Chapter 55: The guild leader and sub-leader

I felt my insides burn as if hell itself wants to get out of me. I stared at the golem and without even looking around, I sense the slightest movement up to the drop of somebody’s sweat. I see everyone's body heat yet, looking at the golem was the same as looking at a corpse. No body heat, no internal organs, he’s just full of dirt and rocks.

"Well, this is going to be a difficult one," I muttered to myself as I try to look for a vulnerable spot of the Earth God but nothing. No weak points on any part of its body. It closely resembles a rock golem you can find in picture books. Its foot is planted into the ground and the head lacks any facial features. Even in a short amount of time, it turned into a giant as it towered over me blocking the sun.

Without wasting any more time, I clench my fist as I tighten the muscles in my legs. Heat formed at the end of my knuckles as flames started collecting encasing my whole hand. I jet towards the Earth God and every step I took left a fiery footprint that slowly turned the ground into magma. I felt the soil beneath me as the flame slowly melted my shoes and burned my pants halfway up to my knees. I prepared myself yet, the smile never left my face as the adrenaline rushed all over my body.

I propelled forward as the ground below me became a blur. Within seconds, I was in front of the Earth God as everyone ran away from it. Or maybe from me. Using all my weight, I swung towards its chest and the recoil of my attack sent my arms flinging backward as a crater appeared and his whole body was lifted a couple of feet into the air, ripping its feet off the ground. Even without a mouth, it let out a loud sound similar to crane machines mixed with a dinosaur’s roar. It fell on its back and the shockwave was enough to blow everyone away. Without waiting for it to recover, I landed on top the dent I made and jammed my fist inside its rocky core.

“heh~” I smiled as I open my hand into a palm strike. I don’t know how thick the rocks around its body and even when my arm is elbow deep, I feel sharp edges and pebbles trying to puncture my skin. Its hand tried to hit me as I notice it block the sun.

“Palm Shock!!” I held my arm as I felt the skill travel from my shoulder and shooting out towards my palm. The sleeves of my shirt ripped apart and I held my arm from the elbow as firmly as I can. Everything around me exploded outwards sending rocks and dirt flying across the sky. The explosion was strong enough to push my hand out and I was sent flying back up. Even when this skill is strong enough to one shot a boss, the damage I dealt wasn’t enough to even dent its health.

“Fucking zombie!” I felt frustrated that even when in this state, it’s not enough. It still tried to grab me mid-air and I clench my fist as I flew directly to its palm. “Pound!”

I swung my fist forward and my attack left a flaming trail midair. The explosion sent scalding pieces of rocks and dirt like a meteor shower. I know I don't have enough time to keep punching it until he reached zero health, so I looked around for everyone. I noticed everyone back towards the camp deflecting the flaming rocks. The minute I land, I jumped towards Takumi who tried his best dodging the flaming debris while protecting everyone behind him. I land near him and the explosion of my impact caused him to trip forward landing into a push-up position as he caught himself from face planting. Even when he can’t see me through the smoke, I can see him perfectly through my heat vision.

“Lend me your swords.” Steam came out of my mouth as I talked. I emerge from the smoke and I can see his heart beat at an irregular pace.

“Holy shit. You look like- how did you-“ He was speechless as he looked at me up and down.

“No time to talk. Lend me your sword.” I interrupt him and he carefully placed the weapons on my palm. Trying not to touch the flame covering my hands, he dropped the swords into my hands. As soon as I touch the handle, everything started melting except the blade itself that glowed red instantly.

“I’ll get you a new one later. Sharpen.” I whisper as I looked back towards the earth god who’s slowly stood up from its position. The hand I blew away has already regenerated and I can see rocks already covering his chest as if nothing happened.

“H-how do we kill that thing?” I hear Daikichi as I feel his presence come near me. He tried to step a bit closer but the heat from the flames around my shoulder made him step back a bit. Sweat has built up around his forehead probably both from fear and heat.

“I don't know yet," I say to him. "But if I shed some of the rocks around its body, I might see where we can deal the final blow.”

