Apocalypse Forecast

Chapter 396: Chapter 339: The Master’s Loneliness_1

First, there was a BANG, then a THUD, and finally a CRACK.

It was over.

The Giant Beasts on the city walls winced, retracting their necks.

Yikes! That’s too cruel!

It’s practically teaching bad habits to kids!

To describe it specifically, the process was simple: Brother HuoXiong descended from the sky, Brother HuoXiong landed on the ground, Brother HuoXiong spewed out flames, the Giant Rhinoceros charged, and Brother HuoXiong died.

His death was truly miserable; he was smashed into a pulp.

Given his respectable status as a bear in life, after the Giant Rhinoceros killed him, it carefully stomped him into mush. It then spat on the bear hide twice with a look of disdain.

”You think you could take on ten?”

That’s what you get for being headstrong.

After its Second Transformation, the Rock Rhinoceros laughed loudly. Amid the cheers of the Dog-headed Men, it began to charge violently toward the remaining Lizard Fanatics.

Atop the city walls, the High Priest’s expression was one of defeat. He slumped to the ground, almost unable to steady the Banner representing divine power.

There was no help for it. There was no one on his side who could fight. Life was just too hard.

The end seemed nigh for the Great Lizard Country. Death mattered little, but how could one face the past emperors and the Pope after death...?

On the city walls, all the Giant Beasts momentarily felt their dignity stained. Jonathan sighed. His body lightly became Gone with the wind as he prepared to descend into the mess.

Worst case, I’ll just crush that thing in mid-air and swiftly return.

But as he was about to become Gone with the wind, he was pressed down by Huai Shi.

”I’ll do it.”

The dog-like giant Erha shook its tongue, flinging off drool. It then twisted its neck and waist as a sort of warm-up.

Fu Yi had just said he could go, and he also felt it was about time to show off.

”Big bro, are you sure you’re up to it?” the Coral Eagle, carrying a giant tree and exotic flowers on its back, tilted its head doubtfully. ”If not, I’ll do it. Don’t go feeding them kills.”

”Trust me, I’ve got this.”

Huai Shi swaggered, shaking his tail. He left the iron pillar on the city wall, ran to the edge, clawed at the rim, and made a mighty leap... but he didn’t soar into the air as imagined.

He slipped.

The Stone he was counting on for support was already loose. It flew off as soon as he stepped on it, failing to propel him upward.

So, everyone saw the giant Erha flailing its four limbs desperately as it plummeted straight down.

SPLAT! He landed headfirst, plunging into the ravine’s muddy pit.

”Crap...”

Once Huai Shi finally managed to pull his head out of the mud, he shook it vigorously to fling off the muck. Turning back in anger, he shouted to the High Priest on the city walls, ”You really ought to fix your public facilities! Someone could get killed, you know!”

The High Priest looked panicked, waving his hands and shouting something loudly at him, but Huai Shi couldn’t hear clearly.

He only vaguely made out that the High Priest seemed to be saying something was behind him.

What? Something’s behind me?

Mystified, Huai Shi turned his head. He then saw the massive shadow of the Giant Rhinoceros, which, with a Roaring Outburst, swiftly grew larger before his eyes.

BOOM!!!

Amidst the roaring explosion, Huai Shi was blasted away. WHAM! He smashed into the wall, wedged so tight he couldn’t be pulled out.

Titters of laughter spread around. The Giant Beasts on the city walls fell silent, the stillness broken only by helpless sighs.

What’s the deal? If you can’t handle it, don’t try to be a hero!

Then, from within the deep valley, a wail of agony shrieked out.

Yet the sound did not come from Huai Shi. It came from... the Giant Rhinoceros?

Right there, the massive rhinoceros, armored in rock, let out a grievous roar and staggered backward. Only now did it feel the profound pain at the tip of its nose.

Right on the bridge of its snout, both of its sharp horns had cleanly snapped off, shattered against Huai Shi’s shell.

”...Feeling like an idiot now, huh?”

Embedded in the wall, Huai Shi, as if nothing had happened, extracted himself. He twisted his sore waist and looked back at the vast split in the Armor on his side.

It was as if he had been struck head-on by a train. The Metallography crystallization, forged with the Alchemy Fire in his Soul—high-density alloy Armor—now showed two fissures.

Not easy at all.

Though Huai Shi certainly didn’t have the skill to achieve the molecular-level workmanship of the original craft, his crude knock-off still performed at roughly half the capacity of the genuine article.

Seeing the fissures in the Armor, Huai Shi wasn’t upset. He looked up, took a deep breath, then PTOOEY! He spat a glob of molten iron onto it, patching the crack.

”Come on, let’s continue.”

Having been hit by an impact akin to a cannonball, Huai Shi effortlessly stood up. He flashed a grin at the dazed Giant Rhinoceros not far away. ”You had your fun hitting me. Now, is it my turn?”

”You... you...”

The Giant Rhinoceros staggered back in disbelief, unable to fathom that Huai Shi was still bouncing around.

Even with Armor, his insides should have been mangled into a rotten mess! How can he still get up?

Huai Shi couldn’t be bothered to explain his specialized buffering layer technology, the thick layers of fat, or his metal-digesting internals.

”Knowledge is Power, get it?”

The Wolf Beast shamelessly declared, looking up. In the next instant, its paws stomped on the mud.

A Roaring Outburst shook the ground. The soft mud beneath his stomp seemed to instantly become harder than steel. Only after he launched himself forward did the mud weakly cry out, splattering messily in all directions.

