CHAPTER ELEVEN
🇵🇭 "The Reclamation of Urdaneta Town"
While Erik was uniting with the Diwata's power, the chaos continued in the City of Urdaneta.
The formerly quiet and vibrant city had become a place of evil and slaughter.
The only sounds were the terrified screams of people and the gunshots of the police. Scattered remains of people killed by the tree monsters could be seen in the streets.
The scene was chilling on every road as blood flowed onto the ground from the dismembered bodies. A massacre was taking place in that town, all because of the Siklaon revolt.
At the municipal hall, the monsters completely surrounded the entire area, and the police and military forces could do nothing to stop them. Their bullets were ineffective against the tree monsters' bodies, and the police were like toys, brushed aside and crushed by the creatures.
They destroyed cars, houses, and establishments, searching for Spaniards.
Many Filipinos were also affected, even if they weren't directly attacked, due to objects being suddenly thrown or the relentless smashing of the monsters.
The people inside the building were terrified. However, the monsters could not enter the municipal hall because of their massive size, so most of the Spaniards, including the city mayor, who was now hiding under his desk, remained safe.
He did nothing but pray to God, terrified by the events unfolding in his town.
On the other hand, the Spanish forces had not completely lost hope, as the Governor-General's group continued to fight the monsters attacking the area.
Outside, just a few meters from the building, the brave fight of the soldiers alongside the General could be seen.
The General ran toward a tree monster with both arms ready to attack.
The monster immediately attacked him, attempting to grab him with its gigantic hands. At that moment, Slasher slammed his left hand onto the street, and sword blades emerged directly from the ground. They pierced the monster's hand, completely immobilizing its arms, pinning it to the earth.
Slasher didn't let the opportunity pass. While the monster was stuck in that position, he immediately stepped onto its arm and directly attacked, running towards its head.
As he ran, his left arm glowed, and the energy crept into his fists. He then punched his hand directly into the monster's forehead.
"Die, monster!" he shouted.
Hundreds of sword blades burst from his fist, piercing the monster's forehead and going all the way through its back, yet the monster continued to move, seemingly unaffected by the damage. It moved again, trying to grab him with its other hand.
The General saw this and immediately jumped away to evade it. He knew it wouldn't die that easily, so he was looking for its weakness.
"I have fought many who use elemental mannequins, and I know how to defeat them," he said.
"Lejanti Strike!" he shouted.
He punched the ground again, and sword blades rose once more. This time, they clustered together, forming what looked like a tower of swords.
A column 20 feet high and one meter wide. It struck the monster's chest, piercing through it. When the tower of swords penetrated, it expelled something from within the tree—the body of a person impaled on the cluster of swords.
The cluster of swords gradually vanished, dissolving like energy, and the stabbed person fell to the ground. That person was a member of Siklaon, who had been used as the tree's power source to bring it to life.
The monster's parts slowly moved, and its branches and leaves sprouted.
Its roots spread at its base and clung to the ground.
At that moment, the monster that Slasher fought returned to being a normal tree because its power source had been removed.
"It seems I understand now, but the monsters' skin is tough, so my men's weak guns can't pierce it," he muttered, watching the police battling them.
In the middle of his thoughts, another tree monster attacked him from his side. He swung his right hand, and a gigantic shuriken made of clustered sword blades formed.
It was two meters wide and weighed over 20 kilograms. He threw it with full force at the monster's body, and it pierced through without fail. So, before the tree monster could even get close to him to attack, it was already slowly changing form and becoming a normal tree.
Because Slasher was currently using the Diwata's power, his physical strength was over five times greater than normal. This was one of the abilities possessed by Sugo like him.
"I just need to kill the people inside. Tsk, it's that simple. My only problem is..." he muttered and looked at the municipal hall building.
From where he stood, he observed the gigantic monster, Tayog, attacking the municipal hall building. He knew that, given its size, its skin was thick and could not be easily pierced by his sword blades.
"It looks like this giant rat will be a real challenge," he said with a smile.
Meanwhile, at the municipal hall, Tayog continued to smash the building to destroy it.
"Come out, you Spanish devils! You cannot escape your deaths!" Tayog shouted, his voice echoing in the area.