I glance at him and I can see his face is full of worries as he stared at the Earth God. I didn’t want to tell him that even with my heat vision, I can’t see any vulnerable spots.

“Like a core or something?” He asked me and I nod turning my attention back at the earth god.

“Tell everyone to be ready.” I clench the sword as I started walking towards it. “I’ll see if it has a core. If I find one, we need to attack it together and destroy it. It might instantly kill that thing.”

I charged towards the earth god and in an instant, I was right below it as it stood its ground. Using both blades I swung towards its knees trying to amputate the legs. If it can’t move around, it’ll be easier for everyone to attack it. “Heaven’s slice!” My swing created a flaming crescent shooting out and cutting both of its legs, but it quickly regenerates as if nothing happened. The damage I dealt was a lot more but it still wasn’t enough.

“Bloody hell. Fucking earth bender.” I whisper as I see its legs rebuild in an instant. Its hand went over my head as it slowly came down on trying to squish me like an ant. I jump back and the impact of its attack on the ground created a wind strong enough to lift me up. Suddenly a rock as big as my body flew at my direction dragging me towards the water. My body felt like a rag doll as I bounce around the surface sizzling at every impact. The minute I stopped, I felt my body submerge and bubbles started forming everywhere.

“Chef’s coat!” I shouted underwater as I brace for impact. My body right now is similar to sodium metal. For some reason, touching water causes it to explode and the more of my body touch the water, the bigger the explosion gets. It’s one of the things I learned the hard way trying to put out the flames on my shoulders before. It almost severed my arm from the joint.

The sizzling suddenly stopped and all the bubbles got sucked towards me like a vacuum.Within seconds, an unknown force pushed everything out as I felt my body vibrate. Everything turned into a white blur as I was launched up towards the sky by the explosion. The special flame I created encased the water causing it to rain fire. The water below me was steaming and small bubbles popped up as they escape to the surface.

“Heaven’s Slice!” I shouted my skill and felt both swords vibrate. I swung behind me aiming at the water. The impact creating another shockwave strong enough to fly me back into battle. I felt my body fly up higher as I fly over the Earth God. I clench the swords in my hand as I waited to descend.

“Heaven’s slice!” I shouted my skill one more time as I swung below making my attacks soar down. Rather than going through, it exploded its head sending rock debris flying in all directions. “Heaven’s Slice! Heaven’s Slice! Heaven’s Slice!”

I kept attacking over and over again until I completely obliterated it the ground. I used the skill again to direct my body to land towards where everyone is. I felt the strain on my body for having to activate overdrive and hell’s blood at the same time. I look up at the smoke I created and seeing through with my heat vision made me smile. The rocks and mud around its body must have somehow concealed it due to its size. Looking at it directly, it’s like I’m looking at a piece of the sun. I ran towards its core while letting go of Takumi’s sword that melted beyond use.

“Pound!!!" I shouted for my skill jumping up. Rocks started forming around the small crystal as I brought my fist down. “Argh!”

It felt like I was punching metal. The crystal, which is the size of my fist, didn't break as it crashed towards the ground. The minute I landed; I grabbed the crystal preventing it from sinking as rocks slowly formed around it. At the same moment, the area around us started cracking in certain spots. I thought he’ll bury us both in the ground but, as the cracks get bigger and bigger, mini version of the earth god started coming out of it.

“Huh, why form cracks if you can just erect them?" I whisper as I see another one pops up from a distance. Two have become four, four have become five and they kept coming out non-stop.

“Arghhhh!” I hear Dorang scream and I could sense some mini golems spawned near them. They started running away while some tried to hold the golems back, only to be critically injured.

“Suyeon!” I shouted and I feel her look my way. “Protect them!”

I sense her jump towards Dorang and the first attack she made sent a golem flying to a distance as it shatters at the point of impact. She kicked one after another like a pinball, but the golems kept spawning at the same rate she’s destroying them. I felt something cover my arms and as I look down, rocks have formed encasing the crystal with my whole arm slowly moving towards my shoulder.

“Trying to become one? Haha~ I don't swing that way~” I sang as I smiled. “Maybe, this crystal might fetch at a high price. Palm Shock!”

