"Ugh, that really hurt... hufff now I have to agree with Nora, it seems I won't die even if I jump out of a plane..."
The one who emerged, complaining of pain, was Cassian, a far cry from the outcome a normal person would suffer from falling from that height; anyone else would have been smashed to a pulp like the eagle upon such an impact.
But for him, it only caused a little pain and discomfort, as well as a slight loss of air, and those also disappeared quickly, reaffirming once again how strange his body was.
"Haahh~ fine, whatever... now, where am I?"
Without wasting any more time thinking useless thoughts, he looked around and understood the situation.
Certainly, he hadn't fallen very far from where he was originally, but...
"So I went backwards..."
Honestly, he thought he couldn't complain, considering that it was already a good thing he didn't fall farther.
But the most important thing now was his current situation.
On the one hand, there was the rescue group.
"Yeah, I guess this is not a good situation..."
But on the other hand, there was a horde of beasts ravaging everything in their path, fiercely heading in his direction.
Cassian understood that his situation was bad, he was right in the middle between the horde and the group.
But even so, and as if that weren't bad enough...
Crack, crack!.
The air between him and the group began to distort, as if space itself were breaking apart.
He could more or less guess what it was, even though it was the first time he had seen it directly.
"Yeah... It's definitely not my day, huh! Haahh~... Well, when has it ever been?"
Cassian sighed. With his good eyesight, he looked beyond the rupture. He could clearly see how Nora wanted to run towards him, but Uncle Harris was holding her back tightly.
They wouldn't let her come closer, and to him that made sense.
"..."
He looked down for a few seconds, as if thinking briefly about something. Then he looked back at the group and raised his hand, signaling them to continue without him.
Nora, seeing and understanding this, became more frantic. She looked as if she was about to run toward him, even as several people held her back.
She was so upset that, even though she was being held by several people, she seemed about to break free. But Cassian managed to see how, finally, Uncle Harris knocked her out with a well-aimed blow and carried her over his shoulder.
The latter gave Cassian a slight nod, then turned without hesitation and disappeared with the rest of the group, carrying an unconscious Nora.
It was the last thing Cassian saw before the crack grew, blocking his view completely.
He did not despair, nor did he feel that it was a sacrifice, but rather a logical and efficient decision.
There was no point in them coming back for him, and the tide of beasts was fast .
He didn't know exactly how far they were from their destination, but it was certainly likely that the beasts would catch up with them before they got there, so it was more efficient for him to stay there.
"Yes, I think I'll buy some time here... Rather, those wretched things still have to pay for what they did."
Crrak!
He remembered that he still had a grudge against those damn beasts for taking something important from him and thus his dream.
He cracked his neck and faced this horde of beasts. Fear of death was something he did not have .
..
.
Finally, after a while, the overwhelming horde of beasts reached him, and without hesitation he began:
"This one's for you, Truck-kun."
Bam!
With his first blow, he smashed the head of a black-furred wolf standing in front of him.
Crash!
In the next instant, a kick broke the shell of a giant armadillo. Then he grabbed a deformed, skinny ape by the arm and threw it at a flying snake that was diving toward him.
The street was wide, but the beasts were slowly surrounding him, focusing all their attention on Cassian alone.
Several attacks rained down on him, but he quickly dodged them or counterattacked on the spot.
He had never practiced any martial arts, nor was he a trained warrior. He had no combat experience, let alone against beasts, which he was seeing for the first time that very day.
But his body had been an anomaly for as long as he could remember. His mind and body were perfectly aligned, and there was no delay between his thoughts and the actions he executed. His body did exactly what Cassian wanted it to do.
He wasted no movements. He dodged and moved nimbly, even for his size.
Occasionally, some blows inevitably reached him, but they did not cause significant damage.
On the other hand, every blow from Cassian was a kill.
There came a point where he found himself in the center of the horde of beasts, many of which passed him by, but instead of continuing on their way, they continued to attack from behind.
Corpses surrounded him, disintegrating into particles that floated toward that disturbing tower—or tree—whatever it was.
He didn't like it... but he couldn't help it.
Cassian was holding up relatively well in a situation that would be desperate for anyone. For the first time, he was grateful for being who he was.
DROM-DROM-DROM
Suddenly, he heard something heavy moving.
He turned toward the crack, which was now more than ten meters wide. Inside it, grayish clouds were swirling—or so he thought—but then they changed without any pattern, only for the next thing to fall.
There was no order or meaning, and it was hypnotic in an unpleasant way.
GROOOAAAHHHH!
At that moment, something emerged from within. No, it lunged.
A hybrid between a rhinoceros and an elephant, standing over thirteen feet tall, burst through the portal like a runaway train, trampling the beasts that failed to get out of the way.
Cassian watched the scene, seeing the giant inevitably heading toward him.
"Let's see if this thing can do what the trucks couldn't."
He didn't panic. In fact, he took it as a challenge and ran straight toward it, sweeping away the creatures in his path like the rhino-elephant.
