CHAPTER 44: Pressure.
His actions: scratching his head, tearing his hair, then screaming loudly: "Aaaa!"
His situation became even worse. A stuttering voice of panic.
"Why? Why does everything around look so strange? Where is this?"
He immediately cast his eyes toward the Phantom in the distance; it stood still, energy surrounding its body to heal.
"What... what is that thing?"
At this moment, he became even more terrified and anxious. His hands scratched his head faster and harder.
On Takeshi's side, he showed similar expressions.
"I don't want to die... quick... someone save me from here... save me!"
Airi panicked; she ran fast to Takeshi who was closer, placing her hand on his back.
"Hey... Hey? Are you okay?"
She looked over at Kazuka, who was showing the same signs as Takeshi. She gritted her teeth in annoyance.
"Both have fallen into a state of panic. It seems to be because of the sound when that Phantom screamed."
— "Is it a type of mental attack that causes them to panic?"
Suddenly from afar, an arrow hissed like thunder tearing the wind, flying close to the ground only a few spans away. The energy surrounding it swirled violently, dragging a horrific pressure that swept along the ground; grass and trees were torn apart, rocks shattered into small pieces as if plowed. Every inch of ground the arrow glided over left a deep groove, as if the entire earth had just been slashed by a giant blade. The arrow flew past Airi, making her startled and turning her eyes toward where it would strike.
It lunged toward the Phantom. The healing Phantom was surprised; the energy surrounding its body was immediately pulled inside, its mouth opened to the maximum and glowed. It discharged an enormous source of energy to confront the arrow.
— "Damn it, I forgot to give that girl time to create an extremely powerful arrow. I was healing so I let my guard down, couldn't dodge."
The arrow plunged into the energy column created by the Phantom. It tore this horizontal energy column apart and kept stabbing forward.
The Phantom opened its eyes wide in shock.
— "Not good, f**k."
BOOM!!!!!!
This horrific explosion caused the ground to create a massive hole; dust and smoke flew blindly. Perhaps if it rained, these large holes would become small ponds.
Airi sat there; the dust and smoke slapped past her, forcing her to cover her face with her hand. Her hair, as if meeting a great wind, flew tangles.
Looking down, Takeshi was no longer scratching his hair but panting incessantly. Casting eyes toward Kazuka, he too had stopped panicking.
"They stopped panicking. Could it be that monster was destroyed?"
Immediately after that explosion, through the tree canopies, another arrow lunged out, but with less energy. It seemed this was a blow to confirm if the Phantom was dead.
Airi stood up and observed.
"There is still another strike?"
Airi sensed very strong energy inside that thick pile of dust and smoke. She was slightly surprised.
"It's not dead yet?"
As the arrow flew near the pile of smoke, a large energy source flared up, blowing all the smoke away. The lunging arrow was immediately knocked away.
The layer of smoke dissipated completely, revealing a body of the Phantom that had changed slightly.
On its back grew an additional distorted human head, with eyes constantly bleeding black blood.
From the belly grew an additional giant set of teeth, capable of expanding like a snake's jaw.
The tail was now an inverted child, two hands clutching its spine tightly, the child's mouth constantly mumbling meaningless sentences.
Kazuka and Takeshi also stood up and observed with Airi, both still a bit tired and panting.
When all three saw the shape of the monster, all three were surprised by that bizarre form.
Airi was even more surprised.
"No... it can't be."
"Not good."
Takeshi and Kazuka standing beside were confused and turned toward her.
Takeshi: "What's wrong?"
Airi fearfully pointed at the Phantom ahead.
"It's not normal. This form belongs to Kuralak."
Kazuka: "Huh? What is it? Is it very dangerous?"
Airi: "It is Kuralak, once a Phantom King but then sealed."
Kuralak from the distance smirked.
"Indeed a Vampire, very knowledgeable."
Takeshi and Kazuka also realized the situation was very serious and entered combat stances.
Kazuka: "Meaning we are facing one of the strongest of a race."
Airi with a contemplative look.
— "It is indeed him. But if I remember correctly, he has up to 5 forms. Why does he have to be defeated to transition to another form?"
— "Does he want to play? No way, I think not. But why doesn't he change to another form to settle us quickly?"
— "A powerhouse who was once the strongest of a race could easily blow away dozens of nations with a single blow. Why play here?"