He realized that his colossal body could not destroy the building because it was made of stone, so he thought of a way to force the people out.
"Do you think you can survive just because you're inside? Fools!" he said angrily.
Vines emerged from the monster's body and entered the building. Each of them wrapped around the people inside. The vines then pulled the people out one by one and hurled them outside the building.
The people were thrown out like toys, hitting cars and other objects outside the municipal hall.
And due to the distance and height from which the people were thrown, none survived or managed to stand up again after being hurled by Tayog.
While this was happening, Alfredo laughed, seemingly enjoying the pitiful suffering of the people he wanted revenge on. For him, this was the fulfillment of his goal to achieve justice.
"Hahahaha, go on, shout louder. I want to hear your suffering!!!" he said, sounding like he was losing his mind.
Suddenly, shurikens cut the vines, releasing some of the people they were holding.
As Tayog turned in that direction, a shuriken flew toward him, piercing his forehead. The monster didn't mind it because of its thick skin.
He saw the Governor-General of the province running towards him. For the nth time, he would cross paths with the General, and because of this, Tayog seemed to go insane with rage as he gradually saw the memories of the past in his mind, when his parents were killed in the previous revolt.
"It's you. You're the one who killed them. I'll make you pay!" he shouted.
The tree monsters rushed toward the General, seemingly blocking his attack on Tayog.
"Mindless creatures like you can't defeat me!" he shouted.
Slasher stomped on the ground, and clustered swords rose up, forming what looked like a thick, defensive fence. They impaled the monsters, immobilizing them where they stood. He placed both hands on the ground and...
"Lejanti Strike!"
Clustered swords emerged from the ground where he stood, piercing the monsters' bodies and forcing the people inside the monsters out.
Tayog was surprised by Slasher's successful defeat of his subordinates and saw the bodies of his comrades, which the General had forced out of the monsters to return them to being trees.
He saw them with the clusters of swords impaled in their bodies. Here, Alfredo gradually recalled what happened in the first revolt, where he also saw the General assassinate his parents using the same ability.
He could no longer control his emotions and immediately attacked the General. He tried to crush him with his giant hands.
"The time has come for you to pay for what you did, Slasher!!" he shouted.
The ground shook as Tayog slammed down on Slasher's position. The place was silent for a moment after his blow, and as he waited for the thick smoke from his strike to clear, he noticed a person standing on top of the giant fist.
Slasher was currently standing there, unscathed, smiling at him as if mocking the young man. He started running on Tayog's arms to attack.
Slasher knew that the monster was slow to move because of its immense size and weight, so it couldn't react immediately if he attacked directly.
"So, you're that boy," Slasher said.
Slasher suddenly remembered the boy he let escape for his eventual revenge.
The truth was, Slasher deliberately allowed him to live for the rebels when he learned he was the son of Siklaon's leader. He even encouraged him to revive the Siklaon group and one day take revenge on him.
This action by the General was just a game with the lives of the rebels so that Slasher would have entertainment again in the future by hunting what he considered rats.
"I will never forget that day, and I have waited a very long time for this day," Tayog shouted.
Vines emerged from the monster's body and lunged at Slasher, intending to capture him, but Slasher was too fast and skilled, successfully evading and cutting each one.
Slasher was an expert soldier, and all Sugo of Spain were trained for battle. They also controlled their power well according to their will, thanks to Spain's knowledge about the Sugo's powers.
"Hahahaha, you can't defeat me that way," he taunted.
The General jumped onto the monster's body and created a cluster of swords again. This one looked different from the first, as it became a gigantic spear made of blades, three meters long.
He forcefully plunged it into the monster's body, burying it inside, but it seemed insignificant to Tayog.
The monster continued to move, which the General easily evaded again. Tayog also didn't feel any pain from the damage the gigantic body was sustaining, even though the sword blades were impaling it.
The General thought there was no other way but to find the monster's power source, just like the other monsters, to defeat it. While the General was airborne, a vine caught his foot and swung him, slamming him into the municipal hall building.
The wall of the mayor's office was breached, and Slasher crashed inside.
The people there were shocked and terrified by the sudden destruction of the window. They saw the fallen body and immediately panicked, thinking Tayog had defeated their General.
The frantic city mayor approached him, asking about the General's condition. He was surprised when he suddenly moved and angrily stood up to leave again.
