Chapter 188 - The Giant Fire Salamander

Ricardo:

As I tried to escape the explosion's reach, I realized I didn’t have enough mana left to use a pillar for a boost.

"Where do you think you’re going?" the boy shouted. Suddenly, a vine snared my ankle, dragging me back and throwing me near him. He stomped on my chest, pinning me to the ground as roots coiled around me.

"If we're dying, we're all going together," he said, laughing.

Eliza leaped at him, but he deflected her attack with the metal sword, countering her with a powerful strike.

“Flaming Breeze!” she yelled, releasing a cloud of fire toward him. The boy stomped the ground, raising a barrier of water to shield himself.

He turned towards the golem and pointed his sword. Vines began to wrap around the gigantic creature, piercing through it, stopping it from inflating further.

"Scared?" she shouted, trying to kick him, but he caught her leg and spun her around, slamming her into a tree.

Eliza crashed hard and fell to the ground.

“Scared?” he repeated, advancing toward her.

Eliza stood up, blocking a kick, then managed to stab her dagger into his leg. The boy headbutted her, unfazed by the pain.

"Do I look scared?" he asked coldly, pulling the dagger from his leg and tossing it back to Eliza.

She stood, blood running down her face.

"The dagger was poisoned…" she muttered.

"I know," he replied, ignoring the poison as he continued controlling the roots that wrapped around the golem.

The golem roared, ceasing to inflate. I noticed the roots were channeling water inside the golem, extinguishing the fire accumulating within.

Eliza, making a final attempt, launched herself with a burst of fire, surrounded by a ring of flames, but the boy ignored the fire, enduring the burns as he kicked her. The golem spat fire to aid its master, but the boy generated a wave of water with a swift stomp, colliding it with the fireball. He then delivered a powerful kick to Eliza, sending her flying.

The golem, desperate to protect its master, lunged at the boy, swinging its massive tail. Nathan raised a stone barrier, blocking the impact.

Earth element? He had that all along!

The stone barrier held against the salamander’s strike, giving the boy a chance to leap towards the creature, now wielding what looked like a lightning spear. With precise aim, he drove the spear into the golem’s head, causing it to roar in pain, thrashing violently to break free. The boy was thrown aside, but he landed agilely, ready for another strike.

The golem, enraged and determined to crush Nathan Evenhart, lunged with a massive leap, its gaping jaws ready to swallow the boy whole. Its massive jaws, like iron gates, came crashing down with destructive force. Nathan, however, showed not a hint of hesitation.

With swift precision, he shoved his hands inside the creature’s jaws—one gripping the upper jaw, the other the lower—stopping the monster's advance. His body shone with an intense blue light, as sparks of electricity snaked along his arms, illuminating the scene with a vibrant electric glow.

The soul golem began to charge energy deep within its throat, preparing a devastating fire ray.

"Not so fast!" Nathan shouted, his face contorted with the strain. Concentrating mana into his hands, he unleashed a burst of wind from his arms, forcing the golem’s jaws open with a tremendous crack.

‘CRACK!’ The sound of bone echoed through the forest.

“ARGHHHH!” The golem roared in animalistic pain, its jaw hanging grotesquely.

Nathan didn’t waste a second. Seizing the moment of weakness, he summoned thick roots that burst from the ground with astonishing speed. The roots coiled around the creature, invading its open mouth with a relentless surge of water, flooding the golem’s interior.

With the golem paralyzed, Nathan readied his decisive blow. Gripping his azure sword firmly, he charged at blinding speed, his eyes locked on the creature’s weak spot. In a swift and brutal motion, he drove the blade into the golem’s face, tearing through its stony skin and ripping its cheek apart.

Simultaneously, Nathan spun through the air, his body enveloped in a surge of electricity and wind. The azure sword cut through the air on one side, while the metal sword in his other hand glowed with a menacing hue. Each rotation amplified the force of his strikes, creating a devastating vortex around the golem.

‘SLASH! SLASH!’

The slashes were swift and brutal, shredding the golem’s stone flesh as thick, magical blood splattered across the battlefield. Each blow forced the beast to recoil, unable to withstand Nathan’s relentless assault.

With a final, fierce yell, Nathan descended in a devastating spin, his swords glowing like beacons of pure destruction. The azure blade and metal sword cleaved through the golem’s neck and jaw with a resounding crack, causing the monster’s jaw to finally give way and crash heavily to the ground.

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The golem's body trembled violently, its form collapsing under the sheer force of Nathan’s assault. It let out one last roar of agony before collapsing into a heap of debris and blood.

"Now you can’t bite me anymore," he said with a cold smile, waving his hands as a sea of roots and vines engulfed the golem. The earth beneath the creature opened up, sinking it into a deep, water-filled pit. The realization of what he had been doing all this time hit me. All the water generated was being absorbed by those dead roots and carried into the deep pit he had created.

He was preparing a sea of water beneath us the entire time, planning to trap the golem! This kid had a strategy to defeat the creature from the moment he saw it!

I had managed to free myself, watching and waiting for the right moment to strike, but the sight of Nathan controlling the elements so effortlessly paralyzed me with fear.

Eliza's Soul Golem is trapped beneath the earth. I can't make the ground split open, and the creature is weakened by the water, further immobilized by roots. Eliza has no other option but to dismiss the creature, allowing it to regenerate in its mana gem and prevent excessive mana consumption. The Soul Golem has been completely contained.

When the boy turned his back, I didn't hesitate. I leaped forward with full force, but he reacted quickly, swinging his sword and blocking my strike with precision. Before I could retreat, he spun swiftly, grabbed my arm, and, in a brutal move, hurled me against a tree with a loud crash. Without hesitation, he drove his metal sword into my stomach, the blade piercing my flesh with searing pain.