Airi immediately remembered the scene earlier chatting with Kuralak. Her eyes opened wide; it seemed she realized something.
— "Could be the seal. That seal forces him to absorb all the energy of the summoner. And Takeshi has only been absorbed a little. Thus, currently, he hasn't regained all his strength."
— "I guess this is the final form he can transform into. So that means I need to destroy him right this time."
— "But it's also very difficult. Just with his complete second form, it's enough to fight the strongest person of a human kingdom. I don't know if my guess is right, but it's very possible. A Phantom King, after all."
Airi with a serious and cautious voice, tried to remind the two:
"You two must be careful. In this form, at least he can single-handedly face the strongest of a nation."
Kazuka surprised: "Really?"
Takeshi: "If so, he is extremely strong. Can we fight him?"
Airi tried to reassure:
"Why worry? You were taught by the Old Wolf; I think at his peak he must have been one of the strongest."
"Now we are also strong, just be confident."
Kazuka and Takeshi shouted: "Understood!"
The purple-haired girl jumped onto a tree branch behind and far away to observe.
"He moved to a new form? This will be very difficult."
Airi turned her head back and shouted.
"Hey! You girl over there, cooperate with us to destroy it!"
The purple-haired girl hesitated a bit but then nodded.
"Fine."
"So what is your name?"
"I am Minazuki Ayaka."
Airi turned back, her eyes determined toward the Phantom standing and observing.
"Then you support us from afar. If you see an opportunity, you can also attack."
The Phantom with clear annoyance.
— "Damn it, I've wasted too much time here. Those kids are teaming up; defeating a group will be very hard."
Immediately, Ayaka drew her bow tight; the energy arrow lunged straight toward the Phantom, opening this battle.
Takeshi and Kazuka lunged and circled to the two flanks.
Kazuka while lunging thought: — "If possible and there's a chance, I will try to unleash a slash with 5 parts of my energy to finish that monster. But I don't know if my body and the sword can endure it? I'm just afraid that while I'm charging energy, I'll die because my body is weak."
Takeshi and Kazuka lunged to close in from both sides. The monster used its right leg to swing a scratch toward the left. Takeshi who was lunging raised both hands and crossed them to defend. But the swing was too strong.
He gritted his teeth to endure against the kick like a sledgehammer smashing in.
"Aaa!"
He flew straight into the forest.
After Kuralak just attacked Takeshi, he turned his head toward Kazuka and opened his mouth wide; an energy strike lunged out. Kazuka who was lunging stopped when he saw it open its mouth and flipped several rounds backward. The energy strike chased, but he had flipped very far.
— "Dangerous, dangerous."
Right after Kuralak finished attacking, he moved, extremely fast closing in on Kazuka.
Airi in the distance was horrified, but the chains lunged away.
"Be careful!"
An arrow with great energy flew toward the monster; one of its legs swung out, the energy arrow immediately shattered.
An extremely powerful leg swing caused its claws to scratch straight into his chest.
The ultimate pain caused him to spit out a large mouthful of blood and fly away.
Airi: — "Is he trying to fight fast?"
From afar, Takeshi flew in; a fist filled with energy lunged straight into the monster's face. The two energy sources canceled each other out; the strike made the monster retreat several steps.
He jumped back and slid long on the ground to keep distance. The monster swung its claws, a scratch with three energy strikes flew. In front of him, Takeshi immediately erected a series of thick stone walls. The scratch flew in, crushed the walls, and kept flying. But behind there were still a series of other stone walls. After destroying 23 extremely thick stone walls, the energy scratch flew into the 24th wall and left a large mark on it.
The walls gradually lowered into the ground.
But these walls were a defense for him, yet also a weakness hiding the vision.
Immediately, Kuralak appeared beside Takeshi. He was surprised but still reacted and only had time to raise two hands to defend. The scratch with an extremely large amount of energy was swung again.
But Airi had lunged in; the blood chains had wrapped around the leg Kuralak was about to strike. In Airi's hand was a bright red sword; she swung the sword with dense energy and pierced through the energy layer surrounding Kuralak. The close-range slash cut straight into his neck; the first drop of blood didn't even have time to flow before the wound showed signs of healing. He was a Phantom King, and his energy control ability was excellent. Therefore, the wound was quickly staunched.
He used strength, snapped the chain, and jumped back.
Airi opened her eyes wide when the blood chain snapped. The muscle strength was very strong.