I felt the vibration exit out my palm. The attack destroyed the rocks covering my hand and the crystal but the pain of activating the skill with my hand closed around the crystal was unbearable as it snapped some of my fingers the wrong way. If it weren’t for the chef's coat, my hand would have exploded to smithereens. Still, it was strong enough as I felt my hand was being hammered repeatedly. I kept activating my skills and I felt my hand go numb from the pain. I notice it get a crack and I placed my other hand placing the crystal between my palms like a Buddha.

“Palm shock!” I shouted and the vibrations both started at each of my shoulders and shot out my palm toward the crystal. The shockwave of my attack was so strong it shattered the crystal into pieces and sending my arms swinging back as I was blown away. I tried to form a fist, but I lost the feeling of both my arms as I bounce around the ground unable to stop. I hear a scream behind me, and I felt like I hit someone as I flew across the area.

“Arghh!! I won’t let you die kid!” Goro-sensei shouts as he caught me hugging me with one hand while the other holds a shield making us like a bullet bulldozer as we flew to the mountain destroying everything in our path. We hit the base of the mountain but kept going until we came to a slow halt. After the impact, I sense him move around but my eyes became cloudy as my throat felt dry. The fire on my shoulders disappeared and my body felt like lead. I notice rocks and dirt began to fall on top of us as he frantically tried to pick me up and run. His voice began to muffle as I slowly lost consciousness and succumb to the dark.

Suyeon’s POV

He was too strong. We watched him get covered with fire. We watched him make it rain fire. We watched him expose the heart of the monster. Struggle to destroy the crystal and even after his victory and everyone else cheered for him, I didn’t. The time I have been with him, every time he brings out new power, I know there’s a chance that it’ll hurt him in the end. I couldn’t cheer for his pain.

“Yasu!” I hear Kana shouts as we watch Goro-sensei catch him in mid-air and use his shield to deflect anything on their way. They flew so quickly across the land that nothing could have stopped them except the mountain. Even when Lisa tried to use water to help them slow down, then we're too fast and she couldn't keep up with their speed. They came crashing into the base of the mountain and the explosion cause a cloud of smoke to appear preventing us from seeing what happened to them. We all ran after them but after a couple of seconds, Goro-sensei emerged from the smoke carrying Yasu over his shoulder. We met them halfway as Goro-sensei falls to his knees. His injuries were also severe as one of his hand was covered in blood.

“Sensei!” Miki-sensei began healing Goro-sensei’s arm as he put down Yasu in front of us. If it wasn’t for him, Yasu might have become more seriously injured.

"S-sensei, t-thank you," I tell him as I watch Yasu on the ground motionless.

"No need to thank me kiddo." He tells me placing a hand on top my heat patting it. “I only did what an adult would do. I won’t let anyone of you die. Not on my watch.”

“Yasu! Wake up!” Kana shouts as she heals his entire body. His shirt was blown off and his body was full of burns and cuts. What’s worse is his arms that's starting to turn dark. I feared for the worst as all of our voices aren’t getting through him. I want to help him with his burdens but I’m too weak. I hate that I’m too weak. I can’t protect him like he protects all of us. I hate that I have a class that doesn’t let me heal him.

“Daikichi, help me carry him towards everyone else. Amaguchi, help Goro-sensei move and Kana, can you heal Yasu’s hands as we move?” Takumi asked her and she gave him a nod. Daikichi and Takumi carried Yasu’s body by picking him up in each arm as Kana and Ms. Sam kept their skill activated as they move with them. Amaguchi helped Goro-sensei up as Miki-sensei kept her skill activated over his arm that was flailing side to side. I look at my hands and tears are starting to form blurring my vision. I feel useless. I wanted to get stronger, so he doesn't use his dangerous powers anymore but, in the end, the results are the same.

“Suyeon, you ok?” Lisa asked as she put her hand on my back stroking it and I just looked at her trying to hold my tears in. “It’s ok. He’ll be fine.”

