CHAPTER THIRTEEN
"Nature's Aid"
The conflict continues, as Tayog battles Slasher in the center of the garden of blade towers.
Tayog manages to hold his own in a hand-to-hand fight, but despite his efforts, he is constantly hit and forced to retreat by Slasher's powerful kicks and punches.
The clash of their attacks shows that the General has the advantage in both speed and strength.
Slasher is not accustomed to fighting with his fists and legs, but he is toying with his opponent, confident that Tayog is helpless at this point.
Their inherent energy allows them to maintain their strength as Sugos, but as Tayog's energy is gradually depleted, his attacks are weakening, and he is starting to feel fatigued.
Tayog desperately seeks an opportunity to land a single hit on the elusive Slasher, but his kicks are only parried, and the General remains unshaken by every attack.
Slasher parried Tayog's final kick and grabbed his leg, then threw him into a parked car, crushing its front end.
Tayog knows his body's energy is insufficient and could run out at any moment, so he continues to attack as long as he can still move.
~ Tayog's PoV ~
This cannot be. Whatever I do, my attacks are useless against him. Is this man that strong, or is it just me weakening?
I attacked him again, but once more, he parried my punch with his palms. I can no longer attack with force due to my depleted energy, and I know my opponent, who is now losing interest in fighting me, has noticed this.
"You're boring to play with. I might as well end this now," Slasher said.
He suddenly grabbed my arms and tossed me away like a toy. I tumbled down the street and hit a sword tower, which finally stopped my trajectory.
I feel dizzy and am gasping for breath from exhaustion. In truth, using the gigantic monster consumed all my energy, and it's only willpower that keeps me standing to fight this demon.
But no matter how tired or hopeless I feel, I stand up again and struggle to move to continue the fight, because I have no other choice but to die for our cause.
~ End of PoV ~
Slasher drew a sword and attacked again.
Due to the damage sustained, Tayog is dizzy, and his gasping breaths show that he is utterly exhausted and his body is weakening.
He cannot think of a way to break the General's powerful defense, which parries every attack, so he has no choice but to continue to evade and block Slasher's sword strikes.
General Slasher continues his attack, holding two swords, which Tayog continues to block with the shields attached to his forearms.
His shields are made of sturdy wood, but they are being damaged by the continuous parrying.
"Hahahaha, what's wrong, indio? Do you have nothing else to do but block my attacks?" he taunted.
Slasher's feet glowed, and he suddenly kicked the ground, causing the clustered swords to rise again, aimed at Tayog.
Tayog knew he couldn't keep up with that, so he had no choice but to evade it.
Unfortunately, Slasher had already predicted his movements and was simply waiting for him to dodge.
As expected, Tayog jumped to avoid it, so Slasher wasted no time in attacking again. Tayog managed to see Slasher's next attack, but he couldn't evade it this time.
"Damn it, he's going to hit me," he thought.
He had no choice but to wrap himself in the wooden shields. They were like vines that gradually lengthened and clustered together to enlarge the shield on his arm.
But before it could be fully completed and form a thick shield, Slasher's sword pierced through the shield. However, due to the toughness of the material, he managed to avoid being directly stabbed by the General. The sword stopped just before hitting Tayog's chest.
"You move fast, boy," Slasher commented.
"But you can't stop me," he added.
Hundreds of sword blades suddenly erupted from the tip of the sword and hit Tayog. A Lejanti Strike was released from the tip of the sword that had passed through the shield, piercing Tayog's body.
It generated a strong impact that sent Tayog crashing into a truck parked on the side. He couldn't stop it and was now pinned between the swords and the truck.
The skin of Sugos is tough, as if covered in steel armor due to the energy that protects them, so the swords that hit him earlier did not pierce Tayog's body, but due to his weakening energy, he was gradually feeling the pain from every impact and attack from his opponent.
He felt some swords cut his chest, a sign that the protective energy was weakening.
He was also pinned against the steel body of the truck, making it difficult for him to remove the swords embedded in his body.
"One of my abilities is to release sword blades from objects that my body touches. In your current situation, I can easily finish you off from where I stand," Slasher said, still holding the sword connected to the Lejanti Strike embedded in Tayog's chest.
"This isn't over yet," Tayog gasped out.
The General simply laughed at him, belittling his courage.
"I'll tell you one thing about why you can't win against someone like me: it's because you have no knowledge of proper fighting," he said.
The cluster of swords glowed, lengthened again, and pushed Tayog further until he completely penetrated the truck he was pinned against.
Despite the truck's thickness, he managed to pierce through it.
He was thrown and tumbled down the street due to the force.
His blood could now be seen scattered on the road from the wounds caused by the swords piercing his body.
But even though he was extremely weak and heavily wounded, he still forced his arms to move to get up. He could no longer move properly and seemed to be acting without proper thought, simply wanting to stand up.
