The ground shook. The air itself seemed to crack. The sound of savage drums rose into the sky, their rhythm not just a sound but a curse seeping into the bones. Every beat chipped away at Ashen's resolve. It was as if the blood running through his veins was no longer his own, but danced with every beat, bleeding from his pores and rebelling against his will.
The deformed giant stood tall, its torn body covered by slowly regenerating flesh. Its raw, terrifying power was revealed: 17,000 kg of blind savagery. No techniques. No strategies. Just pure strength, brutality, and the stubbornness of survival.
Ashen was the opposite. His body was exploding with energy, surrounded by five-star Blood Frenzy, a huge crimson aura from which shards of blood flew like tongues of fire. His power doubled entirely: speed, reaction, defense, and astonishing regeneration. But even with all this, the result was tragic.
Every time he lunged with the Blood Chains, tearing the giant's flesh, driving crimson spears into its massive body, draining its blood, and roaring in rage... the curse did not let him go. Any wound he inflicted on the beast returned to him with the same intensity.
Three stabs… three deep wounds opened across Ashen's chest, his blood bursting out with every heartbeat.
A savage roar tore from the deformed giant's throat, and a huge palm like a mountain of flesh came down on Ashen's body.
Boom!
His ribcage cracked. His lung tore. A torrent of blood gushed from his mouth.
But he did not fall. He roared instead, and the blood swirling around him solidified into three crimson chains like iron snakes. They shot forward and buried their pointed heads into the giant's shoulder, abdomen, and thigh. Energy flowed like a red river.
The deformed beast screamed in pain, shaking the ground… but the same wounds opened on Ashen's body. His flesh tore. His thigh bone broke. His right shoulder snapped and twisted at an impossible angle.
"Impossible… is this a fight or a slow suicide?!" His inner screams tore at his soul more than his wounds did.
The drums kept playing. Every beat weighed down his soul, drained his energy, and pushed him closer to the edge of madness.
His vision blurred. The world sank into a crimson haze. All he could see was blood: the giant's blood, his own blood, the blood of the earth. Faces from his past flickered before his eyes… the faces of his slaughtered clan, the blood that flooded the Great Wilderness on the day he was exiled.
Is this my end? Should I have just lain down and given up… instead of being crushed in this bloody play?
But his body did not know surrender. The Blood Frenzy screamed inside him, immense energy knitting his flesh back together, healing his wounds if only for moments. His bloodstained hands trembled as he did it again:
Blood Bear Fist! His arms were covered in a dense black aura shaped like a bear's arms. His fist shot forward like a volcano, striking the deformed giant's jaw and shattering its massive teeth.
Doom!
But the same teeth shattered inside Ashen's own mouth. His jaw cracked. Blood filled his throat.
There was no longer a difference between attacker and defender. Every strike was a double-edged sword stabbing into both bodies.
The Blood Crocodile Rune flared on his body, crimson scales appearing as a terrifying shield. But every time it blocked a strike, his ribs broke from within. The Sky Leopard Rune activated, his legs moved at unseen speed, his body vanished in a bloody stream dodging the blow… but he felt his flesh melt, as if his very blood was burning inside him.
Ashen was breaking and regenerating, breaking and regenerating, like a statue struck again and again by a hammer until only shards remained trying to form themselves back together.
How much can one body endure? How long can one soul stand?
The drums grew faster. Their rhythm became his heartbeat. Sweat mixed with blood. Every breath was a knife.
The deformed giant did not stop. Its immense regeneration kept it an unstoppable monster, and every roar was like a storm. Ashen had become a burning shadow, fighting against inevitable fate, against a death that grew heavier with every move.
His eyes no longer saw victory. They saw only the abyss.
And at that moment, when he felt his soul about to go out… one last thought struck him. If I am going to die… why not burn everything with me?