“Y-yeah.” I weakly say and she hugs me tightly. After calming down, we walked back to camp and I see they made a makeshift bed made out of leaves and placed Yasu down on top. Sweat has appeared on his forehead and his breathing became uncontrollable. The whole area was a mess, there were too many injured people that Miki-sensei started tending to. Goro-sensei was laid down next to Yasu as Kana and Ms. Sam worked at the best of their ability to heal them.

I looked around the area and the mini golems that were spawning simultaneously crumbled as soon as Yasu destroyed the crystal. Leaving mounds of debris scattered everywhere. The landscape was completely destroyed and the water where Yasu came out earlier is still on fire.

“He has a fever. Suyeon, you’ve been with him longer than any of us. What else happens after he uses that skill?” Ms. Sam asks me as she wipes the sweat off his forehead.

“I-I don't know. This is the first time I’ve seen him use that skill.” I tell her feeling guilty that I know nothing about Yasu. Nothing at all.

"He's too reckless," Kana says and no one replied. Everyone probably feels the same way I do. It's partially our fault.

“Everyone, don’t blame yourselves.” Ms. Sam says and we all calmed down a bit. “We wouldn’t be able to predict the appearance of that monster. For now, let’s focus on stabilizing him-“

All of a sudden, a bright white light flashed covering everything. It was so bright it felt like someone threw the sun at us.

“Argh! My eyes!” I hear Lisa shouts beside me but as fast as the light came, as fast as it weakened. As my vision slowly adjust, I noticed that the light hasn’t completely disappeared. I squint trying to get a better vision, but I couldn't find the source of the bright light. It let out a hissingsound like a gas leak and in a split second; the light exploded causing a big mushroom cloud to arise. The explosion created a loud snap and it muted the world for a few seconds. The floor shook and we all had trouble even keeping ourselves from standing as the shockwave of the explosion came rushing through us. I felt like I was going to fly away. Roots came out of the ground and wrapped around my foot. Lisa must have activated her skill trying to hold us to the ground. She shouted something and a huge rock wall came out of the ground deflecting the hot gust wind. She erected a couple more wall after that and we all tried out best not to get blown apart. A few minutes passed and the shockwave slowly subsided, dust covered the land and the heat from the explosion made it feel like we’re in hell. Opening my mouth trying to breathe only made me choke as dust along with the heat dried up my throat.

“Is everyone ok!” I hear a shout at my left and I see everyone on the ground slowly standing up. If it wasn’t for Lisa rock wall and roots, we would have been blown away. I know we can survive the impact but as for everyone who’s not an adventurer, they probably could have died.

“Ugh, what was that?” Lisa whispers as she deactivates the roots but kept the wall up just in case.

I see Dorang and his group coming closer to us just in case another explosion happens. I slowly walk to the wall peeking out and all I could see was dust.

"I can't see anything," I whisper to Lisa who slowly moved behind me.

“Hold up, let me try to remove the dust. Tornado!” She shouted her skill pointing her sword towards one section and a small tornado formed and got bigger and bigger as it sucked up all the dust in the area. I see her struggling to keep it alive while she guided the tornado towards the water.

“Ugh! Dispel!” The tornado suddenly disappeared and everything it took with it dropped turning the water muddy brown. “Whew, I got to get used to this. Hey, you oka-”

She suddenly stopped as she sees what I’m looking at. My heart beats not from excitement but from nervousness and fear. The explosion created a crater big enough as if a meteor landed on the planet. The middle of the crater is a figure. Just standing there.

Earth God (AREA BOSS)

2,000,007 / 7,000,000

“I-is that…” Lisa’s voice trails off and I could feel her breathing at an irregular pace. “O-oh my god. It’s still alive!”

The earth god probably heard her as its head turned our way. My heart almost stopped from fear as we both lock eyes. Its sclera was black with blue iris. It still didn't have ears and a mouth, but it has gotten a much more human-like figure. In the middle of its chest is a crystal ball with a blue light emitting from inside. All of a sudden, it disappeared, and I push Lisa to the side as I sense it right in front of her even when I don't see it. I brought my leg towards where I think it will appear and in a split second, my leg was aimed towards its face.

