The sharp clanging of bullets striking metal rang out again and again from the two frying pans in Yu Zhou's hands.
Behind him, Ria crouched low with his hands over his head, too terrified to look at the battle unfolding before him.
The surrounding trees were riddled with bullet holes, thin trails of white smoke curling up in the glow of the campfire.
"How… how is this possible?!"
The bandit leader gawked in disbelief — first at the trees, then at Yu Zhou, who stood there gripping the frying pans like it was nothing.
Was that something a normal human could even do?
Yu Zhou, meanwhile, was calmly considering whether or not to kill them.
He wouldn't feel guilty about it — these men had tried to murder him first.
If he weren't as strong as he was, he'd already be a corpse by now.
But what gave him pause was the time paradox.
These were people from the Ultra-Ancient Era — if he killed them, could it affect the future somehow?
While Yu Zhou hesitated, the bandit leader barked another order.
The men slung their guns back and drew their machetes, charging at Yu Zhou and Ria with wild shouts.
Yu Zhou sighed. "No helping it, then."
The frying pans vanished from his hands — replaced instantly by the Victory Hyper Gun.
A few rapid bursts of light followed — sharp and precise.
Each bandit collapsed mid-charge, convulsed a few times, and then went still.
When the gunfire finally stopped, silence returned to the forest.
Ria, trembling, slowly raised his head.
"They're… all dead?" he stammered.
He was still in shock.
He'd encountered bandits before, but always while traveling with large merchant convoys — he had never actually seen them up close.
By the time danger appeared, the guards usually handled it.
But tonight, alone with a traveller, they had run straight into a gang of killers.
He didn't care if he died — but the thought of leaving behind his wife and two sons… that terrified him.
And now, those same bandits lay dead at his feet.
All killed by one man.
It was unbelievable.
"They're all dead," Yu Zhou confirmed, holstering his Victory Hyper Gun.
It was his first time killing humans — but after fighting so many monsters and aliens, this kind of thing no longer stirred much emotion in him.
"Ah San! How did you do that?!" Ria cried, circling Yu Zhou in astonishment, searching for any sign of injury — and finding none.
"Advanced technology," Yu Zhou explained casually. "A high-grade firearm."
"But what about those pans?!" Ria's curiosity flared.
He'd heard of powerful weapons before, but never frying pans that could stop bullets.
Yu Zhou blinked. "Uh… you could say that too, I guess."
In truth, they were just ordinary pans — ones he sometimes used for cooking while camping.
After tonight, though, with all those bullet dents, they were probably beyond saving.
Once the bandits were dealt with, neither of them wanted to stay near the corpses.
No one liked sleeping beside the dead.
After collecting the bandits' money and weapons, Ria hitched up the dragon carriage again.
Under the pale moonlight, they continued their journey toward Fuhuo City.
The most difficult part of the route was a towering mountain pass.
Anyone traveling from Akalu to Fuhuo had to cross it.
Originally, they had planned to travel through the night, but given how treacherous the mountain road was, they had stopped at its base to rest — only to run into the bandits instead.
"This mountain doesn't have a name," Ria explained as they rode along the trail. "We just call it Mount Yue — meaning, once you cross it, you'll reach Fuhuo City."
Yu Zhou wasn't interested in the name. "Any monsters up there?" he asked instead.
"Monsters?" Ria blinked. "You mean like the one that attacked Fuhuo City?"
"Well… no one's sure," he admitted after a pause. "But some travellers said they found huge footprints in the mountains."
"I see," Yu Zhou murmured, already guessing what that meant.
If there were footprints that large… there was likely a kaiju here.
Suddenly—
BOOM!!!
A thunderous explosion echoed from the mountaintop, shaking the ground beneath them.
Ria quickly reined in the dragon carriage and jumped down, staring up at the summit.
Yu Zhou followed his gaze — and saw it too.
A massive monster stood silhouetted against the night sky, spreading its arms as if rejoicing after awakening from a long slumber.
"W–What is that?!" Ria's voice quivered.
He had never seen anything like it — a creature so enormous it defied belief.
"That," Yu Zhou said calmly, eyes narrowing, "is a monster."
Because of the darkness and the distance, he couldn't make out its exact form.
But its presence was unmistakable — an overwhelming sense of power and ferocity.
After roaring into the night, the monster turned and disappeared into the mountains.
"It's… it's gone!" Ria exhaled in relief, the tension draining from his body.
He never wanted to see something like that again.
"It seems to have left," Yu Zhou said after scanning the area with his eyes.
"Good! That's good!" Ria said quickly, scrambling back into the driver's seat.
"Come on, Ah San, let's get out of here before it comes back!"
Yu Zhou smiled faintly and climbed aboard.
He would've liked to investigate — to identify exactly what kind of kaiju it was — but with Ria around, it wasn't convenient.
"Maybe," he said lightly, "that was the same monster that attacked Fuhuo City."
"You can still laugh at a time like this?!" Ria said, half-exasperated, half-panicked. "Who cares what it was — let's just get away from here!"
The dragon carriage jolted forward, rattling along the rocky road.
The path was rough, but Yu Zhou remained calm and steady throughout.
Before long, dawn began to break.
By the time the first rays of sunlight touched the sky, they had reached the mountain's peak.
Yu Zhou stepped down and took in the crisp morning air, watching the red glow of sunrise spill over the horizon.
It was beautiful — and peaceful, for now.
Nearby, scattered chunks of shattered stone lay strewn about.
They must have been blown apart by the monster during the night.
"This thing… it's terrifying," Ria muttered, nudging one of the boulders with his foot — but even that didn't budge.
"I remember there used to be a huge rock up here. Looks like it smashed it to pieces."
"Wonder where the monster went," Yu Zhou said, scanning the area.
Then—
"Ah San! Look there!" Ria suddenly pointed toward the distance.
From the mountaintop, they could see far into the horizon.
And there, in the distance — over a city — plumes of smoke rose into the sky.
Above that city…
A giant bird-like monster was circling in the air.