"It's a good thing you're alive. We thought those rebels had defeated you," the mayor said.
The General was irritated by this and pointed sword blades that emerged from his fists at him.
"Do you think a General like me would be defeated by a petty rat?!" he shouted furiously.
The mayor almost frantically apologized and knelt on the floor, begging for his life. Slasher didn't give him time to punish him and was thinking of a way to kill the colossal monster.
He knew that even if he released many spears made of blades, he couldn't topple it. The monster's body was too wide for him to guess where its power source was located.
"He's too big, so if I repeatedly pierce his body to luckily hit the power source with the Lejanti Spear, I will definitely run out of energy before I find it," he muttered.
He walked out of the room, intending to pass through the hole where he had entered, but as he peeked outside, Tayog's incoming attack suddenly met him.
He was surprised to see the monster's gigantic fist crashing into the room they were in.
The entire room exploded and caused a tremor throughout the building.
When Tayog withdrew his fist, it was covered in blood from the people in the city mayor's office.
The place was silent for a moment, and the General did not emerge from there. Tayog didn't know if he survived what he did or was completely defeated in the battle.
Because he was impatient with the silence of the area at that moment, he approached the building to peek inside the room from the outside.
At that moment, a gigantic Lejanti Strike suddenly emerged.
It was five times larger than the one the General usually released and hit the gigantic monster's left eye.
He stumbled backward and immediately removed the spear embedded in his eye. Although Tayog didn't feel the pain caused by Slasher's attack, it managed to blind his sight while inside the monster's body.
"Damn it, this is bad. Siklaon's damaged eye can't see anymore," he muttered to himself.
He realized he couldn't heal it and restore its sight, so even he could now see the possible weakness of the gigantic monster that could lead to his defeat.
He panicked at that moment and thought of another way to end the fight quickly.
At that point, he decided to retreat slightly to protect the remaining sight of the monster, which he thought the General would attack next.
Slasher suddenly jumped out of the building with wounds on his body. A Sugo's body was several times tougher, which is why they could survive even the strongest attacks. This was why Slasher remained alive even after taking a punch from the gigantic monster.
"What's the matter, native boy? I thought you were going to take revenge. Why are you retreating from where you stand?" he taunted.
He smirked, inviting Tayog to attack him, as if belittling his enemy.
"Shut up!!" Tayog shouted.
He attacked again, punching Slasher's location. The surroundings shook from his blow and created thick smoke. Tayog was gasping for breath inside the monster's body and sweating while his anger continued to rage.
He was starting to feel tired and weak due to the energy the tree monster was consuming for him to use, which was now compounded by his confused mind because of the precarious situation.
He knew he couldn't prolong the fight because of his ability's limitations, but as much as he wanted to end it quickly, it wasn't easy.
Tayog was surprised that he couldn't lift his gigantic arm, as if it was stuck to the ground. He then noticed that his hand was covered in clustered swords, like a tower impaled on it, causing it to be stuck to the ground.
"You know why it's fun to play with indios like your group?" Slasher said.
Slasher walked out of the smoke while his entire body was gradually covered in metal, like armor. What Slasher was doing was using the full power of the Diwata, which he didn't often do when hunting rebels.
"Because your minds are weak when it comes to battles, and you don't think properly," he said.
"You're like rats, indios, fighting against the lions of Spain," he added.
Tayog was further enraged by Slasher's mockery of his group and used his other hand to attack Slasher again.
The General knew he could use the young man's anger to provoke him into attacking without thinking, and at that moment, he was succeeding.
Slasher's armor glowed with his energy as it gradually crept toward his hand.
It created a massive shuriken four meters wide, made of clustered swords. Because he used one hundred percent of his Diwata's power, he could use its abilities more freely to their limit.
"Lejanti Slash!!"
He threw the gigantic shuriken with full force. Slasher's feet almost sank into the ground, splitting it as he braced to throw it. It headed straight for the gigantic monster's arm.
Before Tayog could punch Slasher's location with his gigantic hand, the General managed to sever the monster's arm with the gigantic shuriken he threw.
"How?"
The monster's severed arm hit the municipal hall due to the force of the punching motion. It went straight into the parking lot, hitting other people who were fleeing the building. Tayog couldn't believe his monster's arm had been severed.
