Chapter 16: | Lord of the Grand Canyon
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HOWWLLL!
'Cataclysmic Inferno Breath' activated, and a torrent of glowing, molten magma flared from my maw.
Its searing heat instantly turned the surrounding water into a hissing steam, obscuring my vision for a moment.
Then I heard it, a guttural rumble that vibrated through the water as its menacing maw, filled with granite-like teeth, opened.
The cavernous opening released a hot, rancid breath, letting out a bellow of pain.
Howl!
The jagged, surrounding mountains of spiked cliffs trembled from the sheer intensity of its howl, sending tremors through the ground beneath me.
A cold chill ran down my spine, raising the hackles on my neck.
This being was terrifyingly strong.
The sheer magnitude of its presence felt like an oppressive weight pressing down on me, making my limbs heavy and resistant to movement.
Squelch!
But it wasn't that hard, 'Quantum Displacement' sent me inches away from its stomach, the water rippling around me with the sudden shift.
I had noticed earlier that its stomach wasn't heavily armored compared to its back, a softer, more vulnerable expanse of flesh.
So I flickered down and ripped and dug deep into its stomach.
My jagged set of teeth tore through its slick, surprisingly pliable hide, a gruesome tearing sound accompanied each bite.
Rip!
Rip!
'Sunder Maw' and 'Shatter-Rip Maw' made it possible for me to rip it apart, my muscles straining with the effort.
Then my throat bulged uncontrollably, the scales stretching taut across it, as an orange light intensified and escaped from the gap between my exoskeleton.
Sizzle!
As my throat bulged and glowed an orange light, a tangible wave of intense heat escaped from my mouth, and the water sizzled, turning to vapor with tiny, audible pops.
It tried to get away from me as its massive body flickered throughout the rocky canyons, leaving faint afterimages in the swirling dust.
Squelch!
But I caught up to it.
'Quantum Displacement' was too overpowered for its own good, my form followed it like a ghost, a blur of motion barely registering against the canyon walls.
As heat and magma rushed through my core and into my veins, a burning river of destruction, it piled up in my throat, hot and searing, a pressure building behind my teeth.
I was charging 'Cataclysmic Inferno Breath' to its very limits, my entire being a furnace of concentrated energy, ready to unleash a hell that would melt its insides.
And I didn't want to distance myself from this beast's blind spot, its vulnerable flank a desperate target, as it would kill me in a heartbeat.
Squelch!
My stamina dropped low after flickering twice just to follow it, my body screaming with exhaustion, but my 'Cataclysmic Inferno Breath' was fully charged.
I opened my maw and bellowed a screeching sound, a high-pitched, piercing shriek that tore through the currents.
HOWWLLL!
Its body went still for but a second as 'World-Rending Scream' activated.
My stamina hit rock bottom, a hollow ache in my core, as my killing intent radiated through my eyes, burning with a fierce, unwavering light, ready to finish this in less than 20 seconds.
HOWWLLL!
Hell was unleashed as the molten liquid, the blood of Surt, gushed from my mouth, a searing, viscous flow, then flickered out of existence.
Splash!
Then it reappeared inside the gargantuan beast suffocating fleshy cavern.
The molten blood seared the intestines and inner organs, the currents thick with the smell of burning flesh.
HOWWLLL!
It let out a howl, a death rattle that echoed through the confined space, as this behemoth crashed down onto me, its immense weight a crushing force.
It reeled its body in its last maneuver, to drag me down to hell with it, in a desperate, final embrace.
Its iridescent golden eyes glowed with desperation, reflecting a fierce, dying fire and the intent to drag me along with it.
Swish!
Pain flared inside my body as I felt something sharp embedded deep within my flesh, a searing, tearing sensation.
Rip!
I saw its spikes, cruel, gleaming shards, they ripped my armor and flesh with shocking ease, as I felt warm, viscous blood gushing from my wounds.
Crash!
Pain flared inside me, a blinding agony, as my eyes bulged unnaturally, the pressure building until I feared they would burst from their sockets.
The spikes inside my body launched out, leaving behind searing, empty channels as blood gushed from the gaping holes.
My spine broke from the sheer weight of its body pressing me with an incredible amount of force, a sickening crack echoing in the water.
A hologram appeared before me, its light shimmering faintly through the murky water, as I smelled its charred insides in the water, the pungent, acrid scent of burning flesh and boiling organs as liquid magma devoured it.
But I couldn't move... my body was pinned, utterly immobilized.
I couldn't move, its sheer weight pressed me into the ocean floor, the cold, gritty seabed digging into my mangled form.
Its weight was too much for me to lift, an insurmountable burden.
I felt my body dying, not from its direct attacks but from its immense, suffocating weight, the life slowly being crushed from me.
My vision turned hazy, the edges blurring into a grey fog, as my eyes were strained from that earlier impact, a warm, sticky flow of blood gushing from them.
It hurts.
My eyes were swollen and red, throbbing with raw pain, my blood gushing from me uncontrollably, a relentless, warm tide.
And I was dying from this disgraceful battle, this ignominious end, where we didn't even exchange a single move.
I was confident that I could defeat it in one go.
As long as my 'Cataclysmic Inferno Breath' could get inside it, incinerating its core, victory would be upon me.
But it was insane.
It dragged me along, and now I am trapped, pressed in the seabed, the immense pressure suffocating me.
But how could I give up?
To give up without a fight wasn't in my dictionary!
Not when defiance still burned within me.
So I bit and tore apart its hide, its armor, a series of gritty debris, sediments, Adamantine, Mithril, and such.
Crunch!
Crunch!
Crunch!
'Sunder Maw' and 'Shatter-Rip Maw' tore and devoured its flesh, its armor, shredding through layers of muscle and bone as my teeth were bleeding from the sheer durability of its hide, a coppery tang filling my mouth.
My mouth burned in pain, a raw, fiery agony, as sharp fragments of its armor cut through my flesh with ease.
But I continued.
I bit and tore with insanity, with unbridled will, a desperate, primal fury driving me on, I couldn't fall here like a fool.
Those girls would laugh at me, their mocking voices echoing in my mind, for I had stupidly challenged a being beyond my capabilities.
Ridicule me because I was too dumb, too arrogant, too egotistical, a fool blinded by my own might, thinking I would win.
Yeah... that stinging truth.
That's who I am, and forever I shall be.