Ryuk’s scythe flashed with speed toward the serpent’s head, but at the last second, it jerked back its head, black blood spurting into the air before its gigantic tail suddenly slammed out, smashing into Ryuk’s figure and sending him flying downwards.
BOOOOOOOOM!
Two explosions rang out as both combatants collapsed onto the ground, instantly surging toward each other.
A pillar of acid spray flashed forward toward Ryuk’s path as he sidestepped to the side, appearing meters away and dodging the spray. But it was only the beginning, as the python kept spraying faster, the entire poison covering more of the air space.
Still, Ryuk’s movement was simply beyond this world, and before the snake could use its tail smack, he was already five meters away.
In the next instant, it spat out one last, incredibly poisonous spray that burned the air itself, covering all of Ryuk’s surroundings and ensuring it would be impossible for the young man to dodge. In the end, he would be corroded completely through.
The result of the battle seemed clear as Ryuk made no move to dodge, allowing the spray to fall onto him. But instead of being corroded into nothing...
"Activate Frost Veil," he ordered, as deep cold emanated from Ryuk’s legs, spreading into the air around him. All of the corrosive spray paused in the air, frozen completely into ice blocks.
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!
With bulging eyes, the serpent watched as the scythe image cleaved through its head, ripping it apart into two slices until it tore out of its end, dark blood spraying all over the area as its body collapsed to the ground.
Without looking back, Ryuk leapt up with incredible speed, feeling the pulsing from the ground coming from none other than his next beast. He blocked and suddenly the ground, covered in frost, exploded.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The scythe’s edge and a punch smashed into each other, but this time, Ryuk was shocked as he felt a colossal force swimming through his scythe. Instantly, he shot backward with speed, slamming into the trees behind him, forcing them to the ground and clearing the area.
The Ape also suffered an injury, as it was now taking repeated steps backward, blood dripping from its fist. But then it rose up and bounced once more, closing in on the soaring Ryuk, whose legs smashed into the ground as he flew backward. He sighted the gigantic fist crashing down onto his figure from above.
"An Iron Fist Ape at the Initial Plane of Dominion. Nice!" he muttered as he instantly sidestepped, causing the fist to crash into the ground and the Ape’s head to lower. Instantly, Ryuk swung his scythe toward its face, wanting to rip it apart. But the Ape’s speed was otherworldly as it jumped backward, narrowly dodging the blade that only shaved off a few hairs on its face.
Stretching his left hand to the side while running forth, ice began gathering in Ryuk’s left arm, soon forming the image of a gigantic ice sword with cold edges. But it wasn’t the end—hundreds of smaller swords began appearing from the larger sword and rushed toward the gigantic Ape, which instantly slapped out its enormous palms, blowing away the ice.
But in the next instant...
SOOOOOOOAAARRRRR!
The sound of something soaring forth rang out as the Ape barely felt the thrown scythe flying toward its face, instantly ripping apart its eyeballs.
ROOOOOOAAAR!
A mournful roar was uttered, but it was silenced when Ryuk took advantage of the distraction, jumping up into the air for ten meters. With both hands gripping the end of the frost sword, he drove it straight into the beast’s forehead. The sharp edges cracked apart the tough skull and dipped into the beast’s brain.
The Ape wanted to roar out loud from the shock, but the monumental coldness from the ozone froze its brain completely, letting it mutter nothing but a whisper before the frost instantly spread, covering the entire brain.
With a loud stomp from Ryuk, the force of the kick instantly transferred to the frozen brain, which shattered into pieces. He jumped off as the Ape smashed into the ground lifelessly.
Stretching his hand to the side, his thrown scythe appeared in his hands as he continued onward while looking at the lifeless body of the Ape.
Was the creature strong? Absolutely!
In fact, Ryuk’s scythe had only managed to slice open the flesh of its fist and not crack the bone.
"When Ignatius forms his Flames swords, he uses them as a main source of attack...
"But I think this is a waste. The swords are too little to deal any true damage. Their true purpose is to create an opening..."
The Ape, seeing the sheer amount of swords around its body, signaled that it would be a very powerful attack, diverting its attention away from the sword in my hand, which held the true energy.
While it was dealing with the swords, I took advantage of the weakest part of its body—the eyeballs—and flung my scythe through it, something the beast would never have expected.
The distraction of its eyeballs being severed was enough to finally use my ultimate attack—the sword, where all my Ice energy is focused—and bring an end to the battle." Ryuk analyzed coldly, as the ice sword soon dispersed into thin air.
His idea of forming the ice swords wasn’t his. It was from Ignatius, and Ryuk somehow felt proud for being able to emulate it and use it in battle, perhaps even better than Ignatius would have used it himself.
[Host must understand: While the ability to cultivate Mana is important as well as Host’s scythe being powerful enough to cut through almost anything at his level of strength!]
[Two things can still not be replaced: Combat Ability and Combat Intelligence.]
[If an opponent who only relies on brute strength meets an opponent less inferior but with greater combat ability and intelligence, then he is bound to lose eventually.]
[Just like how Host dealt with the barbaric Ape!]
[And there is only one way for Host to increase his Combat Ability...]
"To keep fighting..." Ryuk stated as he once more felt the distant roar of a rapidly approaching beast. Without waiting, he continued onwards.
This wasn’t just a test; it was an opportunity to improve his combat ability.