The impact felt like being hit by an entire mountain.
His body vanished.
No.
He was launched.
Like a cannonball, Kael tore across the battlefield before smashing directly into the fortress wall.
BOOOOOOOOM!!
The reinforced wall exploded inward.
Stone burst apart in every direction as Kael blasted straight through it without slowing.
One building.
Then another.
Then another.
Walls collapsed one after another as his body carved a straight path through the fortress city, leaving behind nothing but destruction.
Only after crashing through several structures did he finally force his feet into the ground.
The streets beneath him exploded apart as he dragged himself across them for dozens of meters before finally coming to a stop.
Silence.
Kael slowly straightened.
His entire body ached.
His bones groaned in protest.
His muscles screamed.
For a brief moment, his vision blurred before gradually returning to normal.
A thin stream of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
He reached up and wiped it away.
Then stared at the crimson stain on his fingers.
A faint grin slowly spread across his face.
"That actually hurt."
For the first time since entering the battlefield...
He had taken real damage.
But he barely spared a thought for the damage he had taken.
Given his body’s frightening recovery rate, they would heal before long. There was no reason to dwell on them.
His gaze lifted.
The giant ape was already moving again.
ROOOOOOOOAR!!
Its furious roar echoed across the battlefield as it charged straight toward the fortress.
THOOM!
THOOM!
THOOM!
Every step shook the city walls.
Kael’s expression hardened.
He couldn’t allow that.
The aftermath of every clash between them was devastating enough in the open plains. If they continued exchanging blows inside the fortress, countless humans would die from the collateral damage alone.
Without another thought, Kael exploded forward.
The ground beneath his feet shattered.
His fist tightened.
Earth energy surged through every muscle in his arm.
At the same time, the giant ape raised its remaining good arm before throwing a punch of its own.
One enormous fist.
One seemingly insignificant human fist.
The difference in size was laughable.
Yet the moment they collided...
Everything changed.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The instant Kael’s fist connected, Echo Strike activated.
The first impact hadn’t even finished before a second invisible force detonated from the exact same point.
Then another.
The overlapping shockwaves exploded through the ape’s arm like chained detonations.
CRACK!
CRUNCH!
BOOM!
Its entire arm disintegrated.
Not merely broken.
Shattered.
Bones exploded into fragments.
Muscles tore apart.
Blood erupted into the air like crimson rain.
The giant ape’s enormous eyes widened.
Before it could even process what had happened, its colossal body was blasted backward.
The mountain-like beast became an unwilling projectile.
Kael never intended to let it recover.
The instant the ape left the ground, he bent his knees.
BOOM!
The earth beneath him exploded apart.
His body shot skyward after the flying monster.
The distance vanished within moments.
High above the battlefield, Kael caught up to the tumbling giant.
His fist drew back.
Amber light blazed across his arm.
Then—
BOOOOOOM!!
His punch slammed directly into the ape’s torso.
The explosion of earth energy erupted outward like an erupting volcano.
The ape’s gigantic body changed direction instantly.
Instead of continuing backward...
It plummeted.
Like a falling mountain.
CRAAAAAAAAASH!!
The earth screamed.
A gigantic crater exploded outward upon impact.
Dust, rock, and shattered earth blasted thousands of feet into the sky while an earthquake spread across the battlefield.
The fortress walls trembled.
Buildings rattled.
Both humans and monsters alike struggled to remain standing as the violent tremor swept beneath their feet.
Silence followed.
Only for a moment.
Then Kael descended.
He landed directly atop the fallen ape’s chest.
BOOM!
Without hesitation...
He punched.
BOOOM!
Another fist crashed downward.
BOOOM!
Again.
BOOOM!
Again.
Every strike shook the battlefield.
Each punch drove the giant ape deeper into the earth.
Grondar roared furiously.
It struggled.
Its remaining arm flailed wildly as it attempted to rise.
Kael answered with another punch.
BOOOOOOM!!
The ape’s body slammed back into the crater.
It tried again.
Another punch.
Another detonation.
Another failure.
No matter how desperately it struggled...
It couldn’t stand.
Echo Strike had done far more than destroy its arm.
The chained shockwaves had traveled through its entire body.
Its ribs had cracked.
Its internal organs had ruptured.
Even the monster core hidden deep within its body had shattered beneath the repeated impacts.
The king of the horde...
Was dying.
Its emerald eyes stared at the tiny human standing upon its chest.
Confusion.
Disbelief.
Fear.
It couldn’t understand.
How...
How could such a tiny creature possess strength capable of bringing it to this state?
Its vision slowly darkened.
Its struggles weakened.
Then...
Stopped.
Kael remained standing atop its massive chest.
His breathing had become heavier.
Blood stained his combat suit.
Dust covered his body.
Yet his eyes remained as calm as ever.
Around the battlefield, the remaining beasts suddenly froze.
The connection...
Had disappeared.
Their alpha...
Was gone.
The oppressive aura that had commanded the entire horde vanished completely.
Panic instantly spread through the swarm.
One beast turned.
Then another.
Then hundreds.
Within seconds, the entire beast horde broke formation.
They fled.
Some ran toward the forests.
Others scattered across the plains in complete panic.
None of them dared remain.
The battle was over.
High atop the fortress walls, silence descended upon every hunter and soldier present.
Victor Smith stood frozen.
His trembling hands slowly clenched.
His complicated expression gradually transformed into one of pure excitement.
They had survived.
When the alarm had first sounded, he had already prepared himself for the worst.
Thousands of casualties.
Collapsed walls.
Rivers of blood.
A city reduced to ruins.
That was the outcome he had expected.
Instead, not only had the fortress survived not a single person had died.
His gaze slowly shifted toward the lone figure standing atop the corpse of the colossal ape.
Compared to the gigantic beast beneath him, Kael looked incredibly small.
Yet somehow...
It was the ape that appeared insignificant.
Strength wasn’t measured by size.
Today, that truth had been carved into everyone’s hearts.
Victor took a slow breath.
History had just been made.
For the first time since beast hordes had become humanity’s nightmare, an S-rank-level beast horde had been annihilated without a single human casualty.
And all because...
One man had stood before it.
As Victor remained lost in thought, one of the armored soldiers stepped beside him before giving a respectful salute.
"Sir."
Victor turned toward him.
The soldier hesitated briefly before asking,
"Should we sound the signal for pursuit?"