— "He snapped my blood chain?... But luckily it's infinitely long."
Airi with a worried voice asked Takeshi:
"Are you okay, Takeshi?"
Takeshi was looking at the Phantom ahead.
"I'm fine."
Kuralak after jumping far away opened his mouth wide. Another energy strike was about to be discharged, but right after it discharged a bit.
Ayaka's arrow flew in; the wind hissed as if tearing the air. It immediately collided with the energy source Kuralak just discharged.
Ayaka's arrow had interference energy.
BOOM!!!!
A large explosion caused the ground which had a hole now to become even deeper. Kuralak jumped out of the smoke, his body slightly scratched, smoke rising from his mouth and he lost two teeth after the explosion.
From afar, another scream rose.
"AAAA!"
Kazuka lunged in. His body was filled with a large amount of energy.
WHOOSH!!!
— "I used nearly half of a part of energy to focus on my legs. This strike must hit."
Dust and sand parted into two directions; he lunged at the monster. The energy blade in his hand stabbed forward. Kuralak hadn't yet oriented after the recent explosion, still in the air when jumping out of the smoke; he only heard Kazuka's voice from afar.
An extremely fast and strong thrust lunged in, stabbing straight into Kuralak's side.
STAB!!!!
He was stunned because he had been hit, eyes wide, mouth making several small sounds.
— "What the hell?"
The extremely strong thrust caused Kazuka to lunge along with the strike; Kuralak flew away along with Kazuka.
He gritted his teeth; energy began to transmit into the monster.
A large roar of the Phantom rang out. Its back leg kicked a strong blow into Kazuka's side.
"Aaa!"
He was in pain; the blood on his mouth hadn't been wiped yet, now new blood flowed. He flew over the heads of Airi and Takeshi standing there.
Airi and Takeshi looked up at the sky in horror and shouted:
"Kazuka!"
Kazuka flew away, his body slammed hard into a slightly small tree in the distance, then rolled onto the ground.
Kazuka lay still on the ground, eyes tightly closed. The energy surrounding him was continuously healing.
His right hand clutched his left ribs. His left hand clutched his butt. He gritted his teeth, trying not to scream because of the horrific pain; it felt as if just a bit more strength in that kick could make him lose his mind.
— "It hurts so much. The bone in my butt seems cracked from hitting the tree. He kicked too hard; even with protection energy, my butt was still injured."
— "My ribs probably have three broken."
On Airi's side, she shouted:
"No time, this is the chance!"
Kuralak crawled up; the energy surrounding him was trying to heal the wound. The mouth at his belly was continuously absorbing energy and discharging interference energy.
— "That damn kid, dared to push interference energy into my body."
Airi poured energy outward more; she stepped hard onto the ground making the earth crack, then vaulted away.
Takeshi covered his hands with a layer of earth and stone, like a gauntlet. He vaulted away along with Airi, the crack under his feet overlaying the crack Airi created.
Suddenly, from the body of the Phantom, two other entities separated to the two sides, but they had energy color and were blurred.
The two entities attacked toward the two people. Airi whipped the blood chain down, smashing an entity lunging toward her.
On Takeshi's side, the remaining entity was lunging; he raised his hand and swiped down. A large hole suddenly appeared under the feet of this entity; it fell down and the ground immediately closed "Thud" as if it were a large stone door.
Airi shouted:
"Be careful!"
The Phantom had finished healing; it lunged toward Takeshi and opened its mouth wide to bite him. He didn't react in time; his feet instinctively stepped back.
— "I've bitten you."
SWISH!!!
Ayaka had been silent until now without firing an arrow because she was preparing an extremely strong strike.
— "Arrows with little energy can't hurt it now."
The arrow this time with extreme power tore the wind and flew. Ayaka stood on the tree. Thus, the arrow she fired followed a diagonal line from top to bottom.
The monster hadn't bitten him yet; the arrow lunged in, stabbing straight into the monster's neck. Airi's blood chain wrapped around Takeshi and pulled him toward her.
BOOM!!!
On the ground, there was another large hole overlaying the previous ones.
Takeshi stood beside Airi, energy wrapped thicker on his hands. Entering a striking pose, he lunged three energy punches straight into the smoke and dust ahead.
Immediately Takeshi felt his strike had been blown away.
From within the smoke. A series of energy scratches flew out of the smoke; each scratch was three energy strikes.