As much as he wanted to attack again, he still couldn't move his other arm because of the impaled sword towers.
While he was running out of ways to launch an attack, he saw Slasher's grinning face, inviting him to attack again.
"Is that all you can do, indio?" he taunted.
He was furious with disappointment and shouted in rage,
"I can't lose!! It's impossible!!!"
All his subordinates in the surroundings rushed forward and attacked the General.
"Do you think those toys of yours can defeat me?"
"That trash is useless!!!" the General shouted.
Slasher's eyes glowed, and his body began to emit a yellow aura. His energy glowed, enveloping the armor he wore, continuing to accumulate and creeping toward his feet.
As his legs glowed with energy, he raised his right foot and suddenly stomped the ground with extreme force.
"Lejanti Garden!!!" he shouted with the stomp.
At that moment, the entire surroundings were filled with rising sword towers, 10 feet to 20 feet tall, piercing and killing the monsters currently running toward him.
In less than half a minute, the entire surroundings looked like a Garden of Swords because of the over one hundred Lejanti Strikes he released from the ground.
The Sword Garden had a circular area of over 100 meters, wiping out over two hundred of Tayog's monster subordinates.
Slasher continued to overflow with yellow energy, emitting an intense presence that further intimidated Tayog against his enemy.
The young man hadn't considered the full extent of his opponent's capabilities and had been overconfident in his plans due to the hundreds of followers he had and the gigantic monster he controlled.
That is why Alfredo couldn't believe that the entire Siklaon group was wiped out by just one attack from his opponent.
Tayog, currently inside the monster, was dumbfounded and couldn't believe the strength and ability Slasher displayed.
He hadn't considered that he could be defeated despite his immense strength and that the revolt carried out by the entire Siklaon could be stopped.
~ Tayog's PoV ~
"Is this the power of the Swords of Spain that brought many heroes of the Philippines to their knees?"
"They are not human, they are monsters," he said in his mind as he looked at the garden of sword towers.
I didn't expect this to happen to us, because no matter how I thought about it, no one could defeat my subordinates, even if they had equipment and high-caliber guns.
In one moment, everything I wished for was destroyed because of just one person. No, he's not a person, but a monster.
As I was losing hope because of what happened, I suddenly noticed the trees surrounding the garden of sword towers. I saw the bodies of my comrades, expelled from the trees, lifeless.
At that moment, I couldn't help but recall the moments we spent together in the camp.
I was filled with grief and self-disappointment because, despite the sacrifice I made, everything would amount to nothing. All the suffering I endured for a long time and all I wished for Urdaneta would likely not be rewarded with success.
My goal of freeing the Filipinos in my town, for which my parents and now the entire Siklaon group gave their lives, had ultimately failed.
I knew I couldn't fight the General anymore due to the damage to the monster I was using. At that moment, I closed my eyes and sighed, thinking deeply about how to proceed.
The gigantic monster I was using was also useless, and in a moment, he would attack me again to finish our fight. It's frustrating to think about, but it's true that I am no match for the Governor-General.
At that moment, I decided to leave the monster's body.
A part of its body opened, and I was delivered from it.
"I can no longer benefit from my ability to merge with nature. I need to use my remaining energy in the right way," he muttered to himself.
Like the other monsters, the gigantic monster I used was slowly turning back into a normal tree. I knew I couldn't enter it again due to the lack of energy in my body.
My opponent's ability to summon sword blades is perfect for close combat, and even if my physical attack is five times stronger, it still won't work against my opponent, but even so. I am ready for what will happen.
Even if the battle situation favors my opponent and there's no way to survive at this moment, I shouldn't think of it as an excuse anymore.
~ End of PoV ~
"I have no choice but to fight until death. I will die carrying the principle of Siklaon," he muttered to himself as he bravely looked at General Slasher.
He emitted a green aura from his body as he walked toward the General, thinking of nothing but fighting until death. As he walked forward, he gradually recalled his comrades in Siklaon, to whom he was now dedicating the fight.
What he planned to do was like a suicide mission to end the battle he started and finally join the entire Siklaon in the afterlife.
"We will be together until death!!"
~ End of Chapter ~