Chapter 45: Escape.
She jumped to the ground and continued running, grabbing an arrow from behind. She turned, firing two arrows toward the ghost. But the energy surrounding it was too thick; with that small energy, they couldn't pierce through.
Ayaka ran with all her might, the energy she focused on her feet was extreme. Suddenly, a pit appeared under her feet. Ayaka, focused on running, suddenly opened her eyes wide and fell in panic.
"Aaaaa"
The prey vanished before its eyes. The ghost roared in anger.
"Damn it!"
It turned back to face Kazuka, determined to kill him. Seeing this, he stopped running, eyes alert, two hands gripping the sword tightly.
-"Luckily, Takeshi saved her."
Swallowing a mouthful of saliva in anxiety, his heart hammered.
-"Now I have to face a being who could destroy the pride of a nation alone."
-"I hope I don't die. Earlier when fighting him, he was always injured or distracted by others. Now it's direct and one-on-one. Everything will be completely different."
-"Calm down, I can do it. Winning is definitely a no. I need to wait for them to recover."
He grit his teeth hard in anxiety but then brushed it aside. Determined to face it.
CRASH!!!
The ground where both stood shattered. Both sides, with a massive leap, slammed into each other.
Kazuka gripped the sword with both hands. He took momentum back to the right, his left hand holding the sword along with his right hand across his neck. A sword line with a massive energy source was swung out, a diagonal slash from right to left.
The ghost raised its left leg; a powerful slap strike was dealt. Like a tiger rushing to suppress its prey with a massive slap.
BOOM!!!
Both sides collided. Sword and leg didn't even touch. Only their energy.
Kazuka was no match for Kuralak when fighting alone; everything was outperformed…
He flew far away, rolled several times on the ground, then jumped up again, stony eyes still staring at the ghost. The scratches were also healing as energy treated them.
-"As expected, I can't face him directly."
He had a lapse when glancing down at the scratch on his arm, and in that split second... It vanished from his sight and appeared right beside him. Its mouth opened wide, wanting to bite him.
BOOM!!
Kazuka created his own explosion to protect himself. Smoke flew blindly. The ghost jumped far away, its mouth injured from close contact with that energy explosion. But that wasn't enough; in a blink, the wound healed.
Kazuka still stood there, observing the ghost's movements.
-"Currently, maybe only this self-explosion trick can protect me. I can't compete in speed or strength with it."
-"Should I unleash a slash? Probably not. Why unleash it and waste energy? Just keep exploding and stall for time."
-"If it still surrounds its body with energy when closing in, it would be great. Then when close to the explosion, its normal energy will interact with the chaotic energy I create. But it's too smart; when the explosion starts, the energy around it is immediately sucked inside."
The ghost lunged in once more.
BOOM!!!
The hole he stood in grew deeper.
With a calm appearance, Kuralak was internally very annoyed with Kazuka.
-"Does this brat want to stall for time?"
The ghost stood far off and opened its mouth wide, discharging an energy column toward him. Kazuka quickly leaned his body, dodging to the side.
Suddenly, the ghost appeared right behind his back and opened its mouth wide.
Kazuka: "Still made it."
BOOM!!!!
The hole grew deeper again, still the same scene of explosions. Smoke was dense, and the old hole was stacked on the old hole.
The ghost with the injured mouth retreated again, grinding teeth in anger.
-"Damn brat!"
Kazuka stood in the center of the hole and sighed in relief.
"Almost gone. Must be more alert."
BOOM!!! BOOM!!!
A while later. After a series of explosions. Kazuka stood in a deep and large hole (about 5 tharn deep and 12 tharn wide). The monster stood above on the rim of the hole and looked at him.
Kuralak was annoyed, unable to do anything to close in.
-"Staying like this wastes too much time. Although he looks tired, he can probably explode a few more times."
Kazuka was currently standing in the center of the hole, panting incessantly from exhaustion.
-"Tired... so tired. I probably have about three parts of energy left. Still can explode over 10 more times. But... but maybe I'll faint before I can explode enough."
In the distance. Ayaka was helping Takeshi recover energy. Takeshi lay on the ground, eyes tightly closed. Ayaka sat beside him, filtering energy for Takeshi to absorb more easily.
After a while, Takeshi opened his eyes and woke up. He sat up and heard the explosion sounds from afar.
Ayaka: "Awake?"
Takeshi: "Yeah, thanks. Let's go quickly."
Both ran to where Kazuka was facing Kuralak. Both were shocked; ahead was a wide and deep hole. Where Kazuka was standing.
Ayaka ran to a tree, jumped up the branches, and reached the highest branch to observe.
"I can only support. You guys fight."
Takeshi nodded.
"Understood."
Takeshi with a bit of worry.
"I hope he is still okay."
Takeshi charged in. The ghost standing at the rim of the hole, on the other side, sensed his energy. Then it shifted its eyes; a flash of joy flared inside.
