The moment the Six-Armed Ape King roared, an eerie black mist erupted from its mouth and swept across the battlefield like a suffocating wave. The smoke churned and thickened, swallowing the trees, the ground, the sky—everything.
Rylan's eyes widened. "Lisa!"
He leapt forward to intercept the rushing horde of lesser apes, but before he could take a single step, the black smoke smothered him entirely. Vision became nothing but darkness—sticky, choking darkness that burned the eyes and numbed the senses.
The lesser apes screamed with savage glee as they charged toward Lisa's hiding spot.
And for the first time in the battle, panic slammed into Rylan's chest.
"YOU—!!"
But before he could tear through the fog, the Ape King attacked again. The monster, despite being maimed and battered, let out a howl thick with hatred. Its Bone Sword shot through the smoke like a gleaming serpent. Rylan sensed the killing intent behind him and instinctively twisted sideways, the blade carving wind where his head had been a moment earlier.
The Ape King didn't stop. All five remaining arms swung weapons or clawed through the darkness, aiming to tear Rylan apart.
Rylan clenched his teeth. He wasn't just fighting a beast now—
He was fighting the barrier between him and Lisa.
And the barrier was unacceptable.
His voice tore through the smoke with rage hot enough to burn it away.
"MOVE—!!"
The ground quaked. Rylan thrust his hand forward, and the earth beneath him responded like a living beast. Tremors rippled outward. His Earth Totem pulsed with raw fury.
A massive golden-brown glow erupted around his arm.
Earth Totem Skill — Hand of Destruction.
A titanic hand of condensed earth energy exploded out of the ground, dozens of meters tall. It tore through the black smoke, scattering it like ash. The colossal fist slammed into the Ape King's bone armor with a deafening crack. The sound echoed like mountains breaking.
The Ape King shrieked as the massive hand pummeled its chest, ribs snapping like brittle twigs.
Rylan didn't stop. His rage only grew.
Every time that giant energy hand struck, the earth shook. Trees fell. Rocks shattered. The Ape King's bone armor cracked, splintered, and peeled away in chunks.
The monster roared, attacking wildly with the Bone Sword in one hand and the Gravity Rock Hammer in the other. Black flames spewed from its mouth in desperation. Its body radiated corruption from overusing its Savage Stage.
But Rylan's killing intent was colder and far more terrifying.
"You think this smoke will stop me from reaching her?"
WHAM!
He swung the Hand of Destruction again, smashing away another layer of armor.
The Ape King staggered backward, trying to recover. But Rylan wasn't finished.
Far from it.
He dissolved the giant hand and rushed forward at lightning speed. The ape swung its Bone Sword downward with all its strength—raw brute force capable of slicing mountains.
Rylan caught the blade with his bare hand.
Lisa would have fainted if she saw it. Bone shards pierced his palm, but he didn't flinch. Didn't blink.
He was beyond pain.
He twisted his arm and yanked. The Ape King stumbled forward.
Rylan's other hand shot out, grabbing one of its arms.
Then—
RIP!!
Blood sprayed across the battlefield like a fountain.
The Ape King howled in agony as its entire arm was torn clean from the socket. The severed limb flew through the air and crashed into a tree with a sickening crunch.
Rylan threw the bloody limb aside and snarled:
"One."
The Ape King, panicked and enraged, swung the Gravity Rock Hammer at him with the force of collapsing mountains. The air compressed. The ground beneath them cratered from the sheer pressure.
Rylan didn't even dodge.
He summoned a slash of pure earth energy, his spear glowing golden.
Energy Slash — Earth Severing Arc.
The slash collided with the massive hammer. The impact sent shockwaves racing across the valley. Dust and debris shot into the sky. Rocks ruptured and exploded.
The Ape King staggered, its hammer arm trembling violently.
Rylan leaped onto the Ape King's chest, raised his spear high—
AND SLAMMED IT DOWN.
The ape's bone armor shattered beneath him like ceramic. The beast choked on blood, its body trembling under the devastating blow.
"Still breathing?" Rylan hissed. "Fine."
He wrenched the hammer from the Ape King's remaining hand. The monster tried to resist, using all five arms to cling to the weapon—
But Rylan kicked its chest with enough strength to crack its sternum.
The hammer came free.
Rylan twirled it once, testing the weight.
Heavy. Dense. Infused with gravity magic.
He grinned. "This suits me better anyway."
Before the Ape King could recover, Rylan brought the Gravity Rock Hammer down with a roar that shook the sky.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The ground split. Wind blasted outward. The shockwave toppled trees in a radius of hundreds of meters.
The Ape King's chest caved in under the merciless blow.
Broken ribs pierced internal organs. The monster gurgled blood, half-suffocated under the force.
Rylan lifted the hammer again.
The Ape King gurgled weakly, trying to raise its remaining arms.
Rylan's eyes burned with pure fury.
"Did you think," he snarled,
"that you could lay a hand on her and get away with it?"
He slammed the hammer down again.
BOOM.
Again.
BOOM.
Again.
BOOOOOM.
The Ape King writhed helplessly, reduced to a pile of crushed muscle and cracked bone. The valley itself seemed to tremble under Rylan's wrath. The ground cratered deeper with every strike.
Finally, the monster lay still—barely alive, breath rattling, body broken beyond repair.
Rylan dropped the hammer, chest heaving.
Now—Lisa.
His eyes snapped toward the bushes.
And then his heart stopped.
Blood.
Blood splattered across the forest floor. Across leaves. Across rocks. Across the path leading straight to her hiding spot.
His breath froze in his throat. His blood ran cold.
"Lisa…?"
He stepped forward, trembling slightly despite his strength. The ground felt unstable beneath him. His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
"Lisa!"
He rushed into the clearing—
And froze.
A figure stepped out from behind the bushes.
Slim legs smeared with blood. Hands stained crimson. Her clothes slightly torn. Her hair a messy halo around a face streaked with dirt and blood.
She walked toward him calmly.
And smiled.
"Do not worry for me," Lisa said, flicking a blood drop off her cheek.
"These little scratches aren't enough to hurt this lady."
Her voice was steady.
Her eyes gleamed.
Strong.
Calm.
Unbroken.
Rylan stared at her in stunned silence—
A mixture of shock, relief, and a fury he didn't know he possessed beginning to melt away.
The Ape King's last breath rattled somewhere behind him.
But Rylan didn't look back.
He was too busy staring at the blood-covered girl walking toward him… with a confidence and fire that made even a peak Earth Rank warrior feel something twist inside his chest.