Airi and Takeshi were startled by that large number. Both gritted their teeth in anxiety.
Airi: "Too many!"
Immediately blood chains surrounded both; the energy strikes of the monster collided with the chains making them vibrate repeatedly. Immediately, the blood chains showed signs of cracking. But other chain segments immediately filled in.
Suddenly, pressure from the monster's energy appeared from behind. Both turned around.
Airi: "Not good!"
Takeshi: — "It's behind!"
Kuralak swung his claws with an extremely large amount of energy; the blood chains wanted to protect Airi but weren't in time.
Airi's mistake was being too subjective when not letting blood chains surround all sides, instead of just creating a shield layer in front.
— "This girl is too annoying, must kill her. This strike will be more than enough to kill you."
Airi was hit. The scratch stretched from her shoulder to below her belly. Clothes immediately tore. The horrific pain caused the pupils in Airi's eyes to seem to disappear; she spat out blood, her person flying into the shield layer that previously protected her and Takeshi from the scratches. Then she flew away, flying high into the sky and heading toward the forest very far.
Takeshi stood beside in shock. His body hadn't even had time to move before Airi was hit.
"Airi!"
The black hole on its chest glowed; its mouth also opened.
Ayaka from behind fired an arrow, but its mouth immediately caught it.
A light wind rose from the monster's chest. Takeshi knew that it definitely wasn't a good omen.
Immediately, under his feet appeared a hole; he fell down, right before the monster's eyes. It was stunned and looked down at the hole.
— "What? Damn it, he escaped!"
The ground felt vibrating repeatedly.
Under the monster's feet was a bit of vibration; it immediately jumped into the air. A large hole appeared on the ground.
— "The Earth element is indeed annoying."
Right after preparing to land, another large hole appeared below, but the monster was still very calm. Its mouth opened wide and discharged an energy strike, pushing its body out of the large hole and landing successfully.
Below the dark ground, Takeshi was panting down there.
Above, large blocks of stone from the ground formed, floating in the air; they lunged at the monster, but it ran and jumped continuously to dodge and retreat.
Ayaka standing on the tree branch saw this; she was alert and retreated.
"It wants to close in on me!"
But she was slow; immediately, a black streak appeared on the ground and it floated in the air, appearing before her, claws already raised.
She was horrified, not knowing what to do.
THUD!!!
Kazuka lunged in, a strong kick straight into the monster's belly making it fly far away. He fell and rolled several rounds on the ground, as if to reduce the falling force, then stood up. In his hand, he was holding the sword he had previously forgotten.
Kazuka still directed his gaze forward, voice asking Ayaka:
"Are you okay?"
Ayaka nodded.
"I'm fine."
The monster crawled up again.
"That damn kid, you interfere with me a bit too much, and even used interference energy."
Kazuka replied without hesitation:
"That's what's called fighting."
Energy from the monster's body was discharging Kazuka's interference energy outside.
"I'm used to your negative tricks, stop standing there."
He held the sword in front of him, the tip pointed at the monster, eyes steadfast, energy radiating constantly.
He lunged away, crushing the ground. The monster seeing this, not afraid to face a kid, also lunged.
Its right leg was raised, and swung claws toward him from right to left.
He raised the sword to block.
BOOM!!!
The ground under his feet cracked; the sword he was holding and his entire body vibrated.
— "Earlier, while trying to heal as fast as possible, I noticed my energy gate had grown a bit larger."
— "So I risked blocking that strike. Sorry, Old Wolf, I didn't dodge but blocked again."
Kazuka leaned back; he slid down under the monster's belly. It was pressing its leg down, but he slid away, making its leg smash hard into the ground causing the ground to crack bigger.
When sliding under the belly, he opened his eyes wide in surprise and a bit of fear.
"What the hell? Why is there a mouth at its belly?"
The large mouth with sharp teeth opened wide, its tongue licking around the mouth, as if waiting for the meal that was him.
Kazuka with annoyance at this hideous shape.
"Monster!"
Kazuka stabbed the sword straight into the mouth at its belly. The monster roared in pain. It immediately jumped up, dragging Kazuka who was holding the sword stabbed deep into its belly.
Kazuka was dazed.
— "Huh? It jumped up?"
Hanging there, he exerted strength and pulled the sword out. The monster roared louder in pain.
He fell straight from above 8 tharn( 1 tharn = 2m).
"Aaaaa!"
