I’ll have to give Chen Ling props for being the world’s most annoying pest, far outranking mosquitos, and ants. The man was flying around on his sword like the Chinese version of Peter Pan, except way deadlier. In his hands was a replica of the flying sword; gold pommel and guard with black wrapping.

With a wicked smile on his face, Chen Ling sped past the Cyclops’s enormous arms started cutting away at its skin, drawing blood. First, he targeted the Cyclops tendons on its left leg. A sprinkle of blood poured out, and the Cyclops cried out in pain, shattering the windows of nearby buildings. Next, Chen Ling slashed away at its right leg tendons. With a thunderous crash, the Cyclops lost its balance and tumbled into the car parking lot, crushing the vehicles beneath its giant frame.

“How’d you like that, massive beast?!” Chen Ling roared in excitement. With a determined expression, Chen Ling dove downwards, his blade poised to deliver the killing blow to the Cyclops’s exposed neck. Just as he was a few yards away from the Cyclops, the monster abruptly rolled away before Chen Ling could reach him.

“What?!” the man squeaked. With a swift motion, he changed the weapon’s trajectory, narrowly avoiding a head on collision with the solid brick wall that surrounded the parking lot. He ascended higher into the air as he watched the Cyclops carefully. The monster, who had just gotten his tendons cut, was now slowly rising from the ground.

“Annoying insect,” a heavy and ancient voice boomed. It came from none other than the Cyclops. It rose to its full height, sending a chill through the air. The wounds that Chen Ling had inflicted had already healed, including its tendons. The Cyclops cracked its neck, and a musty smell drifted from its greasy, overgrown shrub hair.

Sol and I were hiding behind the brick wall, masking our presence as we waited for the perfect opportunity to strike. Since I now know this monster has regenerative properties, I’ll have to craft a mana weapon capable of killing it in one-shot, and I have the perfect weapon in mind…

Sol frowned.

“Working on that,” I mumbled, ignoring Sol’s delusions.

I poked my head over the brick wall. The Cyclops’ attention was on Chen Ling, and it hasn’t noticed me yet. I learned from the Grand Elder that monsters have a keen sense of smell and can sniff mana miles away. People and objects that possess mana have a sort of mana signature on them, kind of like the heat signature of a person. To combat this, all you gotta do is take a deep breath and forcibly quell the mana and trap it inside the core. To put it into perspective, it’s like getting sprayed with skunk spray and wearing tons of clothes to mask the smell. It took me a ton of tries just to master this technique…

“I see that humans have gotten much stronger over the millennium I’ve been imprisoned in the Labyrinth,” The Cyclops rumbled. “How interesting. You bugs were only good for a snack for us creatures…”

To make its point, the Cyclops ran its tongue over its teeth and patted its bulging belly.

So, this Cyclops was inside the Labyrinth too. When I was following Joel and Chen Ling, they ran into Medusa, who was imprisoned inside a room. Could it be that when the world was rewritten by the Pillars and teleported monsters onto Earth, it includes the monsters imprisoned in the Labyrinth too? If so, then we’re in some deep shit! What else was lurking inside the Labyrinth?

<…and where are they right now!> Sol finished. Sol’s sudden intrusion startled me silly. I had yet to get used to having a second voice inside my head…

The Cyclops took a menacing step toward Chen Ling who was hovering a good distance away from the giant. “Little human… Are you aware of who I am?”

“Should I care? I’m just here to fight you!” Chen Ling grimaced, maintaining his focus on the monster.

“To hear those words coming out of a puny human’s mouth! It’s comical indeed!” The Cyclops laughed heartily. “I don’t know how you humans have the power to use mana when you’re biologically inept at harnessing it, but that doesn’t matter in the face of Oephenius!”

The Cyclops then let out a primal roar that shook the very ground once more. It swooped down and effortlessly lifted a silver SUV, its tires squealing in protest. The monster let out a mighty grunt as it hurled the crumpled car at Chen Ling.

“Woah now!” Chen Ling said, ducking his body as the car soared over his head, crashing into the front entrance of the hospital.

“Missed me!” The man taunted.

“I wasn’t aiming for you, little pest!” The Cyclops grinned.

Chen Ling glanced behind him just in time to see the burning hospital finally collapsing on top of itself, just like a game of Jenga. The crumbling building produced an ear-splitting roar, and soon a massive cloud of dust and smoke was released. The cloud of smoke enveloped the entire battlefield, creating a makeshift smokescreen. I shielded my eyes, the ash and dust stinging my cheeks, as I squinted, trying to make out where the Cyclops and Chen Ling had gone.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

I bit back a scream, desperate to know if Chen Ling was all right, but I was smart enough to keep quiet. Chen Ling served as a distraction while I construct the mana weapon. Though I’ve known him for a short time, I knew that the man would be okay. Heck, he would even prefer to fight the Cyclops on his own since he appears to be a battle-junkie…

Sol wheezed. The little dragon left my shoulders and retreated inside my hoodie. After that, I went back to craft my weapon, silently hoping that Chen Ling was alright.

