noveldrama
Chapter 116 : Titan (2)
Chapter 116 : Titan (2)
My research and previous experiments with my sword had taught me that it had the ability to change shape according to my needs. It could grow to increase its reach and offensive power, or shrink to enhance its speed and precision in combat. However, achieving these transformations required meticulous control of my mana.
With a determined gesture, I infused my mana into the sword blade, unleashing a cascade of shadows swirling in the air around it. Meanwhile, the titan moved with surprising agility despite its imposing size, leaving a trail of destruction as it tore through the trees in its path.
My senses sharpened as I watched the intense battle between Lysandra and the titan. Given their equality in rank, each clash between them generated powerful energy waves that shook the forest. Meanwhile, I adopted a more cautious strategy, patiently waiting for my opportunity to strike.
Every move I made had to be calculated with millimeter precision, as a direct hit from the titan could leave me severely injured or even worse.
Every fiber of my being bristled at the mere thought of facing the possibility of imminent death. However, I forced myself to maintain calm and focus, knowing that every move I made in this battle had to be executed with utmost precision.
With a swift footwork, I shifted my position strategically as my sword slid horizontally towards the titan. At that moment, I increased the pressure of my aura, enveloping my sword with even greater intensity.
BOOM! The titan trembled from head to toe as my sword connected with its wound on the side. A large number of stones broke off from its body, revealing a twisted mass of flesh intertwining in all directions. Blood gushed from the wound, and my eyes widened at the unexpected revelation. I had mistakenly assumed that its body was entirely composed of stone.
A roar of pain filled the air as the titan staggered backwards, covering its wound with its massive arm. Its eyes, filled with unbridled fury, reflected an indescribable madness. However, for a brief moment, that wild gaze seemed to fade, replaced by an expression of confusion and fear that reflected in its eyes. But it was only for a fleeting instant.
"NOOOOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOOO! NOOOOOO!" The titan's deep and heartbreaking voice resonated through the forest. Its eyes moved frantically, as if it were lost in internal confusion; there was fear and confusion projected in its gaze, like a child lost in the middle of the forest, before infinite madness filled its gaze with terrifying intensity.
A shiver ran down my spine as I realized that the voice I had heard before belonged to a child. A child, full of fear and distorted by some unknown force. My thoughts swirled in a whirlwind of confusion as I tried to process this shocking revelation.
"Rituals... It was an offering for some higher-ranked creature," I murmured to myself, connecting the dots in my mind. The idea that this titan could be the result of some dark ritual filled me with a sense of unease. I still remember when I saw the flesh entangled with the tree branches inside the body of the corrupted Lysandra.
Usually, when a creature is corrupted, its flesh mixes with its body grotesquely, as I had seen in the case of Lysandra within that abomination.
However, this was a different case. When someone's soul is offered in a sacrifice ritual, even if their body is transformed into a creature, they remain human inside. These cases were extremely rare, but I remembered reading about them in the guild library archives. In these creatures, the flesh remained human, but on the outside they were no longer so.
However, one thing was clear: normally these creatures did not possess a mana orb inside them. Their soul was trapped between the claws of the being to which it was offered in the dark ritual. There was no way to save them; the only thing left was to put an end to them as quickly as possible.
Now I understood why the titan had stared at me so intently the first time. Behind its corrupted stone body, there was a child trapped, waiting to be freed. Its gaze in the depths had been a silent cry for help, a plea lost in the darkness of its imprisonment.
Due to these extreme cases, the empire had instituted a relentless hunt against those who performed such rituals and plunged into the madness of corruption. A specialized training center had even been established to hunt down these monstrous creatures and stop the spread of their malevolent influence.
With this understanding, the weight of the battle became even heavier on my shoulders. Although that being was no longer a child on the outside, at some point it had been. Who knows what had happened to its parents; surely they were dead, or even worse, had suffered the same fate as their son. I couldn't even begin to imagine the fear and suffering that child would have experienced.
The sadness I felt quickly turned into burning anger.
Meanwhile, Lysandra watched the child trapped inside the creature's body with an intense gaze. I even perceived that she herself felt pity for him. Despite the differences in their individual cases, the outcome had been the same: corruption and suffering.
The titan in its unrestrained madness, ran towards our direction, we shared for a few seconds the look, nodding both of us, we ran towards different directions this time I'm going to distract him, since Lysandra has more opportunities to finish him off than me, changing direction I raised my sword, which began to glow faintly, the intentions had clearly changed.
Several more minutes passed in which the titan was out of control, unleashing its unrestrained fury upon us. During this time, Lysandra and I fought tirelessly to defeat it. Finally, we managed to inflict blow after blow, gradually weakening its resistance until, finally, the titan fell defeated before us.
Before our eyes, the titan's skin began to crumble slowly, revealing a huge figure of twisted flesh. In a matter of seconds, this mass of flesh contracted, assuming a fetal position as it began to writh in agony. A steady flow of dark blood gushed from its body, gradually turning into a deep red as it slowly disintegrated before us.
The silence that followed was deafening, interrupted only by the echo of our own accelerated heartbeats. We stood in the middle of the forest clearing, contemplating the gradual disappearance of the titan.