Born In Ashes: The Enigma

RUMBLE!

While moving, Azrael kept his movements measured and refrained from rushing between the battling monsters at the wrong time.

As he closed the distance between himself and the two colossal beasts, a heavy, oppressive pressure radiated from them, bearing down on him and making it increasingly difficult for him to advance further.

Azrael felt as though he were moving under a gravitational force four or five times stronger than normal.

Suddenly, the two-headed blood ogre lifted the massive, writhing body of the hollow earth worm, dragging its entire cylindrical form out of the ground before hurling it tens of meters away.

BOOOOOOM!

With a deafening boom, the worm crashed to the ground, sending human-head-sized stones flying in every direction as a crimson dust cloud billowed high into the sky.

ROAR!

Before the hollow earth worm could regain its balance, the ogre's twin heads bellowed in fury, and an intense blood-red energy flared across its entire body.

Raising both of its enormous fists above its heads, the two-headed blood ogre unleashed another furious roar and brought its fists crashing down upon the ground.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The detonation that followed was like the blast of a nuclear bomb, echoing across tens of kilometers and in an instant, blood-red energy surged through the earth, and the ground within a one-kilometer radius collapsed violently.

Screech!

The hollow earth worm let out a panicked cry as it tumbled into the sunken terrain, while many house-sized boulders rained down upon it.

Azrael, caught off guard by the sudden, cataclysmic attack felt the ground vanish beneath him and began to fall.

As he took in the apocalyptic scene unfolding before his eyes, his gaze narrowed and he immediately activated True Focus.

Time seemed to slow within his vision as wings of wind sprouted from his back.

Using the wind-wings to stabilize himself, Azrael leapt from one falling boulder to another, continuing his advance toward the center of the battlefield.

At that very center, the two-headed blood ogre stood upon the only remaining patch of solid ground and surveyed the vast, collapsed area, its glowing eyes burning with rage as it tried to locate the hollow earth worm beneath the mountain of shattered rock.

However, when it sensed nothing, the ogre assumed the loathsome creature had been crushed into minced meat beneath the rubble and a victorious grin twisted its monstrous faces.

ROAR!

It let out a triumphant bellow, and the blood-red energy around its body slowly began to fade.

Just as the ogre basked in the glow of its supposed victory—

BOOOOOOM! Screech!

A thunderous explosion resounded, immediately followed by the rage-filled screech of the hollow earth worm.

The worm erupted from beneath the massive boulders, its cavernous jaw lined with rows of spinning teeth that shredded everything in its path.

Its pale, translucent body was lacerated with deep wounds, from which thick black blood gushed, sizzling as it came into contact with both rock and earth.

Bang!

Swinging its whip-like tail with terrifying force, the hollow earth worm smashed the base of the towering pillar of rock on which the ogre stood.

The pillar crumbled under a single blow, and the two-headed blood ogre plummeted downward along with the enormous fragments of rock.

Yet, the hollow earth worm did not retreat and Instead, it positioned itself beneath the falling debris and the descending ogre, its jagged, teeth-filled maw opening wide.

ROAR!

The two-headed blood ogre roared in outrage upon seeing the vile creature was still alive.

However, due to its immense size and the momentum of its fall, it could not regain control of its body and dropped directly into the gaping maw of the worm, half of its body sinking inside its monstrous maw.

As half of the body of the ogre sunk into its mouth, the worm's rotating teeth tore through the ogre's tough hide, and fountains of crimson blood erupted into the air.

ROAR!

The two-headed blood ogre howled in agony as the worm's grinding teeth pierced deeper. The bones of its legs, already engulfed in the monstrous mouth began to crack under the relentless pressure.

At the same time, the ogre's massive frame was being drawn steadily into the worm's stomach, where an extremely potent, corrosive acid awaited.

ROAR!

The ogre tried to pull itself free from the worm's maw, but the suction was too strong, leaving it powerless to break away.

Seeing its efforts were futile, a murderous light flashed in the ogre's eyes and abandoning any thought of defense, it opened the jaws of both its heads and clamped down savagely on the worm's pale flesh, tearing away huge, quivering chunks of slimy meat.

The hollow earth worm's enormous body convulsed from the violent bite, and a flicker of madness ignited in its eyes as well.

Despite the excruciating pain, the worm refused to relent; instead, it increased the speed with which it dragged the ogre's body deeper into its monstrous gullet.

Crack! Crack! — — — —

The sounds of rending flesh and splintering bone echoed across the battlefield as the worm's spinning teeth ground through the ogre's body, while the ogre retaliated by ripping away chunk after chunk of the worm's flesh.

Sizzle!

The black, corrosive blood of the hollow earth worm hissed as it splattered across the ogre's body, burning wherever it touched.

Yet, the two-headed blood ogre ignored the searing pain and continued tearing at the worm's flesh with unyielding fury.

Roughly two hundred meters away, Azrael crouched behind a shattered boulder, his cold, indifferent gaze fixed on the brutal struggle as his eyes meticulously scanned the surroundings, calculating every variable.

He watched the savage battle for several more minutes and when he sensed that the fight was reaching its climax, his eyes narrowed, and he immediately decided to execute the plan he had formulated using his Infinite Comprehension Trait.

Taking a single step forward, he set his foot upon the shadow of the boulder that concealed him.

The moment he did, the Eclipse Mantle he wore shimmered faintly and he vanished from sight.

Three meters away, with the hollow earth worm's back turned to him, Azrael reappeared behind another boulder and in the same instant, he unfurled his wind-wings and launched himself into the sky.