Distinctly, the ground beneath Yuuya rumbled. The branch he hugged to sleep shook like an earthquake was occurring.

Yuuya jolted awake as his branch swung wildly, his eyes snapping open. The tree shook like a giant was waving it around, its branches cracking. He crouched on the branch, his hands gripping it tightly for stability. His eyes darted around, searching for the source. Leaves broke off, slapping on to his face as even the branch he was on began straining itself.

To his surprise, all the trees in the vicinity were violently shaking like the one he was on. However, there were no storm winds. The ground rumbled fiercely, but it felt off to Yuuya. For some reason, he couldn’t equate it to an earthquake.

Yuuya gasped in surprise as suddenly, the tree itself rose up. No, it wasn’t the tree that rose up, but the ground. The grass and mud on the forest floor shook as cracks covered it. They kept spreading, forming a huge net. Chunks of mud were eroded away as even the trees were pulled along with it.

The ground rose up, forming something similar to a mountain. A few meters away, a tree- a thick and splendorous tree- rose up from the midst of the forest, like a sovereign among the others. The trees all around it fell as if it were kneeling before it. Yuuya’s gaze turned back towards the ground and his eyes widened.

Beneath the eroding soil, he could see markings. On a thicker looking layer- a dark brown colored one- were numerous hexagonal markings. Putting two and two together, Yuuya realized what was happening.

It was a tortoise.

A gargantuan tortoise.

Yuuya gaped as he struggled to stay on, unable to understand how such a big beast could exist.

The tree Yuuya was on was also dragged off, with him on it. He didn’t dare let go off the tree as he got pulled away with the mud. The tree roots stuck out in the air as they were pushed away like logs in the sea.

Finally, he could see the edge of the rising landmass. Or the rising tortoise shell. The tree fell off, free falling for at least five meters before crashing on the ground. Yuuya rolled onto the floor, negating much of the damage. His teeth smashed against each other as his head went numb.

Without waiting to let the pain fade, Yuuya jumped on to his feet. Stumbling, he began to run. The ground continued to rumble behind him- but he paid it no heed.

GROOOOAAAAOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

The fierce waves of air that the beast stirred up with its roar slammed in to his back, sending him sprawling onto the ground. His head was being torn apart as the sound wave rushed past. He clutched his ears and shut them, trying to keep out the noise as much as he could. His bones rattled, clattering. But Yuuya didn’t stop moving. Rolling and falling continuously, he tried his best to put some distance between the beast and himself.

Cursing his fate, Yuuya continued to flee. He didn’t want to find out what would happen.

But, the tortoise seemed to think otherwise.

An enormous head- almost 10 meters high, pulled out of the ground. The mud and grass that grew on its head cascaded down as the two beady green eyes appeared, zeroing in on the fleeing Yuuya. Behind the head, the tree rose to the sky, with a curved thick shell beneath it.

The ground shook severely, sending Yuuya sprawling on the ground. Gasping, he turned to look at the terrifying head staring at him. Its face was strangely reptilian, covered with scales. The moment his eyes met with its eyes, his head was filled with a roaring sound. Clutching his ears, Yuuya wrenched his eyes away from it. But the sound didn’t disappear. It was merely muted. Yuuya gaped in shock as he saw a pillar emerge out of the ground. Mud fell like rain as the scaly pillar rose into the air and stamped down on the ground. Another pillar rose up, and along with it, the large head rose up. Yuuya finally understood. It was climbing out of the hole it was in. How many years was it in for trees to grow on it? Why did it choose this very day to wake up?

Smiling bitterly, Yuuya continued to flee. He had no time to admire the beast.

The tortoise opened its maw, revealing a dark red tongue. The tongue rolled out like a carpet, and the tortoise sucked in.

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A vacuum like force caught Yuuya, pulling him towards the tortoise. His forehead was beaded with sweat as he dove and grabbed a tree. His hugged it like his life depended on it, and refused to let go. The pulling force doubled, almost as if it were also unwilling to Yuuya live.

The ground continued to shake as the tortoise moved, step by step towards Yuuya. For once, Yuuya really had a feeling to curse at the gods. What wrong did he do to undergo severe trials like this?

The tortoise edged forward, slowly advancing towards Yuuya. He had no method to escape. If he let go of the tree, he’d be sucked towards the tortoise.

The tree groaned in displeasure as it began to crack. Under the extreme pull of the tortoise, it could barely hold on. If the pull increased any further, it would definitely yield.

Almost as if it sensed this situation, the tortoise opened its mouth even wider and the pull intensified. The tree shattered as Yuuya was left clutching at a flying tree. It was completely uprooted, and he could only hang on to it.