Blood flowed from his head, running down his cheek.
"One problem with people like you who have little energy in your body is that you're easily wounded in a few minutes of fighting. You're boring to fight."
Tayog knew he didn't have much energy because he lacked training. He slammed his hand on the ground in a rage, frustrated with his own inability, because he knew he couldn't match his opponent in a fight.
"What are you going to do now, indio?" Slasher boasted.
"I didn't want to resort to my last option, but at this point..." he muttered to himself.
Tayog simply sighed and closed his eyes. He calmly stood up, even though his body was trembling, and composed himself for the planned attack.
Slasher had no idea why he was just standing still or what his opponent was thinking, but it didn't matter to him anymore because he felt he was just playing, and his opponent could no longer do anything to win against him.
"You won't be able to defeat me if you just stand there," he said.
At that moment, Tayog suddenly smiled and laughed loudly. Slasher didn't know the reason for his laughter, but he felt insulted by his smirk, as if he was being tricked.
He simply assumed that Tayog had finally gone mad from the failure of the revolt and disappointment in his own ability.
"A pathetic creature. It's best if we end this now."
The General raised both hands. His armor glowed again, filled with energy that was now creeping toward his arms until it reached his hands.
He created two gigantic shurikens made of clustered swords.
He held two Lejanti Shurikens, each 15 feet tall, in his hands.
These were the same ones he used to slice off the arms of the gigantic tree monster earlier. Since they spin, they can slice through anything in their path.
"Say goodbye, indio!!" he shouted.
He threw one Shuriken with full force, which sliced through everything in its path. It flew straight ahead, aimed directly at Tayog.
Tayog suddenly opened his eyes and furiously punched the ground. At that moment, the gigantic arm suddenly moved and blocked the shuriken from the side.
This arm was the severed limb of the gigantic monster Siklaon, which was now a normal tree.
The General was surprised by what happened and wondered how he was able to control it, given that his energy was almost gone.
"Well, you still have some energy left, but whatever you do, you won't last much longer," he said.
Tayog was gasping for breath and clutching his chest, which was still bleeding from the wounds. At that moment, his body's energy was completely depleted. The aura that enveloped him and protected him vanished from Tayog's body.
He felt weak and suddenly collapsed where he stood.
His wounds bled even more, which his body's energy had previously suppressed. The pain and agony from the injuries were evident on his face, and he seemed to be dying.
"A pitiful creature, look at yourself now. A failed man, a defeated warrior, and now dying on the ground."
"Hahaha, that's what those trash Indios who fight the Great Spain deserve," he shouted.
Tayog felt even more self-hatred from what the General said and slowly recalled his parents in Siklaon.
Because of this, even though he was extremely exhausted, he still forced himself to move and at least sit up where he was.
Slasher continued to mock Tayog's pitiful state and his insistence on continuing the fight.
He likened him to a rat trying to bite a lion.
He managed to sit up, even though his arms and knees were trembling.
"It looks like I have no choice but to use my last card," Tayog said, weakened.
Slasher suddenly laughed at what he heard from his opponent because he sounded like he was threatening to pull out another way to win against him. Slasher no longer sensed any aura in Tayog's body, and his knees were knocking, making it impossible for him to stand.
"You know, I don't want to do this, but I can't accept losing this fight," Tayog said.
Suddenly, wooden blades flew from afar, and Tayog caught them from where he sat. These blades were from his comrades in Siklaon, which he had lent them before the revolt.
Slasher had no idea what Tayog was planning with these. He was only surprised when they dissolved like crushed wood into smoke carried by the wind, merging with Tayog's body.
They continued to fly and become energy that merged with Tayog's body. Slasher gradually felt Tayog's presence increasing.
"What are you doing?"
"I'll explain to you. These are parts of my power that I lent to my comrades so they could merge with nature. They became power cores that drew energy from the people inside and transferred it to the tree monsters, meaning..."
"Tsk, so you're taking the accumulated energy of those people in those weapons to add energy to your body," Slasher said.
This method was part of Tayog's plan, but he couldn't execute it immediately without his body needing it.
"One of my abilities is to draw energy from nature, which I can only do when my body's energy is depleted. So, thank you, because I was able to activate it by exhausting my energy while moving the monster arm."
His body was once again overflowing with energy from the power cores. His body's strength, which had been extremely tired and trembling moments ago, was slowly returning.
This energy also restored his body's protection and temporarily stopped the bleeding from his wounds.
He stood up and stepped forward again. His eyes were blazing, and he seemed ready to fight the General and match him once more.
"Hahahaha, excellent! Your ability is impressive for an indio," Slasher said.
"Don't call me or any of my comrades that word, because we are not indios, slaves of the Spaniards."
He raised his hand, and the parts of the gigantic monster arm suddenly moved.
A green energy from Tayog enveloped it. Its shape changed, like clay merging with his body and morphing into a different form.