“Jump!” I shouted my skill right before I made contact, but it leaned a bit back and used its arms to cover its face from my kick. The impact caused it to crash back where he came from and it felt like I kicked something really hard as my legs went numb for a few seconds.

“What's going on?!” Daikichi says as they come near me. But I was too busy looking at it.

“It still alive! And it transformed!!” Lisa tells them as I wait for the smoke to disappear.

“What? You mean that. Thing?” Daikichi asked looking at the smoke.

“Oh no, w-what do we do?” Miki-sensei says nervously as she looks at us.

“Everyone, stay here. Kana focus on healing Yasu. Goro-sensei and Lisa, can you use these rock walls and the shield trick to protect everyone?” Takumi asked and she nods at him.

"I'll attack it with everyone else," I tell them looking at Takumi, Daikichi, and Amaguchi.

“Did you see what it look like?” Takumi asked me and I nod.

“I-it has a crystal in its chest. It’s very fast but luckily, my class can p-predict attacks a-and movements.” I tell them as I look back at the smoke that slowly dissipated.

The earth god hasn't moved and remained down on the spot. I was hoping I killed it but looking at his health, I hardly dealt with any damage.

Earth God (AREA BOSS)

1,947,000 / 7,000,000

“W-we can kill it right?” Lisa asked as she looks at Yasu unconscious body.

“We have to. Or else, we’re all dead.” Daikichi says and we all nod towards him. “Ok let’s go-“

“Watch out!” I shouted as I sense it behind Daikichi. I pull him towards me and brought my leg out where the earth god is supposed to appear and shouted, “Jump!”

My kick made contact with its chest the minute it appeared, and I made it fly towards a distance. I jump right up above the sky and aimed towards where it landed. Before I would be terrified of heights but now, I have gotten used to it.

"Three-step combo!" I shouted my skill as I came descending down towards it. I see yellow hologram appear in mid-air. Using the weight of my body, I followed the poses up until I ended up with my left leg pointed downwards and I came speeding down as the sole of my shoe emitted a yellow glow. Right, when I was about to stomp its crystal, the ground absorbed the Earth God and my kick created a crater upon impact.

I sense it coming from behind me and using my body weight, I brought my leg towards the back and I felt something grab my ankle. Its grip feels like it’s trying to crush my bones into dust. It picked me up like a piece of rag and smacked me back down the ground. I used my arms to cover my face, but the impact made it feel like I just jumped off the second floor. The air was taken out of my body as I gasp for air. I glance up and I notice it’s hand forming into a spear as it brought it down my back trying to impale me in place. A black blur suddenly passes through and I somehow appeared a few feet away from it. As I look up, I notice Mamoru standing beside me. Takumi suddenly appeared swinging towards the neck of the Earth God but it jumped back trying to dodge Takumi's attack.

“Shield bash!” I hear Goro-sensei shout as he ran for the Earth god using his shield like a football player. His whole body glowed, and he suddenly moved at a faster rate giving the Earth God no time to react. They tried to destroy the crystal ball but it quickly submerged into the ground disappearing below.

“Kid! You okay?!” Goro-sensei asked as he runs towards me. I see his arms still flailing and I’m starting to lose focus for a bit as I uncontrollably cough my lungs out. The fear of fighting something stronger began to creep in as my heart beat at a faster rate. It feels like it’s going to jump out of my chest.

"Y-yeah," I tell him as he helps me on my feet. Suddenly a loud explosion erupted behind us and the smoke quickly dissipated as Takumi’s attack get deflected one by one. The earth god’s hands formed into swords and he started swinging at Takumi, parrying his every attack. Their pace was too fast to follow with my eyes and the dust wasn’t helping to keep them open.

I have to help. I whisper in my mind as I sluggishly walked towards them. I felt and a hand grabs my arm and when I looked, I see Kana staring at me.

“Suyeon! Stop moving!” She tells me as her hand and eyes glowed green. She placed it in my sides and I felt my breathing slowly become normal. “Your ribs are broken along with the bone in your arm. Stand still while I heal you.”

