck back, borrowing the momentum of the wind trying to push me off.

Boom

“Gahk―.”

The beast that had been running recklessly finally rammed its head into a giant tree.

The tree, which must have lived for at least a thousand years, was intact except for some cracked bark. It was so sturdy that instead, the bear that had rammed its head staggered from the impact.

Consequently, even I, clinging to its head, felt an impact that made my entire skeleton vibrate, so the one who actually hit its head must have felt it even more intensely.

Fortunately, due to the impact of recklessly ramming into the tree, the neck that had been gradually twisting was severely bent.

“Groo….”

Its disc must have ruptured and nerves must be compressed, but its life force was so strong that it still moved its legs, staggering with an unsteady body.

“Now…, just die already…!”

I squeezed my arms and legs, which had lost scales, with skin burst and bleeding profusely.

With each pulsation of muscles, the torn wounds deepened and blood flowed down my body. Gritting my teeth at wounds that seemed like they might expose bone, I leaned back.

Crack―

As if the overexertion had paid off, the massive neck began to twist completely, bones fully dislocating.

“Groo….”

Thud―

As its nerves were completely crushed and its body no longer responded, the beast sat down on the ground and cried sadly with its head, the only part it could still move.

“Ha―ah.”

I stood up my bleeding body and walked on top of its head. Passing over the crown and forehead, I rested my legs on its long snout and met its eyes.

“Heck―s―!”

Having somehow survived the chaos, a blood-covered Karakt threw a long tree branch in this direction.

The branch, roughly stripped of twigs, was long like a spear. I took position with my numbed hands and pierced its eye.

Forcibly lifting the eyelid of the bear that was still struggling with its eyes closed, whether out of lingering attachment or not.

Squish―

I pierced its eye with the long skewer. As the long branch pierced through the eye and into the brain, the beast convulsed as if struck by lightning.

To send it off quickly, I stirred the inside vigorously with the branch, making a mess, and only then did the life fade from its remaining eye.

“Ha―. I’m dying―.”

As if reaching my limit, my concentration scattered and my body collapsed. In my slowly closing vision from atop the long snout, I saw a blood-covered orc limping and running towards me.

-Brother―!

I looked at Karakt with blurry vision as he ran towards me, limping but with the corners of his mouth raised as if happy.

“Ha.”

Well, at least the hard work paid off.

I watched the blood-covered orc climbing the bear’s corpse with my fading vision before finally closing my eyes.