When falling, energy concentrated on his back and all the lower parts.
BOOM!!!
The ground cracked; he stood up without a single wound. Ayaka fired an arrow toward the falling monster, but the energy surrounding its body to heal knocked the weak arrow away.
Kazuka not being injured was quite simple; if he only surrounded his back with a thick layer of energy, when falling, he would have to endure a massive impact force, potentially being severely injured. But he had radiated energy through his pores, like a nozzle, and on the body, there are many pores combined. Thus, it was like a cushion supporting him. And he wasn't injured.
The monster fell, blood splashing everywhere. This blood was from when he stabbed the monster and that strike was truly very sudden. Thus it had lost a bit of focus and staunched blood late. But that much was nothing.
BOOM!!!
Under the feet where it landed, the ground cracked. The monster gritted its teeth looking at Kazuka.
— "Damn it."
Suddenly under its feet vibrated; knowing Takeshi was attacking, it immediately jumped to one side.
A sharp stone pillar lunged up from the ground, but because the monster had jumped elsewhere. Another sharp stone pillar lunged up from below the monster. But it simply jumped elsewhere.
Just as it landed, the ground vibrated again; it jumped elsewhere to avoid the stone pillar lunging up. But this time the stone pillar was a bit smaller and only stabbed up a short distance.
Kuralak the Phantom realized.
— "That kid seems exhausted, probably out of energy."
While thinking, it sensed Kazuka's energy nearby.
Kazuka had closed in on the monster and unleashed an extremely strong slash right in front of its face.
It opened its mouth wide and discharged its energy strike.
The energy strike and the slash collided. Both sides continuously canceled each other's energy.
But because Kazuka unleashed a slash, and it was only a momentary strike, not a sustained strike like the monster's. This was an advantage for him to move as soon as he unleashed his slash.
He disappeared from its sight again and immediately appeared on the monster's head.
In fact, Kazuka had taken advantage of when the two energy strikes collided with a large scope, and made him lose sight of him. He had landed and vaulted into the air over its head. Although it could sense his energy, it was still sustaining its energy strike with Kazuka's energy slash. The monster still had to cut the strike and react. And in that interval…
Twirling once in the air. A crescent moon-shaped slash was unleashed. The monster hadn't yet cut the attack from its mouth; it couldn't resist and received the slash on its back.
BOOM!!!!!
But from within the smoke and dust, it lunged out; Kazuka who was in the air was surprised.
Actually, when about to receive the strike, it had used its energy to create two clones and block the strike for the original.
Luckily, Ayaka had concentrated enough energy for her shot; the arrow lunged toward the monster. Once again, the monster nearly bit him but was blocked.
BOOM!!!!
Ayaka: "Sorry, but better to be caught in the explosion than bitten by it."
Kazuka and the monster flew out from the pile of smoke from two sides. It fell "thump" on the ground, gritting teeth in spite. On its neck, a large wound was open; energy was concentrating to heal.
— "Damn it, blocked every time?"
Kazuka landed on the ground, his whole body scratched, clothes torn everywhere.
"So lucky, I almost died."
The monster stood up again; the energy this time surrounding it was denser. Kazuka stood far away, eyes still very alert.
— "Lives so long?"
It lunged away, but didn't attack him. It headed toward Ayaka standing on the tree.
Kazuka in horror chased immediately after.
"Oh? It wants to kill Ayaka first. Must protect her!"
Ayaka was concentrating energy into the next arrow, then froze because the monster was lunging at her. The arrow not yet fully charged with energy was released; it lunged downward where the monster was running.
"It wants to catch me!"
It opened its mouth and discharged an energy strike making the arrow blow away.
Behind, Kazuka chased immediately; he swung the sword, the energy slash flew; it wasn't at all off guard, immediately turned around and lunged three energy strikes. Heading toward Kazuka.
One slash had blocked one scratch. But two strikes were flying; Kazuka exerted strength, a horizontal slash lunged out, carrying interference energy.
Boom! Boom!
Smoke and dust blocked Kazuka's vision; he gritted his teeth and ran through. Beside, the slash and the scratch were still confronting each other.
Ayaka jumped through other branches.
The monster looked up, then lunged many scratches. Ayaka was jumping to a tree, then suddenly lost balance. The tree had been cut down by that scratch strike.
She jumped to another tree but it was also falling. All the trees around her had been scratched down by it.