Before I got a chance to ask how she knew, another explosion happened behind us and I sense Takumi flying towards a distance. Fearing that it might come after us, I ran towards the earth god screaming my skill.

“Three-step combo!” I saw the holograms of myself in different positions. I quickly followed them, and my body was propelled forward as my kick aimed towards its head. Rather than facing me head on, it leaned to the side dodging my attack. It brought its fist towards my gut and I felt it take the air out of my lungs as my body flew from the impact. It was too strong. I felt like passing out, puking, and just curling in a corner wanting everything to end. All of a sudden, I hit a wall made out of the water and I came into a slow halt as I exited the other side.

Cough* Cough*

“T-t-thank you, Lisa," I whisper under my breath as I watch a wall of water disappear. "Quickstep."

It's one of the new skill that I learned after leveling up. A skill that lets me keep up with Yasu if he runs using his skill. It’s the same as his seismic step as it lets me move faster. I quickly ran towards the earth god while Daikichi and Amaguchi attack it.

“G-guys watch out! Thunder Slide!” I slid down the ground and my body slid across the floor as if it was oiled up. My left foot pointing outwards was encased with electricity as I slid towards the feet of the earth god tripping him. The minute the electricity touched it; it encased his body preventing it from moving as he fell to the ground. I jammed my foot on the ground to stop myself from sliding and I quickly shifted my weight upwards.

“Jump!” I shouted as I extend my legs jumping to the sky. “Four step combo!”

I saw four holograms this time and I quickly followed it through copying each and every pose as I pass them. After hitting the last pose, my body shot down below as my foot aimed towards the immobilized Earth God.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

My kick destroyed the ground a lot more than usual. Debris flew in all directions as if I was a giant stomping on the floor. The higher the level of my skill, the more combos I can add on to it. The more combos I do, the stronger the attacks get. But more combos I do the faster I exhaust myself as it takes a lot more energy. The three-step combo is the only skill I can use over and over again without feeling exhausted. Hoping that I cracked the crystal with that attack, I lifted up my foot, but the crystal was nowhere to be seen. I sense it emerged behind me and I jumped forward keeping a space between us. It slowly emerged from the ground headfirst and its eyes locked onto mine. I look at its health and we barely dealt with any damage.

Earth God (AREA BOSS)

1,566,307 / 7,000,000

"Dammit, it still has so much health," Daikichi says as he stands beside me. I didn’t notice but everyone has regrouped around me as we all face the Earth God who stopped moving and just stared at us.

“I-is it dead?” Amaguchi asked gripping his two-handed hammer.

“I hope so. Damn thing is harder than the Gatekeeper-“ Takumi says but I quickly pulled him as I sense the Earth God in front of him about to strike his face. I brought my foot towards where I think it would appear and in an instant, the Earth God from a distance crumbled as quickly as one appeared in front of me.

“Jump!” I shouted and my foot met with its face. Its body flew towards the water and it skids around the surface of the water before stopping and submerging. I kept my senses heightened trying to predict the next location but nothing.

“Fuck! Guys can we really kill that thing!” Amaguchi shouts as he watches the Earth God slowly emerge from the water walking towards us.

“Dammit! Everyone get ready!” Takumi shouted and I can feel everyone is on the edge.

“Kids, don’t panic. There’s a lot of us, and only one of him.” Goro-sensei calmly says and I can't help feeling anxious and scared.

“Daikichi.” Kana whispers and I see her smiling. All of a sudden, Daikichi smiled and step forward.

"Lisa, do you have the skill to freeze water?" Daikichi asked her and she nods.

“What happened?” Amaguchi asked as we watch the Earth God, which stood in place again.

“Suyeon, predict where it will appear and kick it to the lake. Lisa, use your skill to control the water and grab its whole body and freeze the water around him. Then, everyone, attack afterward." Daikichi says and we all nod.

I waited for it to appear somewhere else and as soon as I sense it’s going to appear in front of Daikichi, I told him to move as I kicked towards where it will appear. Just like before, its old body crumbled as quickly as the new one appeared and this time, it blocked my attack with its hands, but my kick was still strong enough to send it flying back towards the water. It skids around again before stopping at a distance.