Violent ripples surged through the blood and mud.

A hurricane of air exploded with howls, only to be torn apart by Huai Shi’s claws.

The Giant Rhinoceros suddenly retreated without warning, its speed blazing. But Huai Shi was even faster. Empowered by the utterly unreasonable physique of a Giant Beast, his limbs instantaneously burst out with the Four-fold Yu Step, as if equipped with four jet engines. The iron-cast wolf head lowered, revealing its two sharp, pointed horns as he boldly slammed forward.

Dog Escape Secret Technique: Iron Head!

BOOM!

A blast of air erupted.

The Monster’s charge stirred up a huge shockwave, the sound roaring and exploding in all directions.

The rhinoceros screamed as it was sent flying. It tumbled in the mud like a sausage rolling on the ground, crashing into the formation of the Dog-headed Men and crushing a large number of Huai Shi’s kin.

And there stood Huai Shi, dumbfounded.

”Just how reckless are you?!” Fu Yi, inside the Bell, was shaking so much she almost threw up. ”Aren’t you afraid of a concussion?”

It took a long while for Huai Shi to come to his senses. The darkness before his eyes faded. He spat out a mouthful of saliva and actually saw a trace of blood.

Only then did he remember that forces are mutual.

No matter how ironclad a wolf’s head, it couldn’t withstand such an impact. If his bones had been any more brittle, he would have smashed himself to death on the spot.

After a few low, mournful grunts, the rhinoceros somehow managed to get up from the ground again.

Its skin now bore two ghastly, bloody holes.

A few broken bones, but it wasn’t considered a serious injury.

Looking at Huai Shi’s ragged state, it bared its teeth and let out a mocking laugh. ”What’s wrong, dumbass? Didn’t you love to ram things? Come on!”

It pawed the ground with its hooves, regrouping. It lowered its head toward Huai Shi, assuming a charging stance.

”If you don’t come over...”

Two thick plumes of air snorted from its nostrils. Its eyes were blood-red as it bared its teeth in a savage grin: ”—then I’m coming for you!”

Accompanied by a roar, it launched a fearless charge at Huai Shi again!

Last time, it had underestimated Huai Shi’s strength. This time, even if it meant ramming, it was determined to smash Huai Shi into their wall!

The hurricane of its charge howled as the thunderous sound of its approach boomed forth.

Yet Huai Shi seemed to be stunned. He stood in place, motionless, as if waiting for it to come over and collide.

Only at the very last moment did he finally bare his teeth with a wicked smile.

Who’d compare HP with a freeloader like you?

The Wolf Beast howled to the sky, ”—Sword, come!”

Inside the Bell, Fu Yi sighed helplessly and waved her paw.

Atop the city walls, the iron stake Huai Shi had left behind suddenly trembled. Then, it split open from the center to the sides, revealing the heavy, ferocious, and chillingly sharp Sword Blade within.

The Snake Spine Heavy Sword, forged from the spine of the Giant Serpent and steel, shuddered as if heeding its master’s call. It soared into the sky, howling as it sped toward Huai Shi.

The incredibly long Sword Blade whipped around. As Huai Shi opened his mouth, he caught the hilt. The brutal, long edge then extended out from his mouth to the right.

Meeting the charging rhinoceros head-on, Huai Shi ferociously swung the sword!

The Wolf Beast and the Giant Rhinoceros swept past each other.

A grisly scream erupted.

Blood surged skyward, drenching almost half the city wall behind Huai Shi in crimson. The Giant Rhinoceros had THWACKED into the wall.

A profound slash mark appeared from its face to its back.

In the ensuing silence, the Giant Beasts on the various sections of the city walls were dumbfounded.

The three great questions of life surfaced in their minds: What the hell was that? What is this thing? How did you even do that?!

Goddamn ’Sword, come!’

Isn’t this supposed to be a Monster world?

You’re in the wrong genre, bro!

And where the hell did you learn Sword Control Technique?!

Opposite them, Emperor Penguin Shuangyue, the first to react, frowned. ”That guy has Psychokinesis. Everyone be careful later...”

Psychic Power!

Among the myriad Relic Bone Metamorphoses, only a handful could awaken this Ability, but all were strange and terrifying Powers.

But mutated beasts that awakened psychic Powers usually had weak bodies. Where the hell did this obnoxiously huge brute come from?!

Thanks to Huai Shi’s relentless strengthening with the Hand of Confinement, day and night, this crude-looking Snake Spine Heavy Sword had long been enhanced to +13.

Beneath its skeletal exterior, molten iron had permeated within. The alloy had fused with the mutated bone from the outside in, becoming one inseparable entity.

Rather than snake bone, it was more accurate to call it a new type of alloy forged using snake bone as material.

And as for the Sword Blade, Huai Shi had stealthily attached the Sacrificial Knife to it. After adding the life-draining attribute, the edge had become incredibly sharp.

Amidst mournful cries, the Giant Rhinoceros slowly rose. Its huge, bloodshot eyes lifted to stare fixedly at Huai Shi. With an angry bellow, it charged once more.

But its speed was getting slower and slower.

At last, with no strength left, it slid into the mud and came to a stop in front of Huai Shi.

Breathless. Dead.

In the utter silence, Huai Shi, with the sword still in his mouth, couldn’t help but look up to the heavens and sigh. ”To die by this move of mine, ’Sky Soaring Dragon Flash,’ is truly a blessing you earned in your past life.”

A gentle breeze rustled past. Such is the loneliness of a master.

A line of drool leaked from the corner of his mouth...