It ran around the hole with extreme speed and shot off.
Takeshi didn't shy from confrontation and also rushed in to face the ghost.
Kuralak: -"Must absorb this brat this time. I've lost too much time."
Kuralak leaped, raising claws like a tiger pouncing on prey. This time, while moving, it focused more energy into its right leg, aiming to destroy Takeshi in one strike.
Takeshi jumped up, facing it horizontally in the air (0.5 tharn from the ground). Raising a fist flooded with energy to attack, his shoulder exerted force, taking momentum far back.
WHOOSH!!
An arrow carrying a massive amount of energy lunged in. The ghost realized the incoming arrow through sensing.
It was forced to stop the right leg slap. Its left leg swept across; the arrow went off course and flew to the side, piercing into the ground and making the earth shatter.
Kuralak: -"No explosion?"
It thought the arrow would explode, and Takeshi was close to it. Thus, when its left leg swung, battering the arrow away. It had focused energy in its left leg, wanting Takeshi to share the explosion.
Takeshi saw the opening and attacked, teeth clenched together, using all his strength. An extremely powerful punch slammed straight into Kuralak's neck.
It flew back a distance but still maintained balance, only a bit dazed. Takeshi didn't let it recover; he rushed in extremely fast to close range, knowing opportunities were rare and needing to exploit them with a bit of risk in judgment.
Closing in on Kuralak while it hadn't yet raised its head after the strike, Takeshi unleashed an upper-cut punch straight into its ribs.
Kuralak grit its teeth, expression wincing while taking Takeshi's strike.
Blown away and seemingly dazed, it shook its head a few times as if to regain sobriety.
It raised its head, opening its mouth with sharp teeth.
-"These kids have quite strong energy; their energy has formed the ability to resist my cognitive interference."
-"Now I need to absorb the brat Takeshi as fast as possible."
The ghost decided to gather more energy this time. The ball in front of its mouth grew larger.
Takeshi standing opposite also felt this strike was stronger than others, and the killing intent it had for him. He immediately turned to run, wanting to keep a further distance.
The energy source from Kuralak's mouth discharged with extreme destructive power and lunged away. Dust and earth below parted to two sides, making way for destruction.
Takeshi was running; he turned around, energy focused into his legs, hand swinging out a small energy ball toward Kuralak's incoming attack.
Immediately he stomped hard on the ground, making the earth shatter. He successfully jumped back.
-"Must protect thicker."
Earth and rocks from the ground around him flew up; the ground vibrated repeatedly. They flew up and covered Takeshi, forming a massive defensive sphere of earth and rock.
When the small ball he previously released collided with the rushing energy source. It was a ball with disruptive energy.
BOOM!!!!!
Ayaka, standing far off, was also hit by the pressure from the explosion; she had to grip the tree trunk tightly to avoid being blown away.
"The explosion is too big."
Smoke was blind throughout the vast forest space, like a giant mist.
Ayaka standing above had to squint to observe.
"Did he block that strike?"
As the smoke gradually cleared, a massive hole was superimposed on the hole Kazuka had created. Though not as deep, the scope of the explosion was larger.
The defensive sphere for Takeshi was now only a tiny bit left, after enduring the horrific explosion and being gradually eroded. The stone layer from the sphere opened, a "crack crack" sound rang out. Takeshi stepped out, panting. He had spent a lot of energy.
Actually, that sphere alone wasn't enough to protect him when the explosion occurred. The layer of earth and rock was blown away, and Takeshi inside had to continuously replenish it.
"Dangerous... so dangerous. Almost gone... wastes too much energy."
Not wanting to prolong time, while the smoke had only half vanished, the ghost lunged in, closing in right in front of Takeshi's face.
Suddenly, a slash lunged in from afar, stopping Kuralak from closing in on Takeshi. It flew across the ghost's face, making it stop, then jump back. It shifted alert eyes to the right, looking up toward where the slash flew from.
Currently, Kuralak and Takeshi were fighting at the bottom of an explosion hole. And Kazuka appeared up high, on the ground adjacent to the explosion.
Actually, it had sensed that energy belonged to Kazuka.
Kazuka appeared, right hand gripping the sword tightly, eyes staring at Kuralak. He had returned from somewhere.
Going back to earlier, when Takeshi ran in, Kazuka was still at the center of the deep hole, motionless, only heavy breathing.
Takeshi had used his ability, wrapping Kazuka in a layer of earth and rock, taking him away from the fight for a distance through an underground path.
Now, the situation was three against one. Kuralak fell into a disadvantageous position.
-"Hmph, a real mess. These kids support each other very well. I might even lose to them."
RUMBLE RUMBLE!!!
Right then, from the forest, a red slash flew horizontally, slightly diagonal from top to bottom. It swept away all the trees on its path.
