Chapter 377 — Die
5 min read ·
ROAR
The roar hit him like a physical wall.
BOOOOOOM.
Sonic force slammed into Damian’s back before his brain even registered the sound, trees behind him exploded into splinters and the shockwave threw him forward, tumbling across the clearing.
He rolled, came up on one knee, axe already in hand.
A four-meter-tall bear stood thirty meters away, flames wreathing its massive body like living armor, its eyes burned with intelligence.
A Rank.
"Of course... Of course it’s a fucking A rank bear!"
The clearing was littered with fresh corpses, B+ rank beasts torn apart in some territorial bloodbath.
Valuable ’resources’ he desperately needed. But right now they might as well be on the moon.
The bear dropped to all fours, the ground cracked under its weight.
"Yeah, no! Not doing this."
Damian didn’t hesitate.
He turned and ran.
FWOOOOOSH
A concentrated jet of fire exploded where he’d been standing, turning ancient trees into torches in an instant. The heat chased him, blistering the back of his neck even at distance.
’Too fast for something that big–’
The bear charged.
Each step shook the earth and trees snapped like twigs in its path. Damian pushed more Aura into his legs, using every bit of speed he had.
Damian’s Telekinesis lashed out desperately, grabbing the bear’s entire body, trying to hurl it sideways.
But nothing happened.
The bear kept charging like Damian was blowing air at it.
"..."
He pushed harder, channeling more Aura into the skill, willing the massive body to move.
The bear continued forward without even slowing down.
"Are you fucking serious?! How much do you weigh?!"
Sonic Blink
He flickered sideways, but the bear adjusted mid-stride with terrifying agility, one massive paw swiping at him.
CRACK
Claws ripped across his ribs, Obsidian Hide shattered like glass as blood sprayed. The pain was immediate and vicious.
Damian hit the ground rolling, came up coughing blood.
’Cannot match it physically... Cannot throw it... Cannot outrun it forever... Think. THINK!’
He grabbed burning branches with Telekinesis and hurled them at the bear’s face. The bear didn’t even flinch, the flames merged with its own and it kept coming.
’Of course that didn’t work.’
The bear lunged, jaws wide enough to swallow his torso.
Sonic Blink.
Damian reappeared behind it, axe already swinging at its spine.
CLANG.
The blade bit deep into muscle but stopped short. The bear spun faster than physics should allow and backhanded him.
He flew, crashed through two trees, and slammed into the ground hard enough to crack ribs.
Pain exploded through his chest. His Self-Healing kicked in immediately, but it was already falling behind.
’This thing’s Vitality is ridiculous...’
He forced himself up, blood running from his mouth.
The bear roared again, flames intensified until looking at it hurt his eyes.
Damian’s hair started smoking at the edges.
’One strike... That’s all I need... One perfect strike with absolute belief–’
He charged.
The bear reared up, flames roaring like a furnace.
Damian’s axe came up, every principle of Abyssal Slaughter flowing through the blade, his Slaughter Intent blazed around him in dark flames.
"DIE!"
SSSSHHHHHUNK!
The axe hit the bear’s skull dead center.
It sank three inches, then stopped.
Stuck fast in bone harder than steel.
The bear blinked slowly, almost confused, then looked at Damian like he was an annoying fly that had just landed on its forehead.
"...You’ve got to be fucking kidding me."
Damian grabbed the axe handle with both hands, braced his foot against the bear’s chest, and pulled with everything he had.
But it didn’t budge.
The bear’s paw came up lazily.
BAM.
Damian was sent flying again, tumbling through the air like a broken doll. He hit the ground hard, rolled, and came up gasping.
His body was a wreck with burns, cracked ribs and bleeding wounds. Self-Healing was working overtime but the damage was piling up faster than it could repair.
And then he felt it.
A shadow in his peripheral vision, silent and patient. Waiting for the exact moment he was weakest.
The panther.
It had been stalking him for days. And now, seeing him burned, exhausted, weaponless against an A rank bear, it finally saw its chance.
’Son of a bitch...’
The panther lunged, claws extended, moving with that terrifying stealth that made it nearly invisible until the last second.
Damian tried to turn, but his body was too slow.
Then suddenly–
Kuro exploded out of Damian’s shadow.
The raven emerged massive, wingspan rivaling the bear’s height, feathers darker than the void itself, absorbing light like a black hole. His crimson eyes glowed with power.
B+ rank.
Kuro’s mental voice slammed into Damian’s mind, laced with pure exasperation and pride.
’Stupid human somehow finds new way to almost die while Kuro was training! Kuro breaks through to B+ rank and this is what happens?!’
The panther froze mid-lunge, every muscle locked in primal terror, its yellow eyes widened in absolute fear as it stared at Kuro.
Kuro’s voice echoed with absolute dominance.
’You dare hunt Kuro’s human?’
The panther’s pupils shrank to pinpoints, body trembling, every instinct screaming flee.
The fire bear roared, flames surging brighter around its massive form, sensing another threat.
Damian didn’t waste a second.
His Telekinesis ripped his axe from where it had been thrown by bear a few moments earlier and slammed it into his palm.
"Despair."
The Domain erupted outward, but barely ten meters, his reserves too depleted to sustain more.
The bear’s mind shattered immediately.
It saw cubs it had abandoned screaming, prey it had tortured begging, failures carved into animal consciousness.
Its massive legs buckled as its flames flickered, and died down.
The panther yelped, stumbled backward, seeing something from its past that broke it.
Both beasts staggered, consciousness stripped bare, leaving only raw terror.
’Two seconds... Maybe three before they shake it off.’
Aura Magnification: 2x
His Aura power doubled, flooded through his burned body like liquid fire.
Sonic Blink
He was already moving, closing the distance to the bear in a heartbeat.
His axe came down with everything layered together, Abyssal Slaughter conviction, Slaughter Intent blazing dark crimson, magnified strength and telekinesis adding more force.
And underneath it all, absolute certainty.
’This kills!’