"Because we are Filipinos!" he shouted.
Slasher's brow furrowed, and he smirked in anger when he saw Tayog gradually changing form again into a tree monster.
He felt the surging energy from it due to drawing energy from the power cores in the wooden daggers.
A whirlwind-like aura surrounded it, pushing objects away from Tayog.
Tayog's form changed into a terrifying giant man. His body seemed to be armored with wood.
This 10-foot monster form of Tayog was his final form and his strongest weapon, but it required a huge amount of energy, so the time he could use it was limited to only one minute.
Tayog planned to use the daggers from his comrades scattered around them as a power source to maintain his final form for a long time and use all of it to defeat the General.
He knew that the energy he was using now was the life energy of his comrades who had sacrificed themselves for the revolt.
He was aware that the life of each comrade was equivalent to the energy he was trying to use now just to keep going.
"Comrades, I swear I will do everything to kill the devil General who murdered you! I will avenge you and the entire Siklaon!!"
The monster ran and rushed toward Slasher to attack. The General knew that the energy it possessed was extraordinary, and he needed to find a way to stop it.
Seriousness was etched on the General's face because even he had a bad feeling about the unusual thing Tayog was displaying.
His armor glowed with energy again and crept toward his left hand.
He braced himself and threw the other gigantic Shuriken he held with full force.
Like the first, it shot forward, slicing everything in its path until it crashed into the attacking monster.
Tayog managed to block the shuriken with his right hand and tried to stop it, but it was too powerful, and since it was spinning, it managed to slice Tayog's wooden arm.
But even though his arm was cut, he continued to charge toward the General, seemingly unaffected by the damage sustained.
Slasher didn't expect this and slammed his hand on the ground to attack again and stop Tayog's approach.
"Lejanti Strike!"
Clustered swords rose to attack Tayog directly, but he immediately stopped his charge to evade the swords.
This time, he managed to avoid the General's attack, and his left arm suddenly lengthened like a vine to attack from a distance.
Because the sword towers were blocking the view, Slasher did not notice Tayog's fist suddenly appearing from the side.
The punch hit the General, and its immense force sent him flying until he slammed into the municipal hall building.
Due to the sudden attack, he managed to trick the General and hit him hard. His arm immediately returned to its original length, like a vine recoiling into a tree.
"What's the matter, General? Stand up and continue the fight," he asked.
Suddenly, wooden daggers hit Tayog's body, gradually disappearing and giving energy to his body.
His body absorbed the energy from the daggers, and it slowly returned to his arm. In a moment, his severed arm suddenly grew back like a plant.
The daggers, full of energy from life force, were becoming his power source to heal his new form from every damage he sustained.
"I told you, this fight is not over yet."
He said this while seemingly savoring and boasting about the surging energy that enveloped him and was visible leaving his body.
At that moment, Slasher walked out of the building, staring furiously at Tayog.
He could not accept receiving a strong attack from an opponent in his full power form. His eyes were blazing, surrounded by a yellow aura that seemed like burning fire.
He did not fear Tayog's new ability to heal damage, making him seem immortal, and he only wished to quickly end his life.
"I will stop holding back now. I need to finish playing with a rat like you," he said, walking out of the building.
"I told you, I won't allow myself to lose this fight. Today, I will take your life, Slasher!!" Tayog said bravely.
Both were emitting a high level of presence, like clashing tornadoes, preparing to attack and fight until death.
In the middle of that intense scene and hair-raising moment, a voice suddenly echoed in the surroundings. A sharp scream from a woman, seemingly asking for help.
That voice came from above them, and unexpectedly, something suddenly fell from the sky and crashed into the ground.
It landed right in front of the two, settling between Tayog and Slasher.
The woman was lying face down on the ground, motionless, like a corpse.
The two could not react to the sudden interruption by a woman in front of them and quietly waited for what would happen next.
The woman who fell was Erik, who, inexplicably, was in the body of the Diwata of Ifugao.
He suddenly sat up, seemingly surprised to find himself alive and breathing despite his fall.
At that moment, he still didn't realize he was in the form of a beautiful woman.
"I'm alive. I can't believe I'm alive. That's right, I'm alive!!!" he shouted, raising his hands, seemingly delighted.
In that moment of apparent astonishment and joy at being alive, Erik noticed the chaotic surroundings from the battle and looked to his side, where he saw Tayog, whose terrifying monster form was enveloped in green energy, and on the other side, the enraged General, whose eyes were blazing at him.
Even the two combatants didn't know what to do or how to react at that moment because they didn't know the person who had fallen in front of them and had no idea if she was an enemy or an ally.
The young man, Erik, hadn't expected to fall directly onto the battlefield where the two were currently facing off. He just gulped nervously and began to fear his situation because he knew it could endanger him.
"I'm dead," he said with a nervous smile.
"Hehehe, how are you both?"
~ End of Chapter ~