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Return of the Fallen Volume 13 Chapter 39

Kazuki smirked and mocked the godly giant.

“Was that it?”

Mere moments ago, he was terrified and had no hope of escaping alive. New things were different. Truly fortuitous. If not for the fact that the giant shrieker devoured thousands of smaller shriekers to regenerate itself, thereby allowing Kazuki a chance to steal a portion of that fire energy. If not for the fact that Monsuta was able to deliver a damaging blow to the giant shrieker in the first place. Kazuki adapting Monsuta’s forging technique in a unique way. So on and so forth.

All of this led to his new evolution. The fear he had moments ago was now replaced with confidence. Not to defeat this enemy before him. No there was no possible way he could do that. The giant shrieker was more powerful in terms of the soul. His magic could crush Kazuki at every turn. His flesh was even tougher than Monsuta’s special armor rocks and his strength reached heights Kazuki had never before experienced.

All of these advantages yet Kauzki was confident in one thing and one thing only.

A giant hand came crashing down like a collapsing star. While still carrying Monsuta with his aura, Kazuki blurred and left after images in his wake as he moved thousands of feet instantly.

*BOOOOOOOOM!*

The ground burst apart under the sheer weight of the giant’s palm. The might contained in this single slam was enough to destroy countless Lower Realms. Had it landed upon Kazuki’s body, he knew for sure even his soul would be crushed and there would be absolutely nothing left behind.

Kazuki and Monsuta appeared in the distance downriver at the shoreline. He felt his heart pounding with every breath. Still, he stood strong with a smirk. This was where all of his newfound courage came from. It was his speed and his speed only that gave him the insane idea he could survive. Out of all things, it was his speed that gave him his edge.

“What’s wrong you big bastard, can’t hit two fleeing targets. Could it be you’re actually far too slow?”

Kazuki purposely taunted the giant shrieker. So long as he kept the big fucker angry, he could rob him of a small bit of focus making his movements slightly less readable from the maddening glow in the monster’s eyes.

(If I can distract him with childish taunts, I should be able to hopefully stall him long enough for this nightmarish eve to dispel. I just need the blue sun to rise once more and these freaks will once more return to their devilish tunnels beneath the surface.)

The giant’s eyes glowed even brighter and he also fired a beam of green energy directly at Kazuki and Monsuta.

Just as this energy beam struck the ground, Kazuki once more kicked away and raced away from the impact zone.

*BOOOOOOOOM TSSSSSS!*

The ground exploded sending mountains worth of fiery debris flying in every direction. The suppression of this Hell Realm quickly brought everything back down to the ground with weighty thuds here and there. In the new-formed crater left behind was a green mist that melted away at everything in its path. Even the shriekers that were within the range of this disaster could do nothing to avoid it and died instantly.

Kazuki observed the destruction left behind and felt cold sweat form on his brow before it was instantly vaporized due to the realm’s blazing heat. He knew what it meant to be touched by that green misty aftermath. The energy left behind continued to warp and mutilate everything it touched. Even the hole continued to expand and sink further and further.

(Not just the soul attack from his eyes or the hands bigger than hills crashing down upon me. I also have to avoid that green mist. That shit is far worse than the Miasma back on Gordonia. Not only do I have to avoid every single attack he throws at me. I also have to be aware of the aftermath he leaves behind. I can’t go near that hole filled with green mist if it’s the last thing I do.)

Kazuki was inferior in nearly every conceivable way when it came to the giant shrieker. Hell, he was far inferior to Monsuta in most regards but after his powers, soul, and body were enhanced, he used his light frame and superior agility to monopolize the terrain around him.

(So long as I keep myself light on my feet, I can escape this monster’s attacks.)

Kazuki wished to run away, he really did but there was nowhere to go in this world where the giant would not find him. From its height alone it would be able to see for thousands of miles. It would be able to find Kazuki with its aura sensing or it could use the countless lackeys. As far as he knew, these vents spilling the green flame like a burning waterfall covered this realm entirely. This meant that the shriekers potentially could come from any place underground.

There would be no such thing as hiding.

Just by the short conversation he had with the giant led him to know the giant shrieker had purposely sought him out for an Artifact. Kazuki had used no such power the entirety he’s been in this Hell Realm which meant the giant had some way to seek him out without his knowledge.

Kazuki had no clue what the next step would be after the night was over. He would lose his hunters until the next green burning night but afterward, the same situation would arise. Right now though he at least needed to get through the night before he could even dare contemplate the next green-burning night.

(For now, getting myself and Monsuta through this night is the only thing that matters. Everything else can fuck off for now!)

Kazuki lifted his middle finger to the giant and laughed.

“Hahaha, for all that talk, you are way too slow. Any more and I’ll die of boredom before anything else.”

The giant had no clue what the middle finger meant but one thing he understood was that it was clearly an insult. This further enraged the giant shrieker. It lifted both fists and opened its mouth further than what seemed possible. As its jaws seem to unhinge, the green beam of liquifying death grew to the size of a nearby mountain.

All at once the giant fired this beam of green death once again at Kazuki and Monsuta while slamming its hands down.

Kazuki observed the angle at which the hands came crashing down and knew they were not aiming for him.

(This big bitch is trying to cage us in. By not directly aiming for me he’s trying to lead me by the nose to corner me.)

Aura strengthening, mimicking the wind and gravity and everything else he could, his body became extremely light and gave his legs unmatched agility.

He took a step forward and he blurred past the surroundings as if he were an illusion. One moment he was there and the next he wasn’t. He not only avoided the giant’s magic attack and soul attack but he also ran through several shriekers killing them instantly. At the same time, he absorbed their energy and primordial flame allowing his strength to continue to grow bit by bit.

Just as he predicted, the oversized fists landed nowhere near him with a loud bang. At the same time, he moved away from the green beam of death with perfect movement. Just as Kauzki was ready to tant the monster further, this time it was the giant who smirked with his skull-like face.

“Fast you are but clever not so much. I may not be able to touch you but that no longer matters.”

The green beam out of nowhere split and raced past Kazuki. It split into tens of thousands of smaller beams and landed in a wide circle all around him. Kazuki could already see where this as going and raced for the edge of the battlefield.

(Damn, he’s trying to close me in!)

Kazuki had been closed in and cornered by enemies like this before and had seen what would happen next and tried to avoid such a scenario from playing out.

Kazuki quickly came to the edge of the battlefield but it was already too late. In a large circle along the ground for many miles, the land suddenly caved in. It was the giant’s hands slamming down earlier that broke the land perfectly. At the same moment, the land fell apart and sank in a large ring, the green beam had hit the ground.

Kazuki thought he still had a fraction of a second to escape this ring but the hair on the back of his neck told him otherwise. Just as he was about to escape this encirclement he jumped backward in retreat. Not a moment too soon as the green beam had entered this large ring and rose up as a mist in every direction. For several miles in every direction, a large ring of green mist rose from beneath the ground all the way up for hundreds of miles.

Even though he had predicted this would happen, he had moved a step too late.

“I told you tiny human, everything you do, it is pointless to this one.”

A cold booming laughter escaped the giant’s lips and the dark storm in the distance grew evermore. The end was near.