TAP—
As soon as Verc stepped into the clearing, the heavy silence of the Cursed Forest seemed to snap like a thin glass rod. The sound of his boot hitting the dark, flat stone was quiet, but in this place of dead air and hushed whispers, it might as well have been a thunderclap.
-GRRRR...?
The giant monster resting on the massive boulder reacted instantly. Its yellow, lantern-like eyes snapped open, glowing with a dull, predatory light that pierced through the dim gloom of the clearing. It didn’t have to look around or sniff the air; it locked onto Verc’s position immediately. It was able to sense his presence the moment he crossed the threshold of the stone floor.
Verc stopped walking for a second, his grip tightening on the hilt of his sword. He looked at the mountain of muscle and stone-gray skin before him, noticing the way the monster’s pupils dilated as they focused on him.
"Well, looks like I can’t start the fight with an ambush."
Verc said to himself, smiling a little.
He didn’t sound disappointed, though. In fact, there was a slight edge of excitement in his voice. He kept walking forward, his pace steady and unafraid. He was no longer trying to hide his power or blend into the shadows.
Verc stopped about forty feet away and planted his feet firmly on the stone. He took a deep breath, and then—
WHOOOOSH—!!!
[Dominion Aura] flared up with a violent intensity.
It wasn’t just a simple release of mana; it was a physical manifestation of his will to rule. A heavy, dark pressure exploded outward from Verc, rolling across the clearing like a tidal wave.
-?!!
The giant’s eyes widened a bit as it felt the crushing weight of the aura. For a moment, it actually looked surprised that a creature so small could exert such a massive, suffocating pressure.
But the surprise didn’t lead to fear.
-GRRRKAKAKAK—!!!
It started laughing.
The sound was deep and guttural, vibrating through the very stone beneath Verc’s feet. It sounded like boulders grinding together inside a cavern. The monster found the challenge amusing.
BOOM!
The ground trembled and cracked as the giant stood up from its boulder. It stood over, it looks like a literal wall of muscle that blocked out the view of the trees behind it. It reached out its massive hand toward the side of the boulder—
FWOOSH—!
And with a single, effortless motion, it grabbed a fallen tree branch that was laying nearby. Except, calling it a branch was an understatement. It was as thick as a normal tree trunk and nearly as long as the giant was tall. It was a club made of solid wood that had been hardened by the forest’s dark mana!
Verc didn’t waste any more time talking seeing that. He shifted his weight, his eyes narrowing as he calculated the distance. And in a blur of movement— BAM!
He dashed forward toward the giant monster!
FWISH—
He was incredibly fast. To the seven vampires watching from the treeline, Verc simply vanished, leaving behind nothing but and afterimage. He arrived in front of the giant almost immediately.
"HUP!"
Verc let out a sharp breath and, without hesitation—
SLASH—!!!
He swung his sword down heavily, aiming for the giant’s midsection. He put the full strength of his muscles and his [Predatory Posture] into the strike.
But the giant was faster than he looked. Despite his mountain-like size, his reflexes were sharp. He didn’t even try to dodge. He simply shifted his weight and quickly placed the massive tree branch between himself and Verc’s blade!
CLANK—!
The sound of steel hitting the hardened wood rang out like a bell. Verc was surprised by the speed of the block. And before he could even follow up with another attack or pull his sword back for a second strike, the giant let out a deafening roar.
-GRAAAAAAHHH!
SWOOOOOOSH!!!
Then the monster swung the tree branch upward with a violent, explosive force!
"?!"
The sheer power behind the swing was enough to send Verc flying up into the sky. He felt the wind being knocked out of his lungs by the pressure of the air alone as he was launched twenty feet into the air.
Verc’s eyes widened as he realized the giant’s plan. The monster had deliberately made him fling upward to restrict his movement. Now, he was in the air with no footing and no way to dodge.
-KEKE!
Seeing Verc coming down straight at him, the giant smirked disgustingly, showing off rows of flat, stone-colored teeth. It dropped the branch for a split second, letting it lean against its shoulder, and then with its empty left hand—
FWOOOSH—!!!
The giant turned its hand into a massive fist and punched upward, meeting the falling Verc head-on!
The fist was so large it was the size of a small boulder. It was tearing up the air as it extended, creating a visible shockwave of wind that proved the insane force behind the strike!
If that fist connected, Verc knew he would be in a world of pain. It wouldn’t just break bones; it would likely turn a normal human into a red paste.
Verc saw the incoming mountain of a fist, but he didn’t panic. He remained eerily calm even as he plummeted toward certain death.
’Not bad, but this wouldn’t work against me.’
Verc thought.
SWISH—!
While in mid-air, he performed a feat of incredible agility. He twisted his body with fluid, cat-like grace, spinning like a top. His balance was unbroken even though he was in the air with no footing to push off of. He used the momentum of his fall and the wind resistance to shift his trajectory by just a few inches.
WHOOSH—!
The massive fist barely missed him, the wind from the punch ruffling his hair and tugging at his clothes. And as he continued his descent, passing right by the giant’s extended arm—
SLASH—!
Verc extended his sword in a wide arc. The mana-covered blade bit deep into the gray, leathery skin of the giant’s left arm, cutting open a long, jagged wound as he landed safely on the stone ground.
He hit the floor in a crouch, ready to lunge back in, but immediately, he felt something weird.
[Danger Sense] screamed in the back of his mind, a sharp, cold prickling sensation at the base of his neck.
’Move!’
He thought.
BAM—!
Verc kicked off the ground with all his might, performing a backflip to get away from the giant.
As soon as he did—
BOOM—!