At that moment, Eliza rushed forward, seizing what appeared to be an opening. However, he sidestepped at the last instant, grabbing her by the neck and, with overwhelming strength, hurled her directly at me, causing us to collide violently.

"Sea Serpent!" he shouted, and a colossal serpent of water emerged, slicing through the air at high speed. In an instant, we were struck by the creature's crushing impact, flung upward like mere toys.

We were thrown far away, flying through the air for dozens of meters, the trees around us blurring past rapidly. Our bodies whipped through the wind before crashing into the highest branches, snapping them on impact. We tumbled wildly through the forest, each rotation bringing more pain as stones and roots battered us until I finally slammed into a thick trunk, my vision shaking from the impact.

I slid across the ground, still spinning amidst mud and wet leaves, until I stopped at the edge of a distant river, my entire body throbbing with pain and exhaustion. Beside me, Eliza, bloody and gasping, had also been violently thrown to the ground, yet she still managed to stand, her eyes filled with determination despite her weakened state.

"If I recall correctly, you both said you were going to kill me," the boy taunted, striding across the river's waters with a commanding presence, his eyes locked on us with merciless disdain.

“Damn it... You’re just a farm boy; you shouldn't have this level of skill," Eliza muttered, struggling to catch her breath as she fought to stand. “I wish I’d been hired to kill you and your mother years ago, when you were still a baby. I would’ve enjoyed beating her face to a pulp," she added, letting out a bitter laugh.

Before she could react and strike him with a dagger, the boy propelled himself forward with an explosive burst of wind, closing the distance at blinding speed. Eliza tried to raise her arms in defense, but it was futile. He delivered a devastating kick to her abdomen, making her double over in pain, followed by a brutal punch to the face that sent her flying backward.

Desperate, I tried to conjure a stone spike, but my mana was depleted, and the spell failed before it could form. My legs trembled from exhaustion as I watched helplessly.

“You said you’d hurt my mother’s face?” he asked, his voice dangerously calm. “You just gave me an excellent idea.”

Without hesitation, the boy ran again, this time pressing Eliza’s face against the rocky ground. The sound of flesh and bone grinding echoed brutally as he dragged her at high speed, propelled by fierce gusts of wind. The friction left a trail of blood and sparks along the way.

With a merciless motion, he hurled Eliza against a tree, making the trunk shudder from the impact. The tree cracked slightly, and Eliza collapsed, her body visibly battered and broken.

"Where are the two assassins who swore they'd kill me?" he taunted, his voice dripping with disdain, while keeping his hand pointed at Eliza. Bolts of electricity erupted from his palm, striking her with relentless force. She convulsed on the ground, her body trembling in agony as she tried, in vain, to escape the shock.

He then slowly turned to me, his eyes shining with a chilling coldness. He pointed his hand, and a bolt of lightning shot towards me. The electricity struck me squarely, surging through my body with excruciating pain. My muscles spasmed involuntarily as I struggled to withstand the paralyzing shock.

“I don’t tolerate anyone harming my family,” he continued, his voice unyielding, resonating like a final judgment. The lightning strikes kept coming, each surge cutting through me like knives piercing my flesh.

I was already exhausted, with not enough mana to create any defense, and the shock penetrated deep into my skin, causing unbearable pain. My hands trembled, and my body felt paralyzed by the relentless attack.

"Let's have a little chat," he said with cold calmness, before shifting his gaze away from us, as if we were no longer a threat.

Damn… I thought, watching him walk away.

The boy turned his back to us, resuming his walk over the river’s waters with disturbing calm, as if the chaos around him was nothing more than a routine scene. In a fluid motion, he bent down and picked up his metal sword that had fallen into the water, lifting it effortlessly as the gleam of the blade reflected the sky above.

“Ricardo!” Eliza screamed, but I subtly signaled that I was still alive. Half of her face was raw and bloody, a harrowing sight.

"How many innocent people have you killed?" he asked, his voice cold and merciless as he approached her.

"Screw you!" Eliza spat in his face, but her spit was effortlessly repelled by his wind control.

He gripped her neck with a force that made me feel the imminent danger.

"I commanded you to answer!" Thunder cracked across the sky, intensifying the heavy atmosphere.

I must kill this kid!

I discreetly slipped a knife from my storage bracelet into my sleeve.

I’ll have to strike from the shadows.

"I’ve killed many," Eliza finally admitted, her voice a mix of pain and anger. Without hesitation, Nathan tossed her in my direction, and she tumbled across the ground, stopping next to me.

The boy advanced slowly, the sound of his steps echoing through the water, each one bringing him closer. I grabbed Eliza's arm, trying to help her stand, but his shout froze me in place:

"Leave her!" The command reverberated in the air, leaving me paralyzed.

Nathan conjured a ball of fire in his hand, which soon shifted into an intense blue glow.

"I bet you’ve abused that fire power of yours," he said, his tone a blend of sarcasm and menace.

"You have no idea…" Eliza muttered, spitting blood into the river.

"Then I'll give you the exact same sentence," Nathan retorted, his voice as cold as the wind that now howled fiercely around us.

Panic gripped me, and without a second thought, I grabbed Eliza, trying to drag her away as quickly as possible. But before we could escape, Nathan surged forward with terrifying speed.

In an act of pure desperation, I swung my arm, trying to stab him with the knife I had hidden in my sleeve. He, however, caught the blade with his bare hand, allowing it to pierce his skin without even using wind to defend himself.

"That was your pathetic plan?" he taunted before landing a punch that sent me sprawling.

Damn it! There's no way!

I fell backward, struggling to rise, but my body felt heavy, and the situation seemed increasingly hopeless.