"...At the same time, on the Monster Continent..."
The Shadow Soldier, Ragnar, stood at the edge of the thick fog, facing a massive mountain covered in vines and moss.
He cautiously stood before a cave at the mountain's base, in front of a pool of fresh, blue blood.
That quiet cave, just minutes before, had swallowed a monster the size of a small house right in front of him as if it were nothing. The scene was bloody and gruesome, but the disgusting tongue was the worst part.
Before the cave could open again, the long iron teeth lining its sides, floor, and ceiling – teeth that belonged to the cave itself – disappeared.
Ragnar realized this wasn't a real cave, but the disguised mouth of a giant monster. He knew the fog was its creation; it used it to weaken low-level prey like monsters, manipulating their senses to lure them into its maw before snapping shut.
Ragnar lowered his gaze from the monster and looked at his right hand, which was holding Korgami. A red aura, similar to the auras of high-ranking monsters, enveloped her body. This was what had prevented the disguised monster from attacking him.
But that energy was gradually weakening. Ragnar needed to find a safe place to treat Korgami's wounds and allow her some rest.
Suddenly, Ragnar heard the roar of a high-ranking monster. The roar was so powerful it began to slowly disperse the fog.
At the same moment, the upper part of the mountain moved, and rocks and vines began to fall.
A giant eye opened, dark orange in color with a black pupil like an abyss at its center.
Suddenly, it roared with immense force, while another roar of equal power erupted from the cave.
The sonic energies of the two monsters collided, causing the fog to completely dissipate this time.
As the fog lifted from the battlefield, the other monster appeared, advancing with heavy steps that shook the ground with each movement.
Its appearance was unbearably hideous.
Its skin resembled a rat boiled in hot water – scaly and deformed.
Its head looked like a giant horse, but closer to a rhinoceros due to the massive horn protruding from its forehead.
Its jaw was filled with sharp teeth, each about four meters long.
Its body, however, was the complete opposite of its skin; it was packed with huge, powerful muscles.
It roared again.
Green saliva sprayed from its mouth, dissolving the ground beneath it.
Ragnar flew away at high speed, distancing himself from the battle because he was in the middle, and watched the two colossal monsters below him.
But he didn't notice that his master was slowly healing because of that power... The wound inflicted on his chest by Amicia had healed about halfway.
The one-eyed stone monster stood before it and roared once more.
No sooner had it done so, than the hideous monster thrust its long, deformed arm, embedded in the ground, swiftly towards the stone monster...
That arm carried huge, vibrating spikes, surrounded by blue energy.
Since the stone monster didn't have arms, it couldn't grab it, but it blocked with its bare body.
Resulting in a massive collision.
The stone monster's arm recoiled from the hideous monster's skin, all the spikes around it shattered.
But they quickly regrew.
It prepared to attack again, but the hideous monster tensed its muscular legs and charged at the stone monster with its colossal horn.
The stone monster shrieked and formed numerous solid trees in front of it, trying to block the horn. The horn pierced through some trees before stopping, then pushed the stone monster back forcefully.
The stone monster was flung backwards with great force...
Then it unleashed energy from its eye.
A massive beam of blue energy shot out, but the other monster gathered green energy in its horn before firing it back at the stone monster.
BOOOOOOM!
A violent collision occurred between the two S-class powers, sending nearby rocks and trees flying through the air.
But the two monsters didn't stop; they charged at each other with all their might. The winner takes all, the loser dies.
The stone monster released an enormous blue aura, and four more arms erupted from the ground, transforming into giant spears.
The hideous monster faced the stone monster, unleashing powerful green energy.
Suddenly, the hideous monster encased its sturdy body in hard, black scales, making it even stronger.
It gathered energy in its horn and charged with greater force than before.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
This collision was fiercer than the last. Tremendous energy waves blasted through the air, causing strong vibrations.
Some of this energy even shot towards Ragnar. He defended against it, but being encumbered by carrying Korgami, he struggled to dodge, barely managing to evade all the attacks.
As the smoke cleared, Ragnar's tattooed eyes remained fixed on the battlefield, while smoke rose from the ground.
All nearby monsters felt that power and ran swiftly towards the battleground.
When the smoke dissipated, Ragnar saw what had happened.
The stone monster lay on the ground. The horn had pierced its single eye and exited the other side.
The cave mouth (the monster's maw) was shattered, its long tongue hanging out.
Of the four arms the stone monster possessed, only one remained, twitching slightly before falling still.
The stone monster was dead!
Ragnar looked towards the other monster and saw that its armor had been pierced. Three of the stone monster's arms had penetrated its stomach and emerged from its back.
Entrails and its green blood were leaking from the three holes.
Ragnar looked towards the stone monster's maw. Some of its teeth were scattered around the corpse, while others had pierced the top of the hideous monster's skull and emerged from above.
Thus, the hideous monster was also dead!
Ragnar sighed, saying: "Hah, what a joke! The two monsters that terrified the battlefield are now dead... such a ridiculous death, and all for a small piece of land."
But Ragnar wasn't surprised. These monsters were evolved, but their intelligence hadn't reached the level of the previous Bone Monster.
They were just beasts, driven solely by the instinct to survive, no matter their power. And now they were dead.
Ragnar's gaze remained cold. He descended towards the stone monster, pierced a specific area glowing with a faint blue aura, and extracted its energy core.
The ability of this core was healing and regeneration.
Afterwards, Ragnar felt numerous monsters gathering near the site of the two monsters' battle.
He needed to get out quickly.
Ragnar flew away, carrying Korgami, while thousands of monsters appeared around the two corpses, scavenging. Some fought over the entrails and internal organs.
The sounds rose that night as the beautiful moon appeared in the sky.
Moonlight reflected off the mountain peak where the Shadow Soldier Ragnar stood, holding his master, watching the cave entrance before him.
"Hssssss"
In front of the cave entrance stood a giant serpent, its green eyes gleaming, watching him calmly. Its huge tongue flickered out of its mouth.
Ragnar's eyes narrowed as he prepared to set Korgami down to enter combat. But at that moment, he heard a strange, unfamiliar voice.
"Halt. There is no need for that," spoke the giant serpent.