The scope of the slash reached 12 tharn.
Ayaka, standing afar, sensed that slash flying in and shouted.
"You two, quickly retreat 10 steps!"
Though not clearly understanding the situation, as soon as they heard, both jumped back.
Kazuka: "Is something wrong?"
Takeshi: "Why retreat?"
But suddenly, both sensed something flying in. They simultaneously turned to the direction of the sensation. Airi's energy from afar was rushing in with extreme power.
The ghost Kuralak also sensed it; it immediately bowed its head down.
WHOOSH!!!!!
A red slash shot out of the forest, heading toward the ghost. Everyone was stunned for a moment before the slash with its massive scope and horrific energy.
Though Kuralak had bowed down, it didn't expect the slash to fly so fast. The slash severed both of the ghost's ears. Then it flew on into the forest behind and continued to destroy.
The ghost was panicked. It didn't expect the slash to fly that fast.
-"My ears? What the hell?"
Right now, Airi stepped out of the forest. Her body was covered in blood, but that didn't matter. Because she had finished healing everything; that blood was just what had flowed from the wounds.
Red energy surrounded Airi extremely densely, like an energy well, and the energy gate had grown larger.
The red eye glowed even more powerfully.
In her hand was a slightly strange sword.
The entire blade was dark red like clotted blood, occasionally flashing with a gloomy light like garnet at the bottom of a deep abyss.
The blade was thin, sharp, and straight, not too large, but every cutting edge was forged with tiny teeth like fishhooks—ensuring any slash would tear flesh and be hard to heal. Along the spine of the sword was a thin winding groove, like a flowing vein, and in quiet moments, a "drip-drop" sound could be heard like blood dripping in the heart of a dead man.
The surface of the blade was carved with vampire ancient scripts, a type of writing that wound and blinked faintly as if alive, unreadable by the naked eye. Every time the sword absorbed energy, those characters glowed for a moment then sank back into darkness.
The intersection between the blade and the hilt was a bright red eye—not a gemstone, but a real eye, blinking slightly according to the owner's emotions.
The hilt was made of grey-white bone, cold as ice, carved with four fingers gripping backward onto the handle, as if a monster's arm was holding the user tightly.
Airi's eyes directed straight down to where the ghost stood.
Kuralak, with a bewildered expression, stood looking at Airi from afar. It began to show a hint of fear.
-"What the hell? Did she awaken some ability? It feels completely different from before. No, she should be dead! I used a lot of energy to be sure!"
-"Damn it, with this situation, the possibility of losing my life here is certain."
Takeshi and Kazuka shouted in unison with bright smiles, knowing Airi was okay.
"Airi!"
She turned, then her eyes went back to the ghost.
Her voice was serious, without a hint of emotion, eyes carrying death meant for Kuralak.
"Let's kill it."
Both nodded.
"Yeah."
She raised the sword forward, tip pointing at the ghost.
Airi: -"So this is the Blood Night Sword? I feel much stronger now holding this sword in my hand."
Ayaka, standing behind, fired an arrow to open the battle once more.
WHOOSH!!
An arrow flooded with energy flew over the heads of Kazuka and Takeshi toward the ghost.
-"Damn it, the power in this form is too little and weak. Nothing to help me turn the tide. I must bite to pull their souls, but they support each other too well."
-"That vampire brat seems stronger. Currently, it's time to run, but first, I must take the hand at the altar."
Kazuka ran to the left, Takeshi ran to the right, then jumped down the hole Kazuka had created earlier. While falling, the ground sucked him inside.
Takeshi: -"I must try this move. Just thought of it but don't know if it works."
Airi shot down toward the ghost. The Blood Night Sword glowed intensely as she prepared to strike.
Airi took her shoulder back for momentum. A vertical slash was unleashed by Airi. Wherever the slash went, the ground was split in half into a large trench.
Seeing this, the ghost exploited Airi's slash and Ayaka's incoming arrow. It raked two energy strikes out, carrying chaotic energy.
BOOM!!!
Two large explosions occurred, but prominent was still the explosion from Airi's slash. Smoke flew blindly.
Kazuka stood still and observed. Airi didn't hesitate and lunged into the smoke. Her slash exploded, making the ground cave in; she was forced to jump down and run in the smoke, guided by her sensing of Kuralak's energy.
The ground shook. Stone blocks merged together and created a stone golem. It was about 4 tharn high.
Kazuka nearby was startled and retreated.
"So this is your move?"
Takeshi's voice rang out.
"Calm down Kazuka, this is just my earth element ability."
Kazuka with surprised eyes.
"Oh, truly wonderful." Saying so, he went back into an alert state.
Airi inside the smoke shouted out.
"Guys, he ran!"
Both panicked, glancing into the smoke and around.
"What? He ran?"
Ayaka from behind shouted.
"Hey you guys! He ran in this direction!"