“Lisa now!” Daikichi shouts as he ran towards the water while Lisa chanted a few words and the water turned into ice trapping the earth god from its waist down. It tried to destroy the ice around it, but more ice formed as it grabbed its hands preventing it from moving.

The core. I say in my mind as I watch everyone struggle running on Ice towards it.

“Lisa, can you make it lay flat? Mamoru I-I need your help!” I shouted to him who stayed behind Lisa.

"Ok, I got it!" Lisa tells me as I see her hand moves and the ice moved around the Earth God Laying it flat.

“Daikichi! Stab its Core! Mamoru Follow me!” I shouted as I started running with Mamoru following behind. “I’m going to jump up the sky, once I reached the highest jump I-I can do, use a portal to send me up higher!”

“Ok!” Mamoru shouts back as we ran. The ice was a lot easier to run on once Lisa added snow on top preventing us from slipping.

“Quick pierce!” I heard Daikichi shout trying to stab the crystal, but it was too strong and he had a hard time.

“Hold it in place!” Amaguchi shouts as he brought his hammer down towards the back end of the sword. “Smash!”

His hammer glowed dark red and the speed of his swing increased. The sword finally pierced the crystal ball thanks to Amaguchi but his attack also hurt Daikichi who help the sword in place. It wasn’t severe but I see him take a knee as the sword lodge into the crystal.

“Everyone! Step back!” I shouted as I look up the sky. “Jump!”

Using all of my strength, I jumped as high as I can. Right, when I started descending, a black portal appeared below me and suddenly, I was at a higher spot making everyone look like dots. The sun has begun to set from a distance and the quietness of the sky helped me calm down. As I felt my body descend, I opened my eyes and look straight down the sword lodged in the earth god which is barely visible. Everyone’s moving around and I can see rocks forming from the shore trying to get to the earth god. Amaguchi and everyone else tried their best to prevent it from reaching it.

“You’re about to die.” I whisper as I look down, I close my eyes and took a deep breath before whispering to myself, “I-I hope this works. Fifteen-step combo.”

Fifteen poses appeared in front of me and each hologram had a bright red color. This is the first time I’m using this skill, but I hope this is enough to destroy that thing. Like a natural, I dance in mid-air following each and every pose. I was able to follow each and every hologram except the last one which is a few feet below the fourteenth. Right when I was about to reach the last pose, I smiled as the excitement fills me up.

I guess this is what Yasu feels every time he fights. I positioned my body the same pose as the last one. My left leg extends towards the bottom and my right leg bents up. Both my arms hug my waist as my head looks up the sky.

“Ah, it's so orange," I whisper looking at the sky and after going through the last hologram, red light with a liquid form appeared below me and I came speeding down towards the sword. I looked by down making sure I’m right on top of it and somehow, I can predict where I will land. Right upon impact, I felt my body become heavy as if I was carrying the world.

“Arghh!!!!” I shouted out of pain as I felt blood trickle all over my body. But I kept my position as I came crashing down the bed of the lake destroying the ice. I see everything crumble but the smile never left my face as I see the crystal was destroyed into pieces and the form of the earth god started to crumble. Multiple negative numbers appeared one after another until I saw its health that brought me joy.

Earth God (AREA BOSS)

0 / 7,000,000

The shattered crystal started lighting up and when I tried to move, I couldn’t even lift up a finger as my whole body went numb. I'm all the way at the bottom of the lake and ice started crumbling on top of me. I watched the crystal light up as bright as it can and I close my eyes picturing Yasu in my mind.

I’m sorry- I whisper in my mind and all of a sudden, sensed someone on top of me.

“I got you!” I hear Mamoru voice as he shouted something and I felt my body drop. I opened my eyes and I see us passing through a portal and landing right next to everyone.

"Ok, you're out! Ice tomb!!!” Lisa struggles as she builds the ice back up trapping the broken crystal within. “Everyone runs! It’s going to explode any minute!”

I felt my body was carried over someone’s shoulder as my vision started to become blurry. The pain on my body throbbed but it slowly became bearable as I fade into black.