The tree branch that the giant was using as a weapon slammed into the exact spot where he had been standing a millisecond ago. The impact was so strong that the dark stone floor was crushed into fine powder, and a crater three feet deep was formed instantly. The shockwave of the hit sent a cloud of dust and small rocks flying in every direction.
Verc landed a few feet away and frowned. He looked at the left arm of the giant— the one he had just sliced open.
And there, he saw the deep, bleeding wound he had inflicted closing quickly.
It wasn’t just healing; the skin was literally knitting itself back together before the blood could even drip to the floor. In less than three seconds, the arm was perfectly smooth again, as if the cut had never happened.
The giant’s regeneration was absurd. It was faster than even the minor vampires Verc had created.
"No wonder you didn’t even groan after I cut you. You’re used to this, huh."
Verc muttered that with a frown on his face. He realized that this wasn’t going to be a battle of attrition where he could slowly wear the monster down with small cuts.
As if the giant understood him, it just smiled creepily. It seemed to enjoy the fact that Verc was struggling to find a weakness.
-GRRAAAAAHH—!!!
It roared again, the sound echoing off the skyscraper-sized trees, and pointed its massive tree weapon directly at Verc.
And with that, the real battle began.
B O O M—!
The giant lunged forward, swinging the tree branch in a horizontal sweep that covered half the clearing.
Verc didn’t retreat. Instead, he jumped.
BAM!
He moved with grace that made him look more like a dancer than a warrior. He performed a mid-air flip, clearing the branch by mere inches, and as he began to fall, he didn’t head for the ground.
TAP-
His feet landed onto the nearest giant tree.
Verc’s boots hit the dark trunk— BAM!
Then he kicked off and rushed to another tree again!
He was like a pinball, bouncing from one tree trunk to another at speeds that blurred the vision.
-GGRGH?!
The giant grew frustrated because he can’t follow Verc.
And so, it just started swinging its weapon wildly, smashing the trees and boulders in an attempt to swat Verc out of the air!
BOOOM—! SMASH—! CRACK!!!
Every time the massive branch hit a tree, the wood shattered, and the ground shook. But Verc was never where the branch landed. He was always one step ahead, his body bending and twisting with a flexibility that seemed impossible.
He would slide under the giant’s legs, run up its back, and deliver a flurry of slashes to its shoulders and neck before jumping away again!
SLASH—!!!
Verc’s movements were fluid and continuous. He never stayed in one place for more than a heartbeat. He ran up the length of the giant’s massive club while it was being swung, jumped onto the giant’s head to deliver a kick to its eye, and then flipped backward to get away quickly.
He was fighting with a level of athleticism that was breathtaking. He would vault over the giant’s swinging arm, using the limb as a stepping stone to launch himself higher. He was like a shadow— everywhere and nowhere at the once.
But despite his elegance and the hundreds of cuts he was inflicting, the giant just wouldn’t stay down.
The monster simply tanked all of the attacks. It didn’t bother trying to dodge Verc’s blade anymore. It let the sword bite into its chest, its legs, and its arms. Every time Verc drew blood, the giant would just smile that same creepy, wide smile.
The wounds healed as fast as Verc could make them. A deep gash across the giant’s throat closed up before the creature even finished its next roar. A slice that should have taken off a finger was gone in the blink of an eye.
’His vitality is off the charts... just like a vampire’s.’
Verc thought, frowning. He was currently on top of a tree branch.
’I’ve cut him at least fifty times, and he looks like he’s just getting warmed up.’
The giant looked up at him and beckoned with its massive hand, a mocking gesture that told Verc to come back down. It didn’t seem tired at all. If anything, the constant healing seemed to be invigorating it, its yellow eyes glowing brighter with every passing second.
WHOOSH!!!
The giant swung its tree weapon again, this time aiming to take out the very tree Verc was standing on.
Verc saw the massive trunk of the weapon coming and, instead of jumping away, he ran straight down the tree. He met the weapon head-on, jumping at the last second to run along the top of the swinging branch.
BOOOM!
The tree he was on before exploded to pieces.
Verc was like a tightrope walker, sprinting across the moving wood while the giant tried to shake him off. He reached the giant’s shoulder— PHUCK!
And he drove his sword deep into the base of the monster’s neck!
"Why don’t you just die?"
Verc asked, annoyed.
FWIP!
He twisted the blade, trying to decapitate the beast, but the muscle density was like iron.
Before he could finish the cut, the giant reached up and grabbed Verc’s leg.
"?!!"
THUD!
Verc reacted instantly, using his other leg to kick the giant’s hand away while simultaneously pulling his sword free. He jumped backwards and landed back on the stone floor, sliding several feet until he hit the base of the boulder.
The giant didn’t give him a second to breathe. It slammed the tree branch down in an overhead strike.
BOOM—!
The boulder Verc was leaning against shattered into a thousand pieces. Verc had rolled out of the way just in time, but the debris from the explosion peppered his back.
He stood up, his clothes slightly torn and covered in dust, but his eyes were still sharp. He looked at the giant, who was currently watching its neck wound knit itself back together with that same disgusting grin.
The monster was standing in the center of the clearing, surrounded by the wreckage of smashed trees and broken stone. It looked like a creature of destruction, unstoppable and unyielding.
’This is going to take a while.’
Verc thought, a small, dark smirk appearing on his own face.
’Fine. Let’s see whose stamina runs out first— your regeneration or my patience.’
He adjusted his stance, the [Dominion Aura] around him flaring up again, even stronger than before. He wouldn’t stop until this giant was either dead or serving him.
SWISH~
Verc prepared himself for the next round, his sword humming with mana.