Kazuka shot off first.
"Which direction?"
"Toward the altar!"
Takeshi dispelled that form and dove into the ground. Airi also followed immediately.
A chase occurred. All four were chasing right behind the ghost.
Kazuka grit his teeth, eyes wide. He was determined not to let it escape.
"Don't run!"
He threw his sword toward the ghost ahead. Then he jumped on a vine and swung consecutively through other vines.
But this ghost had four legs; it ran very fast. Ayaka ran on the branches; she was the one running at the very back, but her excellent vision allowed her to still see the running ghost.
She drew her bow, firing multiple arrows consecutively.
The sword Kazuka previously threw stabbed into the ground because it couldn't catch up.
Airi, with her new power, was running right behind Kazuka, who was swinging on vines.
Kazuka swung the vine hard, making him fly high. His hand summoned an energy spear and launched it.
The ghost saw this and jumped to the side.
-"Damn brats! Why am I losing to them? Each one is weaker than me. Damn it!"
Right before its eyes was the ruined altar. It opened its mouth wide, while running it blew energy to blast the ruins.
BOOM!!!
The hand under the ruins flew up.
All three chasing behind opened their eyes wide, knowing for sure this was not a good sign.
It ran and snapped the hand into its mouth.
Suddenly the ground shook.
"Earth Soul Giant!!!!"
The stone giant with Takeshi inside dove up from the ground and blocked Kuralak. A horrific stone hand was swung down.
It turned left and continued running. Seeing this, Takeshi inside the giant chased after. Every giant step made the ground shake.
Ahead of the ghost was an open space, and in the center was a large tree. Takeshi's summoned giant this time was 5 tharn. But that large tree with its horrific wide canopy was 20 tharn high.
The ghost swung its claws toward the tree.
BOOM!!!
The rake slammed straight into the large tree trunk.
Ayaka running behind panicked and shouted:
"You guys, stop! You can't go there!"
At this moment, right under the ground, tree roots shot up. Earth and rubble fell away, and these roots grew at a very far distance from the tree. Showing how large and far its roots reached.
Those tree roots, which must have been as big as the trunks of other giant trees, wrapped around Takeshi as he ran into the open space. They tightly bound the giant and constricted it. He was hoisted into the air. The massive roots constricted until the giant's parts fell off and slammed hard onto the ground. This lush green meadow was now crushed by stone blocks.
The ghost saw this and turned in another direction. Kazuka and Airi wanted to chase, but the tree roots had blocked the path, forcing them to stop. As if it wanted to prevent them from chasing Kuralak.
Kazuka with anger.
"Damn it! To let him escape like that?"
Airi was also helpless.
"Nothing we can do. How can we get past this pile of roots?"
Ayaka ran up and shouted.
"You guys ran into the territory of the oldest tree in this forest! Run quickly!"
On Takeshi's side, the constricting roots caused the giant's arms and legs to fall off. He crawled from the giant's chest and jumped to the ground.
Kazuka worriedly shouted:
"Takeshi!"
Airi summoned blood chains, lunged in, wrapped around Takeshi, and pulled him back, helping him avoid a giant tree root about to strike.
"AAAAAA"
Sitting on the ground in the forest, right next to the ancient tree's territory. Takeshi panted heavily.
"That tree... what is it?"
Ayaka landed and said:
"It is the ancient tree of this whole forest. Look, around it, no other trees are allowed to live."
Airi sat leaning against a tree trunk, glancing at Ayaka.
"You are Ayaka, right?"
Ayaka stood there and nodded.
"Yeah."
Airi: "You were the one who fired arrows at us when we were outside the forest, right?"
Ayaka: "Yes."
Airi: "Why did you do that?"
Ayaka: "I just wanted to chase you out of the forest."
Kazuka standing there also chimed in:
"Why? We hadn't done anything!"
Ayaka curled her lip in a smirk, but she wasn't happy.
"You guys summoned that monster."
Kazuka spoke louder.
"Huh? I didn't do it!"
Ayaka: "You didn't do it, but he did."
Ayaka shifted her eyes to Takeshi. Seeing this, he scratched his head and forced a smile.
"Haha, Kazuka, it was me who accidentally summoned it."
Kazuka frowned.
"Huh? You really did it?"
Takeshi: "Let me retell it..."
"There, that's how it was."
Ayaka spoke up.
"I can explain that part. It seems the trees with consciousness helped that ghost; it turned into me to lure you. Because in this forest, I am the only one."
Kazuka: "You live alone in here, don't you get bored?"
Ayaka replied calmly:
"It is my mission."
Kazuka: "What mission? There's a mission here too?"
Ayaka: "To guard that monster."
Ayaka took a breath, then made an offer:
"By the way, do you guys want to come to my house? Since we cooperated just now anyway."
Airi: "That works. We don't know where we are in this forest either."