Even someone as calm as Hong could feel the crushing pressure filling the air.
Moments ago, he and Thor had unleashed everything they had every ounce of their strength and skill to prove to the world that they were still in their prime, still the mighty warriors they once were. It was meant to be both a show of power and a statement to Rowan that they hadn't fallen behind.
But now, those thoughts had completely vanished. All that remained in their minds was the enormous creature standing before them a monstrous existence radiating enough power to make the heavens tremble.
Their wounds, though severe, were temporarily stabilized by the Water of Life. Vitality surged within their bodies, keeping them standing. Yet, even as their life force returned, the beast showed no sign of weakening. Its aura was as fierce as ever.
"Don't underestimate it," Hong warned grimly, his voice tense. "If I'm not mistaken... this thing is at stellar level."
Thor's eyes widened. "Stellar level? No wonder…! Then it makes sense we couldn't take it down. If it were the Octopus King or the Thunder Dragon Emperor alone, we could've crushed them in seconds. But this this damned thing where in the universe did it come from?"
His complaint was swallowed by the roaring thunder gathering around his body. Sparks of divine lightning coiled around him, turning him into a living god of storms.
Hong responded in kind, activating his domain to its utmost limit. Streams of condensed light gathered at the tip of his spear, blazing like a newborn star.
"Kill!"
Together, they charged again. Neither of them chose to burn their souls like they had in the legends; this was a fight of pure will and endurance.
The Golden-Horned Behemoth roared furiously. How dare these fragile humans injure it! As one of the top ten peak bloodlines in the cosmos, it would not suffer such humiliation.
It lunged at them, and the clash that followed was apocalyptic. Every collision sent shockwaves tearing through mountains and rending the earth apart.
Hong and Thor fought with everything they had. Yet without the burning of their souls, their attacks only left shallow wounds. The monster's hide was simply too thick, its regeneration too terrifying.
As the battle raged on, their movements grew sluggish. Their power waned.
Thor, caught off guard for a split second, was struck by the creature's colossal tail. The blow shattered his arm and sent him crashing into a distant mountain, pulverizing rock and soil as he went.
"Thor!" Hong shouted.
His distraction was fatal. The Golden-Horned Behemoth saw the opening and instantly appeared behind him, its shadow engulfing his form.
"Damn it!"
Hong activated his Triple Domain, encapsulating both himself and the monster within layers of compressed reality. The beast's strength was diminished within it but not enough.
A massive claw struck him square in the back. Even with the protection of the Black God Suit, the impact was devastating. Hong coughed up blood and was hurled toward Thor's direction, smashing into the same pile of rubble.
The two men struggled to stand, trembling and bloodied.
"This… can't be happening…" Thor gasped, clutching his ruined arm. He fumbled for another vial of the Water of Life, only to realize their supplies were gone. "We used them all…"
Hong spat blood and grimaced. They had burned through everything all their resources, all their hope.
"Brother Hong," Thor muttered bitterly, "I think this is it. We're done for."
"Then we go out fighting," Hong said with a weak grin. "If we're going to die, we'll make sure it dies with us."
Their eyes met, sharing an unspoken resolve. If they could detonate their stellar cores, perhaps they could destroy the beast and themselves along with it.
Just as they began channeling their energy for one final explosion, a calm voice echoed behind them.
"You two… really have to stop being so dramatic," the voice said lightly. "You're both too important to keep dying like this. It's almost embarrassing to watch."
The two froze.
They turned and when they saw who it was, relief flooded their faces. The overwhelming energy in their bodies dissipated instantly.
"Rowan…" Hong exhaled, a smile tugging at his lips.
"Take a break," Rowan said, floating effortlessly above the ground. "I'll handle this one."
Thor scowled. "No! He's too strong. You can't face him alone!"
Rowan's eyes gleamed with quiet confidence. "Just watch."
He rose higher, standing atop the floating craft known as the Skystrider, his presence radiating like a sun piercing the clouds.
The Golden-Horned Behemoth turned its massive head toward him. For the first time, its predatory eyes flickered with unease. The human before it… exuded an oppressive force that sent its instincts screaming.
"You have two choices," Rowan said in flawless Universal Tongue. "Submit… or I'll beat you until you do."
The monster's roar split the heavens, sending a shockwave rippling across the land. It didn't care who this human was. All it knew was rage.
It lunged.
"Skystrider Drill Spear Mode."
The craft transformed, spiraling forward like a cosmic drill. The two forces collided with a deafening explosion.
The behemoth met him head-on, its golden horns gleaming with energy. But the next moment, the creature was sent hurtling ten kilometers backward, its body smashing through the clouds.
Hong and Thor stood frozen below, dumbfounded.
"One move…" Thor muttered. "He sent it flying with one move…"
Hong didn't answer. His heart was filled not with shock, but with awe and a strange peace. Rowan… had already surpassed them long ago.
Rowan floated there, his expression unreadable. "I'll be back soon. Here " he tossed down several bottles of the Water of Life. "Use these."
Then he soared after the beast, raising a single hand toward a distant mountain range.
The mountain easily over a thousand meters tall trembled, then tore free from the earth. His psychic energy enveloped it entirely.
The Golden-Horned Behemoth had just regained its footing when a shadow fell over it. It looked up and its pupils shrank to pinpoints.
A mountain was falling on it.
The crash shook the world. The beast screamed as it was hurled across the sky, driven thousands of kilometers away before plunging into the ocean with a thunderous impact.
The sea exploded upward in a titanic column of water.
The creature dove deeper, desperate to escape. Its instincts screamed at it to flee flee this world, flee this impossible enemy.
But Rowan was right behind it.
He didn't rush. He simply watched, waiting, until the monster soared back out of the ocean, racing for space.
Rowan followed.
Their pursuit tore through the atmosphere, into the dark vacuum beyond. Stellar-level beings didn't need oxygen; their bodies had transcended such limitations.
Within moments, they had left the solar system. No satellite could track them anymore.
Rowan raised his gauntleted hand. The Infinity Gauntlet shimmered with cosmic light.
"Come back here."
The Reality Stone pulsed and a black hole formed in front of the fleeing creature. Space twisted violently, dragging everything toward oblivion.
The Golden-Horned Behemoth struggled, roaring in terror, but the gravitational pull was absolute.
It was yanked backward toward Rowan until he snapped his fingers, collapsing the black hole just before impact.
The beast flew straight at him.
Rowan's fist, glowing with the Power Stone's might, met it midair.
The punch shattered space. The monster's spine cracked audibly, its body sent careening thousands of kilometers into the void.
Rowan appeared above it in the next instant, his Fire Domain bursting to life a sea of purple flame engulfed the beast.
The temperature exceeded fifty thousand degrees. Scales blackened, bones melted, and the once-proud behemoth screamed in agony.
Rowan's fists fell like meteors. Each strike split scales, shattered flesh, and sent bursts of molten blood scattering across the darkness of space.
Then the Skystrider transformed again, piercing through the creature's hide again and again like a relentless storm of bullets.
Within minutes, the Golden-Horned Behemoth's roars had weakened. Its enormous body floated in silence, riddled with holes, its once-mighty aura fading rapidly.
And Rowan hovered there above it, unshaken, watching as the cosmic monster finally began to fall.
The battle was over.
He had utterly and effortlessly annihilated the Golden-Horned Behemoth.
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