God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

The {Blackfist Ape} was as large as a small hill. Despite that, its body moved with unparalleled agility, swinging from the Blackwood trees while it laughed maniacally.

As it swung, from time to time, one of its four arms would break off branches, or extend towards the ground to pick up large boulders which it promptly crushed and threw into the clearing it circled.

Standing in the clearing, Cain had an annoyed look on his face as he dodged and or swatted away the projectiles.

'How troublesome...'

Even though the {Blackfist Ape} was swift, he was categorically faster than it was.

However, he was unable to catch the damned thing.

And that was solely because of its trickery.

In battles, theoretically, speed and power triumphed all. The fast you were, the harder it was for the enemy to reach you.

However, there was no such thing as a straightforward battle in reality.

Compatibility with the surrounding environment as well as familiarity with it were very important factors to consider.

While he was fast, his body was not capable of leaping from branch to branch with as much dexterity as the {Blackfist Ape}.

And since he was determined not to use any of his skills, spells, and abilities that weren't passive, he was going to have a hard time catching it unless he decided to bulldoze through the entire forest.

And even then, doing such a thing didn't guarantee he would catch it. On the contrary, the beast could end up kiting him untill he completely exhausted himself.

A bead of sweat dropped down his chin. His face split into a grin.

A large branch with a sharpened tip flew at him from the distant fog covered forest.

His hands moving like a flowing river, he caught the projectile mid air and with a fluid twist of his wrist and body, he gathered even more momentum and shot it out back from whence it came.

The makeshift javelin shot back towards the {Blackfist Ape} with unerring accurate, blasting it in the shoulder.

The creature was sent flying off the tree it hung off. But before it could fall to the ground, its arm shot out and grabbed onto a low hanging branch.

It twisted its arm and its body flew up.

Another arm stretched out and grabbed onto another branch on another tree, allowing it to swing away smoothly.

Cain's eyes narrowed,

'Although it is heavy, its touch is also delicate. Can it manipulate itself weight?'

From the heavy punches he had felt earlier, he could tell that the creature weighed at least thirty thousand tons.

Each blow carried enough force to crush a mountain, which confirmed his suspicions even more.

Although the bark of the Blackwood trees were strong, they weren't that strong.

Not nearly strong enough to bear the strain caused by something weighing tens of thousands of tons.

'It can manipulate itself weight so seamlessly. To make matters worse, it is also incredibly dexterous. The counterattack earlier couldn't even break through itself fur, so it must also be extremely durable. This beast is certainly something.'

It was no wonder neither Blaze nor Steve bothered to deal with it.

Even bringing large numbers to hunt it down would be fruitless. Creatures like these were the greatest enemies of strength with numbers.

'It tried to test my strength earlier. Now that it has confirmed that I have the greater physical strength, it has decided to switch gears and wear me down through ranged attacks.'

Normally, this wouldn't have been a problem.

But since he was not going to use magic or his ranged weapons, he would have to deal with it without them.

The only choice he had, would be to close the distance fast. So fast, the creature would be unable to react and pull the fight back into a melee.

Dodging another javelin, he bounced on this heels as he prepared himself.

His breathing became sharp and quick.

Beneath, his feet, the muddy earth began to heat up.

This was not magic.

Rather, it was simply the result of his body getting ready to engage in a highly physical act by revolving his Ki throughout the entirety of his physical make up with his special veins.

Ki was the greatest essence of physicality.

Every creature with life had it. The greater the physical capabilities of a beast, the greater its reserves of Ki. And when such reserves got great enough, the entity would develop a Nexus of Ki; concentrated nodes of Ki within the body that could store, as well as accelerate the flow of Ki within the body of the beast.

Placing his right leg behind him, Cain dug his feet deep into the moist earth.

His muscles tensed up.

There was a loud bang. And then, he disappeared.

The earth cracked and caged in a moment later as the surrounding fog dispersed violently.

The four eyes of the {Blackfist Ape} darted all around trying to teak his movements.

Even as it did, its body didn't stay in one place.

All four arms shot out and grabbed four different branches from far away trees.

A split second later, Cain appeared above it. Pulling his fist back, Cain attempted to punch down.

However, the {Blackfist Ape} had sensed him just milliseconds ago.

And that was enough of stimulus for it to let go of the other branches.

Its arms contracted and pulled it forward towards the only tree it still held on to.

Still hanging in the air, Cain smashed his feet into the trunk of the tree behind him and exploded forward, following right behind the retreating beast.

Another arm of the {Blackfist Ape} shot towards another branch. It quick changed directions mid flight.

Cain clicked his tongue.

'Will I have to use the wings?'

He could try, but he had already seen the results of that.

Not only would he be unable to maneuver between the branches and leaves, even if he could, it would be no better than now as he would still have to catch the damn thing. It was not a matter of speed.

The only way he could catch it, would be to outsmart it.

And so, Cain took a moment to think.