Silence no longer existed.
Even Ashen's ragged breaths, the groans of his broken bones, and the boiling of blood in his chest… all drowned beneath a wave of monstrous sound.
At the edges of the arena, the twisted creatures that had seemed like spectators for a moment… lifted their deformed frames and began to beat the drums.
The drums were primitive, made of stretched skins over massive bones.
But the sound that came out was no ordinary sound.
It was a primal roar, as if it came from the depths of existence, as if it struck the heart of the world itself.
Every beat was a dagger stabbing into Ashen's skull.
Every vibration shook his soul from within.
Doom… Doom… Doom…
The rhythm began slow, heavy like the footsteps of death, then grew faster until it became a storm.
The sound was savage, tearing the mind apart, splitting it open, forcing the gates of madness wide.
It was not just a sound to be heard—it was something planted deep inside Ashen.
The vibrations entered his veins, ran through his blood, as if they were seizing the rhythm of his heart itself.
His eyes trembled, his pupils shaking with each beat.
The ground beneath his feet seemed to breathe with the rhythm of the drums.
Something strange became clear:
The louder the drums grew… the more monstrous the giant became.
Its muscles swelled, its roars deepened, its steps shattered the earth beneath its weight.
Seventeen thousand kilograms of power turned slowly into something that felt without limit.
In contrast, Ashen's body began to collapse further.
His strength shrank, his trembling muscles refused to respond.
Every breath grew heavier. Every movement became harder.
Worse than that… his mind.
Every beat of the drum planted savagery inside him.
He could no longer hear anything but the infernal rhythm: Doom… Doom… Doom…
They were not just sounds—they were commands: Kill… Tear… Slaughter…
Something black began to seep into his thoughts.
He felt his self fading, his mind breaking, his soul dragged toward madness.
The giant gave him no chance to breathe.
It charged forward, its massive fist dropping toward Ashen's head like a hammer.
Boom!
His head slammed into the ground, blood bursting from his skull and staining the dirt. His vision turned red, the sky above seemed to sway.
The giant lifted its massive foot and stomped on Ashen's chest.
Crack!
The remaining ribs collapsed completely. A scream of raw pain tore from his throat, but it was swallowed by the drums and the giant's roar.
The monster grabbed his body with one hand and hurled him aside. Ashen flew through the air, then crashed down like a shredded rag.
His bones shattered from within. His neck twisted.
He became nothing more than a broken corpse still moving under relentless crushing.
Every attempt to strike back only multiplied the pain.
The giant kicked once, its leg cracking—and in that instant Ashen's own leg broke.
He struck with a weak punch, bursting a bruise in the giant's flesh—and the same bruise exploded in his own chest.
Every attack was suicide.
And yet, the drums did not stop.
They only grew faster, more savage, as if mocking his weakness.
The rhythm drowned out every other sound. He heard nothing but it.
He saw nothing but the madness in the giant's eyes—and the same madness rising within himself.
His face was soaked in blood.
His hands trembled as if they no longer belonged to him.
But his heart still beat.
Death loomed.
With every passing second, it drew closer.
He saw it hanging in the distance like a black shadow, like a hand reaching to drag him out of his torment.
His mind was breaking. His body was nothing more than crushed flesh and shattered bones.
Every cell screamed: Give up… it's over…
But in the middle of this massacre, his eyes did not close.
Yes, despair had flooded him.
Yes, the savagery had drowned his sight and hearing.
Yes, his body was nearly a corpse.
But the spark… that small spark deep inside his eyes… refused to die.
The giant roared, the drums thundered, blood drowned the arena.
But even though everything screamed of his death, even though his body was broken and his soul torn, Ashen had not fallen yet.
Somewhere, between pain and madness, between blood and darkness, one thing still refused death:
The final stubbornness.