****

That crafty bastard. To think of throwing a car straight at the hospital and hoping for the building to crumble so that it can create a smokescreen… Truly a foe worth fighting against! I thought he would be a mindless beast like one of those demogre’s, but when it spoke English, I was extremely surprised! Facing against an intelligent monster of this magnitude really gets the blood boiling! Enough about that though, I’ll have to carefully plan out my next move.

There is a limit to how high I can travel in the air, which would be around 20 feet, just enough to avoid the calloused and revolting hands of the Cyclops. I have the advantage as long as I stay in the air and know where my opponent is, but this smoke cloud is proving that to be a daunting task. Descending downwards is a foolish choice, and I can’t navigate through the smoke or else I risk running into that Cyclops. The bright side is that the Cyclops will also be blinded, so we’re stuck at a stalemate, for now. I could wait for Laila to finish her preparations and kill the Cyclops, but where’s the fun in that? I will be the one to slay the Cyclops! Passing up on this chance will go against the goal I set for myself! To become the strongest by defeating the strongest! Only then will I win the approval of the Sword Clan leader!

My experience in the Tower of Strength has been an enlightening experience. To have gone against a powerful martial arts dojo such as the Demonic Dojo was one of the best things to have ever happened to me. When I first teleported to the first floor, I instantly felt right at home. A dojo where you hone your craft and learn new martial arts! Heck! I learned all of my martial arts at the Sword Clan’s dojo! So imagine my surprise when I faced against one of the pupils of the Demonic Dojo, especially in conditions that are unfavorable.

The fifth pupil, though a boy who has just begun his journey of martial arts, was an easy foe to defeat. While I have nothing noteworthy to say about him, the fight was still enjoyable. The fourth pupil was a girl in her late teenage years. Like the boy before her, she used close-ranged martial arts to fight, yet she was tougher, faster, stronger, and more skillful than the fifth pupil. The -30% debuff didn’t help either. I defeated her with relative ease. The third pupil was a big man who liked to use grapples. This one was the first to give me some trouble. He had thick skin because of his muscles and martial arts training. Regular weapons wouldn’t work, so I had to use a bit of my [Aura Blade] to penetrate his defenses. He gave me some trouble, but I won anyway. The second pupil was the first of the five disciples to use weapons. She used speed and her experience as a warrior to her advantage, but I proved too much for her. While we were even in strength, I was much faster than her and won in the end.

My next battle with a disciple proved to be my last, and it was none other than the first pupil. Upon entering, I felt an immense pressure, as if I was carrying multiple boulders. The first pupil was using his own mana to intimidate me, but that action proved to be pointless against me, a man who has felt this before when I fought against the Sword Clan Leader. He was surprised that I could fight against his pressure, and even applauded me for it. After we exchanged greetings, we began our battle. Every time our swords clashed, a smile slowly crept on our lips as we enjoyed ourselves. Fighting against an equal foe is one of the best adrenaline rushes in the world.

In my opinion, we had an equal footing in every respect until he used a power I had never witnessed before: Qi energy, causing our confrontation to come to an abrupt conclusion. I suffered total defeat. A defeat I have felt only twice before, with that being against the Sword Clan Leader and Laila. While I couldn’t defeat the first pupil because of his overwhelming strength the usage of Qi, it was still the most fun I had in a while…

Ah, my mind wandered some place else for a bit. I should focus on the fight at hand…

The dust plume was slowly dissipating, and the air was filled with a distinct metallic taste. When I peered into the direction of where the Cyclops stood, I soon found out that he was no longer there.

What? How did the massive beast change locations without me knowing? I’m sure I would’ve heard its footsteps if it were to move!

After pondering about it for a few seconds, the answer had already dawned on me, but it was too late when a peculiar noise erupted from behind, the source being the Cyclops. His wild grin lit up the air as the monster charged through the cloud of dust and toxic chemicals, his thunderous footsteps ringing in the air. With a force comparable to its daunting size, the Cyclops smacked me with the palm of his hand, sending me careening into the car parking lot. I crashed into the cargo compartment of a tilted truck, and the soft plush of stuffed elephants, monkeys, and dolphins greeted me. A sharp, white-hot pain wrapped around my body as I lay in a cage of metal filled with cotton. From above was the tiny hole I had created. Dust and sunlight filtered in through. The adrenaline was still kicking, and the heart was still pumping blood. I’m also not suffering from any serious injuries such as broken bones, nor was anything torn. I was still ready to fight.

I groaned to myself as I caressed my head. “That was quite smart of the Cyclops. To mask its booming footsteps by moving just as the hospital came tumbling down to launch a sneak attack! Oephenius, was it? I’ll remember that name for as long as I live…”

As I rose into a sitting position, the comforting light from the top quickly faded away and a dark shadow took its place. Confused, I looked up, and I saw the unmistakable outline of a beaten-up train heading my way. Acting on instinct, I quickly increased my speed with Phantom Steps and leaped out of the truck just before I could feel its entire weight topple on me.