The tree flew towards the tortoise’s maw, twisting in mid air. The tortoise opened its mouth to the maximum and bit down on the tree.

The tree shattered as the two end segments were chopped off. Yuuya let off the tree and rolled onto the ground. The tortoise kept chewing on the rough tree bark like it was a blade of grass. The two apertures above the mouth enlarged as two hot puffs of air gushed out.

Yuuya didn’t wait for it to finish eating as he began to run again. However this time, he ran to the left of the tortoise’s mouth. Evidently, running in front of it was merely suicide. He ran like he was on his last breath, not faltering for even a second. The monstrous size of the tortoise was revealed to Yuuya as he kept running. But of course, the dragons were even larger than this tortoise. In front of them, the tortoise was like Yuuya. Dinner waiting to be served.

A dust rain began once again as the shell began to move. Coughing, Yuuya tried to cover up his face so that the dust didn’t choke him. As the tortoise took the next step, another earthquake began, almost sending Yuuya flying. He kept low to the ground, trying to not fall. Falling would mean only one thing-To be eaten.

Thinking that he’d put enough distance between the tortoise’s mouth, Yuuya began to run away from the tortoise. His legs began to scream as he overworked them. But there was no stopping. The shaking stopped for a second, bewildering Yuuya. Then, another earthshaking stomp came, much greater than before. He couldn’t bear this one as he was sent flying on the ground, face digging into grass and mud. He covered his head, trying to prevent damage.

Yuuya struggled to his feet and continued to run. His eyes widened as they perceived the scene before him.

Like a tsunami, waves of rocks and mud rose up in front of him. It was continuous, like a circle. It kept rising-2 meters, 5 meters, 10 meters, 20 meters- until it came to a rest at a shocking 30 meters. The mud wall enclosure stood like an impassable barrier, and impassable it was.

Despair began to surge up from within Yuuya. There was no escape now. If that thing looked at him and sucked in again, he would be flying towards it. And that time, he might just die.

Unwilling to give up, Yuuya continued to run toward the wall. Perhaps there would be a hole. Maybe a forgotten tunnel. Something. Something that’d help him get away.

Suddenly, the ground lurched as Yuuya was once again sent flying in the air. No, it wasn’t Yuuya who was flying, but the chunk of ground beneath him.

The dirt floating around his platform solidified, forming into thick spikes. They floated in the air, and after a split second, shot toward him.

Shocked, he tried to jump off the small island, but it was to no avail. Like it sensed him jumping, clumps of soil rose up and formed a platform to catch him. Like a jet, it zoomed towards the place he dreaded-the tortoise.

Whenever he tried to jump off, new platforms would form and catch him. The platform flew through the air and came to a stop before the monstrous head. The spikes continuously shot toward him, wanting to tear into him, to taste his blood. He jumped up, sideways, down, everywhere, but it was of no use.

As Yuuya began his final attempt, a spike finally found him.

He screamed an unearthly scream as his vision turned red. Pain. Pain far surpassing anything, burst into his body, wrecking havoc as it surged through. Nothing could compare to that, as the spike continued to dig in.

Continued to dig into his eye.

With a yell of defiance, he ripped out the mud spike, blood and gore leaking from the hole where his eye had been. He couldn’t hold on… his vision … his vision was dimming. Everything was quite… quite light.

The turtle raised its head and once again laid its eyes on Yuuya. The two green eyes shone as the mouth of the tortoise opened up. Yuuya felt immensely agitated by this tortoise. His face turned red with anger as the blood flowed more intensely out of his eye. He began to yell at it. “What’s wrong with you, you big turtle brained… thing! What the hell do you want, huh?! Look at me! I’m not even enough to be your appetizer, you, you, turtle egg! Urgh! If you dare eat me, I’ll eat my way out from the inside you big turtle dumbass! I’ll… I’ll…!!!”

He yelled his throat out, trying to vent the frustration that was building up. The tortoise continued to suck in, relentless. The platform broke down into dust and Yuuya fell through the air-right into the tortoise’s mouth. He cursed, he cursed with every inch of his being, the existence of this tortoise. He cursed through the end as he fell through the sky, falling into its mouth.

Sleep.

He closed his eyes as the gaping maw bore down on him, unable to fight any longer.

“I… I did try…” He murmured, sleep coming over him.

Suddenly, Yuuya’s vision became blurry. Something had hit his side, pushing him away. Wind whipped past him, tousling his air. All of a sudden, even that stopped.

When he came to, Yuuya found out that he was in somebody’s embrace. Long strands of hair hung onto his face. Blinking, Yuuya tried to make sense of what was happening.

And then he fainted.