He was half the size of the rhino-elephant, and their weights weren't even comparable... but the effect seemed almost the same. Inevitably, the distance between them shortened and...
BANG!
A thunderous sound spread, shaking the ground. To no one's surprise, Cassian was the loser. Still, he was only pushed back.
He wasn't sent flying: he held on tightly to the beast, which wanted to continue on its way.
His feet dragged, leaving grooves in the asphalt. But he stood his ground, holding the creature by the horn.
He was at a physical disadvantage, but he freed one hand, and in the next moment...
Whack!
He struck the horn, sounding as if he had hit a metal plate.
That first blow slowed its momentum and reduced its drag, giving him room to maneuver.
Bang!
The second blow shook the beast to the point that it stopped completely and staggered.
Boom!
The third resounded loudly, causing the sturdy horn—which seemed to be made of steel—to begin to crack.
Ugh, it's really hard.
Those blows inevitably caused him great pain in his hand, but he didn't stop. The pain quickly disappeared.
Crash!
At that moment, Cassian grabbed the cracked horn again with both hands, placed his foot on the rhino-elephant snout... and ripped it off, throwing it aside.
In its trajectory, the horn killed several creatures. It was as heavy as its size indicated.
Without thinking, Cassian jumped on the beast and stood on its head. Once there, he stomped hard.
BOMMM!
GRAAHH!
The stomp caused a dent in the hard, steel-like skin. The beast lost control and thrashed wildly, but Cassian kept his balance and continued.
BOMMM! ! Crack!
Another blow sank the dent further. There was a cracking sound. Hearing it, Cassian knew the beast was in agony.
he beast stirred even more violently—not because it wanted to shake him off, but because of the extreme pain Cassian was causing it. Still, Cassian's balance was excellent, and he held his position. In the next moment...
BOOOMMM!!
This time, Cassian's leg finally pierced the beast's thick skull, reaching the soft tissue beneath. That was the end of the fight.
Moments later, after a few more pointless spasms and bellows, the beast went still.
"Ufff! This one was tough... besides, I definitely felt that impact more than the truck crash... maybe I have to... No! Damn it, what's the point of thinking about it if I can't do it anymore... Damn it... I haven't gotten my revenge yet!"
cassien who was thinking about how tough the beasts were, once again, remembered that his dream had been destroyed... and those beasts were the prime suspects.
It really started to burn again, he really wanted revenge, he had to get it off his chest.
GROOOAAAHHHH
And conveniently, more tough guys came out of the crack, heading straight for him—perfect targets to let off some steam.
..
.
"Haah... haahhh... haaah...huuff"
It was when he killed the fourth rhino-elephant - and who knows how many other creatures - that he finally regulated his breathing for a few seconds, and that was enough to catch his breath.
Rhino-elephantwere tough. Even when he struck with all his might, he needed at least four blows to take them down.
They made good punching bags and relieved his anger considerably.
For starters, Cassian wasn't one to lose his cool, so he quickly regained his composure. It also helped that, for the first time in his life, he was able to strike without restraint.
"Oh! This is... a good thing!"
Besides, he was now on top of the fifth rhino-elephant, which he didn't kill completely—since when it died, it would turn into particles of light. He just left it on the verge of death.
He did this to climb up and get a better view of the surroundings, assess his situation, and catch his breath a little.
From there, he could observe, and he realized that his situation wasn't so bad.
He saw that more rhino-elephants were coming out of the portal, but they weren't heading toward him. Rather, they were simply running forward, destroying beasts and buildings in their path.
If he thought about it, all the ones he had faced—including the first one—had attacked him only because he was in their way.
So, unlike the other beasts, they did not consider him a target. Or rather, they simply seemed to be running away from something.
"Nothing else seems to be coming out..."
Cassian looked at the crack. Only rhino-elephants kept coming out, and he thought that was a good thing. At that moment, rather than a threat, they were holding back the horde. No creature had managed to advance beyond the crack.
It wasn't his lucky day, but at least it was for the group.
"Let's see... what's that... Ugh, snakes?"
With his good eyesight and potion he was able to discern that behind the horde of beasts, there was something that caught his attention: snakes. Giant snakes, red, orange and yellow.
Like the rhino-elephants, they were destroying everything, but they were also devouring the other beasts.
Cassian deduced that the horde had probably been pushed here by these stronger creatures.
Thanks to the portals, the weaker beasts were being surrounded by much more dangerous predators.
"I have to leave before they get here."
The truth was, Cassian did not have a good relationship with snakes. He once had a bad experience with one, but technically nothing serious happened to him thanks to his body, and it was almost certain that no normal snake could harm him now.
But even so, he disliked them. And now, seeing them so huge that he could make them out from that distance, he did not want to be near them.
Luckily, they were still far away, and there were many beasts between them and him. He still had time to observe.
Who knew if the rhino-elephants would suddenly change direction or if something else unexpected would happen.
He thought he had already gained enough time, but he couldn't be sure if the rescue team would encounter obstacles along the way.
So, as long as things stayed the way they were, all the better for him.